(
;
FF[4]
PB[Go Seigen]
BR[3 dan]
PW[Kitani Minoru]
WR[4 dan]
KM[0]
DT[1929-06-03]
PC[Nihon Kiin, Tokyo, Japan]
RE[W+3]
TM[28800]
SO[http://gobase.org/games/china/misc/disks/1/go025x.sgf]
GC[Handicap: B-W-B]
AP[sgf2misc:3.1.9]

C[Game 7 (of 7) of "Young Go Seigen's Progress" series sponsored by  \
Jiji Shinpo.
];B[jj]
;W[cp];B[qd]
C[The start of a famous mimic game which caught everyone by surprise.  \
At the time Go, then 15, never revealed, even to his teacher Segoe,  \
why he played this way. But much later he said it was because he  \
felt he had to try something different to have any chance against  \
a player who then appeared so strong. He said, "Two days before  \
the game I consulted Hashimoto (Utaro 4d). Try it, he said, so I  \
played the first stone on the centre point, and afterwards mimicked  \
whatever White played up to move 63.  \
];W[dc]

C[Kitani was completely thrown, and several times rushed out into  \
the corridor from where he could be heard complaining to the sponsor:  \
"This won't do".  \
];B[pq]
;W[oc];B[eq];W[qo];B[ce];W[qg];B[cm];W[ep];B[od];W[dq];B[pc]
;W[qj];B[cj];W[mq];B[gc];W[ed];B[op];W[fe];B[no];W[hd];B[lp]
;W[pm];B[dg];W[kc];B[iq];W[cd];B[qp];W[ro];B[be];W[gq];B[mc]
;W[kq];B[ic];W[kp];B[id];W[bd];B[rp];W[dm];B[pg];W[ph];B[dl]
;W[el];B[oh];W[dk];B[pi];W[cl];B[qh];W[dj];B[pj];W[qk];B[ci]
;W[ie];B[ko];W[je];B[jo];W[ir];B[kb];W[ip];B[kd];W[jl];B[gd]
LB[hc:A][hb:B][gb:C][ib:D][ke:E]
C[At last Go breaks the symmetry, although in a problematical way.  \
He is trying to defend against White A in sente. But Kitani then  \
reckoned on Black B, White C, Black D, White 65, which is gote for  \
White and leaves Black with interesting endgames moves. 65 is bad  \
because it induces White's next move and so makes the centre stone  \
thin. Kitani thought a better move was to probe at E. What would  \
have happened if Go had continued mimicking to the very end? He  \
said, "You can't mimic forever. If White plays close to the centre  \
stone and you mimic that, the black stones will end up being captured.  \
"My intention was to get my opponent to play in the centre early  \
and then I would start a fight with different moves. But White spent  \
some time reinforcing himself on the edges so the mimicking continued  \
longer than I had anticipated."  \
];W[ge]
;B[io];W[ke]
C[Now White has a little revenge - he mimics Black! The game now moves  \
rapidly into the the large endgame stage.  \
];B[ld]
;W[hl];B[bk];W[ri]LB[bl:A]
C[Standard endgame trading technique - not A because of Black 72.  \
];B[rh]
;W[bl];B[ad];W[ac];B[ae];W[bb];B[lg];W[kh];B[lj];W[li]MA[kh]

C[Critical moves, said Kitani.  \
];B[kg]
C[A natural riposte. If A...  \
]
(
;W[le];B[jh];W[mj];B[lk];W[jd];B[jc];W[ji];B[ii];W[ki];B[mi]
;W[ih];B[kj];W[jg];B[lh];W[jh];B[mh]
C[The game is now too close to call.  \
];W[md];B[lc];W[sp];B[sq]
;W[so];B[hp]LB[jr:A]
C[Threatening A.  \
];W[mp];B[lo]LB[mo:A][rq:B]
C[If Black had defended at A, White intended to cut at B.  \
];W[jr]
;B[rr];W[ll];B[ml];W[lm];B[nr]LB[mo:A]
C[An unfortunate mistake. He was trying to get in a forcing move before  \
connecting at A.  \
];W[mk]

C[Black had expected A but Kitani always had a strong chance of never  \
playing the obvious move when a better one was available. That was  \
precisely why he used so much of his time. He saw the obvious moves  \
as quickly as any other top player, but regularly then settled down,  \
in the time available, to look at all other moves, starting with  \
the least obvious. Go, in contrast, played very quickly because,  \
as he said, once he found "a move that would do," he played it.  \
]
(
;B[nl]
C[Now Black cannot profitably play A, and White gets sente.  \
]
(
;W[ij];B[nk];W[mr];B[mo];W[sh];B[sg];W[si];B[qf];W[eh]MA[nk]
[ij]
C[This nice territory-making move is the direct result of Black's  \
wasted move \\t, which gave White \\s. Suddenly the game is in the  \
bag for White.  \
];B[hq]
;W[hr];B[fo];W[me];B[fp];W[fq];B[eo];W[dp];B[ik]
C[Confirms White's unexpected bonus of a centre territory.  \
];W[hj]
;B[jk];W[il];B[do];W[nd];B[nc];W[oe];B[pd];W[co];B[eb];W[db]
;B[ef];W[de];B[cf];W[bg];B[di];W[ei];B[cg];W[eg];B[po];W[qn]
;B[qi];W[rj];B[hk];W[gk];B[nj];W[gm];B[df];W[hn];B[ho];W[ff]
;B[nf];W[ne];B[fc];W[ak];B[aj];W[al];B[ah];W[or];B[nq];W[ns]
;B[dn];W[cn];B[em];W[bm];B[fm];W[fl];B[lq];W[lr];B[pr];W[of]
;B[in];W[gn];B[oq];W[os];B[kl];W[km];B[jm]
C[A last-ditch effort. But White is ready to trade.  \
];W[kk]
;B[pl];W[ql];B[kl];W[im];B[jn];W[kk];B[rm];W[qm];B[kl];W[mk]
;B[mj];W[kk];B[gj];W[hi];B[kl];W[bj];B[bi];W[kk];B[fk];W[gl]
;B[kl];W[ck];B[kk];W[bj]
C[White's profit from this ko will make the trade more or less even.  \
];B[bc]
;W[cc];B[bk];W[bh];B[bj];W[ag];B[om];W[pk];B[ok];W[ng];B[ch]
;W[ee];B[hc];W[he];B[ms];W[ls];B[mf];W[og];B[jq];W[kr];B[ps]
;W[ms];B[sk];W[rl];B[sl];W[sm];B[sn];W[rn];B[sm];W[sj];B[pn]
;W[rk];B[gp];W[ai];B[ab];W[aa];B[ah];W[fn];B[bf];W[ai];B[sm]
;W[sl];B[ah];W[rq];B[qq];W[ai];B[gr];W[er];B[ah];W[ea];B[af]
;W[ga];B[ha];W[en];B[gb];W[fa];B[kf];W[jf];B[jp];W[nh];B[ni]
;W[pe];B[qe];W[pf];B[rg];W[ol]
C[White wins the half-point ko. White won by 3 points. Go later said,  \
"Mimic go is really not a very profitable strategy. The opponent  \
gets the initiative and he can choose the opening he prefers. At  \
that time there was no komi but in the end Kitani played a beautiful  \
move and I lost. "A long time ago in China they often played on  \
the centre point. Since it is acting on all four quarters of the  \
board it is by no means a bad strategy. It is a way of playing derived  \
from the Book of Changes. But if you are not very strong you cannot  \
use it successfully." Just after the game, he also said, "Lao Zi  \
opened on the centre point. Confucius began in the corners. Both  \
men were aiming at the same thing but Lao Zi's teaching is a broad  \
philosophy and not so easy to understand. Confucius's teaching on  \
the other hand, is easy to understand, and so it is generally understood.  \
It is like that in go too." W: 5h 59; B: 5h 26.  \
]
)
(
;AE[nl]B[nk];W[mm];B[nl];W[mo];B[lq];W[lr]
)
)
(
;AE[mk]W[mr];B[mo];W[mk];B[nk]
)
)
(
;AE[kg]B[mj];W[le];B[me];W[mf];B[lf];W[ne];B[md];W[mg]
)
)