Wu Qingyuan 6-dan won two of the preliminary rounds, but failed to place in the top three in the other two, so his final score of 12 points only earned him 3rd place in the entire tournament.
The two top scorers in the preliminary rounds were Sekiyama 6-dan with 16 points, and Kato 7-dan with 15 points. They tied in their final match of 6 games, each winning three games and losing three games. The rules stated that in this case, the player with the higher score in the preliminary rounds would win, so the title of Honinbo was awarded to Sekiyama.
As promised to Kato, the six games of the final match were played without Dum, unlike the games in the preliminary rounds.
To celebrate the inauguration of the first Honinbo, the Japanese Baduk Association set up free commentaries on the Honinbo match, and free simultaneous games [games in which one professional plays against many amateurs, each on a separate board-- editor].
Starting with the second competition in 1943, two years later, Dum of four and a half points was also used in the games of the final match.
In the history of the Honinbo competition, four players, Takanawa, Sakata, Ishita and Cho Chi-hoon, each won the title more than five times in a row, hearkening back to the old days of the hereditary title, when a player usually remained Honinbo for the rest of his life, once he earned the title. Takanawa and Cho Chi-hoon, in particular, each won the title 11 years in a row.
The history of the 55 Honinbo competitions is a symbol of the rise of meritocracy in 20th century civilization.