Up 1958 1959 1960

Saikyo tournament

The Saikyo (最強, strongest) tournament was the predecessor of the Meijin Tournament. It was a full tournament with 6 players: each played every opponent once with black and once with white. Thinking time 10h, with 5-minute byoyomi. No komi.

1st Saikyo tournament

The 1st Saikyo tournament was held in 1957-1958.

Results (in the first column the white player, on the top row the black player).

# player result 1 2 3 4 5 6
1. Go Seigen  8   (8-0-2) W+R B+4 W+4 B+R W+R
2. Kitani Minoru 6.5 (6-1-3) B+10 W+4 Jigo B+R W+3
3. Hashimoto Utaro  4   (4-0-6) B+R B+7 B+R B+R B+3
4. Sakata Eio 4.5 (4-1-5) B+R B+R B+2 B+R
5. Fujisawa Hosai  3   (3-0-7) B+R B+R B+R B+R B+R
6. Takagawa Shukaku  4   (4-0-6) B+R B+2 B+5 B+4 W+1

The winner was Go Seigen with 8-0-2.

2nd Saikyo tournament

The 2nd Saikyo tournament was held in 1958-1959.

Results (in the first column the white player, on the top row the black player).

# player result 1 2 3 4 5 6
1. Go Seigen  5   (5-0-5) B+2 B+5 B+R B+9 W+R
2. Kitani Minoru 5.5 (5-1-4) B+22 B+R W+R B+6 W+1
3. Sakata Eio 8.5 (8-1-1) W+4 Jigo B+14 W+5 W+3
4. Takagawa Shukaku 3.5 (3-1-6) B+R B+R B+R B+2 B+4
5. Hashimoto Utaro 3.5 (3-1-6) B+R B+R B+2 Jigo B+3
6. Iwata Masao  4   (4-0-6) B+R W+1 B+R B+8 W+1

The winner was Sakata Eio with 8-1-1.

3rd Saikyo tournament

The 3rd Saikyo tournament was held in 1960 (with final in Jan 1961).

Results (in the first column the white player, on the top row the black player).

# player result 1 2 3 4 5 6
1. Sakata Eio 6.5 (6-1-3) W+1 W+2 W+R B+3 Jigo
2. Kitani Minoru  3   (2-2-5) B+R B+7 B+2   W+R
3. Go Seigen 6.5 (6-1-3) W+1 W+14 Jigo B+R B+R
4. Iwata Masao  5   (4-2-4) B+R Jigo B+6 B+1 W+
5. Hashimoto Utaro 4.5 (4-1-4) W+1 UF B+R B+4 B+6
6. Hashimoto Shoji 3.5 (3-1-6) B+5 B+R B+R B+ W+1

The winners are Sakata Eio and Go Seigen, both with 6-1-3.

UF: Unfinished game. Kitani was ordered by his doctor to stop because of high blood pressure. The game was counted as a jigo.