There are, even in Japan, enormous misconceptions about the birth of Shin Fuseki - the new opening ideas that put more emphasis on the centre than ever before. Go Seigen has been asked so many times about how he invented that he has become tired of denying it. Certainly, he and Kitani Minoru were central to its success, but the name was a piece of journalistic hype by Yasunaga Hajime, and the researches into the new ideas were under way before Go and Kitani took them over (and many other players continued them even while this pair were enjoying all the fame).
One of the key points in the history of Shin Fuseki were the systematic researches of Kubomatsu Katuskiyo into the uses of tengen (the centre point) for the first move. One important factor in subsequent history is that Kubomatsu was also Kitani's first teacher, and they remained close.
Kubomatsu first tried tengen against Murashima Yoshikatsu in 1929. Go also played it against Kitani, but only his game is remembered now. At the time Kubomatsu's involvement was better known, though, and in the February 1930 issue of Kido he published his "Researches on Tengen". He commented on several tengen games spanning the Edo and Meiji periods, and one of his conclusions was that:
"I cannot say definitely that tengen is bad. However, the reason tengen is hardly ever seen today in pro games is not that tengen is disadvantageous, but that, as that venerable old man Taisaku said, its variations are limitless. And since one cannot analyse it as thoroughly as the four corners, everyone plays safe and does not even contemplate playing tengen."
This little insight into pros playing the percentages is of interest anyway, of course, but the reference to Takasaki Taisaku 6-dan may be because he was noted for his diligent research and his style. Having a private income as a landlord, he was happy to play for low fees. This naturally made him popular with younger players, but they also esteemed games with him because they were given high weighting in assessments for diplomas. This was because of the purity of his style. It is also a clear inference from Kubomatsu's remarks that Takasaki had been looking at tengen in some detail.
Kubomatsu kept up his own study of tengen games, being fond of large-scale games. Then in the Spring session of the Oteai in 1933 he had it played against him by Kosugi Tei and that reinforced his inclinations. So, in January 1934, in a radio game with Go Seigen, he tried it again and, having acquired confidence, dared to try it as first move whenever he had Black in the Spring session of the 1934 Oteai.
After that Oteai he wrote in the July Kido:
"Since last Autumn I have been studying moves I could use as new ideas against Kitani and Go Seigen. I spared no effort. Among these new ideas, tengen was powerful against fusekis that emphasised the centre or moves along the fourth line such as takamoku, as anyone could realise. I tried investigating as much as possible old games and the go classics where tengen was the chief centre of attention. Playing the first move on tengen at least makes the game difficult. But, when trying it in actual games, considerable 'feel' is required, however much study you have put in."
"A chance came to me to try it in practice. This was a radio game against Go Seigen 5-dan sponsored by the AK and BK broadcasting stations [1-minute a move and a thrilling aerial fight for radio fans]. Luckily I won though in truth it was a very difficult fight. But through this fight I acquired a fair amount of confidence, so I waited with the idea of making the Spring Oteai 'one day a thousand autumns' [= a long slog]. In Round 1, against Hayashi Yutaro 6-dan I played move 1 on tengen as I intended all along, and the result was that I lost without counting."
"But tengen itself was not related to the outcome. The result was determined by the quality of moves from the middle-game onwards, so my attitude to studying tengen did not change one iota. Then I played all my first moves as Black on tengen and through the experience I got from practice I was able to score reasonable results, which pleased me immensely. In each game the outcome was not governed by tengen, and so the merits of that move could not be definitively determined. But though it was difficult applying tengen, I clearly learnt from it."
"There were many pros in the B section who had come up with me from the Kansai and they played tengen too. Looking at their games I discovered an interesting fact about it. It is clear that most people, when applying tengen, assume they are trying to form a large territory there. Only Tanaka (Fujio) 2-dan, who achieved the honour of first place in this Spring's championship, generally acted in accordance with the attacking meaning of the single stone on tengen. This is not being wise after the event because he put up good results. I believe this is a truly interesting fact in the study of tengen. The idea of using tengen to build a large territory and the idea of using tengen to attack of course depend on the position and you can't just say either is good or bad. But the demonstration by young Tanaka of the fact that the opinions towards tengen have been a bit askew up to now is, I must say, a major harvest of this Spring. In conclusion, the feeling about tengen I was able to formulate this Spring is only that it is difficult to apply it later."
To confirm his conclusions, Kubomatsu tried it again in the Autumn Oteai, including what some regard as his masterpiece against Onoda Chiyotaro 6-dan where he won by 8 points. In his tengen games he scored 3-2 in Spring and 2-1 in the Autumn.
We offer a small sample of modern tengen games here, including Kubomatsu's masterpiece. Of course there has been one change of major significance since his day - the adoption of komi. Arguably that could mean a greater need for Black to consider playing tengen, especially as the size of komi grows.
- Game 1: Kitani Minoru v.Go Seigen (1929)
- Game 2: Go Seigen v. Kubomatsu Katsukiyo (1934)
- Game 3: Onoda Chiyotaro v. Kubomatsu Katsukiyo (1934)
- Game 4: Go Seigen v. Kubomatsu Katsukiyo (1935)
- Game 5: Hashimoto Utaro v. Yamabe Toshiro (1950)
- Game 6: Hashimoto Utaro v. Go Seigen (1962)
- Game 7: Yamada Wakio v. Yasuda Yasutoshi (1986)
- Game 8: Hikosaka Naoto v. Yoda Norimoto (1989)
Update
Here is a brand-new tengen game which seems close to a perfect example of how to use the central stone through sheer power. So Yokoku 6-dan played it against Osawa Narumi 1-dan in the current NHK Cup. Apparently So could hear the commentator, Ishikura Noboru 9-dan, who began by praising the fresh games of today's young players, and that may be why he played tengen. Osawa must have felt suffocated by a python. It is interesting (and unusual?) to see how the tengen stone at the end occupies a perfect spot.
- Game 9: Osawa Narumi 1d v. So Yokoku 6d (2000)
48th NHK Cup
