All Things Go

In Summer 1933, Go Seigen and Kitani Minoru got together to create the Shin-Fuseki, which translates to "New Opening". Shin-Fuseki emphasized the concepts of thickness and moyo. While Komoku (3-4 point) had been the standard first move in a corner area, Go Seigen chose to play star points (4-4) and 3-3 points and switch to the sides and center before adding a second stone to make corner enclosures. Kitani Minoru also played star points at first, but then experimented with opening moves on the fifth line, emphasizing control of the center.

At the time of this game, Kitani and Go were the two leading young Go players. In his youth Kitani was given the nickname "the Prodigy" for his outstanding results in some tournaments. He was a great teacher of future professionals, and his students would dominate the Japanese Go scene in the latter half of the 20th century.

This game was arranged and sponsored by the Hochi newspaper. Calling Kitani and Go the "Leaders of the New School", my personal impression is this game was apparently arranged to celebrate their success with their new opening theory, the Shin-Fuseki.