Iyama Yuta completes Japanese trifecta with 38th Meijin victory

Iyama Yuta 9p, the strongest Go player in Japan, completed his trifecta of the big three Japanese titles by winning the 38th Meijin on October 17, 2013.

Game 5 of the 38th Meijin final was played on October 16 and 17 in Gofu city, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan.

When the game finished at 8:03pm, after 258 moves, Iyama Yuta had defeated Yamashita Keigo 9p by 4.5 points.

Iyama Yuta’s Meijin comeback

Iyama Yuta 9 dan (pictured) defeated Yamashita Keigo 9 dan to win the 38th Meijin title and to achieve an historic ‘triple crown’.

Iyama lost the first game of the series, but he came back strong and won four games in a row to take the title.

This is Iyama’s third Meijin title.

Iyama already holds the Honinbo and Kisei titles, so he achieved the Japanese ‘triple crown’ with this victory.

The triple crown

The triple crown (Daisankan in Japanese) is the term Go players use to describe the feat of holding three biggest Japanese titles at the same time.

Up until now, in the history of Go, only Cho Chikun 9p had achieved this feat (twice) in 1983 and 1997.

Iyama now holds six of Japan’s seven major titles once again. He lost the Judan to Yuki Satoshi 9p in April 2013, delaying any ambitions he (or his fans) might have of him attaining the Japanese grand slam of Go (all seven titles).

Games 1-4 of the title match

Iyama and Yamashita traded blows for the first two games, with Yamashita winning game 1 convincingly and Iyama countering in game 2.

In game 3, Yamashita had the advantage, but he made a tragic mistake at move 196 – reducing his own liberties when making a ko threat – and Iyama was able to take a 2-1 lead.

Iyama Yuta Yamashita Keigo 38th Meijin game 4 picture

Iyama Yuta (left) and Yamashita Keigo play game 4 of the 38th Meijin title match. Otake Hideo 9 dan (center) was the referee for the match.

Yamashita’s famous attacking skills failed to best Iyama’s shinogi (the skill of managing weak groups) in game 4 and Yamashita had to resign when he couldn’t capture white’s huge dragon.

See the recent Power Report for more details.

Yamashita’s defeat

Yamashita Keigo Yoda Norimoto 38th Meijin game 5 300x199 picture

Yamashita Keigo 9 dan receives the sealed move from Yoda Norimoto 9 dan – Game 5 of the 38th Meijin.

Yamashita Keigo won the Meijin by defeating Iyama Yuta two years ago and defended it against Hane Naoki 9p last year.

However, he wasn’t able to repeat his victory over Iyama this time and, as of now, he doesn’t hold any titles.

The final game

I haven’t had time to analyze this game carefully yet, but in the meantime, here are some brief comments from a Japanese commentator:

Black 13 and 15 were fresh and interesting.
Black 35 was calm and nice, and it was the last move of the first day.
The opening up to 35 was favorable for black.
Black 79 was a good choice, and the game was still good for black.
However, black 101 was a mistake, and the game became even.
White 152 was a mistake. If white had blocked at H15 instead, the game would have still been playable for white.
After black 153, it wasn’t easy for white to win.