Otake Hideo 9-dan has been regarded by many as Japan's most complete player. Among home-grown players he is second only to Sakata Eio in number of titles won (43 to 64). But he too had to start somewhere!
Born in Kitakyushu City on 12 May 1942, he was just 12 when the first game below was played on 29 December 1954. He was 1-kyu but was here treated as provisional 1-dan (confirmed in 1956). He reached 9-dan as early as 1970.
His opponent was his teacher Kitani Minoru, then 8-dan. In February that year, Kitani had been struck down by cerebral anaemia which kept him in hospital for several months and away from go for over 10 months. This game, with Otake taking three stones, sponsored by Kido, was to mark his comeback. The venue was his house in Hiratsuka City, which was of course Otake's home too at that time.
Normally Otake was a normal little boy who happened to have a flair for go. He would play his practice games while reading comics, and Kitani described one occasion before this game, when he took him on a trip to play go with patients in a naval hospital. It was some time before anyone noticed he was missing (just another prodigy!), but once they did they rushed outside. They eventually found him in the local playground.
But on this occasion he was expected to be on his best behaviour. Otake sat primly in his school uniform, buttoned right up but with the traditional buzz cut despite the cold. Kitani knelt benignly opposite, his hands poised over an earthenware hand warmer, looking for all the world like an indulgent uncle (he was then 45) with a favoured nephew. But Otake had to learn to beware the needle in the cotton.
Yet Kido had the foresight to see, in one even so young as Otake, a future champion to rival even Kitani himself. His insight was sharp, he was full of fighting vim and, above all, he had good suji - that is, he played moves that flowed logically from one to the next.
The comments here are based mainly on those of Kitani, but they are interspersed with observations by Otake and his fellow insei, Kitani Reiko (daughter of Minoru and future wife of Kobayashi Koichi). She was a very slow player, so Otake went through a lot of comics when playing her. Matsumoto Tokuji and Tsutsui Katsumi, former live-in pupils of Kitani, also joined in the discussion. Let us eavesdrop on what must have been like a typical evening in the Kitani school. Click here if you prefer to play over the game in sgf format.
Otake: Should I have pincered [e.g.] at L17 instead of Black 6? [he shows the sequence White G17, Black C17, White B17, Black C18, White B18, Black D16, White C15]. Reiko: White has been able to play on both sides of Black (G17 and B18), hasn't he? Otake: On top of that White would still be able to invade around N17. If you're wondering, I don't like Black D16 instead of C18 because White can turn at C18. Kitani: Yes. Maybe that sequence is not so good for Black. Your choice in the game was the usual one. But there's more to the game than this area! [laughs] Reiko: But I too feel it's slack not to pincer. Kitani: Let's move on. White 9 could be at 10, but I can't say find it very appealing. Tsutsui: You thought a long time about Black 12, didn't you? Otake: I was wondering where to invade. Kitani: Invading here (Black L17) was more forceful. Reiko: Where does White play? Kitani: If he tries something like the knight's move (White N15), Black L15 will embarrass him. Otake: I should have invaded right inside. Kitani: If a great player played it (Black 14), it would probably seem like a superb move, but (laughs) White could have patiently played M17. Otake: What about stepping across here to M17 (for Black 16)? Kitani: That's interesting. I see. After White P15, Black Q15, White Q18, Black can bend round at P14 and he is threatening the white group [the threat is White P17]. Otake: The reason I played 24 instead of extending to 26 was that I didn't want White to connect cleanly at 24. Matsumoto: After making the effort to invade, Black has ended up with a grim shape here, hasn't he? Kitani: Black 32 was a tesuji, eh?. How about if I played 40 instead of 39? Otake: I was expecting you to play there. Kitani: If I let you cut at 39, White's position does not look tenable. Otake: Q18 instead of Black 40 gives a bigger profit but I didn't like it because of the bad potential. Kitani: R18 would be more normal. Otake: But if Black then cuts at O15 in future, White plays P16 and can later play White Q17, Black R17, White S15. Tsutsui: You can't really say which is better, 40 or this. Kitani: I avoided capping at 42 instead of 41 because Black can defend with, say, a knight's move. Reiko: What about Black pushing on at Black M8 in place of 48? Tsutsui: White extends to L9, Black M6, White O4. Otake: And then if Black R3? Reiko: Otake-san's favourite 3-3 move! Kitani: If you're that careful you'll get nowhere. You'd have to peep straightaway. Tsutsui: But Black's thick, isn't he? Kitani: At any rate this was better for Black. Otake: I did think about pushing on. Matsumoto: What if White ignores the push and plays O4? Kitani: Yes. If he extends [L9] he doesn't get good shape. Otake: I'd fancy playing on top at Black L9. Matsumoto: Then it gets difficult [demonstrates White L10, Black M10, White K9, Black L8, White M11, Black N10, White N11, Black O10, White M14, Black L11, White M13, Black K10, White R3]. Kitani: White can't be captured easily, but Black's still thick. Why didn't you push on with Black 50? And it would come to the same thing if White cut after Black 50. Otake: How does the capturing race turn out? Kitani: Not easy for either side, is it? Otake: Black M8, White L8, Black L7, White M7, Black K7, White L9, Black N5, White O7, Black L5, White Q8, Black Q9, White R8, Black S8, White S7, Black S10, White T8, Black S12, White S13, Black R11, White R13, Black S9. Then White gets an eye with R4, Black R3, White S4. Kitani: And Black can step across to O10. But I don't know. You can't easily say it's good for Black.
Tsutsui: I see. Kitani: What if White 53 had been 83? Otake: I'd turn at 53. Kitani: White will turn too, at L10. We looked at this before, didn't we? Matsumoto: This is why White can fight here. Kitani: Can White play 61 at 73? Matsumoto: If Black 74 then White 62. Otake: Eh!? That's wicked. You're Rikidozan! [An ex-sumo star who became a pro wrestler famous for his karate chop] Kitani: Let's look at it. Black M2, White 64. Looks good for White, doesn't it? I should have aimed at that. Extending with 61 and 63 is not so good. Black R4 (instead of 64) would have been a more spirited move. Matsumoto: Then White presumably caps at J8? Otake: Then Black plays the knight's move at S6. Kitani: That connects, doesn't it? But it's a close run thing. What if White doesn't cap but plays L8? Otake: Wow! That's murderous. Matsumoto: But even if Black's blocked at the top he can connect up with R6. One way or another he should play R4. Kitani: He let me off, didn't he. It was the crux of the middle game. Otake: Shucks! Tsutsui: This way of connecting (Black 72) was a bit awkward. Otake: This too (Black 80). I should play 82 at once. Matsumoto: That's right. Reiko: If you play there, it's big, isn't it? Otake: At least 20 points. Kitani: Then I push in at L15. Otake: Of course. Matsumoto: But Black has to play 82 and not 80. Kitani: Instead of 82, can't he block with Q3? Matsumoto: He played very fast didn't he? I bet he didn't think about that. Otake: That's right. Tsutsui: This'll happen then, won't it? - White R4, Black R5, White Q5, Black S5, White Q2, Black P2, White O2, Black O3, White P1, Black P3, White S2, Black R7, White S4. Though there may be some variations. Kitani: There's a lot in it, eh? Otake: A lot of your stones! Black's territory has turned into a white one. It's Black's turn to play, but that's not saying much. Kitani: Better than the game. There are lots of groups and the game's closer. Matsumoto: He must've overlooked the cut after 82. Kitani: Then it was a one-way street. Matsumoto: Can't White live in the corner with 105? Kitani: It would be too unbearable to let him play 105, White H4, Black G4.
Otake: It was better to crawl at 113 instead of Black 106.
Matsumoto: Because once White plays 113 his group in the corner can't be killed unconditionally. Kitani: For 117 I thought about 120, but it was difficult choice. Otake: Attaching (117) was clear enough! [Laughs]
After 129 Black's group is dead, so he desperately tries something at the top. The post-game discussion also suggested that Black 122 should have been 126, White 123, Black 124, White 125, Black H4, White G4, Black captures, White F5, Black F4 and he can fight the ko by aiming at White's group at the top.
One thing we have left unstated so far, of course, is that it was an enormous privilege for Otake to play his teacher. As you will see from the Pieter Mioch article on this site on another Kitani pupil, Tsuchida Masamitsu 9-dan, it was normal for pupils never to play a single game with Kitani. But Otake was so special, he received this honour twice.
On 2 October 1960 he played Kitani on two stones, as part of a series of games published by Igo Club called Live-in Pupil Teaching Games. Kitani was then 9-dan and Otake 4-dan. We present that game too, though only in sgf format here.
