Kitani Minoru

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Kitani Minoru ( Japanese 木谷 実 ; born January 25, 1909 in Kobe ; † December 19, 1975 ) was one of the most famous professional go players and teachers of Go in the 20th century in Japan .

biography

His go teacher was Suzuki Tamejiro .

Kitani was nicknamed "The Miracle" after winning a knockout tournament. He defeated eight opponents of the Kiseisha in a row in 1928 and played a well-known game against Honinbo Shusai . The Nobel Prize winner for literature Kawabata Yasunari processed this game in his novel Meijin . Kitani suffered an intracerebral haemorrhage in 1954 but soon recovered. In 1964 he fell ill again and retired. In 1967 he won the Okura Prize.

Segoe Kensaku , a friend and rival of Kitani, called him the "Great Kitani" because of his extraordinary Go successes.

Friendship with Go Seigen

He was a child prodigy who gained a lot of attention after founding Nihon Ki-in in 1924. There was a great rivalry between him and Go Seigen , but also friendship.

From 1933–1936, Go and Kitani pioneered Shinfuseki , which is also known as the “New Opening”.

From 1939 Go Seigen and Kitani played in Kamakura jubango , the most famous jūbango of the century. It ended with a clear victory for Go. Kitani's career never recovered from this; he also had heart health problems. Later he had an idiosyncratic style of play in which he placed great emphasis on safe territory.

Kitani's Go School

Kitani became the most productive Go teacher of future professionals. The Kitani dojo began to flourish in his country home in 1945 and was administered by his wife on practical issues. It passed on its knowledge to an entire generation of top Japanese players from the 1970s to 1990s. His daughter Kitani Reiko (1939–1996) was 6th Dan, won the Japanese women's championship several times and married Koichi Kobayashi , one of Kitani's best students. Their daughter Izumi Kobayashi is the strongest female player in Japan today. When Kitani died, he had had over 60 students over the years and raised 40 of them to become professionals.

Professional Dan degrees

  • 1st Dan: 1924
  • 2nd Dan: 1926
  • 3rd Dan: 1926
  • 4th Dan: 1927
  • 5th Dan: 1929
  • 6th Dan: 1933
  • 7th Dan: 1935
  • 8th Dan: 1942
  • 9th Dan: 1956

Title and Candidates

title Won
Still existing 1
JapanJapan NHK Cup 1960
Former 2
JapanJapan Asashi top position 1957, 1958
title Lost
Still existing 5
JapanJapan Honinbo 1947, 1953, 1959
JapanJapan NHK Cup 1958, 1961
Former 3
JapanJapan NHK Championship 1958
JapanJapan Asashi top position 1959
JapanJapan Igo Senshuken 1958

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://senseis.xmp.net/?KitaniReiko

Web links

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . So Kitani is the family name, Minoru the first name.
personal data
SURNAME Kitani, Minoru
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 木谷 實 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese go player and teacher of go
DATE OF BIRTH January 25, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Kobe
DATE OF DEATH 19th December 1975