I'm learning about our great uncle Wu Qingyuan, also known as Go Seigen, the famous master of the game Go.
There are many resources that chronicle his life and accomplishments. Including:
What I've found interesting was when I started to dig into some of the games played. He was not just exceptional for his abilities to play Go, he was the exception among the exceptions. He not only played among the elite players, he dominated the elite players of his time.
In this video replaying a historical game, the commentator actually called Go Seigen the "Michael Jordan of Go!" and that he was an 11-dan Go player in a 9-dan world.
Nick Sibicky Go Lecture #89 - Go Seigen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME0SQK_5BNY
This lecture reviews and comments on the sequence of a game played March 1953 between Go Seigen and Fujisawa
Kuranosuke (a.k.a. Hosai). FK and GS were both
9 dan for this, the 6th
match of the 10 match Jubango. GS had
already taken 4 of the first 5 matches.
Great discussion
about overall game and the players:
·
0:04:40 Nick
S. refers to Go Seigen as an 11-dan playing in a 9-dan world.
·
1:25: – 1:27:
Discussion on players’ time usage during the game and Go Seigen’s flow
during play (quick efficient play). Also
time usage discussion @21:35. Fujisawa had used up all his basic time (13 hours..
for this 3 day game), while Go Seigen had only used some 7 hours of his time.
·
1:25:29 Nick S. called GS the “Michael Jordan of Go”!
(I’m
thinking there’s parallel with Go Seigen and Jesse Owens; GS going to Japan
and dominating a game so proudly held by the Japanese?)
A picture from Wu Qing Yuan's visit to Taiwan 1953. He's seated front and center, with his mother, next to him (his left, our right), then his wife Nakahara Kazuko, then a fellow Go player, followed by his manager, and his two sisters.
