The last play was Black 237.
It was the last of its author's novels to be translated by Edward Seidensticker, having an English language release in 1972 (**). The narrator of this novel is likely inspired by the author's own experience as a newspaper reporter, in which he chronicled an event that was similar to this novel's main storyline. That narrator (*), Uragami, notes that "the match ended...on the afternoon of December 4, 1938. The last play was Black 237." The novel opens by referencing the death of the title character, which came shortly after his retirement match in which he lost to OtakÃ©. For ten points, this is what novel by Yasunari Kawabata about the titular game, a semi-fictional account of a match between Honinbo Shusai and Minoru Kitani? 
It was the last of its author's novels to be translated by Edward Seidensticker, having an English language release in 1972 (**).
The Master of Go (or Meijin)