Go Commentary: Iyama Yuta vs Ida Atsushi – 69th Honinbo

This is game 5 of the 69th Honinbo final, played between Iyama Yuta 9p and Ida Atsushi 8p on June 30 and July 1 2014.

Ida Atsushi 8 dan (left) and Iyama Yuta 9 dan, after the deciding game of the 69th Honinbo title match.

Iyama Yuta was already leading the (best of seven) match 3-1 at this stage, so this game was a kadoban (match deciding game) for Ida.

Iyama won the first three games of the match, and Ida won game 4.

Iyama Yuta is arguably the best player in Japan.

He still holds six out of seven of the major Japanese Go titles.

The only one he doesn’t currently hold is the Judan.

Ida Atsushi was born in 1994 and he became a pro in 2009.

He entered the Honinbo league in 2013, and broke through to become the challenger that same year.

His result in the league was 6-1, which was a tie for best with Yamashita Keigo 9p.

Ida won the playoff against Yamashita, and he became the challenger for this 69th Honinbo final.

This was his first major title match.

Let’s have a look at the game!

Commented game record

[Embedded SGF File]