Misplaced Pages

#736263

37-583: Until the end of the 19th century, the Hatsuyōron remained a closely guarded secret of the Inoue house , where it was used to drill the best disciples in the tactics . It became public after the collapse of the Four go houses ; several incorrect editions are published, before the discovery in 1982 of a copy that is close to the original now lost. Igo Hatsuyōron is considered the most difficult of such collections, and as such

74-403: A German amateur player, Joachim Meinhardt, discovered an unexpected resistance of White confirmed by professionals, this line of play questions all previous solutions. At the end of 2007, another German amateur, Thomas Redecker, observed that a seemingly mediocre play by Black, which had never been envisaged until then, played at the opportune moment (at move 67) of the main variant), perhaps allows

111-502: A sacrifice of twenty black stones that White is obliged to refuse as long as possible, and completing, after more than one hundred and fifty moves, end-game subtleties ( yose ) finally ending in a Black victory by one or two points. This analysis is not disputed by the Chinese edition of Hatsuyōron in 1988, although this edition contains an improvement of the main sequence, bringing the margin of Black's victory to three points. But in 2005,

148-400: A written postface by his hand, in which he explains in particular the meaning of the title of the collection and how it should be studied; this copy contains 183 problems, divided into six sections: Most of these problems (except perhaps those of the last two sections) can be considered life and death problems; the Hatsuyōron does not deal with issues of strategy, but only aims to develop

185-514: Is "The most difficult problem ever composed"; he publishes an article on this subject, detailing the remarks of the complete edition. From 1988, an analysis of the solutions of the 1982 edition by Chinese professionals led them to question some of the Japanese conclusions; Cheng Xiaoliu published in 2010 a revised edition of their comments, under the title of Wéiqí Fāyánglùn Yánjiū (围棋 发 阳 论 研究, Research on Hatsuyōron). The exact initial composition of

222-539: Is an honorary title and Go competition . The title, meaning Go Sage in Japanese, was a traditional honorary appellation given to a handful of players down the centuries. The element ki can also apply to shogi , and there were also recognized kisei in the shogi world. Kisei is a Go competition organised by the Japanese Nihon Ki-in . The competition began in 1976 by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper and

259-541: Is customary for Japanese players to take a special personal name as Hon'inbō, a unique feature of this title; for example Takagawa Kaku held the title for nine years, and during this time was referred to as Hon'inbō Shukaku. Players of other nationalities by custom do not adopt a special name but do use the Hon'inbō title. Hon'inbō Shūsai sold his title to the Japan Go Association before retiring in 1936, effectively ending

296-439: Is still used for training Go professionals . It contains many problems so complex that false or incomplete solutions were given in the first editions, and in particular an exceptional problem by its theme and its depth, rediscovered in 1982, and which is not yet completely solved in 2015. Inoue Dōsetsu Inseki, the fourth head of the Inoue house and Meijin from 1708 to his death in 1719, is best known for his role as guardian of

333-449: Is the highest paying competition in Japanese professional Go , paying ¥ 43,000,000 to the winner since the 47th Kisei in 2023. The word Kisei is Japanese for "Go Sage", which is why before the Kisei tournament began, the only players who were given the title "Kisei" were Dōsaku and Hon′inbō Shūsaku . The holder is challenged by whoever wins the round robin league. Players can get into

370-519: The spectacular progress in artificial intelligence led some optimistic amateurs to believe that a solution could be obtained by computer, but attempts in this direction were disappointing until 2019. However, in October 2019, a significant improvement in the deep learning techniques used made it possible to discover new variations based on moves never before envisaged, showing that a definitive solution has still not been reached. Inoue house In

407-468: The Hon'inbō house), and a first edition is published in 1914 by Hon'inbō Shūsai , enriched with solutions and comments; from that moment, the book acquired its reputation of the "most difficult collection of go problems". Two other editions, mostly from Shūsai’s, but improving and detailing the solutions, appeared in 1953 (under the direction of Hideyuki Fujisawa ) and in 1980 (under the direction of Utaro Hashimoto ). These editions, however, are based not on

SECTION 10

#1732859148737

444-461: The Hon'inbō line. All three of the "Go saints" (or Kisei ) came from this school— Dosaku , Shusaku , and Jowa (although Jowa is frequently reviled because of his machinations while trying to become Meijin ). Most of the holders of the Meijin title (awarded to a player recognised by all as strongest) were also from this house. Another prominent member was Hon'inbō Shūsaku (秀策, 1829–1862), who

481-450: The best disciple, who might not be a natural son but in effect adopted, were supposed to be made official. Deaths at an early age particularly affected the Honinbo house, and irregular succession could occur with the potential for scandal. The official posts of Meijin and godokoro were awarded, somewhat sporadically, and brought great prestige to the house. In practice, backstairs intrigue

518-479: The capacity of tactical play. These problems, however, are not "realistic" in the sense that they would come from situations that can be met in a real game; they seek above all to show extraordinary moves and maneuvers, and to force one to envisage well-hidden resistances; moreover, one of the conventions chosen for these problems is that "all the stones of the initial setting must be useful", which Dōsetsu sometimes exploits for additional artistic effects, as displayed by

555-523: The case of the seven problems covering the entire goban, including the astonishing problem 76, which he gives the title "the bait catches the fish". In 1982, a copy from the 19th century was found, containing two problems not included in previous editions. The manuscript was entrusted to Fujisawa Hideyuki (then Kisei ) to make a new edition commented on it, but, assuming that the problem 120 had been copied badly, he handed it over to one of his disciples, Yasuda Yasutoshi, to try to rectify it. He finally saw

592-401: The collection is unknown, and the order of the problems is probably corrupt; Cheng Xiaoliu noted that in the edition of 1914, the first problem has no solution, and suggests that it could have been placed in first position by some rival school, to discredit the book. The copy used in the 1982 edition, however, is considered fairly close to the original work composed by Dōsetsu, and also contains

629-400: The example of problem 43. Almost all these problems are at the level of professional players (and are still used in their training), that is to say that an amateur player cannot solve them in a game situation, without the mental aid of laying stones on the board; some of them are so difficult that they are probably insoluble under these conditions, even by the best players; this is particularly

666-443: The fights, and the delicate balance of trade and score, all of which make this unique problem the masterpiece of a lifetime". The statement of the problem (figure on the right) is a position that could almost be drawn from a real game, accompanied by the caption "Black plays and wins the game"; the solution is, in the main variant, a long series of battles using tactics unthinkable even for professional players, containing in particular

703-459: The general style of play tended to the pragmatic, rather than the artistic way. From 1737 to the present, the current head of the Yasui house has been known as Senkaku. The retirement or posthumous names are listed here. The first of the four houses was the house Honinbo, founded by Honinbo Sansa. Honinbo Sansa was a Buddhist monk and had been appointed Godokoro (minister of Go) by Tokugawa Ieyasu after

740-626: The heads, apart from Doseki, were called Inoue Inseki . For reasons of convenience the retirement or posthumous names are used, in the style Inoue Genkaku Inseki with the personal part of the name interposed. Variant names abound. The Yasui house (安井家) was one of the four Schools (or Houses) of Go which were officially recognized during the Edo period of Japanese history. Each of the four schools were founded by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1612. The house had one Meijin , in Yasui Sanchi . It has been commented that

777-524: The history of Go in Japan, the four Go houses were four major schools of Go instituted, supported, and controlled by the state, at the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate . (There were also many minor houses.) At roughly the same time shogi was organised into three houses. Here "house" implies an institution run on the recognised lines of the iemoto system common in all Japanese traditional arts. In particular,

SECTION 20

#1732859148737

814-418: The house head had, in three of the four cases, a name handed down: Inoue Inseki , Yasui Senkaku , Hayashi Monnyu . References to these names, therefore, mean to the contemporary head of the house. The four houses were the Honinbo, Hayashi, Inoue, and Yasui. They were originally designed to be on a par with each other, and competed in the official castle games called oshirogo . The Hon'inbō house (本因坊家)

851-514: The main, the only international competition was against players from the Ryukyu Islands , but those games are still cited as examples of the difference between strong amateurs and extremely strong players. After a while, the Honinbo house (of Dosaku ) emerged as the most prestigious, and the Hayashi house ran into difficulties, eventually being taken over by the Honinbo. The Meiji Restoration threw

888-421: The obligation since he was proud of his hair. After Honinbo Doetsu made a representation that long sleeves were troublesome for the players, a dispensation for shorter sleeves was allowed to them. At least, in theory, matters on succession in the houses were subject to the authority of the jisha bugyo , an official regulating religious establishment. Nominations as heir, typically within the iemoto system of

925-533: The original manuscript (which is thought to have been destroyed in a fire), but on incorrect copies, into which some problems from Xuanxuan Qijing (the oldest Chinese classics) slipped. In 1982, Araki Naomi discovered a previous copy apparently containing only the problems of the original version, including two previously unknown; the responsibility of a new edition was entrusted to Hideyuki Fujisawa (then Kisei ), which caused him to look more closely at one of these two problems (the number 120), to conclude that this

962-419: The round robin league by going through many preliminary tournaments. Once there is a challenger to compete against the holder, the winner is decided through a best of seven match. The games are played over two days and each player is given eight hours of thinking time. If a player qualifies for the Kisei league, they are automatically promoted to 7 dan . If that same player wins the league, a promotion to 8 dan

999-423: The situation to be saved and decided to publish all of the analyses on a website, later in the form of a book. They are enriched (first with the help of a wiki ) by many amateur and professional players, and a winning line for Black was confirmed by professional players starting in 2012, but, in 2015, new variations appeared again; the problem cannot therefore be considered as completely resolved. From 2016 onwards,

1036-475: The standard sagged in the eighteenth century). Esoteric teaching was normal, with collections of very difficult tsumego being compiled, one of which, the Igo Hatsuyōron , is still used for professional training. Prepared variations were used in top games (notably in the blood-vomiting game of Jowa and Akaboshi ). Go secrets were state secrets, in effect; since the country was closed to foreigners, in

1073-550: The system into disarray, but three houses survived some hard times to 1900. Honinbo Shusai arranged that the Honinbo title should become a tournament of the Nihon Kiin after his death (1939). The Yasui house died out; it is not certain as of 2004 whether the Inoue house theoretically continues or not, though it dropped out of the mainstream from the 1920s. Kisei (go) Kisei (棋聖)

1110-431: The training of the best disciples, and to this end contains only the problems, without any indication on their solution. For more than 150 years, it was kept secret, being studied only one problem at a time, under the direct control of the Inoue house ; the very existence of the book was ignored by the other three houses ( Hon'inbō , Hayashi and Yasui). The Hatsuyōron became public after 1868 (passing from hand to hand in

1147-556: The unification of Japan in 1603. They were also nominally Buddhist institutions, with the Honinbo and Hayashi aligned with the Nichiren sect , and the Inoue and Yasui with the Jodo Shu . All players were therefore male. Some outward forms only persisted of that connection, with the oshirogo games being played in Buddhist dress and with shaven heads; the stylish Ota Yuzo was given a waiver of

Igo Hatsuyōron - Misplaced Pages Continue

1184-466: The unprecedented sacrifice maneuver which is the main theme of the problem, and after about a thousand hours of collective work, Fujisawa believed that the problem is solved, and published its solution, translated in GB World number 29 under the title The Most Difficult Problem Ever , accompanied by a complimentary comment, mentioning "the surprising novelty of the theme and forms, the precise calculation of

1221-468: The young Dōchi after the death of his master Dōsaku ; his exceptional skill as a composer of go problems was only discovered after the collapse of the Four go houses from 1868, during the Meiji Restoration . In 1713, Dōsetsu compiled Igo Hatsuyōron from a collection of more than 1500 problems, many of which were composed by him or improved from previous problems. The book is designed to serve

1258-537: Was de facto merged into the Honinbos. From the second head onwards, the head of the house when playing was known as Hayashi Monnyū. The Inoue house (井上家) was one of the four Go houses, the state-supported schools for the game of Go in Japan during the Edo period . The numbering of the heads of the house is that introduced by Inoue Genan Inseki, at the start of the nineteenth century, and including Nakamura Doseki for reasons of prestige. During their playing careers all

1295-472: Was easily the strongest school of Go for most of its existence. It was established in 1612 and survived until 1940. Upon the closure of the school, the title Hon'inbō came to be used for the winner of the Honinbo Tournament , which is now an annual professional Go event in Japan. It is run under the titleholder system , meaning that at any given time there is a player who can use the title Hon'inbō. It

1332-484: Was heir to become head of the school, but died of cholera before officially becoming Hon'inbō. The Hayashi house (林家) was one of the four Go houses of Edo period Japan. It was in effect the junior partner in the system of Go schools, never producing a Meijin player. Always an ally of the Honinbo school, for traditional reasons, it didn't survive to the end of the period as truly independent. Its headship went to Honinbo Shuei , and when he became also Honinbo head, it

1369-453: Was often brought to bear on the appointments. More creditably, since the Meijin title could only be awarded to the undisputed master player of the time, there were occasions when it was withheld from two candidates whose merit was very close (an example was Genjo and Chitoku , around 1810–1820). The mode of teaching, by apprenticeship, brought a consistent and high level of play (though some say

#736263