Maeda Nobuaki (3p) vs Iwamoto Kaoru (6p) — Oteai, 1927

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 Iwamoto Kaoru

Oteai · Spring Session, Round 5 · 1927-05-04

About this tournament

The Oteai ("grand meeting") was the foundational ranking tournament of Japanese professional Go, used by the Nihon Ki-in from 1924 to determine the dan ranks of professional members. It ran in Spring and Autumn sessions, with professionals gathering to play around eight games per session. Players earned promotions based on winning percentages, with requirements becoming increasingly stringent at higher ranks. The Oteai was discontinued in 2003 (Kansai Ki-in in 2004), replaced by a modernized system. For nearly 80 years, this tournament served as the backbone of the Japanese professional ranking system, and its game records provide a rich archive of 20th-century Go.

Game details

Date: 1927-05-04
Moves: 214
Rules: Japanese (assumed)
Handicap: 2
Result: B+9
Game record: GoGoD

Ranks at the time of the game

Maeda Nobuaki Black · 3p

Iwamoto Kaoru White · 6p

Oteai · Spring Session, Round 5

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