American Go E-Journal » 50 years aGO

by Keith Arnold, hka with Patrick Bannister

The Third British Go Congress took place on March 21 and 22. A visiting Japanese 4 dan, a Mr. Akiyama, won the British Open Championship, narrowly defeating John Diamond 3 dan who was declared British National Champion. Mr. Diamond would go on to serve as BGA President and win the British Championship 8 times.

European Horst Mueller, 3 dan, played a televised game with Iwamoto 9 dan on March 26th. Iwamoto praised the visitor for his efforts, losing by 3 points in the 5 stone game. Perhaps Mr. Mueller was already working on the German translations included in the “GO; International Handbook and Dictionary” written by John Tilley and first published in the summer of 1970.

Finally we feature this glorious photo of two top Japanese matches. In the foreground, Hashimoto Shoji holds the white stones against Ishida Yoshio in the All Japan Pro Best 10. In the background, Sakata Eio defends the challenge of Ishida’s fellow Kitani disciple, Kato Masao, who takes black in one of the final games of the 25th Honinbo League. The games were played on March 4, I could only find the record of the Honinbo League match (below).

Keith Arnold (hka) with Patrick Bannister

On December 10 we see the daughter of the great Kitani, then Kitani Reiko 6 dan (right), defeating Honda Sachiko 4 dan to even up her defense of the 16th Ladies Honinbo Title. She would lose the decisive game on Christmas Eve. She was also the wife of Kobayashi Koichi 9 dan and mother of Kobayashi Izumi 6 dan. It is noteworthy that while she held this title half a dozen times, her great father and dominant tournament playing husband never managed to capture the Honinbo title.

On December 17 rising star Ishida Yoshio 4 dan captured the first game of the 17th Nihon Kiin Championship over veteran Ohira Shuzo 9 dan. We know Ohira 9 dan s the author of the book translated as “Appreciating Famous Games” by Ishi Press. Of course, Ishida now 9 dan is still active, a recent Redmond Reviews featured a game of Michael’s with him recently.

On Christmas, Otake Hideo 8 dan completed his sweep of Sakata Eio 9 dan in the Judan title. Go Review, while praising the young man’s victory, shared a classic go fan’s lament, “ Sakata, who once had many big titles became a mere 9 dan, losing the last title he had”. Here’s a shot of the first game of that match.

Finally, in its tenth issue, The British Go Journal reported the promotion of John Fairbairn to 2 dan. In addition to being the greatest baseball fan in England, fantastic Scots dancer and best inside London tour guide a dad could ask for, John is a prolific translator and author of go books – including “Appreciating Famous Games,” and my all-time favorite, “Kamakura.” If that is not enough, surely his role with the late T Mark Hall on the GoGod game collection and database cement his place on the Mount Rushmore of Western Go.

Photo credits: Go Review, Igo Club and Melanie Arnold

This month we start a new feature, as we look back fifty years in world Go.

by Keith Arnold, hka, with Patrick Bannister

On November 14, 1968, the Nihon Kiin celebrated Rin Kaiho’s victory as the 8th Meijin. He towers above the dignitaries in our photo , but also notable is the late Go Seigen 9 dan, fourth from the left and , at far right, Rin’s teacher, Goro Fujita 6 dan.

As was his custom, Fujisawa Shuko won the first year the Oza became a title match. He’s shown here, at left, turning aside the challenge of Otake Hideo, then 8 dan, on November 12, 1968. Otake was the first of the Kitani school disciples to make his presence felt.

Go Review also heralded the “Big Three’ of the younger generation, 50 years ago this month, but these three – Ishida Yoshio “the Computer”, Kato Masao “ the Killer”, and Takemya Masaki would become better known as the “Three Crows “ of the Kitani school.

Finally, William Pinckard returned home to New York after a 6-month stay in Tokyo, with a 2 dan diploma from Iwamoto 9 dan. Pinckard is well known in the west for his writings about go history and culture, particularly his wonderful “Japanese Prints and the World of Go” available from Kiseido.

Please forward any ideas for future months to the journal, ejournal@usgo.org. Photos are borrowed from Go Review.