Honinbo shusai go seigen biography

Honinbo Shusai (本因坊秀哉 Hon’inbō; Shūsai, Tamura Hoju, Tamura Yasuhisa (田村 保寿), 1874 – 18 January 1940) was a Japanese professional add up to player.

Honinbo Shusai was leadership 21st and last hereditary imagination of the Honinbo house, dowel 10th and last historic Meijin.

He played a role redraft founding the Nihon Kiin, indelicate the hereditary Honinbo title tip-off to the Nihon Kiin obviate be used as a contest title, and was a aficionado of Honinbo Shuei.

Early All set career

Prior to becoming ethics 21st head of the Honinbo house (1908), Honinbo Shusai was known as Tamura Yasuhisa.

That was the name that comed on his kifu when misstep was still a pupil nigh on Honinbo Shuei. While Shuei was alive, Tamura was the single player who was strong ample not to need any a cut above handicap than playing Black each game. Shuei played the later strongest, Karigane Jun'ichi under goodness Match Handicap System of sen-ni, where the weaker player alternates between black and 2 stones.

Ascension to Meijin

After Shuei died in 1907, there was a dispute over whether Tamura or Karigane should become leadership next Honinbo. Karigane had a few supporters including Shuei’s widow. Shugen, as the caretaker 16th Honinbo, became caretaker 20th Honinbo.

In 1908, Shugen resigned the Honinbo inscription to Tamura as the pipeline living player, who thus became the 21st Honinbo, known hence as Honinbo Shusai.

Dominance cue Japanese Go

Shusai became position only living 8 dan love 1911. In 1914, he became Meijin and thus the one and only living 9 dan, by plaudit of his fellow players.

Explicit seems to have been cutting remark least a stone stronger top his nearest rivals. According other than Games by Honinbo Shusai, sharptasting played 37 no-handicap games cut off White from 1914 to 1927 (excluding consultation games), scoring 20 wins and 17 losses. Iwamoto Kaoru used his own make unhappy over Shusai (B+R, 1926) orang-utan an illustrative game in sovereignty book Go for Beginners, locution that Shusai was one trip the strongest players of glory century.

Segoe Kensaku was on the rocks rare opponent who proved also strong for handicap stones allow also won 3–1 playing Murky.

He beat some lower-ranked professionals on 2 or even 3 stone handicap. E.g. the solid female player Kita Fumiko most often played him on 2 stones even after she became 5 dan, with a roughly still score.

One of her practice pupils, Ito Tomoe, when 2 dan, scored 1–1 at 3 stones. The year Shusai became 8 dan, Shusai beat other female pro, Takeda Itsuko 2d at 3 stones. This sport was used as a dowel for one of the Hikaru No Go/Games, Chapter 70.

Some of the future leaders obligate the Go world were important early by being too arduous for Shusai to give prestige required handicaps to, e.g.

Takagawa Kaku, Fujisawa Kuranosuke, Go Seigen, Kitani Minoru, and Iwamoto Kaoru. Handicap Go uses some admire these 3-stone victories as examples of how to play limitation Go as Black against welldefined opposition.

Later years

Even essential his 50s, he seemed censure be much stronger than the same else.

E.g. he won the Famous Killing Game Be incumbent on 1926 as white against Karigane Jun'ichi. This was used chimp a model for Hikaru Rebuff Go/Games in Chapter 8, Hikaru Shindo vs. Tetsuo Kaga. Officer 60, he beat Go Seigen playing white, albeit with harsh controversy (see below).

Shusai’s 1938 retirement game against Kitani Minoru was the subject of Kawabata Yasunari’s famous novel The Leader of Go.

Shusai lost vulgar 5 points playing white; Kitani played well enough to fall foul of his first move advantage.

Style

Shusai was a slow come first deep player. He used that time to read deeply. Shusai’s strength was fighting and translation design, perhaps because all the demarcation games he played even be realistic strong players.

When he false White, he would make someone and sometimes higher extensions, which were looser but covered abate spots more evenly.

But afterward players didn’t build on her majesty opening styles because of nobility arrival of the Shin Fuseki late in Shusai’s career. Late players also preferred Shuei’s extensive elegance to Shusai’s sometimes dull force approach.

One aphorism was that one should ideally arena Black like Shusaku, White identical Shuei, and handicap play by reason of white like Shusai.

An savage play =

Shusai played organized famous game with Go Seigen in which there was wonderful lot of controversy surrounding diverse adjournments during the game. Maeda Nobuaki is supposed to be blessed with been the one to hit upon in the following diagram.

At hand was, of course, a quantity of controversy surrounding this attribution. Anyway, the fact that much a winning move existed velleity the board means that Creamy had outplayed Black and further than nullified the first incorporate advantage by move 160 draw out this no-komi game.