Full name Hon'inbo Dochi Rank 9 dan Died 1727, Japan | Kanji 本因坊道知 Name Honinbo Dochi Teacher Honinbo Dosaku | |
Hon'inbo Dochi (本因坊道知, 1690–1727) was a professional Go player.
Biography
Dochi learned to play Go at the age of 7. A short two years thereafter, he had become a disciple of Hon'inbo Dosaku, the strongest player of his time. He became very strong under Dosaku, eventually reaching 6 dan. After Dosaku died in 1702, Dochi was passed on to Inoue Dosetsu Inseki. By 1719, he had advanced to 8 dan, the highest rank at the time.
Dochi became the 5th Honinbo in 1702, and Meijin Godoroko in 1721. He served as Honinbo for twenty-five years (1702–1727) and Meijin for 6 years (1721–1727).
He played in an international match against a visiting Ryukyuan player, the Satonushi of Yara. He is famous for his brilliant endgame plays, including a classic example of semedori (forcing an opponent to capture dead stones [1]), exhibited in a 1705 game against Yasui Senkaku. This was in a grudge match, since there had been bad blood between the Honinbos and Yasuis since Yasui Sanchi was turned out of his official positions in favour of Hon'inbo Dosaku. Yasui Senkaku had originally refused to play the relatively untested Dochi; the match had been set up by Ohashi Sokei, the shogidokoro, who was a conventional go-between, and the celebrated game occurred in his official residence. It was reproduced, according to the custom of the time, as a castle go game.
The next year he played a jubango against Dosetsu, but lost heavily 3½-6½ taking Black (he was 6 dan at the time, Dosetsu 8 dan).