Maeda Nobuaki (6p) vs Go Seigen (7p) — Honinbo, 1940

Reading the board

What every overlay on the board means

AI suggestions

Blue dot — best move KataGo's top pick. No number on it. Toggle: AI button (A)

Other candidates Blue is the best move in this position. Green is good, gold is OK. Numbers inside show points difference compared to the blue (best) move. Toggle: AI button (A)

Cyan halo A standout move — the engine's top choice in a spot where it wasn't obvious. Most precise on Study and Deep analysis; on a quick (free) analysis it's a lighter estimate. Toggle: Move animations (in view settings)

Territory & dead groups

Territory tint Faint black or white wash over intersections the engine expects that color to own. Toggle: Territory button under the board Toggle: Territory (in view settings)

Red overlay — groups in danger Stones the engine thinks are at risk of being captured. Toggle: Groups button under the board Toggle: Groups (in view settings)

Dead stones (×) Stones the engine considers dead. Toggle: Groups button under the board Toggle: Groups (in view settings)

Move animations

−7 pts

Score-loss pill Drops in next to a move that lost 5+ points. Orange for mistake, red for blunder. Toggle: Move animations (in view settings)

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

Sparkles — set-up move The opponent's next move was a 5+ point mistake. This move probably set it up. Toggle: Move animations (in view settings)

Continuations

Try a line out, move by move

Each tile is a move you could play next. Tap one to play it: it lands on the board as a numbered stone, and this panel refills with the options that follow. Keep tapping to build a line.

The Variation panel above lists the moves you've played. Tap any of them to rewind there; tap ← Main line to return to the game.
Tap Preview on the current move to lay the whole continuation on the board at once — the AI's best line, or the recorded one if the game has it. Tap again to clear.
Tiles tagged sgf are variations saved in the game record.
Each tile's corner shows how good the move is — from blue (best) through green and yellow to red — the same color it has on the board. The blue-highlighted tile is the AI's top choice.
The move actually played in the game isn't shown here — only the alternatives.

New lines you play here are read to 100 visits — quick, but shallow. A deeper read finds longer, stronger continuations.

See deeper analysis plans →

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This game comes from the GoGoD collection — decades of careful transcription work by T Mark Hall and John Fairbairn — which we share with a daily download allowance at their request. You can keep studying it right here in the meantime, and your allowance resets at midnight UTC.

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Print game record

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Maeda Nobuaki vs Go Seigen

1st Honinbo · 2nd Final Preliminary, Round 1 · 1940-05-18

About this tournament

The Honinbo is Japanese Go's most storied title, tracing its lineage back to 1612 when the Buddhist monk Nikkai (later Honinbo Sansa) founded the Honinbo house at Jakkoji temple in Kyoto. For over 300 years, the Honinbo name passed from master to disciple -- not by blood but by merit. In 1938, the last hereditary Honinbo, Shusai, donated the title to the Nihon Ki-in. Sponsored by the Mainichi Shimbun, the title match was historically best-of-seven, though in 2023 it was reduced to best-of-five with prize money cut from 28 million to 8.5 million yen due to declining newspaper revenues. Iyama Yuta holds the remarkable record of 11 consecutive Honinbo titles (2012-2022).

Game details

Date: 1940-05-18
Moves: 279
Komi: 4.5
Rules: Japanese (assumed)
Result: B+3.5
Game record: GoGoD

Ranks at the time of the game

Maeda Nobuaki Black · 6p

Go Seigen White · 7p

1st Honinbo · 2nd Final Preliminary, Round 1

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