Go Seigen

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Go Seigen

Go Seigen (呉清源 Go Seigen) (Wu Qingyuan (Wú Qīngyuán or Wu2 Qing1 yuan2) in Chinese) is considered one of the strongest players of the Twentieth Century and, by many, one of the strongest players of all time. Takagawa said that the twentieth century produced one go genius, Go Seigen.

Table of contents

Minimal Details

The jubango

Here is Go's record in jubango:

  1. 1933-34 - Kitani Minoru 5p (Wu 5p): 3-3 (started even, abandoned after Kitani was promoted to 6p; handicap not changed)
  2. 1939-40 - Kitani Minoru 7p (Wu 7p, 7p was the highest rank at the time, there were five 7p): 6-4 (started even, Kitani was beaten down to sen-ai-sen handicap after 6 games (5-1))
  3. 1941-42 - Karigane Junichi 8p (Wu 7p): 4-1 (started even, abandoned to avoid possible embarrassment for Karigane, since one more loss would mean Karigane having to play with sen-ai-sen handicap)
  4. 1942-44 - Fujisawa Kuranosuke 6p (Wu 8p): 4-6 (started with Fujisawa playing with josen handicap; handicap not changed)
  5. 1946-48 - Hashimoto Utaro 8p (Wu 8p): 6-3-1 (started even, Hashimoto was beaten down to sen-ai-sen handicap after 8 games (6-2))
  6. 1948-49 - Iwamoto Kaoru Honinbo (Wu 8p): 7-2-1 (started even, Iwamoto was beaten down to sen-ai-sen handicap handicap after 6 games (5-1))
  7. 1949-50: Go (8p) against a team of 6p, 7p players (with 6p playing with josen handicap, 7p playing with sen-ai-sen handicap): 8-1-1 (The loss was against Kubouchi Shuchi, the jigo against Sumino Takeshi)
  8. 1950-51 - Hashimoto Utaro Honinbo (Wu 9p): 5-3-2 (started with Hashimoto playing with sen-ai-sen handicap, handicap not changed)
  9. 1951-52 - Fujisawa Kuranosuke 9p (Wu 9p, only two 9p at the time): 7-2-1 (started even, Fujisawa was beaten down to sen-ai-sen handicap after 9 games (6-2-1))
  10. 1952-53 - Fujisawa Kuranosuke 9p (Wu 9p, only two 9p at the time): 5-1 (abandoned after Fujisawa was beaten down from sen-ai-sen handicap to josen handicap)
  11. 1953-54 - Sakata Eio 8p (Wu 9p): 6-2 (abandoned after Sakata was beaten down from sen-ai-sen handicap to josen handicap)
  12. 1955-56 - Takagawa Kaku Honinbo (Wu 9p): 8-2 (started even, Takagawa was beaten down to sen-ai-sen handicap after 8 games (6-2))

After the Jubango

At this point, Go had defeated nearly all other players over a period of more than twenty years. Rather than continue with the jubango, the Saikyo competition started in 1958. After three titles, the Saikyo competition was made obsolete by the Meijin Title matches.

The match with Shusai

The match between Go Seigen and Honinbo Shusai to celebrate the 60th birthday of Shusai is mentioned in Magic of Go. However, the column fails to mention the controversy surrounding the match. Each player was allowed for 24 hours of playing time. But, it was Shusai's decision with regards to adjourning the game. Eventually, the game was adjourned 13 times -- critically, at Shusai's turn to play without an exception -- over the period of 3 months! As the players were allowed to go home during the adjournments, many suspect that Shusai adjourned the game at critical moments and studied the current game situation with his pupils. Though he was behind mostly during the game, Shusai made a myoshu at 160 and surged back to eventually win by two points. Later, Maeda Nobuaki, one of Shusai's pupils, hinted that the myoshu was his idea yet denied that he had discussed the move with Shusai. (However, it is well known that Shusai did discuss the game with his pupils during the adjournments.) The game was played without komi. Go Seigen played black.

More pages about Go Seigen at SL

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