He's one of the 'immortals' - those players whose names will live on as long as go is played.
His style is described in lots of different and sometimes contradictory ways (weak group strategy, fighter etc). A pro teacher once talked me through one of Sakata's games to show how Sakata liked to play moves that contained threats for later in the game, and how he ground down his opponent by setting them problem after problem to solve until they were exhausted. But unfortunately I just wasn't really strong enough to appreciate the finer details.
|