is a professional Go

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

Biography

Masaki Takemiya was born in Japan. He became one of the many disciples of the

Minoru Kitani was one of the most celebrated professional Go players and teachers of the game of Go in the twentieth century in Japan. Biography He earned the nickname "the Prodigy" after winning a knockout tournament. He defeated eight opponents from th ...

school. His rise to fame began when he was only 15 years old. He earned the nickname "9 dan killer" because he won several games against top rated players. His famous "cosmic style" of Go would become popular among fans. It focused on large moyo in the center of the board. He's known as keeping a consistent record of winning titles. The longest period in which he did not hold a title has only been 4 years. He closed off 2005 with an impressive win of 16 straight games, which was stopped by Omori Yasushi in the qualifiers for the 3rd

World Oza The Toyota-Denso Cup - World Oza was an international Go competition, sponsored by auto maker Toyota and parts manufacturer Denso. Outline The World Oza, sponsored by ToyotaDenso of Japan, was regarded as the newest international tournament, t ...

. Outside of Go, Takemiya also won the biggest Japanese

backgammon Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back nearly 5,000 years to the regions of Mesopotamia and Pe ...

tournament, the 12th Saint of the Board title, by beating the former holder, Abe Akiko. Four of Takemiya's books have been published in English -- ''Enclosure Joseki'' (Kiseido Press), now out of print; ''Imagination of a Go Master'' (NEMESIS Enterprises), ''This is Go the Natural Way!'' (Hinoki Press); and ''Cosmic Go'' (Board N' Stones).

Style

Takemiya is known for his "Double 4"

fuseki ''Fuseki'' (Japanese: ; ) is the whole board opening in the game of Go. Characteristics Less systematic Since each move is typically isolated and unforced (i.e. not a sente move), patterns for play on the whole board have seen much less sy ...

when he uses white, where he usually starts the game like so: Takemiya is a favorite among amateur go players because of his very thick playing style as black. His sanrensei (three star) openings involve plenty of fights. The sequence of moves from 00-07 in the lower right corner involves a common joseki that creates a moyo in conjunction with the triangled stone. Takemiya often plays a variation of this joseki but has made a few innovations of his own such as the

kosumi Players of Go (board game), the game of Go often use jargon to describe situations on the board and surrounding the game. Such technical terms are likely to be encountered in books and articles about Go in English as well as other languages. Many ...

in response to the same corner approach in the upper right corner. The resulting sequence could result in moves 08-13, where 09 is the kosumi move.

Takemiya on go and dancing

Takemiya's other great love is dancing. He says that go is more like a dance than a warTakemiya Masaki dancing
(at Go Game Guru) and that learning to dance has made him a better go player. This has also influenced his style in his later years.

Titles and runners-up

Takemiya is one of the top title holders in Japan.

Notes

External links

A review of his book in French

Go style of Takemiya. Is it a good choice for you?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Takemiya, Masaki 1951 births Japanese Go players Go (game) writers Living people People from Tokyo