Meijin of Meijins

Honinbo Shuei (1852 1907) is the go player that masters of the calibre even of Go Seigen and Takagawa Kaku professed to admire the most. Many consider him the Meijin of Meijins, and in his late years no-one could play without a handicap against him. Yet he achieved his dominance only in middle age, having several times disappeared from the mainstream go world for months on end. He lived at a time of enormous upheaval and uncertainty in the Japanese go world, seeing tragedy strike his father, his brother and his mentor. His own life was marred by a debilitating disease. But he compounded his problems by choosing to struggle - with some success - to uphold the Honinbo name and the game's traditions in the brave new world represented by the rival Hoensha organisation. This book is a ground-breaking, detailed biography of Shuei set within the background of the tumultuous times he lived through. It is sympathetic but candid.