A later part of the article discusses the Atomic Bomb Game.
Finally, against all odds, it was decided to hold a proper Honinbo match again in the summer of 1946 even though the war was proceeding badly. Iwamoto became Hashimoto’s challenger and because of the danger of bombing in Tokyo it was decided to hold the games in Hiroshima. Iwamoto playing White won the first game. Then came an air raid warning and the rumour that a new type of large bomb might be dropped on Iwakuni naval base nearby, so the second game was moved to the outskirts of the city. It started on August 4th and continued into the 5th and 6th. The players sat down to continue the game on the morning of August 6th. It was 8 o’clock, the stones already played had been laid out and Iwamoto settled down to think while Hashimoto strolled in the garden. Suddenly there was a bright flash, 30 seconds later an enormous boom, followed 5 or 6 minutes later by a terrible blast which shattered the windows, scattered the go stones and blew the doors of the house in. The first atomic bomb had just been dropped. The players survived, shielded from the full effects by a low hill. The game was almost over so they replaced the stones and played on. Iwamoto knew his position was about and eventually accepted defeat at about midday. Still unware of what had happened, the enormity of the tragedy gradually sank in as streams of casualties and homeless began to pour out of the devastated city centre past the house they were in.
The third game and the rest of the series were postponed until the war ended shortly afterwards. Then the go world began the painful process of reconstruction. The postponed Honinbo Title match resumed in November 1946. Under rather pressed circumstances the players agreed to play two games in the first week, rest for a week and play the final two games the following week. The result of 3-3 and in the case of split decision the Kin was to adjudicate. Many people found this result unsatisfactory so in August 1947 the series was restarted. Iwamoto won the next two games and thus became the Third Honinbo and the first title holder of the postwar era.
By the way, this issue also has an article on pg. 25 called Forum – 5 Points Komi? which contains some kind of mathematical justification – which is above my comprehension – that five points komi is too low, ending “The conclusion therefore, is that the 5 points komi adopted by the BGA, and the 5½ adopted by Japan are inadequate. I think that the BGA should lead the world in advocating 6½ or 7 points komi.”
I take this comparison to Japanese komi as implying that Japanese scoring was in use, rather than the AGA rules currently – to my great regret – common in this country. 6.5 point komi didn’t become mainstream in Japanese professional Go for almost another twenty years.