Castle Game

The Castle Game (Oshirogo, literally "castle Go") was a grand tradition of formal Go matches played before the Tokugawa shoguns during Japan's Edo period (1626-1863). Each year, the heads of Japan's four official Go houses -- Honinbo, Inoue, Yasui, and Hayashi -- would gather at Edo Castle to play ceremonial games in the shogun's presence. These games were played with no komi and the results influenced each house's political standing and government stipend. The Castle Games produced some of Go's most legendary encounters, including the famous "Blood-Vomiting Game" of 1835.