Hon'inbō Dōchi (本因坊道知, 1690–1727) was 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 i ...

Biography

Dōchi learned to play Go at the age of 7. A short two years thereafter, he had become a disciple of

Hon'inbō Dōsaku Hon'inbō Dōsaku (本因坊道策, 1645–1702) was a professional Go player. Biography Dōsaku was one of the greatest Go players in history. He was born in the Iwami Province of Japan and studied Go in the Hon'inbō school, becoming Me ...

, the strongest player of his time. He became very strong under Dosaku, eventually reaching 6 dan. After Dosaku died in 1702, Dōchi was passed on to Inoue Dōsetsu Inseki. By 1719, he had advanced to 8 dan, the highest rank at the time. Dōchi became the 5th

Hon'inbō Honinbo (or Hon'inbō, 本因坊) is a title used by the head of the Honinbo house or the winner of the Honinbo tournament. Honinbo house The Honinbo house was a school of Go players officially founded in 1612 and discontinued in 1940. The foun ...

in 1702, and

Meijin is one of the eight titles in Japanese professional shogi player, professional shogi, and is the most prestigious title, along with Ryūō. The word ( "excellent, artful", "person") refers to a highly skilled master of a certain field (the ...

Godoroko in 1721. He served as Honinbō for twenty-five years (1702–1727) and Meijin for 6 years (1721–1727). He played in an international match against a visiting Ryukyuan player, the Satonushi of Yara. He is famous for his brilliant endgame plays, including a classic example of '' semedori'' (forcing an opponent to capture dead stone

, exhibited in a 1705 game against

Yasui Senkaku Yasui (written: 安井 or 保井) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese judge *, Japanese swimmer *, Japanese politician *, Japanese businessman *, Japanese biologist *, Japanese voice actor *, American lawyer ...

. This was in a grudge match, since there had been bad blood between the Honinbos and Yasuis since

Yasui Sanchi Yasui Sanchi (安井算知, 1617–1703) was a Japanese professional Go player, and second head of the Yasui house. He became ''Meijin''-''godokoro'' in 1668. It has always been said''Go Monthly Review'' 1963/5 p.54 that this promotion was achi ...

was turned out of his official positions in favour of

. Yasui Senkaku had originally refused to play the relatively untested Dōchi; the match had been set up by Ohashi Sokei, the '' shogidokoro'', who was a conventional go-between, and the celebrated game occurred in his official residence.''Go Monthly Review'' 1963/9, p.65 It was reproduced, according to the custom of the time, as a castle go game. The next year he played a ''

jubango Jūbango (十番碁) is a Japanese term for a Go match consisting of ten games which might be ended earlier if agreed by both players. A decisive victory would result in the opponent being ' beaten down' to a lower rank. A player would be beaten d ...

'' against Dōsetsu, but lost heavily 3½–6½ taking Black (he was 6 ''dan'' at the time, Dōsetsu 8 ''dan'').

Notes

1690 births 1727 deaths Japanese Go players 18th-century Go players {{Japan-Go-bio-stub