Kitani Minoru
Kitani Minoru (木谷実, 25 January 1909 - December 1975) was a professional Japanese Go player. Kitani had reached the rank of 9-dan. Kitani was a student of Suzuki Tamejiro. Teacher of famous Japanese professionals including: Ishida Yoshio, Kato Masao, Takemiya Masaki and many others (see Kitani Dojo).
In 1934, Kitani won 10 straight best of three matches against other top players in a win and continue tournament run by Yomiuri. His opponents were all top players, including Go Seigen, and the matches were ended when the supply of opponents was exhausted. http://www.msoworld.com/mindzine/news/orient/go/history/newspaper.html#kitani
In 2010 nominated to the Nihon KiIn Hall Of Fame.
His daughter, Kitani Reiko, was a pro player. His wife, Kitani Miharu, wrote a book about the Kitani Dojo.
There is a more extensive biography at Jan van der Steen's website.
Also try a search at MSO site.
Kitani made three major contributions to the Go:
- innovator in fuseki (as one of the pioneers of the New Fuseki Era) and joseki
- creator of numerous joseki (see Kitani Joseki)
- mentor of many top level professionals from Japan and Korea (Kitani dojo).
See also: