was one of the most celebrated professional Go players

Go players

This page gives an overview of well-known players of the game of Go throughout the ages. The page has been divided into sections based on the era in which the Go players played and the country in which they played. As this was not necessarily their country of birth, a flag of that country precedes...

 and teachers of the game of Go

Go (board game)

Go , is an ancient board game for two players that originated in China more than 2,000 years ago...

 in the twentieth century in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

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Biography

He earned the nickname "the Prodigy" after winning a knockout tournament. He defeated eight opponents from the Kiseisha in a row during 1928. He played a celebrated match with then retiring Honinbō Shūsai

Honinbo Shusai

is the professional name of Hoju Tamura, also known as , who was a Japanese professional Go player.- Biography :He was born in Shiba, Tokyo, son of Tamura Yasunaga, a retainer of the shogun. He learned go at age 10 and joined the Hoensha in 1883, then under the leadership of Murase Shuho. He was...

. The Nobel Prize

Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...

 winning author Kawabata Yasunari used this game in his novel "The Master of Go

The Master of Go

The Master of Go is a novel by the Nobel Prize-winning Japanese author Yasunari Kawabata, first published in serial form in 1951. Titled Meijin in its original Japanese, Kawabata considered it his finest work, although it is in contrast with his other works.-Plot introduction:It is a...

". In 1954 he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, but soon recovered. His condition came back in 1964, in which he would practically retire. He was given the Okura Prize in 1967.

Segoe Kensaku, a friend and rival of Kitani, nicknamed him "the Great Kitani" due to his extraneous efforts relating to go.

Relationship with Go Seigen

He was a young prodigy, who quickly attracted attention after the founding in 1924 of the Nihon Ki-in

Nihon Ki-in

The Nihon Ki-in , also known as the Japan Go Association, is the main organizational body for Go in Japan, overseeing Japan's professional system and issuing diplomas for amateur dan rankings. It is based in Tokyo. The other major Go association in Japan is Kansai Ki-in.Nihon Ki-in was established...

. He became a great rival to, and friend of, Go Seigen

Go Seigen

Wu Qingyuan , generally known in the West by his Japanese name Go Seigen, is considered by many players to be the greatest player of the game of Go in the 20th century and of all time.-Biography:...

, after the latter was brought to Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 from China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

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Go and Kitani were the vanguard of the Shinfuseki

Shinfuseki

or new opening strategy was the change of attitude to go opening theory that set in strongly in Japan in 1933. It corresponds, a little later, to hypermodern play in chess, with the inversion that shinfuseki thought the center of the board had been unjustly underemphasised.In the 1930s, a group of...

or "New Opening" theory, a period roughly 1933-6 which saw great innovations in go opening theory

Go opening theory

In the game of Go, the term opening theory refers to concepts which underlie where, why, in what order, and in what shapes the first several moves are played...

.

Go Seigen and Kitani played in the Kamakura jubango

Kamakura jubango

The Kamakura jubango was a historically significant go match played in Japan in 1939, 1940 and 1941. It pitted Kitani Minoru and Go Seigen, close rivals for a decade and friends at a personal level, and both ranked 7 dan, against each other.Go Seigen emerged victorious by a 6-4 margin...

, from 1939, the most celebrated jubango of the century. It ended in Go's decisive victory. Kitani's career never quite recovered; he was also hampered by bad health, in the form of a heart condition. He was later noted for a style of spectacular idiosyncrasy, with great emphasis on secure territory.

Kitani dojo

Kitani was subsequently noted as the most prolific teacher ever of future professional players. The Kitani dojo, which began to flourish after 1945 in the Kitani house in the countryside, was in practical terms run by his wife, produced a whole generation of top players who would dominate Japanese go from the early 1970s to mid-1990s. His own daughter Reiko (1939–1996) reached 6 dan and won the All-Japan Women's Championship several times,http://senseis.xmp.net/?KitaniReiko and married one of his best students, Koichi Kobayashi

Koichi Kobayashi

is a Go player.- Biography :Koichi Kobayashi was born in Asahikawa, Japan. He was one of the more famous disciples of the legendary Minoru Kitani; he studied along with Cho Chikun, Masao Kato, Yoshio Ishida, and Masaki Takemiya. He would go on and marry the daughter of his teacher, Reiko Kitani , a...

. Their child in turn, Izumi Kobayashi

Izumi Kobayashi

is a professional Go player.- Biography :Izumi Kobayashi grew up in a family of accomplished Go players. She has joked that she first played Go in her mother's womb. Her father is Koichi Kobayashi, the man who ranks third in number of titles held in Japan. Her maternal grandfather was Kitani...

, Kitani's granddaughter, is now one of Japan's current leading female players. At the time of his death, he had taught over 60 students, 40 of whom went on to become professionals. The total dan rank of all his students totalled to over 250.

Promotion Record

Titles & runners-up

Title	Years Held
Current	1
NHK Cup NHK Cup The NHK Cup is a Go competition.-Biography:The NHK Cup is a Go competition used by the Japanese Nihon Ki-in. The tournament is televised on the NHK network. Before 1963, the competition was broadcasted on the radio. The winner's purse is 5,000,000 Yen .-Past winners:...	1960
Defunct	2
Asashi Top Position	1957, 1958

Title	Years Lost
Current	5
Honinbo Honinbo Honinbō was the name of one of the four major schools of Go in Japan. Easily the strongest school of Go for most of its existence, it was established in 1612 and survived until 1940....	1947, 1953, 1959
NHK Cup NHK Cup The NHK Cup is a Go competition.-Biography:The NHK Cup is a Go competition used by the Japanese Nihon Ki-in. The tournament is televised on the NHK network. Before 1963, the competition was broadcasted on the radio. The winner's purse is 5,000,000 Yen .-Past winners:...	1958, 1961
Defunct	3
NHK Championship Nihon Ki-In Championship The Nihon Ki-In Championship was a Go competition.-Outline:The tournament ran from 1954 to 1975. It was later merged with the Kansai Ki-In Championship to form the Tengen.-Past winners:...	1958
Asashi Top Position	1959
Igo Senshuken Igo Senshuken - Outline :The final of the Igo Senshuken was decided in a best-of-five match. Each player had 6 hours to think. The challengers came from a knock-out with 16 players.- Past winners and runners-up :...	1958