What is the biggest, the longest, the mostest in pro go? These pages will tell you the answers as far as I know them. Of course, if you can tell us of any new records we would be delighted to add or update any item.
The record items listed so far will be "turned on" one by one, so please make sure you visit again soon. We focus on competitive pro games, of course, but with the odd digression.
Shortest, Longest, Oldest, First, Most ... and many more.
SHORTEST GAMES OF GO
SHORTEST EVER
Kang Hun 8-dan resigned after just two moves against Kim Seung-chun 4-dan in the quarter-finals of the 18th Kukgi on 24 July 1995 in Korea. Kang was ill but thought he could play. Once at the board he decided otherwise, though by turning up at all he ensured his game fee. Click here.
SHORTEST WITH PROPER PLAY
Ono Nobuyuki 6-dan resigned because of a misread after 20 moves against Kudo Norio 9-dan in the preliminary stages of the 53rd Honinbo in Japan on 21 November 1996. Click here.
Previous shortest was 26 moves when Honma Akio 7-dan resigned against Mizokami Tomochika 4-dan in the preliminaries of the 42nd Oza on 19 May 1994 in Japan. It is believed Honma resigned this game to make it the shortest in history in place of the previous shortest loss, by his teacher Takahashi Shigeyuki 7-dan in 31 moves against Kano Yoshinori 8-dan in the preliminaries of the 21st Honinbo on 26 May 1965.
SHORTEST GAME IN JAPAN
See Shortest with Proper Play.
SHORTEST GAME IN KOREA
See Shortest Ever. Apart from that, Pak Yeong-ch'an 1-dan resigned after 46 moves against Heo Chang-heui 7-dan in the 17th Kiwang League on 22 October 1992.
SHORTEST GAME IN CHINA
Zhang Wendong 8-dan fell into a Large Avalanche trap and resigned after 40 moves against Che Zewu 7-dan in the 1992 National Physical Education Committee Go Team Selection Trials. Click here.
SHORTEST INTERNATIONAL GAME
See Shortest Title Match.
SHORTEST TITLE MATCH GAME
Cao Dayuan 9-dan resigned after 48 moves against Takemiya Masaki 9-dan in the final of the 3rd TV Go Asia Championship on 30 August 1991. Click here. This is also the shortest international game we have.
Shortest in a major (2-day) title game was when O Meien 9-dan misread a ladder and resigned after 59 moves against Cho Sonjin 9-dan in Game 1 of the Honinbo in Japan on 24 May 2000. Click here.
Shortest in the Kisei is when Cho Chikun 9-dan resigned after 69 moves against Kobayashi Satoru 9-dan in Game 2 of the 19th Kisei on 1 February 1995. Shortest in the Meijin is when Takemiya Masaki 9-dan resigned after 61 moves against Cho Chikun 9-dan in Game 1 of 21st Meijin on 6 September 1996.
SHORTEST GAME LOST ON TIME
Ushinohama Satsuo 9-dan ran out of time after 51 moves against Yamabe Toshiro 9-dan in the 6th Tengen Challengers' Final on 23 October 1980 in Japan. Click here. Time limits were six hours each, but at the dinner break (from 5.30 to 6.15) Ushinohama, who had travelled up to the Nihon Ki-in from Osaka for the game, had only 51 minutes left. He did not turn up after dinner, and could not be found. It turned out he had fallen asleep in one of the bedrooms on the 8th floor of the Ki-in. As a result of this incident, which embarrassed the Nihon Ki-in vis-a-vis the Kansai Kiin, the bedrooms were put out of bounds.
Yu Ch'ang-hyeok 9-dan lost on time after 62 moves against Yi Ch'ang-ho 9-dan in the winners' section semi-final of the 18th KBS Cup on 31 August 1999, but that was a lightning tournament anyway.
SHORTEST COUNTED GAME
The shortest counted game involving a pro (click here) was 127 moves between Kobayashi Izumi 2-dan and Okamoto Nobuko on two stones on 16 April 1999. This was an exhibition game to commemorate 30 years of the Koyu-kai in Tokyo. Though not strictly allowable for inclusion as a record here, the game is a masterpiece in an other way. It ends in heart shape, especially if you do the filling in in the spirit of the game. Koyu-kai is a pioneering circle of amateur women players, and was initially aided by Oyama Toshio 5d, whose 80th birthday was also celebrated at this event. Okamoto is a former Japanese women's amateur champion.
The shortest competitive pro game was 136 moves between Komatsu Hideki 7-dan and Zheng Hong 7-dan in Game 3 of the 7th Japan-China Super Go series in Wuhan on 29 May 1992. Click here.
SHORTEST WOMEN'S GAME
Shortest we have seen is 71 moves between Miyazaki Shimako 3-dan and Aoki Kikuyo 7-dan in Round 1 of the 2nd Women's Pro Saikyo in Japan on 17 April 2000. Click here.
SHORTEST VOID GAME
Takashio Kenji and Yamaki Chinpei, two pupils of the Hayashi family in Japan, ended up with a no-contest because of triple ko after just 68 moves on 18 September 1849. Click here.
