1st Honinbo
The 1st Honinbo was the first ever professional Go tournament. Eight players competed for the title. The tournament utilized a makeshift league system where players would play four knockout rounds. At the end of each round, the winning player would receive six points. The runner-up would receive five, and the losing semi-finalists would have a playoff to decide who finished in third (four points) and fourth (three points). Players knocked out in the first round received one point.
White received 4.5 komi during the knockout rounds and players had 13 hours thinking time. Tamejiro Suzuki, however, was granted 16 hours thinking time because of his disdain for time limits. At the conclusion of the fourth knockout round, the two top players in the standings, Riichi Sekiyama and Shin Kato, played a six-game series to decide the winner. The initial series finished even at three games, but Sekiyama was given the title for having accumulated more points in the knockout rounds.[1][2]
Tournament
First knockout round
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| Tamejiro Suzuki | 0 | |||||||||
| Go Seigen | 1 | |||||||||
| Go Seigen | 1 | |||||||||
| Nobuaki Maeda | 0 | |||||||||
| Katsukiyo Kubomatsu | 0 | |||||||||
| Nobuaki Maeda | 1 | |||||||||
| Go Seigen | 1 | |||||||||
| Riichi Sekiyama | 0 | |||||||||
| Kensaku Segoe | 0 | |||||||||
| Riichi Sekiyama | 1 | |||||||||
| Riichi Sekiyama | 1 | |||||||||
| Shin Kato | 0 | Third place | ||||||||
| Shin Kato | 1 | |||||||||
| Minoru Kitani | 0 | |||||||||
| Maeda Nobuaki | 0 | |||||||||
| Shin Kato | 1 | |||||||||
Second knockout round
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| Katsukiyo Kubomatsu | 0 | |||||||||
| Shin Kato | 1 | |||||||||
| Shin Kato | 1 | |||||||||
| Tamejiro Suzuki | 1 | |||||||||
| Kensaku Segoe | 0 | |||||||||
| Tamejiro Suzuki | 1 | |||||||||
| Shin Kato | 0 | |||||||||
| Riichi Sekiyama | 1 | |||||||||
| Nobuaki Maeda | 1 | |||||||||
| Go Seigen | 0 | |||||||||
| Nobuaki Maeda | 0 | |||||||||
| Riichi Sekiyama | 1 | Third place | ||||||||
| Minoru Kitani | 0 | |||||||||
| Riichi Sekiyama | 1 | |||||||||
| Tamejiro Suzuki | 0 | |||||||||
| Nobuaki Maeda | 1 | |||||||||
Third knockout round
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| Tamejiro Suzuki | 0 | |||||||||
| Minoru Kitani | 1 | |||||||||
| Minoru Kitani | 1 | |||||||||
| Shin Kato | 0 | |||||||||
| Shin Kato | 1 | |||||||||
| Go Seigen | 0 | |||||||||
| Minoru Kitani | 1 | |||||||||
| Nobuaki Maeda | 0 | |||||||||
| Nobuaki Maeda | 1 | |||||||||
| Kensaku Segoe | 0 | |||||||||
| Nobuaki Maeda | 1 | |||||||||
| Katsukiyo Kubomatsu | 0 | Third place | ||||||||
| Katsukiyo Kubomatsu | 1 | |||||||||
| Riichi Sekiyama | 0 | |||||||||
| Shin Kato | 0 | |||||||||
| Katsukiyo Kubomatsu | 1 | |||||||||
Fourth knockout round
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| Riichi Sekiyama | 1 | |||||||||
| Nobuaki Maeda | 0 | |||||||||
| Riichi Sekiyama | 0 | |||||||||
| Go Seigen | 1 | |||||||||
| Go Seigen | 1 | |||||||||
| Minoru Kitani | 0 | |||||||||
| Go Seigen | 1 | |||||||||
| Kensaku Segoe | 0 | |||||||||
| Tamejiro Suzuki | 0 | |||||||||
| Shin Kato | 1 | |||||||||
| Shin Kato | 0 | |||||||||
| Kensaku Segoe | 1 | Third place | ||||||||
| Katsukiyo Kubomatsu | 0 | |||||||||
| Kensaku Segoe | 1 | |||||||||
| Riichi Sekiyama | 1 | |||||||||
| Shin Kato | 0 | |||||||||
Final standings
| Pos. | Player | Pts. |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riichi Sekiyama | 16 |
| 2 | Shin Kato | 15 |
| 3 | Go Seigen | 14 |
| 4 | Nobuaki Maeda | 13 |
| 5 | Minoru Kitani | 9 |
| 6 | Kensaku Segoe | 8 |
| 7 | Katsukiyo Kubomatsu | 7 |
| 8 | Tamejiro Suzuki | 6 |
References
- "honinbo title, 1st edition, 1941". gobase.org. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
- "The First Honinbo Title". xinwengolife.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2 July 2011.