Iyama Survived First Kadoban

The 36th Meijin reached its fifth game on October 13. Yamashita Keigo, the challenger, was leading the series by 3-1. One more victory and Yamashita will be the new Meijin. At the fifth game, Yamashita played black while Iyama Yuta Meijin played white.

                                         Iyama handled his fujite.

The game quickly entered a fighting position when Iyama attacked black's formation on the left side. The attack gave white a potential area at the bottom of the board, while black got a strong thickness at the right side. Day 1 ended with Iyama Yuta sealed his move for white 64.

Day 2 continued with Iyama playing on the right side. Yamashita countered it by attacking white's position at the bottom. Yamashita successfully invade white's area and switched to the right side, attacking white's stones. Iyama showed a good surviving skill and survived black's attack. Yamashita resigned after Iyama played white 182. With the victory, Iyama closed the gap by 1 point. Yamashita is still leading the series by 3-2 and Iyama is still under a must win situation at the next game if he wants to defend his title. The sixth game will be played on October 27-28.


Iyama survived the fifth game.


Will Yamashita capture the title at the next game? Or will it go all the way to the seventh game?

Here is the game record:
Iyama Yuta (white) vs. Yamashita Keigo (black). Result: W+R

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