© 2008 by Yuan Zhou

Master Play: The Style of Go Seigen

Yuan Zhou

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This book is one of a series about the specific playing styles of some of the most famous go professionals. Though most Western players have heard of such famous players as Go Seigen, few have any real understanding or appreciation of each professional’s individual playing style. This series is an effort to remedy that situation. In each volume, Yuan Zhou, one of the top US amateurs and a popular go teacher, author, and lecturer, presents two games of a particular player with a very detailed analysis that focuses on clarifying what is distinctive about their style of play. Readers will find that this is not only illuminating for understanding what it means to speak of a playing style, it also leads to an enhanced appreciation and understanding of the game itself.

The game analyses in these books began as informal presentations at Zhou’s home to a high kyu and a low dan player: Ben Armitage 1 dan and Bill Cobb 4 kyu. They occasionally contribute comments and responses to questions from Zhou. The books were prepared from video tapes of these sessions.

Zhou has a particular talent for helping weaker players understand what is going on in pro games and guiding them to become stronger players by studying pro games. He intentionally includes kyu players in his intended audience, not just stronger players. Zhou can be contacted through his web site at www.zhouyuan.com.

Yuan Zhou (American Go Association 7 dan) was born in Tianjin, China. Tianjin is a major city in the northern part of China, near Beijing. His father taught him to play go at the age of six, and a year later he won the Tanggu District Junior Championship. After this auspicious beginning, Zhou began professional go training while he was still seven years old. He was twice invited to represent Tianjin in the All China Go Prodigy Cup.

In 1989 Zhou immigrated to the USA, became a US citizen, and joined the American Go Association (AGA). Zhou was the president of the go club at the University of Maryland, from which he earned a BS in Electrical Engineering, and became increasingly involved in AGA events, winning many go tournaments. Please see the list below for Yuan Zhou’s thirty US go titles. Zhou was also elected to the AGA board of directors in 2005.

Zhou is one of the top competitors on the American go scene, winning the Eastern US Open, one of the biggest US tournaments, in 1992. He also won the New Jersey Open, another of the biggest US tournaments, four times. Twice he has won the Maryland Open, another major tournament that attracts strong players. Zhou placed in the top ten many times in the US Open, North American Masters Cup, and the North American Fujitsu Qualifying Tournament. These tournaments involve the strongest North American go players and include pros. In Zhou’s go career, he has defeated pros many times, including four times in even tournament games: Hak Soo Kim 6p in the 1996 Fujitsu, Xuefen Lin 1p in the 2001 Eastern Oza, Huiren Yang 1p in the 2009 North American Masters, and Feng Yun 9p in the 2011 SAMG World Team Go US team Qualifier. Zhou has also won the US Pair Go Championship four times, and he has represented the USA in international tournaments many times (WAGC, Korea Prime Minister Cup, World Pair Go Championship, etc).

In 2009, Zhou represented the USA in the 4th Korea Prime Minister Cup World Go championship in Jeonju, Korea and finished in 5th place.

In addition to his competitive successes, Zhou has become a popular teacher and lecturer, frequently giving lectures and teaching lessons at various go clubs in the eastern US region. He has also published many go books at Slate & Shell (www.slateandshell.com). Zhou resides in Germantown, Maryland, and can be contacted through his web site at www.zhouyuan.com.

Yuan Zhou’s Thirty US Go Tournament Victories:

Mid Atlantic Open 1990
Eastern US Open 1992
NoVa Cherry Blossom 1992
NoVa Cherry Blossom 1993
NoVa Pumpkin Classic 1993
University of Maryland Open 1993
Maryland Open 1994
New Jersey Open 1995
University of Maryland Open 1995
New Jersey Open 1996
New Jersey Open 1997
Philadelphia Open 1998
NoVa Congress Tune Up 1999
Mid Atlantic Open 2000
Pennsylvania Open 2000
Korean Baduk Eastern US Open 2001
New Jersey Open 2001
Maryland Open 2002
Pennsylvania Open 2002
Virginia Open 2003
US Ing Redmond Cup 2004
US Pair Go Championship 2004
Virginia Open 2004
Philadelphia Open 2007
Mid Atlantic Open 2007
US Pair Go Championship 2009
North American Ing Masters Qualifier 2009
North American Ing Masters Qualifier 2011
US Pair Go Championship 2011
US Pair Go Championship 2012

William Cobb, April 2013

Copyright Page

© Yuan Zhou

All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited.

Slate & Shell
1425 Westshire Lane
Richmond, VA 23238
www.slateandshell.com

Special thanks are due to William Gundberg, Larry Russ, and Evans Palmour for help with editing and proof reading.

Edited by William Cobb

Cover design by Laurie M. Crammond

Conversion to SmartGo Books by William Cobb

ISBN of print edition:
1–932001–41–7

Table of Contents

Master Play: The Style of Go Seigen

Introduction

Copyright Page

A Brief Biography of Go Seigen

An Early Demonstration of Go Seigen’s Power

The chapters in gray are included only in the full book.

Go Seigen in His Prime

Buy This Book

About SmartGo Books

A Brief Biography of Go Seigen

Let’s start by having you two tell me what you know about Go Seigen.

4 kyu: Well, Go Seigen is certainly one of the best known professional go players. I’m sure I heard about him as soon as I started learning about pros. He is associated with the New Fuseki (Opening Theory), of course, with its emphasis on the center. I met him in Japan. Michael Redmond is a member of his study group, and I remember Michael saying he was trying to adopt some of Go Seigen’s principles in his tournament games, but without much success. I admit that at that point I had no idea what Go Seigen’s principles would be.

1 dan: I remember the stronger players talking about Go Seigen and the New Fuseki when I was just starting to play, before I even knew what fuseki meant. One thing they showed me is how Go gets stones on all the important points all over the board really quickly. They also told me that if I went over some of his games I would find them really hard to understand. So I’m excited about getting to go over some of his games with you.

OK, that’s good. You know he’s really famous and you heard about him about as soon as you became involved with the game.

Go Seigen is recognized as the greatest go genius of modern times. Even a lot of non-players know of him, and he is greatly respected. His contributions to go theory are unparalleled and in his prime between 1939 and 1956 he was clearly the strongest player in the world, defeating all comers. Go, whose name is pronounced Wu Qingyuan in Chinese, was born on May 19, 1914 in Fujian Province in China. So today he’s 93—playing go can produce a long, good life. His father, a 3 kyu amateur, had studied go in Japan, where the highest level of go was being played in those days.

While Go was still a child, his father taught him to play and gave him the game records of some of the strongest Japanese players, including the collected games of Shusaku, to study. These game records were the closest Go ever had to a teacher; he was entirely self-taught. Nevertheless, by the age of 13 Go was the strongest player in China, winning the national championship in 1927. Visiting pros from Japan recognized him as a prodigy, and arrangements were made to bring him to Japan for training when he was 14.

Segoe Kensaku served as Go’s patron in Japan. Segoe is famous for having specially nurtured three players: Go Seigen, Hashimoto Utaro, and Cho Hunhyun. Segoe realized that he was not in a position to teach Go, but he saw to it that the personal needs of Go and his mother and brother, who came with him, were taken care of. After testing his strength, the Nihon Kiin awarded Go an initial rank of 3 dan, and he defeated virtually all the strong players in Japan playing at that rank. By 1932 his record was 44 wins, 5 losses, and 1 tie, and he was promoted to 5 dan.

Along with Kitani Minoru, Go developed the Shin Fuseki (New Opening Theory) which emphasized rapid development and center influence rather than side and corner territory, often playing initial stones on the 3–3 point or the star points—Go regularly played star point openings as Black for twenty years. He and Kitani amassed astonishing records using the new approach and had a revolutionary impact on go theory. In 1933 Go won the right to play a game against the Meijin Shusai. In this famous game against the most prestigious go figure in Japan, Go took Black and played his first move on a 3–3 point, then the opposite corner star point, and thirdly on the center star point, astonishing everyone and upsetting the Meijin and other traditionalists in the go community. Although he lost by two points as the result of a brilliant and controversial move (Shusai adjourned the game just before this move and some say one of his disciples actually found it), this game established Go’s reputation overnight and marks the beginning of the Go Seigen era. Starting in 1939 Go played a series of ten-game matches with the top players of the day, winning all of them but one and usually forcing his opponents to take handicaps as a result of his getting ahead by four wins. His only loss was to Fujisawa Kuranosuke (later Hosai), whom he defeated in two rematches.

Most of these ten game matches were more serious than modern professional tournaments. The result of a match could change the ranking of the players and the kind of handicap they had to accept in their next matches. In modern tournaments, of course, losing does not affect the status a player has in later events. All games in modern professional tournaments are played even, without handicaps, regardless of the players' past performance.

Although he became a naturalized citizen of Japan, as a Chinese person in Japan before and during World War II, Go faced a lot of resentment and discrimination as well as attacks on him personally, making his life very difficult. Nevertheless, Go remained a polite and moderate person, never bragging about his ability or his contributions to go theory. In personal terms he is the embodiment of the best qualities the game is traditionally thought of as encouraging. Go’s Japanese citizenship was revoked after the war, which prevented his playing in the Nihon Kiin’s tournaments. The ten-game matches were the substitute. Go retired from active play at the age of 70, but remains a notable and highly respected presence at go events in his 90s.

The style of play Go Seigen developed was based on very deep reading and his games are quite difficult to understand. No one would ever claim to completely understand one of his games. He emphasized attacking and fighting, rather than solid territorial play and often ignored his opponent’s moves to play elsewhere on the board. For Go, the essence of the game is fighting and playing go is a search for the truth. The primary concern is not winning, but understanding.

In 1949, Fujisawa Kuranosuke became the first player to gain the rank of 9 dan through a promotion tournament. He was also the only 9 dan at that time, which meant that he held the top place in the go world. Shortly thereafter, however, the Nihon Kiin promoted Go to 9 dan because of his outstanding record. Since there were now two 9 dan players, there was much interest in a match between them. The two had played a ten-game match in 1942–44 and Fujisawa won 6–4. However, Go had played White in every game in that match without komi, since Go’s rank then was 8 dan to Fujisawa’s 6 dan. In their first match as fellow 9 dans, in 1951–52, they were playing as equals, alternating Black and White, although there was still no komi. Go dominated this match, forcing Fujisawa to take a handicap of playing Black two out of three games and winning the match 7–2 with one tie.

Fujisawa was very unhappy about appearing to be weaker than his fellow 9 dan and challenged Go to a rematch. By this time Fujisawa was obsessed with his games against Go and was neglecting his duties as the number one player in the Nihon Kiin. This match started in October 1952 with Fujisawa playing Black two out of every three games as a result of his performance in the previous match. Despite that advantage, Go quickly jumped out to a 4–1 lead. This meant that if Fujisawa lost the next game he would be reduced to a handicap of playing Black in all the remaining games. When he did lose the sixth game, Fujisawa resigned the match and also promptly resigned from the Nihon Kiin, abandoning professional go, although he did return to active play in 1959. He also changed his given name from Kuranosuke to Hosai, signifying the dramatic change in his status.

The first game we’re going to analyze is from their initial ten-game match in 1942–44, when Fujisawa was playing Black in every game. So Go is White in this game, and there is no komi. The second game we’ll look at is the decisive sixth game of their third ten-game match, played on March 11–13, 1953, with Go playing Black.

An Early Demonstration of Go Seigen’s Power

This first game was the second in the first ten-game match between Go Seigen and Fujisawa Kuranosuke. At the time Go was 8 dan and Fujisawa was 6 dan, so Fujisawa was given the handicap of playing Black in every game. There was no komi. The game was played on February 25–26, 1943.

Moves 1–4

＞＜ ▶︎

This opening, with one player making alternating 3–4 point corner plays and the other making facing 3–4 point plays, was very popular at the time and it is still played today. It follows the traditional, classical view of the best way to play. Despite developing the New Opening Theory, Go did not cease altogether playing the traditional patterns.

However, Black’s next move is slightly different from what is usual today.

Move 5

＞＜ ▶︎

It is more common today for Black 5 to be at A, although the game position is still playable. Black 5 is typical of Fujisawa. He liked thickness and power, so playing 5 high is his style.

Go Seigen liked playing facing 3–4 point stones. In this position Black will probably approach one of the corners and since their weak sides face each other, White will be able to naturally strengthen the other: that is, if Black B, White C.

This position with facing 3–4 point stones is still a popular opening for White; it is efficient and makes for rapid development. Go Seigen’s style in the opening looks for three things: speed, space, and freedom. This opening pattern fits all three.

Moves 6–7

＞＜ ▶︎

Next White approaches with 6. White could do something else, such as enclose one of his own corners, but the traditional theory is that you should not allow your opponent to make two corner enclosures.

Black 7 is the start of a standard joseki; of course Black has other choices. Fujisawa is aiming for solid territory and sente.

Moves 8–12

＞＜ ▶︎

This is a common joseki. Black’s peep with 11 is not usually played today because after White’s connection at 12, the weakness at A is gone. With that weakness present, an extension by Black from the top right would definitely be sente, but now it is not.

Moves 13–14

＞＜ ▶︎

Black plays 13 to make better potential for thickness with a later play at A.

Move 15

＞＜ ▶︎

Why does Black approach at 15 and not at A? The reason is that the left side and the top make up the most undeveloped area, so its value is greater than the bottom and right side area.

Black also has a weakness at B, and 15 indirectly protects against White’s playing there. If White plays next at B, Black will press White down with C, D, etc., making White’s position low.

If White next plays at C, Black will get the excellent point of E, creating an ideal high-low position and restricting White. So this is not an easy situation for White. What does White do?

Move 16

＞＜ ▶︎

White’s response is typical of Go Seigen’s style. He plays elsewhere. Go Seigen does this a lot—just the opposite of the style of a solid, territorial player, such as Lee Changho.

This way of playing makes things difficult for Go’s opponents. Moves which one would think are sente turn out not to be. What Go Seigen shows us is that we have a lot more freedom in the game than we may think. Showing us this by frequently playing away from the local situation is one of his great contributions to go theory. Since White does not have a good local response to Black 15, he plays elsewhere. This way Go Seigen keeps control of the game, not letting his opponent take the initiative.

The full book continues this game to the end, followed by a thorough analysis of a second game.