The 66th Honinbo

Honinbo Tournament

The Honinbo is a Go competition.-Outline:It is the oldest Go title in Japan. Sponsored by Mainichi Shimbun, the Honinbo pays out ¥32 million . The holder is challenged by whoever wins the round robin league. Players can get into the round robin league by going through many preliminary tournaments...

began league play on 7 October 2010 and completed on July 21, 2011. Title holder Yamashita Keigo retained his title over challenger Hane Naoki by a score of 4-3. Yamashita Keigo won the first three games, Hane Naoki the next three, and Yamashita Keigo the final game.

Preliminary tournament

The preliminary tournament started on 8 April 2010. Hane Naoki, Iyama Yuta, Takao Shinji, and Cho U

Cho U

Cho U Kisei, Oza is a professional Go player. He currently ranks 6th in the most titles won by a Japanese professional; his NEC Cup win in 2011 put him past his teacher Rin Kaiho and Norimoto Yoda. Cho is the only player in history to have held five of the top seven major titles...

 retained their place in the Honinbo league from the 65th Honinbo. These players were joined by the winners of the preliminary tournament: Cho Sonjin

Cho Sonjin

Cho Sonjin is a professional Go player.Cho spent 12 years in South Korea before deciding to leave and become a professional in Japan, accomplishing his goal two years later. He was promoted to 9 dan in 1998. In 1999, he defeated Cho Chikun in the Honinbo, ending Chikun's 10 year run with the...

, Seto Taiki, O Rissei

O Rissei

Ō Rissei is a professional Go player in Japan.- Biography :Rissei was born in Taiwan and moved to Japan when he was 13 years old; he would become professional the following year. His instructor is Kano Yoshinori.- Titles and runners-up :Ranks #10-t in total amount of titles in Japan.-External...

, and Kobayashi Satoru.

League play

League play commenced on 7 October after the preliminaries, which finished on 2 September. Hane Naoki, who lost the Honinbo title to Yamashita Keigo the year prior, won the right to challenge Keigo for the title.

Player	H.N.	I.Y.	T.S.	C.U.	O.R.	K.S.	C.S.	S.T.	Record	Notes
Hane Naoki	–	B+R	W+R	X	W+0.5	B+R	W+R	B+R	6–1	Challenger
Iyama Yuta	X	–	B+R	X	X	W+R	B+R	W+R	4–3
Takao Shinji	X	X	–	B+1.5	X	X	W+R	X	2–5	Eliminated
Cho U Cho U Cho U Kisei, Oza is a professional Go player. He currently ranks 6th in the most titles won by a Japanese professional; his NEC Cup win in 2011 put him past his teacher Rin Kaiho and Norimoto Yoda. Cho is the only player in history to have held five of the top seven major titles...	W+R	B+0.5	X	–	B+3.5	X	B+R	X	4–3
O Rissei O Rissei Ō Rissei is a professional Go player in Japan.- Biography :Rissei was born in Taiwan and moved to Japan when he was 13 years old; he would become professional the following year. His instructor is Kano Yoshinori.- Titles and runners-up :Ranks #10-t in total amount of titles in Japan.-External...	X	W+R	B+R	X	–	X	X	B+R	3–4	Eliminated
Kobayashi Satoru	X	X	W+2.5	B+4.5	W+R	–	X	X	3–4	Eliminated
Cho Sonjin Cho Sonjin Cho Sonjin is a professional Go player.Cho spent 12 years in South Korea before deciding to leave and become a professional in Japan, accomplishing his goal two years later. He was promoted to 9 dan in 1998. In 1999, he defeated Cho Chikun in the Honinbo, ending Chikun's 10 year run with the...	X	X	X	X	B+R	W+11.5	–	X	2–5	Eliminated
Seto Taiki	X	X	W+R	B+R	X	B+3.5	W+R	–	4–3

Finals

Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	T
Yamashita Keigo (Honinbo Honinbo Tournament The Honinbo is a Go competition.-Outline:It is the oldest Go title in Japan. Sponsored by Mainichi Shimbun, the Honinbo pays out ¥32 million . The holder is challenged by whoever wins the round robin league. Players can get into the round robin league by going through many preliminary tournaments... )	W+7.5	B+R	W+1.5				W+4.5	4
Hane Naoki (Challenger)				W+0.5	B+R	W+7.5		3