Yamashiro Hiroshi

Yamashiro Hiroshi (山城 宏, b.1958) is a Nihon Ki-in Nagoya branch professional, 9 dan in 1985. Pupil of Shimamura Toshihiro. Miyagawa Fumihiko is his pupil.

Yamashiro grew up with Go, as he became a professional in 1972. He would eventually join the Nagoya branch of the Nihon Ki-in. He became a 9 dan in 1985 after winning the Okan. He has challenged for many of Japan's biggest titles (the 16th Kisei, 32nd Oza, 18th Tengen and 41st, 42nd and 48th Honinbo). His attempt at the Kisei in 1992 failed by the narrowest margin; he lost the 7th game by 0.5 point to Kobayashi Koichi after achieving a good position in the middlegame.

Yamashiro obtained 1,000 wins in his career on 2008-07-07, the tenth player of the Nihon Ki-in to have done so.

In 2010, Yamashiro won the 51st Okan for the 15th time (the Okan is the only title he's won).

Style: Rin Kaiho said in 1992 that Yamashiro's old style "was a steady, territorial player, but recently he sets up large moyos, and he's also flexible enough to switch from moyos to territory." (Tournament Go 1992)

His 2015 game as White against Takemiya Masaki was reviewed (in the same year) by Nick Sibicky. As one might assume, Yamashiro was not the focus of the study.

Kido Prizes

See also the dedicated article on Kido Prize winners.

• 1973: New Star
• 1978: Outstanding
• 1981: Most Wins (38)
• 1981: Best Winning Percentage (79.2%)
• 1981: Best Winning Streak (12)
• 1983: Best Winning Streak (11)
• 1984: Fighting Spirit Prize
• 1986: Technique Prize
• 2010: Best Winning Percentage (80.0%)

Results in the Okan

The Okan is a tournament reserved for members of the Nagoya branch of the Nihon Ki-in, in which the final is decided by a single game between the incumbent and the challenger.

Yamashiro has reached the Okan final 26 times. He was the fifth player to win the tournament since its creation in 1950, after Sakai Toshio, Shimamura Toshihiro, Iwata Tatsuaki and Hane Yasumasa.

As well as often facing Hane Yasumasa in his earlier appearances in the final, in later years Yasumasa's son Hane Naoki became Yamashiro's usual opponent for the title.

Video Appearances

• Drop-in commentator on the first day of Game 1 of the 77th Honinbo title match. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxRxVZkIF3g