“Looking at the josekis in the upper left and lower left, you’d wonder if this is a modern AI – or at least a modern professional player – because these are very much like the professional joseki we play now,” says Michael Redmond 9P in his latest commentary, hosted by EJ editor Chris Garlock. “But they were actually innovations by Go Seigen, and they weren’t popular at the time. People said they were empty triangle shapes and they couldn’t be good for White (but) they were wrong.”
“This was the fourth game of their second jubango (10-game match),” says Redmond. “Hashimoto was Honinbo, and the Kansai Kiin was on the verge of splitting from the Nihon Kiin with Hashimoto as one of its founding members. From their previous Jubango, the handicap was Sen-Ai-Sen, no komi, which happened to match the 8P-9P rank difference. This game was a turning point that made it a very dangerous series for Hashimoto.”
Redmond also announced the release of a special calendar to celebrate passing the 10,000 subscriber mark on his YouTube channel. The 2022 calendar is hand-signed by Redmond and features go-themed paintings by Redmond’s daughter Emi.
