Keith L. Arnold, hka, with Patrick Bannister | Published on 8/30/2023
August 1 brought Takagawa Kaku 9d to London after his visit to the European Go Congress. A lavish reception was held at the Hanover Grand Hotel with over 100 people representing 10 British go clubs and some visitors from Amsterdam attending. The British Go Journal reports that Takagawa gave commentary on a three stone game between Nakaoka Jirō 7d and Britain’s strongest player Jon Diamond 4d. Three hours and twenty minutes later, Mr. Diamond secured a four point win.
On August 16, the Meijin League finished, with Ishida Yoshio Hon'inbo easily securing the the right to challenge Rin Kaihō Hon'inbo with a perfect 8-0 record. Certainly, this brought a lot of momentum into the seven game match. Indeed, on August 28 to 29 he won the first game, although, holding white, he won by jigo with the even komi of the time. The game was used in Hikaru No Go as a match between Ogata and Kuwabara (Vol. 8, Chap. 63). (Game record: Meijin Game One.)
Ishida Yoshio Meijin vs. Rin
Kaihō Hon'inbo in Meijin Title Game One
Photo from Go Review, game records courtesy of SmartGoOne