THE NAME of Ota Yuzo is familiar to most go players because of his famous match with Honinbo Shusaku in the mid 19th century. Many readers will also know that he was a dandy, so fond of his appearance that he refused a government stipend for top players. Yet he was so strong that, de facto, he was given the associated rank of jozu (7-dan) anyway.
He lived at a time when there were many great players, and while he could not claim to be the best, he was certainly close. It is generally accepted that today he would rank as an occasional title-holder.
He was born in 1807 (Bunka 4) under the name Kawahara Unosuke. Later, possibly through adoption, he changed his name to Ota Unosuke, and this is the name he used in his first recorded games. Later still, when about 21, he changed it to Ota Ryosuke. Yuzo was his final choice.
He was the son of a merchant. The huge compendium Zain Danso says the family came from Yokoyama-cho in Edo. Shiraki Sukeemon, a contemporary player, recorded him as the son of a silk merchant trading as Chojiya in Honcho Itchome, Edo. Either way, the point was he was born in the old town and so was a true son of Edo - an Edokko - and he was famously to live up to their reputation of enjoying life to the full.
When young he entered the school of the Yasui family. He eventually progressed to jozu on the 29th of the 11 month of Kaei 1 (1848-12-24). Even so, he never appeared in the supreme arena of Castle Go, the games before the shogun in Edo Castle. He was not alone in this. Honinbo Shuho was another notable absentee, but in his case it was because of the turbulent times at the end of the Shogunate, when Castle Go was cancelled. In Yuzo's case (it is customary to use the given name of Japanese historical personages), it was his own fault.
We will let the Zain Danso take up the story:
"Yuzo was a handsome fellow: white of face, with vermilion lips and magnificent eyebrows cradling limpid eyes. His jet black hair was tied up into a luxurious topknot. He saw himself as the epitome of elegance. But once he reached the rank of 7-dan, a strange story unfolded. In ancient times, whenever a member of the Go Families reached 7-dan, they received a stipend from the authorities, and shaved their heads, like a priest. It was thus that they served the shogun in the Castle Games. For the Go Families this was a matter of the greatest honour, and they would vie with each other to achieve it. Yuzo alone could not bear the appearance of a domed pate, and wavered over his promotion to 7-dan. He said: 'I do not desire the Imperial stipend. It is thus possible I cannot serve in the Castle Games. But what I do request is that I be allowed not to shave by head but to become 7-dan.' Yuzo's skill at that time was at least of 7-dan status. He was easily head and shoulders above his rivals. After much deliberation, the Go Academy, esteeming his skill, granted his request and allowed his promotion. Thus it was that Yuzo became 7-dan yet did not serve in Castle Games and did not shave his head. There had never been such a precedent since ancient times."
This story has been interpreted (go as sociology) as a sign of the growth of the townspeople and decline in the power of the Shogun.
But what made Yuzo famous was not this episode as much as his many games with young Honinbo Shusaku. There was a difference of 22 years between them when they first met, and so it would be strange to call them rivals, perhaps.
That first game between them was on the 3rd of the 5th month, Tenpo 13 (1842-06-11). Yuzo was 35 and 6-dan, and Shusaku was 2-dan and it was in the week when he had just turned 13. The handicap was 2 stones. They played a series of 11 games that summer until Shusaku won 7, lost 3, with one tie, so that, having opened up a four-game gap, he progressed to a handicap of B-2-B (Black, or first move in two games, and 2 stones in the third). Shusaku followed this with a four-game sweep at B-2-B, to reach a handicap of first move only. He was immediately knocked back by Yuzo but it was not long before Shusaku established the handicap of first move. Sometimes they played two games in one day, so clearly there was friendly cooperation, not rivalry. Indeed, they were to play so many games together, Yuzo was close to being Shusaku's teacher. They certainly got on well.
It took Shusaku until 1846 to whittle the handicap down to the next stage, B-W-B.
The large number of games between them may well have been serendipitous. The Shogunate, thrashing around in its weakness for easy targets, was picking again on its traditional victim, the merchant class. In 1843 it imposed sumptuary laws prohibiting the wealthy merchants from building luxurious houses or practising military arts. The merchants began diverting their money into sponsoring cultural activities, including go.
Perhaps because he was of their class, but probably also, one suspects, because of his personal charisma, Yuzo was particularly adept at getting merchants to sponsor his matches. The reason so many of his games remain - over 600, far more than Shusaku - is said to be because they were played for such sponsors. It is easy to imagine the older Yuzo, at home in such company, being the mentor as much as the opponent in these games with the shaven-headed Shusaku.
At any rate, these games were attracting attention, and more were arranged, giving Shusaku the chance eventually to get on level handicap terms with Yuzo. They had played six games at that level when an even more important patron entered on the scene.
This was a hashimoto (samurai vassal of the Shogun) called Akai Gorosaku, whose name appears as the sponsor of many go events of the period. In the spring of Kaei 6 (1853), a group of players gathered at his mansion. They included Yasui Sanchi, Ito Showa, Sakaguchi Sentoku, Hattori Seitetsu and Ota Yuzo. The conversation eventually veered round to Shusaku, and how good he was. There was almost a consensus that there was probably no-one there who could play him level, but Yuzo begged to differ. He stood at 3-3 on level terms, he said, so he could not agree. Hearing this, Akai decided to sponsor a 30-game match between Yuzo and Shusaku. Why so many games is unclear - perhaps it was a combination of bluster by Yuzo about his own skill, and his bargaining instincts as a merchant to triple the usual sponsorship deal. It was not too far short of the total number of games already played between them (50+), and by any standards it was an unusual arrangement. One suggestion is that, with so many of the Go Family heads cloistered in retirement, Yuzo was intent on a big show to grab the limelight for himself.
The match began when Yuzo was 46 (7-dan) and Shusaku 24 (6-dan) in the first month of 1853. The games were played at the then very fast pace of more or less a game a week. Yuzo held his own until Game 11, when - some say - fatigue overcame the older man and Shusaku pulled ahead. By Game 17 Yuzo had fallen behind by four games, which meant he too joined the ranks of those who could not play Shusaku on level terms. The match continued immediately, though, and proceeded until Game 21 in the seventh month. There are conflicting records as to whether this game was suspended until the tenth month, or completed in the seventh month, but either way Game 22 did not start until the tenth month. We do not know why a gap occurred (there had been a shorter gap in the fourth month that had not rated any comment), but it seems to have been due to some change in Yuzo's circumstances, and Shusaku turned instead to short matches with Honinbo Shuho and Kishimoto Saichiro in the 9th month, so that the tenth month was probably the earliest they could resume.
But resume they did. However, Game 22 was held at Yuzo's own house, Isseki-an. All the previous games had been held at more sumptuous venues such as the Hirakawa Tenjin Villa in Koji-machi, or the private residence of patrons such as Tamura Shosai and Aochi Ennen. Possibly the patrons were losing their enthusiasm. After being beaten down to B-W-B in Game 17, Yuzo was already two games behind going into Game 21. He lost that, and faced Game 23 with the prospect of taking White and being beaten down to the next lowest handicap.
You will have to make your own mind up whether this game, one of the most famous in go history, was fixed. At any rate, the venue was once again the residence of Tamura Shosai and it was played to a grandstand finish, ending at six in the morning after almost 24 hours continuous play. The result was a tie, enough to rescue Yuzo from ignominy - enough, indeed, to give him a little lustre, for a tie with White was a great achievement. And that, in turn, plus the fact that Shusaku was about to be called up for duty in the Castle games, provided an excuse to terminate the match.
The game is now called Yuzo's Lifetime Masterpiece - mainly by Yuzo, it seems. In the match he never beat Shusaku with White, so a tie was the closest he ever got. However, let the record note that Yuzo also held Shusaku to a tie with White in Game 6 and he did not crow specially about that.
Probably in order to enjoy his fame as Shusaku's opponent, Yuzo seems to have embarked on a provincial tour - though not immediately, and he definitely did not skulk away - and it was there that he died. Again it was Shiraki Sukeemon who noted the details: it was at the Kajiyashiki Inn of the Takada family in Echigo. It was said that when news of Yuzo's death reached Shusaku, he was inconsolable.
Yuzo has assuredly left his mark on go history. But what of his legacy on the go board? The most obvious facet is summed up by Kamimura Kunio 9-dan, who called him a "kabuki actor on a go board." Others have noted the way he ceaselessly probes for the opponent's intentions, his aptitude for light and flexible arrangement of his stones (sabaki), his frequent willingness to trade. Honinbo Shuho praised him for the large scale of his go and the efficient placement of his stones - he had a knack of getting to the big points first.
He was a quick player as well as a bold one, and his games give the impression, according to Hashimoto Shoji 9-dan, of being full of variations, and thus of power. Kitani Minoru 9-dan said his games were like those of Iwamoto Kaoru 9-dan (once famously described as bean scattering). Fukui Masaaki has likened his style to that of a boxer who combines nifty footwork with heavy punching.
Games
The games below, in downloadable sgf format, will illustrate some of this. That so many pros have studied his games is something to note, too.
Game 1 is from Ota Yuzo's only work, Seisei Shudan (Steps on a Go Journey Westward) which contains 52 of his training games from 1835-40, mainly from his travels to west Japan as far as Kagoshima. It was published in 1841. This game is on 4 stones and is against Suzuki Chisei, a senior member of the Yasui school who reached 6-dan.
Game 2 is against Akaboshi Intetsu, member of the Inoue family rated as of Meijin calibre, but he died early. Yuzo also played Intetsu on two stones and recorded this and several other games with him in Seisei Shudan.
Game 3 is against Kawakita Konosuke in Kyoto. Kawakita was a scholar as well as a go player, and reached 5-dan but was probably 2-dan here. This game is regarded as a good example of Yuzo's skill at tesujis (though not always appropriate).
Game 4 is against Inoue Gen'an Inseki, one of the truly great players.
Game 5 is a newly discovered game not in the Collected Games of Shuwa. It comes from the archives of Yahata Wasaburo in Mizusawa City, Iwate Prefecture. Yuzo normally had a tough time against Shuwa. Another player he couldn't really get to grips with was Sakaguchi Sentoku.
Finally, Game 6 is the Lifetime Masterpiece against Shusaku.
