Game 9, held in Takamatsu City on 24 March 1955

Just to the north-east of Takamatsu City, which is in Kagawa Prefecture on Shikoku Island, is a peninsula that was formerly an island, Yashima. This was the site of many battles between the Taira and Minamoto clans almost a millennium ago. The legendary story of their long war - best known as the Tales of the Heike - is as popular today as ever it was. If ever a site could inspire the two players in a match that was fast losing any martial spirit, this was it.

Even better, the venue was an inn inside Takamatsu Castle! Though now a ruin it is famous as a type of "water castle" (mizuki) in which part of the defences are the sea (in this case the Inland Sea). Rather than the sea being a means of escape, it was more a case of it being an impenetrable barrier, forcing the defenders to defend desperately instead of running away. Fujisawa must have known how they felt. Especially as he had White in this game.

Actually, though, this was a superb opportunity for him. He was on a roll, with two victories as Black. If he won this game too, he would go in to the final Game 10 with Black and every prospect of notching up four wins in a row. That would restore the handicap to even - not what he had in mind originally, but an achievement of sorts in the circumstances.

The setting was a suitably sober one. Even though this was the first time Takamatsu was hosting a famous game, the organisers eschewed the garish bustle of the city, where the jangle of the pachinko parlours competed with the still famous melody "We thought you'd died, O-Tomi san" blasting over the loudspeaker. Instead they managed to get access for the first time to the Opening the Clouds Pavilion inside the sedate and heavily wooded castle precincts, hitherto used only by the Emperor and members of the aristocracy. A perfect place to have a little squabble about rank.

Fujisawa was taking White in this game. He would therefore normally take the seat of honour. But he made sure he got in the room (the Nami no Ma - Wave Room) first and plonked himself smartly in the seat reserved for the inferior player. When Hashimoto arrived, Fujisawa refused to budge - and being a stout and heavily built man he could give a good impression of immobility. Hashimoto therefore had to threaten to refuse to play unless Fujisawa shifted to the seat of honour - which he did.

This was possibly the first Imperial Castle Game since the end of the Edo era almost 100 before. It was important to act honourably.

It was also important to have good eyesight. Because the castle was classed as a State Treasure, it had restricted electricity in case of fires. The toilets were in a particularly murky part of the castle, it was also very cold, and as the game was being played on the upper floor for better light, access was via a ladder. Hence the famous proverb: don't play go if you can't see the ladder.

It was no surprise, therefore, although everyone thought it had been a wonderful experience, when the game resumed on the second day in the Kawaroku Inn. That had its own problems. They were spared the wailing over O-Tomi san, but had to put up with a bawling baby over the road. A Japanese proverb tells us that there are two things you cannot conquer: a crying child and the lord of the manor. All they could do was wait. But while they waited, dogs started fighting in the nearby streets. Eventually they got used to the noise and decided to resume play. As if in reaction, the two players became totally silent. Hashimoto propped his fan on his knee and rested his elbow on it. In that pose he sank into deep thought, gazing alternately at the board and the ceiling.

It was vital not to give in to the distractions and make a mistake. Eventually he took a stone and placed it firmly on Black 71. The right-side strategy was all-important in this game. White failed to find a positive enough way of playing here, and allowing Black to play as comfortably as he did with 71 was a sign of that. It was as if Fujisawa had locked into playing with Black and could not change his mindset to be more adventurous as White. He fought well in the local battles, but missed the strategic big points. For example, he did well to stick his nose out with 44, but that was vitiated by allowing Black to get to 51 first. He moved out neatly with 54 to 66, but allowed Black to get to 57 first.

With 119 Hashimoto could have made trouble for Fujisawa by pulling out at 120, but by resolving his eye shape he was effectively signalling that he thought the game was over. Four moves later Fujisawa agreed with him.

White: Fujisawa Kuranosuke 9-dan, Black: Hashimoto Utaro 9-dan
Game 9 of 10-game uchikomi match sponsored by Yomiuri Shinbun
Played at the Hiunkaku Pavilion, Takamatsu Castle, on 24-25 March 1955
Handicap B-B-(W), no komi, 10 hours each.