Maeda Nobuaki was a Japanese professional 9

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, a disciple of

Honinbo Shusai In 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 ...

, and a member of the

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 associat ...

, the main organizational body for go in Japan. His own disciples were

Norio Kudo is a professional Go player. Biography Kudo turned professional in 1955 and was promoted to 9 dan in 1976. Although he did not win many tournaments, he was known for teaching Go to many people, even if they were just starting to learn, or we ...

, Yusuke Oeda, Shioiri Itsuzo, Nagahara Yoshiaki, and Morikawa Masao. Maeda reached the highest professional rank, 9 dan, in 1963, but never achieved the consistent record of tournament success that marks the truly elite player. Maeda is famous today principally for his series of tsume-go (problem) collections, which gained him the honorary nickname "god of tsume-go." It is said that he composed a problem a day for 40 years. Many of these problems are considered especially beautiful, ingenious, or instructive. Maeda is also remembered for his presumed role in one of the most sensational and controversial games of the 20th century: the 1933 challenge game between his teacher, Honinbo Shusai, and the Chinese prodigy

Go Seigen Wu Quan (), courtesy name Wu Qingyuan ()His courtesy name was created based on his real name (''Quan'' means "spring, fountain" and ''Qing Yuan'' means "clear and pure source of water"). (June 12, 1914 – November 30, 2014), better known by ...

(Wu Qingyuan). It has long been believed that the exquisite move (W160) that allowed Shusai to overturn Go's lead in the game was actually discovered by Maeda in a study session during one of the game's many adjournments. Maeda at times hinted that this was the case, but in later years would neither confirm nor deny it when asked. It may be assumed that if Maeda was indeed the author of the move, he would decline to confirm it in order to honor the long-standing Japanese professional tradition of respect for one's teacher, thus preserving Shusai's reputation.

Writings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maeda, Nobuaki 1907 births 1975 deaths Japanese Go players Go (game) writers