60521    Honinbo was famous long ago as the first master of the game go.

60522    Originally, the family of Honinbo I Sansa lived at a side temple on the grounds of Kyoto's Jakko Temple.

60523    It was the decision of the 23rd holder of this historical family name, Shusai, to transform the go championship title into a competition based on skill, which this year is hailing its 50th seven-game match.

60524    The title of Honinbo, perpetually the central competition in the world of go, has so far been claimed by ten people.

60525    The title of Honorary Honinbo has been bestowed on a total of four people who have won five consecutive titles or ten career titles, Shukaku Takagawa, Eiju Sakata, Shuho Ishida and Cho Chikun.

60526    Here is a recap of the Honinbo title history that has dramatized the go world in the Showa and Heisei eras.

60527    The day before the Honnoji Temple incident where Oda was forced to commit seppuku, Honinbo Sansa played go in front of Nobunaga Oda, after which time he also received support from Hideyoshi Toyotomi and Ieyasu Tokugawa.

60528    Along with the Inoue, Yasui and Hayashi Houses, Honinbo was recognized as a go school by the Tokugawa Shogunate and participated in the castle games in front of shoguns, where each house competed against the others and cultivated their skills.

60529    After the Meiji era the strength of the other houses faded until they were closed, leaving only the House of Honinbo to carry on its name down the generations.

60530    In 1937 the 23rd Honinbo Shusai decided to retire and yielded the Honinbo name to the Tokyo Nichinichi and Osaka Mainichi Daily News newspapers in order to establish a Honinbo title system based on open competition.

60531    In exchange for the exclusive rights to the go records, both newspaper companies ceded the Honinbo name to the Japan Go Association.

60532    The concept of open competition for the Honinbo name alone was a landmark decision, but the introduction of the presently used komi, or compensatory point, system was also an innovation.

60533    Some people were vehemently opposed to this system and Shin Kato, 7th-level, published an essay entitled "Komi go is not go" in newspapers, so its introduction did meet with resistance.

60534    The practice of sealing the next move to be played when a game is held over to the following day and the time limit system were also introduced at the Honinbo tournament.

60535    The first tournament was held in 1939, with Kato and Riichi Sekiyama playing the set number of six games.