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Go Seigen
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==Matches against the Honinbos== During the 1950s, apart from playing the ''jubango'', Go Seigen participated in many three-game special matches against the Honinbo title holders and other notable players. His opponents in these matches included many illustrious names, such as Hashimoto Utaro, Sakata Eio, Takagawa Shukaku, and the ex-Honinbo Iwamoto Kaoru. Go Seigen was also matched against [[Kubouchi Shuchi]], a player from the [[Kansai Ki-in]] who had a strong individual style. In these matches, Go Seigen demonstrated an equal dominance over his rivals. He had an excellent record against Takagawa, whose main achievement was winning the Honinbo title for nine consecutive years. In the period between 1951 and 1960, Go won 22 of their games, and Takagawa won 13. By 1960, Sakata had emerged as Go Seigen's most serious rival, but the results of their games between 1950 and 1960 told the same kind of story. Go had 14 wins to Sakata's 9 and one ''jigo'', or draw.<ref name=SEN/> At the time the games were played, there was no Komi (in modern era, Black's initial advantage of moving first is offset by komi of 6.5–7.5 points). Because Go Seigen held white most of the time, his record is even more impressive than it appears.<ref name=SEN/> ===Notable game against Honinbo Shusai=== [[Image:GovsShusai.jpg|thumb|right|180px|A snapshot of the match. Left is [[Honinbo Shusai]]. (Kifu of the infamous match [[:Image:Goseigenvshoninboshusai.gif|here]])]] In 1933, Go Seigen won a special [[Nihon Ki-in]] tournament to have the opportunity to play a game against [[Honinbo Shusai]] [[Meijin (go)|Meijin]]. At that juncture, Honinbo Shusai embodied the highest go authority and tradition in Japan. In addition to inheriting the hereditary title of [[Honinbo]], he was also the holder of the prestigious position of Meijin. The game between Go Seigen and Shusai was thus highly anticipated. The newspapers thought it would be a good business idea to publicize the game as a confrontation between Japan and China. As a consequence, Go Seigen became the unfortunate victim of rising Japanese nationalism. Before and during the game, he was often harassed and threatened by nationalists, and the windows of his house were smashed in. The game itself began on October 16, 1933, with Go Seigen taking black and lasted for a period of almost three months. During the opening of the game, Go Seigen caused quite a sensation by playing his first three moves at 3-3 ([[Go terms#Board positions|San San]]), 4-4 ([[Go terms#Board positions|Hoshi]]) and center ([[Tengen (Go)|Tengen]]) points. Such a fuseki had never before been witnessed in a professional game, and the newspapers covering the game recorded top sales all throughout the match. This marked one of the seminal events that pushed the "Shin Fuseki" movement into the mainstream.<ref name=AUK/> {| |- | style="border: solid thin; padding: 2px;" | {{goban <!--A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P Q R S T--> | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | <!--19--> | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |b9| | | | <!--18--> | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |b1| | <!--17--> | | |w2| x|14| | | | | x| | | | | |w6|b7| | <!--16--> | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |w8| | | <!--15--> | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | <!--14--> | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | <!--13--> | | |20| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | <!--12--> | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | <!--11--> | | | |13| | |21| | |b5| | | | | | x| | | <!--10--> | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | <!--9--> | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | <!--8--> | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | <!--7--> | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |10| | <!--6--> | | | | | | | | | | |19|15| | | | | | | <!--5--> | | | |b3| | | | | |11| |18| | | | x| | | <!--4--> | | | | | | | | | | |17|12| |16| |w4| | | <!--3--> | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | <!--2--> | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | <!--1--> <!--A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P Q R S T-->|20}} |- | style="text-align:center" | Go Seigen (black) v. [[Honinbo Shusai]], [[shinfuseki]] opening |} The match ended with Honinbo Shusai winning by two points. However, his victory was surrounded by controversies. At the time of the match, the tradition dictated that the player holding white had the right to adjourn the game at any time, and there was no sealing of moves before adjournment. This meant that Shusai, being the nominally stronger player and thus holding white, could adjourn the match whenever it was his turn to move and continue deliberating at home before the match resumed. Shusai shamelessly abused this privilege by adjourning the game more than a dozen times, all at his turn to play. For instance, on the eighth day of the match, Shusai played first, and Go Seigen replied within two minutes, Shusai then thought for three and a half hours, only to adjourn the game. It was no secret that Shusai, during adjournments, discussed and studied the game with his students to come up with the best moves. Go Seigen was therefore put into an especially adverse position for having to take on the entire Honinbo establishment.<ref name=AUK>{{cite web|url=https://www.usgo.org/files/pdf/go-seigen-book.pdf|title=Analysed Games of Go Seigen|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808162306/https://www.usgo.org/sites/default/files/pdf/go-seigen-book.pdf|archive-date=8 August 2020}}</ref> Shusai had been trailing all throughout the match when, on the 13th day of the game, he made a brilliant move (W160) that in a single stroke brought him back into the game and guaranteed his victory. However, it was widely rumored that it was not Shusai but one of his students—[[Maeda Nobuaki]]—who authored this ingenious move. Even Maeda himself hinted that this move was indeed his idea. Years later, when presented with the opportunities to debunk this rumor, he neither confirmed nor denied it. The game became known as the [[The game of the century (Go)|game of the century]].<ref name=AUK/> {| |- | style="border: solid thin; padding: 2px;" | {{Goban <!--A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P Q R S T--> | | | | | b| | | | | | | | | | b| | | | <!--19--> | | b| b| b| b| w| w| | | | | | w| w| b| | | | <!--18--> | | b| w| | w| b| | w| w| b| w| | | | | | b| | <!--17--> | | w| w| w| w| | b| b| w| x| w| | | b| | w| b| | <!--16--> | | | | | | | b| w| w| w| b| b| b| b| b| w| | | <!--15--> | | | | | | b| | b| | b| | | w| b| w| | | b| <!--14--> | | | | | | | | b| | | | | w| w| b| b| b| | <!--13--> | | w| w| | | | w| | | | | | | | w| w| | w| <!--12--> | w| | | w| w| | | w| | | | | | | | w| | | <!--11--> | | w| w| b| b| b| b| | | b| | | | w| | b| w| | <!--10--> | b| | b| | b| | | | | | b| | | | | b| w| | <!--9--> | | | b| | b| | |wT|bT| | | b| | b| | b| b| w| <!--8--> | | | w| b| w| w| b| | | | | w| | b| b| w| b| w| <!--7--> | | | w| | w| b| | | | | | | w| b| w| w| w| b| <!--6--> | | | w| | w| b| | | | | b| b| b| w| | | | b| <!--5--> | | w| b| b| b| b| b| b| b| b| w| w| b| | w| x| b| | <!--4--> | | | w| w| b| w| w| b| w| w| b| w| w| w| | w| w| b| <!--3--> | | | | w| w| b| w| w| | | | | | | | w| b| b| <!--2--> | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | <!--1--> <!--A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P Q R S T-->|20}} |- | style="text-align:center" | Go Seigen (black) v. [[Honinbo Shusai]], W160=<math>\triangle</math>, B161=<math>\triangle</math> |} Five years later in 1938, Go Seigen's great friend [[Kitani Minoru]] also played a notable game against Honinbo Shusai (see ''[[The Master of Go]]'' by [[Yasunari Kawabata]]). Due in no small part to having witnessed the treatment Go Seigen received from [[Shusai]] in their previous match, Kitani Minoru demanded that the moves be sealed before each adjournment. Initially, Shusai's camp opposed this, but Kitani vehemently insisted, and Shusai eventually gave in. Kitani won that game by a comfortable margin of five points.<ref name=AUK/>
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