The Games of Honinbo Shuei, Volume 1

This is the first of several volumes devoted to the games of Honinbo Shuei, whose life was recounted in Part 1 (already published) of a trilogy, the Life, Games and Commentaries of Honinbo Shuei. Part 3 features commentaries by Shuei on games by other players.

One reason Shuei is so famous is because of his pure but elusive style. The commentaries in Part 2 therefore focus heavily on this aspect. The games are presented in chronological order so that the emergence of his style can be traced.

Volume 1 contains 21 games, covering his early career between 1870 and 1886, after which there was a five-year gap.

Another reason for Shuei's fame is that he became super-strong only in his forties, and so his early games are mostly less known. the commentaries are therefore mostly somewhat shorter than for the famous later games. Nevertheless, this volume contains the complete ten-game match with Murase Shuho which led to Shuei handing over to Shuho the Honinbo title he had stubbornly and sometimes unreasonably fought to preserve. The final encounter, known as the Reconciliation Game, is one of go's classic moments.