is a Japanese
Go player
Player may refer to:
Role or adjective
* Player (game), a participant in a game or sport
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** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...
. He is one of the 'Six Supers' who championed Japanese Go in the last three decades of Japanese Go.
Biography
Koichi Kobayashi was born in
Asahikawa
is a Cities of Japan, city in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of the subprefecture, and the second-largest city in Hokkaido, after Sapporo. It has been a Core cities of Japan, core city since April 1, 2000. The city is ...
,
Japan. In 1965, he came to Tokyo to be a disciple of
Minoru Kitani. He studied along with
Cho Chikun,
Masao Kato
Masao Kato Honorary Oza (加藤 正夫, ''Katō Masao'', March 15, 1947 – December 30, 2004), also known as Kato Kensei (加藤剱正 ''Katō Kensei''), was a Japanese professional go player. A late bloomer, Kato won 46 titles, including the ...
,
Yoshio Ishida, and
Masaki Takemiya. He went on to marry the daughter of his teacher,
Reiko Kitani (1939–1996), a 6-dan who has won the All-Japan Women's Championship several times.
Together they had a daughter,
Izumi Kobayashi, who is now one of the leading female Go players in Japan. Kobayashi is one of the few
Go players who have won more than 1,200 professional games. Kobayashi's rivalry with Cho Chikun has continued for some time and they frequently play against each other.
Career
Two years after joining Kitani Minoru's dojo, Kobayashi was promoted to be a 1-dan professional. His first tournament victory came from the 4th Shin Ei in 1972. In 1976, he won his first major title,
Tengen.
Promotion record
Titles and runners-up
Kobayashi is
Honorary Kisei,
Honorary Meijin and
Honorary Gosei Professional Go (board game), Go Go players, players in Japan are given the title of "Honorary" (or "Lifetime") title holder if they either win the title ten times in a row, or have won the title five times in a row or ten times in total and reach t ...
. He ranks #3 in the
total number of titles in Japan.
References
1952 births
Japanese Go players
Living people
People from Asahikawa
{{Japan-Go-bio-stub