is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

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 is ...

Biography

Shinji Takao is one of Japan's best Go players. He turned professional in 1991. He won the

Honinbo 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 w ...

tournament in 2005 by a half point in the last game.

Cho U Cho U (; born on 20 January 1980) is a Taiwanese professional Go player. He currently ranks 6th in the most titles won by a Japanese professional; his NEC Cup win in 2011 put him past his teacher Rin Kaiho and Norimoto Yoda. Cho is the first pl ...

Naoki Hane is a professional Japanese 9 dan Go player currently affiliated with 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 i ...

Keigo Yamashita is a professional Go player. Yamashita adopted the name Honinbo Dowa after winning his first Honinbo title in 2010. Biography A student of Yasuro Kikuchi, Yamashita turned professional in 1993. He won the 19th Kisei 2 dan division in 199 ...

and Takao make up the group of players in Japan called the "

Four Heavenly Kings The Four Heavenly Kings are four Buddhist gods, each of whom is believed to watch over one cardinal direction of the world. In Chinese mythology, they are known collectively as the "Fēng Tiáo Yǔ Shùn" () or "Sìdà Tiānwáng" (). In the a ...

". He was a student of Fujisawa Shuko, 9P.

Rivalry with Keigo Yamashita

Takao's rivalry with Keigo began in August 1986 during a televised match. The match was the final of the ''All-Japan Elementary School Championship'', where an 8 year-old Keigo defeated a 9 year-old Shinji to capture the title. Their rivalry would continue on, striking again in 1996 when Shinji got his revenge. Shinji beat Yamashita in the Shinjin-O semi-final, going on to defeat

Nakamura Shinya is a professional Go player. Biography Nakamura became a professional in 1991. He reached 8 dan, in 2001 and is currently 9 dan. Nakamura was taught by Yorimoto Yamashita. In 1996, Nakamura lost in the Shinjin-O final to future Honinbō S ...

in the final. In 1998, this time in the final of the Shinjin-O, Yamashita beat Takao 2-1 to capture the title. Their title matches would continue to go back and forth, with Takao getting the latest strike by beating Yamashita in the challenger's final for the Judan in 2003.

Titles and runners-up

External links

GoGameWorld Player Info for Takao Shinji

Japanese Go players 1976 births Living people Asian Games medalists in go Go players at the 2010 Asian Games Asian Games bronze medalists for Japan Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games {{Japan-Go-bio-stub