Original address: https://kahoku.news/articles/20220428khn000013.html
Hara: A 36-year history at Corona, a go-kaijo related to Ryoki Ichiriki Sendai
Excerpt from: Hebei new version
Author: Kazunari Ozawa
The Sendai Honmachi Go Club, a Go clubhouse in Honmachi, Aoba-ku, Sendai City, ended its 36-year history in June this year. Because it was impossible to play face-to-face matches due to the impact of the epidemic, the number of Go clubs used was sharply reduced. This is the place where professional chess players practiced their chess skills as a child, and many people concerned expressed regret.
"This Go club is where my dreams began, because of everyone's support, so I can get the title", yili Liao came to the Club in November 2020 after winning his first title, "Qisheng". Local people are very welcome: "I hope to become a top chess player", "many members know that when I was a child, I was very happy to see Ichili Liao in Sendai". And Yili Liao also lived up to the expectations of climbing to the peak of Japanese Go.
According to the records recorded by the club, in January 2005, when the child of Sendai City Katahira Junior High School was in the first grade, he won the championship in the amateur 3-dan group of the monthly competition, and after a month, he won the championship in the 4-dan group, and in April he won the second place in the 5-dan group, and in May he won the championship in the 5-dan group, and he maintained excellent results successively.
After that, in June, he participated in the Hebei Junior Girls Go Selection Group and won the championship, and in the second grade of elementary school, he represented Miyagi Prefecture in the national convention. In October of the same year, he became a student at the Japanese Chess Academy, and then became a professional chess player in June 2010.
"It's a great honor to train professional chess players from Miyagi Prefecture, and there are still a lot of top amateur chess players, which is really a very powerful thing." Masanobu Menda, who has been the director for 11 years in August 2021, said with a smile.
Chess fan base in Miyagi Prefecture "there is no place to play chess"
Founded in September 1986, the Sendai Honmachi Go Club is also the bureau of the Miyagi Prefectural Go Federation of the Japanese Chess Academy, and plays a key role in the operation of official tournaments. It is also the venue of the Hebei Young Girls Go Conference sponsored by Hebei New Newspaper and the Hebei New Year Go Conference.
There are about 120 seats, which is also the activity place for many Go enthusiasts. About 100 people compete in the monthly Go tournament, and white-hot battles are fought on the board. At the same time, an introductory classroom was opened for retired employees, which made a great contribution to expanding the popularity of Go fans.
Masanori Menda said that more than 100 people came to the clubhouse a day when it was most lively, but now the number of people affected by the epidemic has dropped sharply. Although efforts were made to prevent the spread of droplets on the board, there were often days when only a few people came to the clubhouse, and finally had to choose the decision to close the Go club.
Masanori Menda said helplessly: "I would like to keep the club, but I still can't win the epidemic, and to be honest, I am still quite remorseful." At the end of March, the Sendai Go Center, another Go clubhouse in downtown Sendai City, also demolished its façade, and chess fans worried that "there is no place to play chess."