Ogawa Doteki, Go Prodigy

Ogawa Doteki has often been hailed as the greatest go prodigy in history. Recent discoveries have given reason to re-assess that reputation slightly - a game against the great Honinbo Dosaku traditionally given at age thirteen is now known to be at around age seventeen. But to be able to play the first Go Saint on White as well as Black is an astounding achievement at any age. He also played White against the Inseki Meijin of ‘Igo Hatsuyoron' fame.’ And to have a game described by the modern Go Saint, Go Seigen, as “impeccable” tells us we are in the presence of greatness when we play over the sadly few Doteki games history has left to us. For Doteki died very young. His life span was just 1669 to1690. Since, by then, he had already become the Honinbo heir and was at the highest possible rank outside of the sole Meijin, we can only wonder what levels he might have reached. This book contains all of Doteki’s known games, just over 20. Sixteen have been annotated, some with very deep commentaries, all based entirely on professional opinion. Five of those games are with Dosaku, and so we get to see two of the greatest go minds in action together. Like Go Seigen, modern players have struggled to find flaws in their games, which, incidentally, betray a likely influence from old Chinese go theory. Despite his reputation, Doteki is not as well known as he should be. No doubt this is because his life was so short and so few games remain, and of course he was in the shadow of Dosaku, who outlived him. This book is an attempt to fill that void. It has brief survey of other go prodigies, in attempt to trace their various types and also the different pressures on them. It also maps out the Japanese go world of that era, which is likewise not as well known as it should be. It is in Go Wisdom colour format, and has an index for use with GW reference materials in other works. There are 24 Doteki games (17 commented) and six extra reference games. Read more