Takagawa Kaku

Kaku Takagawa.

Takagawa Kaku ( Japanese 高 川 格 ; born September 21, 1915 in Tanabe , Wakayama Prefecture ; † November 26, 1986 ), also known as Takagawa Shūkaku ( 高 川 秀 格 ), was one of the most successful Japanese Go players of the 20th century.

Early years

He learned the game of Go at around the age of six from his father, who was an often unemployed miner but also a good amateur player. Kaku received his first outside lessons from an elementary school principal who was considered the strongest player in the area.

Since Kaku learned the game quickly and successfully, his father dreamed that his son could become a professional player. In 1925, at the age of eleven, Kaku went to live with an aunt in Tokyo . Shortly thereafter, he played a game with a five-stone handicap against the then 1 Dan Nobuaki Maeda , a member of the Nihon Ki-in and a game with a nine-stone handicap against Hon'inbo Shūsai . Due to family problems, however, Kaku only stayed in Tokyo for two months and then went to Osaka , where he became a student of Mitsuhara Itaru. In 1928 he received his 1st Dan and in 1931 his 2nd Dan. Failing the Osaka Business School entrance exam, Kaku decided to try a professional career in Go. He played in 1933 at the Niho Ki-in Oteai tournament. In 1944 he beat Go Seigen , also in the Oteai, and thus received the qualification for 7th Dan.

Times of war and peace

Shortly after the game against Go Seigen, Kaku was drafted into military service. After two months of basic training, he was sent to a military hospital in Osaka. After two months he was dismissed from the service because of his weak constitution, but was drafted again soon afterwards. Now he has been commissioned to set up a field hospital in Miyazaki Prefecture . After the war, Kaku went to Wakayama . The next few years were a real struggle. Kaku tried to make ends meet with growing vegetables, which worked more badly than well.

The general situation in Japan slowly improved and Kaku's living conditions improved. In 1950 he settled in Tokyo with his wife, whom he had married eight years earlier, and their two children.

successes

Kaku Takagawa won the Honinbo title nine times in a row, from 1952 to 1960, and received the permanent honorary Honinbo title because of this achievement. He then chose Shukaku as his Honinbo name.

Fonts

• Sanren-Sei. The Power Opening , 2010, Brett and Stein Verlag, ISBN 978-3-940563-13-2
• Joseki in the middle game . Go-Sangyo-Verlag, Lintorf 1972 / German Chess Association of the GDR, Komm.Go, Berlin 1986
• Go no Kandokoro ( 碁 の 勘 ど こ ろ ). Nihon Kiin, 1953
  • Peter Schnell (translator): The key to Go . German Go Association , Berlin

source

• Go World No. 41 (Fall 1985) p. 14

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Takagawa is the family name, Kaku the first name.