Shibano Toramaru

Shibano Toramaru (芝野 虎丸, born 9 November 1999) is a Japanese Go professional who won the prestigious Meijin tournament in 2019 at age 19, becoming the first teenager to achieve one of the seven major Japanese titles.

Shibano in 2019
In this Japanese name, the surname is Shibano.

Early life

Shibano Toramaru was born 9 November 1999 in Kanagawa prefecture, Kantō region, Japan. He plays for the Tokyo branch of the Japanese Go Association (also known as the Nihon Ki-in) and is ranked as a 9 dan professional.[1]

He says that he started to play Go under the influence of his parents who were fans of Hikaru no Go (ヒカルの碁, lit. "Hikaru's Go"), a Japanese manga series based on the game.[2]

Career

Shibano became a shodan in September 2014 and rose quickly after scoring notable successes. In 2015 he progressed to two dan following 30 professional wins and in 2016 he became a three dan. In 2019 he achieved professional nine dan rank after securing the Meijin title.

In September 2017, as a result of winning the Ryusei tournament in August (where he beat Yo Seiki 7P [余正麒]), he was promoted to seven dan. In the same year Shibano became the youngest ever player to win a seat in the Honinbo league.[3] At 17 years 11 months, he became the youngest player to win a seat in the Meijin League. In October 2017 Shibano also won the 42nd Shinjin-O (新人王), beating Son Makoto 5P [孫喆].[4]

Shibano's successes continued in 2018, including winning the 4th Japan-China Ryusei tournament in April (beating Ke Jie 9P) and coming second in the 25th Agon Cup in October (to Ichiriki Ryō 8P [一力遼]).

On 8 October 2019, Shibano won the Japanese Meijin tournament, defeating Cho U (张栩) 4-1, becoming the first teenage player to have won one of the seven major Japanese titles and achieving the rank of 9P.[5]

Recently he has also won two other major Japanese titles: the Oza and the Judan.

References
  1. "Shibano Toramaru, players, of Go the Nihon Ki-in". The Nihon Ki-in. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  2. "気鋭に迫る：昨年は全棋士中勝率１位　囲碁棋士・芝野虎丸（１６） - 毎日新聞" (日本語). Mainichi Shimbun, 25 May 2018.
  3. "The Power Report (1 of 2): Shibano sets Meijin League record; 73rd Honinbo League; Xie takes lead in Women's Honinbo «  American Go E-Journal". www.usgo.org. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  4. "John Power Report «  American Go E-Journal". www.usgo.org. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  5. "Toramaru Shibano becomes first teenage go player to win major Japanese title « the japan times". www.japantimes.co.jp. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
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