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Pro-Am Honinbo Match
Keywords: Tournament
Each year since 1963 in Japan there has been a match between the amateur and pro Honinbo title holders. The first match in 1963 was played by Harada Minoru (a 5d amateur at the time) and Sakata Eio 9p. The handicap was 2 stones, no komi. This handicap was kept for 18 terms[1] and the amateurs went 5 in 13. After then, the handicap has been adjusted regularly and has varied from a minimum of the amateur just taking black with -5 komi to an enormous 3 stones and -2.5 komi that Harada (again, 34 years later!?) received 1997 against Cho Chikun (and lost). However, Iwai Ryuichi may have started a trend to lower that handicap, winning against O Meien in 2000 with a mere 2 stones and -5 komi. Amateurs would of course love to be able to get the handicap back down to just playing black with komi. Winners of the amateur Honinbo title (not this match) are now automatically awarded 8-dan diplomas. [1] Bob McGuigan: According to the Japanese go yearbook the handicap varied quite a bit from the start. In 1965 Black received 5 points komi (Kikuchi beat Sakata), and it moved around thereafter reaching a low of 3.5 reverse komi and occasionally going up to 2 stones or a little more. Highlights for the amateurs include Nakazono defeating Takemiya by resignation with 5 points reverse komi in 1987 and Harada getting a jigo with Cho Chikun with 5 points reverse komi in 1989. After 1991 the handicaps trended upward hovering around two or three stones with varying amounts of komi or reverse komi as well. I don't know how the handicaps were determined. As far as I know there is no formula. Dave: The komi system is explained on Amateur Honinbo vs Pro Honinbo 2002. This is a copy of the living page "Pro-Am Honinbo Match" at Sensei's Library. ![]() |