The Kamakura was a historically significant
go match played in Japan in 1939, 1940 and 1941. It pitted
Kitani Minoru
was one of the most celebrated professional Go players and teachers of the game of Go in the twentieth century in Japan.
Biography
He earned the nickname "the Prodigy" after winning a knockout tournament. He defeated eight opponents from the ...
and
Go Seigen
Wu Chuan (), courtesy name Wu Ching-yuan ()His courtesy name was created based on his real name (''Chuan'' means "spring, fountain" and ''Ching-yuan'' means "clear and pure source of water"). (June 12, 1914 – November 30, 2014), better known ...
, close rivals for a decade and friends at a personal level, and both ranked 7 ''dan'', against each other.
Go Seigen emerged victorious by a 6–4 margin. This match marked the beginning of the period of his dominance as the top player, which continued until the
First Meijin Tournament in 1962.
Background
Nine months before the match started, Kitani had defeated
Honinbo Shusai, the
Meijin
is one of the eight titles in Japanese professional shogi player, professional shogi, and is the most prestigious title, along with Ryūō. The word ( "excellent, artful", "person") refers to a highly skilled master of a certain field (the ...
, in Shusai's retirement game. The Honinbo title was to be open to competition, and both Kitani and Go took part in that tournament. Each failed to get through to the final match, which was contested by
Sekiyama Riichi and
Shin Kato
was a Japanese professional Go player. Born in Tokyo, Kato became a student of Hirose Heijiro in 1907. He turned professional a year later with the Hoensha. He was promoted to 8 dan in 1942. He participated in the 1st Honinbo tournament where ...
, with Sekiyama becoming the first Honinbo under the
titleholder system
The titleholder system is the most common type of structure used in professional tournaments in the game of go and shogi.
Overview
In practice these events almost always are based in East Asian countries with a professional system: in Japan for g ...
in 1941. The preliminaries of this first
Honinbo tournament
The Honinbo (本因坊) is a Go competition and the oldest Go title in Japan. Sponsored by ''Mainichi Shimbun
The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by
In addition to the ''Mainichi Shimbun'', which is printed twice a day ...
were under way during the Kamakura match. With wartime conditions, the pace of all competitions slowed considerably. All these players also took part in the
Oteai
The was a tournament used in Japan, by the Nihon Ki-in and Kansai Ki-in, to determine the ranking of its go professionals on the dan scale. It was instituted in the 1920s soon after the Ki-in was set up in 1924. Initially it was run in Spring ...
competition. The first 9 ''dan'' to emerge from the Oteai was
Fujisawa Kuranosuke, some years later (at this time 6 ''dan''). At the time, it was hard to receive promotion even to 8 ''dan''. The pool of top players was rather small;
Karigane Junichi
was a Japanese professional Go player, posthumously made an honorary 9 ''dan'' by the Nihon Ki-in.
Biography
Karigane was responsible for founding several organizations that would continue to be influential throughout the early 1900s. In 192 ...
was 8 ''dan'' but had stayed outside the system that had established itself around Shusai and the Nihon Ki-in.
The result of the match was the first step in the process by which Go Seigen would establish ascendancy over his rivals (except Sekiyama, who withdrew from competition because of bad health). He was promoted to 8 ''dan'' in spring 1942. Having taken on Kitani, against whom he had an unfinished ''jubango'' stopped at 3–3 in 1933 when Kitani was promoted, Go took on both Karigane and Fujisawa (whom he played in the end in three long matches), and then the new Honinbos
Hashimoto Utaro
was a 9-dan professional Go player.
Biography
Hashimoto became a pro in 1922 when he was 15. He won the Honinbō 3 times before finally reaching 9p in 1954. He founded the Kansai Ki-in
The Kansai Ki-in (), i.e., Kansai Go Association, is a ...
and
Iwamoto Kaoru
,
also known as Honinbo Kunwa, was a Japanese professional Go player and writer who achieved the rank of 9-dan.
Biography
Iwamoto was born in Masuda of the Shimane Prefecture, Japan. During his childhood he spent several years in Busan, Kore ...
. Go Seigen played again in the Honinbo tournament, but not after 1945. In later years various challenges allowed him to face the Honinbo of the time.
The games
Apart from game 2, played in
Shiba Park
is a public park in Minato, Tokyo, Japan built around the temple of Zōjō-ji.
The park is located between the Minato municipal offices and Tokyo Tower. Many of the footpaths in the park offer excellent views of Tokyo Tower, so the park is a pop ...
in Tokyo, and game 5 played in
Gunma Prefecture
is a landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of . Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fuk ...
, the match was held in various locations actually in
Kamakura
, officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...
. The first game was in the Buddhist temple
Kenchō-ji
Kenchō-ji (建長寺) is a Rinzai Zen temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, which ranks first among Kamakura's so-called Five Great Zen Temples (the ''Kamakura Gozan'') and is the oldest Zen training monastery in Jap ...
. Game 3 was in
Engaku-ji
, or Engaku-ji (円覚寺), is one of the most important Zen Buddhist temple complexes in Japan and is ranked second among Kamakura's Five Mountains. It is situated in the city of Kamakura, in Kanagawa Prefecture to the south of Tokyo.
Founded ...
, as were games 4, 6 and 9. The games 7, 8 and 10 were in the
Hachiman
In Japanese religion, ''Yahata'' (八幡神, ancient Shinto pronunciation) formerly in Shinto and later commonly known as Hachiman (八幡神, Japanese Buddhist pronunciation) is the syncretic divinity of archery and war, incorporating elements f ...
Shinto shrine in Kamakura.
The starting conditions of the match were ''
tagaisen
Professional Go handicaps were a system developed in Japan, in the Edo period, for handicapping professional players of the game of Go (game), Go against each other. With the abolition of the Oteai system, which from the 1920s had used some handic ...
''; since the players were of equal rank: colours alternated, with Kitani winning the ''
nigiri
is a traditional Japanese dish made with , typically seasoned with sugar and salt, and combined with a variety of , such as seafood, vegetables, or meat: raw seafood is the most common, although some may be cooked. While sushi comes in n ...
''. There was no ''
komidashi
in the game of Go are points added to the score of the player with the white stones as compensation for playing second. The value of Black's first-move advantage is generally considered to be between 5 and 7 points by the end of the game.
Stan ...
''. Largely unexpectedly, Kitani went 1–5 down over the first six games, and so was subject to
beating down. The final four games, beginning 29 December 1940, were therefore played at ''
sen-ai-sen
Professional Go handicaps were a system developed in Japan, in the Edo period, for handicapping professional players of the game of Go against each other. With the abolition of the Oteai system, which from the 1920s had used some handicap games t ...
'', with Kitani taking Black twice, White, then Black. Of those final games, Go Seigen could win only the second, so that with a net score of 4–6 and a win with White Kitani had salvaged some of his reputation.
Sponsorship
The match was sponsored by the ''
Yomiuri Shimbun
The is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are ''The Asahi Shimbun'', the ''Chunichi Shimbun'', the ''Ma ...
''.
References
External links
Sensei's Library page
{{Go (game)
History of Go