Kobayashi Koichi

    Keywords: People

http://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/player/img-2/000001.jpg
Kobayashi Koichi's Nihon Ki-in photo

Kobayashi Koichi (小林 光一, b. 10 September 1952) is a Japanese, professional 9-dan born in Asahikawa, Hokkaido. He is known as being one of the most successful pupils of the Kitani Dojo -- winning over 65-titles and having over 1,200 career wins; for his rivalry in the 1980s and 90s with Cho Chikun, marriage to Kobayashi Reiko, daughter Kobayashi Izumi, for his solid fighting style, and the Kobayashi fuseki. He is named Honorary Kisei, Meijin and Gosei.[1] He in a member of the Nihon Kiin.

Style

In 1986, the Nihon Kiin issued a special publication of Igo Club titled: "A Life Devoted to Go: The Secret of Kobayashi Koichi's Strength." In the book, three essays were written about his style by Ishida Akira, Kato Masao and Rin Kaiho. A short summary of each players' thoughts were as follows[2]:

Ishida Akira: Single-minded devotion to the game and his studies, but his effort and study isn't everything, after all many people put in as much effort and study. Willingness to consider painful variations on a global scale as much as the natural, conventional ones. A strong spiritual strength that doesn't become disheartened by making a small oversight and motivates him to keep playing his hardest. Maintaining a hunger to win, even after experiencing great success in his go career. Studying to refine your game versus studying to win your games. Both lead to one another, but the latter is more difficult because it discards a certain level of pleasure in your games, but Kobayashi is able to take this path.
Kato Masao: Initially, Kobayashi had a certain amount of disinterest in territory, would play slack variations that gave away territory too easily. This would often force him to have to stake his entire game on the center. Another problem was that since his influence could be based on a slack exchange, then it could be less effective than otherwise, making his center claims all the more difficult to win with. But he underwent an astonishing transformation in this regard, switching from moyo to territory in a short space of time. At some point it became clear to him that: "First class players all play a territorial game," or at least they don't undervalue it so lightly.
His calculation was second to only Ishida Yoshio in the Kitani Dojo. He became increasingly skillful at winding-up a game, even in cases where an attack wasn't successful. In time, he had cultivated a strong spirit. He also developed a flexible attacking style (counter to his old, large-moyo style attacking, where everything could be on the line), building sequences that created solid attacks & shapes, but didn't over-invest in the attacks. He acquired the steady patience required to lead this style to the end of the game. However, strong calculating styles all reach their zenith, with the ultimate factor simple being the end of one's youth. So I wonder how long Kobayashi can keep up his current style. I will meet him in the Meijin finals this year to test his strength.
Rin Kaiho: "The player most skilful at winning a won game is Kobayashi." It's an inborn weapon of his, yet we can see its emergence in his games. In his old-style he could fall behind when his attacks failed, he had an overly-optimistic positional judgement, undervalued territory, and he would play thickly even when this caused him to fall behind. He also seemed to run away with his own aggressiveness from time-to-time. From his own realizations of the importance of territory and from the influence of his friends Cho Chikun and Kato Masao, he made a transformation from a large attacking style to a territory one. But then he went too far in the other direction. After some years, he found a good balance.
He developed an outstanding sense of territorial balance, which gave him the freedom from indecisiveness in his games, allowing him to play flexible moves so as long as the result was adequate. He now plays for the averages and for the long-distance race. "You have to run at a steady pace through the opening, the middle game, and the endgame, and pull ahead of the opponent with a little spurt when you near the goal. In my opinion, Kobayashi understands this aspect of go better than anyone else."

Kobayashi Fuseki

Kobayashi became well known for repeatedly playing a particular set of moves in his opening as Black. The set of moves soon became known as the Kobayashi fuseki. They are the formation of Black 3-5-7 below (Black 7 can also be @ A):

[Diagram]

Kobayashi Fuseki

The fuseki is similar to that of the Mini-Chinese fuseki, in that it induces the opponent to play their next move on the right-side, else Black will build a tremendous moyo by playing on the right himself. Once White makes the standard approach at B, Black can play C to further induce an invasion later at D. Another response to White B is Black F. In either case, Black's goal soon turns to threatening a moyo on the bottom, which will lead to a fighting game when White tries to prevent it. Since Kobayashi's role in popularizing the pattern, it has appeared in over 2,500 professional games and has grown to include several sub-variations derived from White's different replies.

Kobayashi's Slump and His Wife's Battle with Cancer

Kobayashi's wife, Reiko, began her battle with cancer in late '94. Although fighting to remain strong in his go for Reiko, Kobayashi eventually succumbed to a slump in mid '95. On March of 1996, Reiko passed away. Hurt that his wife's last memories of him were his feckless tournament results, he vowed to gain another title in her honor. His first international victory of the 10th Fujitsu Cup was this title.

Reporter Kawakuma Hiroyuki: "Most of the fans assembled to watch the public commentary on the final were only too well aware of his feelings. When he appeared on the stage after the game, he was enveloped in thunderous applause. I've never heard such warm applause before."[3]

Although still in mourning, Kobayashi was able to gain his strength back to compete in top level events. He proceeded to earn over 20 additional titles in the followup years.

Titles

  • 1972: 16th Prime Minister's Cup
  • 1972: 4th Shin-Ei
  • 1973: 5th Hayago Championship
  • 1974: 18th Prime Minister's Cup
  • 1975: 7th Shin-Ei
  • 1976: 1st Shinjin-O
  • 1976: 20h Prime Minister's Cup
  • 1976: 2nd Tengen
  • 1977: 2nd Shinjin-O
  • 1978: High Dans Oteai
  • 1982: 14th Hayago Championship
  • 1984: 22nd Judan
  • 1985: 10th Meijin
  • 1985: 11th Tengen
  • 1985: 23rd Judan
  • 1986: 10th Kisei
  • 1986: 12th Tengen
  • 1986: 24th Judan
  • 1986: 2nd China-Japan TV Championship?
  • 1986: 33rd NHK Cup
  • 1987: 11th Kisei
  • 1988: 12th Kisei
  • 1988: 13th Gosei
  • 1988: 13th Meijin
  • 1988: 1st China-Japan Meijin?
  • 1989: 13th Kisei
  • 1989: 14th Gosei
  • 1989: 14th Meijin
  • 1989: 2nd China-Japan Meijin
  • 1990: 14th Kisei
  • 1990: 15th Gosei
  • 1990: 15th Meijin
  • 1990: 3rd China-Japan Meijin
  • 1991: 15th Kisei
  • 1991: 16th Gosei
  • 1991: 16th Meijin
  • 1991: 4th China-Japan Meijin
  • 1992: 16th Kisei
  • 1992: 17th Gosei
  • 1992: 17th Meijin
  • 1993: 17th Kisei
  • 1993: 18th Gosei
  • 1993: 18th Meijin
  • 1993: 6th China-Japan Meijin
  • 1994: 16th Kakusei
  • 1994: 19th Meijin
  • 1995: 14th NEC Cup
  • 1996: 2nd Ricoh Cup
  • 1997: 10th Fujitsu Cup
  • 1997: 19th Kakusei
  • 1997: 30th Hayago Championship
  • 1997: 6th Ryusei
  • 1998: 24th Tengen
  • 1999: 18th NEC Cup
  • 1999: 24th Gosei
  • 1999: 25th Tengen
  • 1999: 37th Judan
  • 1999: 6th Agon Cup
  • 2000: 13th China-Japan Tengen?
  • 2000: 1st China-Japan Agon Cup
  • 2000: 38th Judan
  • 2001: 23rd Kakusei
  • 2001: 26th Gosei
  • 2002: 11th Ryusei
  • 2002: 27th Gosei
  • 2003: 12th Ryusei
  • 2004: 1st Internet World Go Open?
  • 2004: 21st NHK Cup
  • 2004: 23rd NEC Cup

Rank Advancement

  • 1967: 1-dan
  • 1967: 2-dan
  • 1968: 3-dan
  • 1969: 4-dan
  • 1970: 5-dan
  • 1972: 6-dan
  • 1974: 7-dan
  • 1976: 8-dan
  • 1979: 9-dan

Pupils[4]


Notes

[1] Source: Kobayashi Koichi names Honorary Triple Crown!, [ext] http://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/english/topics/12/topics2012_09.htm#120928c
[2] A full translation of these essays can be found in Go World, Iss. 46 pp. 38-47.
[3] Source: Go World, Iss. 81 p. 8.
[4] Source: 1996 Kido Yearbook.

  • Go World published over 150-commentaries of his games.
  • In 2005, Kobayashi achieved his 1,200th career win.
  • Kobayashi and his daughter, Izumi, played together and won the 2nd Ricoh Cup pair go tournament in 1996.
  • On 29 July 2004, he faced his daughter at the 43rd Judan tournament, making the game the first ever father-daughter pro tournament game. They both played a fighting game with him winning as White in the end.
  • The English commentary book, "Tournament Go 1992," called 1992, "The Year of Kobayashi." In this year, it is difficult to find a title match in which Kobayashi didn't play as either a title holder or challenger.

See Also


This is a copy of the living page "Kobayashi Koichi" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2014 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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