Ichiriki Ryo

Ichiriki Ryo (一力遼, b. 10 June 1997) is a Japanese professional 9-dan of the Nihon Kiin and one of the top players. He was a pupil of So Kofuku.

On the 2024-01-02 rating list, Ichiriki is now #28 in the world and 2 in Japan (behind only Iyama Yuta).

In a game of the 4th Yugen Cup (played 2010-08-09), when he was still an Insei, Ichiriki beat Ishida Atsushi 9d in only 125 moves. In another game of the same tournament (played 2010-10-04) he beat Kono Rin (B+0.5).

Ichiriki's 2013 record, as of August 15th, is 20 wins & 2 losses. Of those wins is a 16-win streak, in which he defeated several notable players (including O Rissei, Nakamura Shinya, Yamashiro Hiroshi, Michael Redmond, Cho Chikun, Kono Rin and Yuki Satoshi). He won the 4th Okage defeating Anzai Nobuaki, and reached the Agon Cup semifinals losing to Shida Tatsuya; then, in November, he won his first official title, the 8th Hiroshima Arumi Cup.

Ichiriki started 2014 with 11 consecutive wins (as of 2014-03-27), extending his winning streak to 16 games; as of 2014-03-21 he entered the Kisei League (at 16 years, 9 months, youngest ever). He won the 1st Globis Cup (U20 international championship) on 2014-05-11.

In 2016, he beat Yamashita Keigo, and challenged Iyama Yuta for the Tengen, making him the second teenager to challenge for a big title. In addition, he beat Iyama Yuta to win the Ryusei.

In 2017, he challenged Iyama for the Oza and Tengen but lost all the games. He played 3 games in the 2017 Chinese A League as a guest player of Team Chongqing, but lost them all. In 2018 he made his debut in 2-day title matches with the Kisei, but again Iyama Yuta proved too strong.

In 2020, he challenged Hane Naoki for the Gosei title and won 3-0.He also challenged Iyama Yuta for the Tengen and won 3-2.

In international competitions, he has had solid results. 2020 in particular has been a good year. He reached the third round (quarterfinals) of the MLily Cup before losing to Xie Ke. He reached the quarterfinals of the Samsung Cup after beating Gu Zihao and Shin Minjun, before losing to Xie Erhao. He beat Mi Yuting, An Sungjoon and Tao Xinran in the Ing Cup before losing to Xie Ke in the semifinals. All told, he tied for 8th in the international win-loss ratings with a score of 5-3.

In 2023 he won Honinbo title, puting Iyama Yuta 11 consecutive titles strike to an end.It was his first Honinbo title

Rank Promotion

• 2010-09: 1-dan, qualified as the 1st place insei
• 2012-02-01: 2-dan
• 2013: 3-dan
• 2014: 4 dan
• 2014: 7 dan (on 21 March, entering the 39th Kisei League, beating Cho U)
• 2017-11: 8 dan (150 wins as 7 dan)
• 2020: 9 dan

bugcat: I seem to remember hearing it suggested, some time in that 2018-20 period, that he was the world's strongest 8p.

Titles

• 2012-10-28: 9th Nakano Cup d. Son Makoto
• 2013-05-16: 4th Okage d. Anzai Nobuaki
• 2013-11-17: 8th Hiroshima Arumi Cup d. Fujita Akihiko
• 2014-05-11: 1st Globis Cup d. Kyo Kagen
• 2014-05-16: 5th Okage d. Seto Taiki
• 2014: 39th Shinjin O d. Shida Tatsuya
• 2016: 25th Ryusei d. Iyama Yuta
• 2018: 25th Agon Cup d. Shibano Toramaru
• 2018 Ryusei d. Motoki Katsuya
• 2019 Ryusei d. Ueno Asami
• 2020 Gosei d. Hane Naoki
• 2020 Tengen d. Iyama Yuta
• 2022 Kisei d. Iyama Yuta
• 2023 Honinbo d. Iyama Yuta

Runners-up

• 2016: 42nd Tengen to Iyama Yuta
• 2017: 65th Oza to Iyama Yuta
• 2017: 43rd Tengen to Iyama Yuta.
• 2018: 42nd Kisei to Iyama Yuta

Career Statistics

http://igokisen.web.fc2.com/jp/japan.html

valerio: igokisen records are unofficial. Official records are in the table above.

Fun Facts

• He is a Waseda University alumni (where Aragaki Miki, Fujiwara Akiko, Shimosaka Miori and Aoba Kaori graduated)

Links

• Nihon Ki-in player profile

Videos

• 24 minutes long interview in May 2023, a week before the first game of the 78th Honinbou title match. "Can he get his first Honinbou title before it's too late?"^[1] YouTube link
• He was a guest in Ponnuki Jouhoukyoku episode in August 2023 with Moro Arisa and Yokotsuka Riki hosting the show. YouTube link

Pictures

ichiriki ryo winning his first honinbo jul2023 (Image credit: Foxwq.com)

liao yuanhe ichiriki ryo mlily 2023 (Image credit: Foxwq.com)

ichiriki ryo mlily 2023 (Image credit: Foxwq.com)

ichiriki ryo mlily 2023 (Image credit: Foxwq.com)

ichiriki ryo lian xiao mlily 2023 (Image credit: Foxwq.com)

ichiriki ryo asian games 2023 (Image credit: Foxwq.com)

Notes

[1] The 78th Honinbou is the last Honinbou as a Major title in Japan. The title match won't be best of 7 anymore. YouTube Link to Pro Go Baduk Weiqi Podcast episode https://youtube.com/live/X99LX6DFDWE