Cho Chikun - Victories and Defeats (1973–1979)

Victories and Defeats (1973–1979)

Cho won the 5th Shin-Ei after beating Yasumasa Hane, who was an 8 dan at the time. Second prize was awarded to him after scoring an 83.75% winning percentage in the 5+ dan Oteai. He then took tenth place in the 11th Asahi Pro Best Ten tournament. He was also promoted to 6 dan in 1973 with a good record of 30 wins and 11 losses.

His most significant accomplishment of 1974 was qualifying for the 22nd Nihon Ki-in Championship, especially since this came after being beaten out of the Honinbo preliminaries by Takaho Kojima. He beat Kazuo Sometani, Masao Kato, Yoshio Ishida, and Rin Kaiho. His win against Ishida was something strange, as it came a week after Ishida achieved Meijin-Honinbo. He didn't make it past the second game in the 18th Prime Minister Cup, which again went to Kobayashi. He then took revenge on Kobayashi by beating him in the 6th Shin-Ei. He was awarded a Special Merit Prize by Kido magazine after his most impressive record thus far of 33 wins and 9 loses.

His career skyrocketed when Kido magazine named him the Number One Young Player. His power and composure shone through his strong endgame. He barely lost out in the final of the 22nd Nihon Ki-In Championship to Eio Sakata after making a critical mistake that led to his resignation. This loss fueled him to take the 12th Asahi Pro Best Ten undefeated, which made him look incredibly powerful, as all the opponents were 9-dan. The victory made him the youngest title holder ever in Japan. He lost in the second round of the 30th Honinbo preliminary to Toshihiro Shimamura 9-dan. Even though he had a second chance to take the match against Masao Kato—due to a triple ko—he still lost. He was on a roll in the 1st Tengen league, until he was defeated by Shuzo Ohira. He didn't get far in the rest of the tournaments that year. His spirits were high after he was promoted to 7 dan in late October, only to be crushed a month later when his teacher, Kitani, died. His record was a formidable 39 wins and 16 losses for the year.

1976 was a year of change, especially for Cho. Having to cope with the loss of his teacher, he regained his power and went on to having a very successful year. He began the year by winning the 1st Asahi Top Eight Players tournament. Then the title system was greatly altered—the Asahi Pro Best Ten and Top Eight Players tournaments were disbanded, being replaced by the Kisei and Gosei tournaments. This was unfortunate for Cho, since he couldn't defend his first 2 titles. The Tengen was enhanced after the Nihon Ki-in Championship was combined with the Kansai Ki-in Championship. Now along with the new year, Cho had to win new titles. He won a place in the 2nd Meijin league this year, before failing to get into the 32nd Honinbo league. The hard start of the year got only worse after losing in the 2nd round of the Tengen, and losing in the preliminaries for the 1st Gosei. Things started looking up after he reached the semi-final of the 20th Prime Minister Cup, only to fall after losing in the 2nd round of the 1st Shinjin-O. He then went back to his old self, getting four wins in a row to reach the 26th Oza final. He went on to win his first Oza title, beating Hideo Otake 2–1. He reached the 15th Judan challenger final, where he lost to Eio Sakata. Although having a not so great record in tournaments, he won prizes from Kido for having the highest number of wins (46) and for having the best technique. Along with the 46 wins, he lost 18 times.

1977 was a bad year for Cho. He lost in the preliminaries of the 2nd Meijin league, the 15th Judan, and the 16th Judan. He then lost his only title, the Oza, in November. The only tournament he would win this year was the 8th Shin-Ei, which was followed by another loss to rival Kobayashi in the 2nd Shinjin-O final.

Cho looked much better in 1978. He won the 7-dan section of the 3rd Kisei before being promoted to 8 dan in the summer. He took 3rd place in the Meijin League. Even through some success of the year, he still couldn't make it through the preliminaries of the 33rd Honinbo. He participated in the 16th Judan, the 3rd Tengen, and the 26th Oza preliminaries.

1979 was a year of change for Cho. He finally broke through to the 34th Honinbo finals before doing okay in the 16thJudan and 3rd Tengen leagues. He took the 4th Gosei league and title in August. The year ended on a high, after getting the best Oteai score of the year.