1001 GoGoD Games for your Coffee Break #62 (1 Apr 2013)
Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 1:36 pm
Many unnecessarily rude things have been said in the west about Japanese rules and the people who framed them. One glaring aspect of this has been ignorance of what went on in Japan, and the assumption that there was just one monolithic opinion there. The present game - still scratching the surface - will show that there were in fact many strands.
This was a game for the Kokumin Shinbun newspaper in 1941. It was at a time when the Nihon Ki-in was slowly coming to a consensus on codifying rules for the first time, in the wake of the famous Mannen-ko incident more than a decade before. This game, less significant as regards rules and more as regards etiquette, perhaps, did at least inform the process and showed that even pros had conflicting views - or were complacent, or were ignorant, or whatever. Make your own mind up.
After move 250, Ito declared the game was over. She probably expected Takeda to acquiesce, not least because he was younger and of lower grade. But Takeda was on something of a roll at the time and didn't want to lose his winning streak. He also thought the game wasn't finished, and said so. That put Ito in a spot, but she stuck to her guns and passed.
It would appear that Takeda was right, and a huge trade took place during the subsequent play. It involved almost half the board, and garnered Takeda 8 extra points. But that still wasn't enough for victory, which perhaps meant that this game did not attract the same attention it might have done had the result been reversed (or if it had been in the Oteai). Nevertheless, the Kokumin go reporter Toba Tosui (pen name of Fukuya Tatsumaru) did submit the game to the Nihon Ki-in Rules Committee, where Shinohara Masami certainly did give it his attention.
When the rules finally were adumbrated in 1949, it was obvious that they were not meant to be an exercise in mathematical rigour. Rather they were designed to give a little to each of the many different strands of opinion that existed - two of which we see here.
Of course the game is also a tough but interesting exercise in calculating the final score at move 250 for those of you who study go with a cilice.
Oh, and let us not overlook that the woman won. There were quite a few strong female players at the time - in relative terms, possibly rather more than today. You might know Ito Kiyoko better by her later name of Ito Tomoe.
This was a game for the Kokumin Shinbun newspaper in 1941. It was at a time when the Nihon Ki-in was slowly coming to a consensus on codifying rules for the first time, in the wake of the famous Mannen-ko incident more than a decade before. This game, less significant as regards rules and more as regards etiquette, perhaps, did at least inform the process and showed that even pros had conflicting views - or were complacent, or were ignorant, or whatever. Make your own mind up.
After move 250, Ito declared the game was over. She probably expected Takeda to acquiesce, not least because he was younger and of lower grade. But Takeda was on something of a roll at the time and didn't want to lose his winning streak. He also thought the game wasn't finished, and said so. That put Ito in a spot, but she stuck to her guns and passed.
It would appear that Takeda was right, and a huge trade took place during the subsequent play. It involved almost half the board, and garnered Takeda 8 extra points. But that still wasn't enough for victory, which perhaps meant that this game did not attract the same attention it might have done had the result been reversed (or if it had been in the Oteai). Nevertheless, the Kokumin go reporter Toba Tosui (pen name of Fukuya Tatsumaru) did submit the game to the Nihon Ki-in Rules Committee, where Shinohara Masami certainly did give it his attention.
When the rules finally were adumbrated in 1949, it was obvious that they were not meant to be an exercise in mathematical rigour. Rather they were designed to give a little to each of the many different strands of opinion that existed - two of which we see here.
Of course the game is also a tough but interesting exercise in calculating the final score at move 250 for those of you who study go with a cilice.
Oh, and let us not overlook that the woman won. There were quite a few strong female players at the time - in relative terms, possibly rather more than today. You might know Ito Kiyoko better by her later name of Ito Tomoe.
Here is the gist.