Eio Sakata

Infobox Go player
playername=Eio Sakata


fullname=Eio Sakata
kanji=坂田栄男
kana=サカタエイオ
dateofbirth=birth date and age|1920|2|15
cityofbirth= Tokyo
countryofbirth=Japan
residence=flagicon|Japan Tokyo, Japan
teacher=Tatsuko Masubuchi
turnedpro=1935
rank=9 dan
affiliation=Nihon Ki-in

nihongo|Eio Sakata|坂田栄男|"Sakata Eio"|extra=born February 15, 1920 is a professional 9-dan Japanese professional Go player.

Biography

Sakata became a professional Go player in 1935. His first title match was the Honinbo in 1951 when he challenged Hashimoto Utaro. At the time, Hashimoto started the Kansai-Kiin, so Sakata was under pressure to win the title back for the Nihon-Kiin. Sakata started out well, winning three of the first four matches, but Hashimoto fought back and won the final four games, and so kept the Honinbo title. Afterwards, Sakata went on to win a couple of small titles which were the start of a meteoric run of major wins in which he won almost all of the titles in Japan except the Honinbo. In 1961 he was once again the challenger for the Honinbo. His opponent, Takagawa Kaku, had held the title for nine years straight. Sakata won the Honinbo and then, in 1963, captured the Meijin, making Sakata the first player to simultaneously hold both titles (which at the time were the biggest titles in Japan). Sakata's strongest year was 1964, when he won 30 games and lost only two and held seven major titles: Meijin, Honinbo, Nihon Ki-in Championship, Asahi Pro Best Ten, Oza, Nihon Kiin #1, and NHK Cup.

Sakata's professional career waned in 1965. Sakata's challenger for the 1965 Meijin was Rin Kaiho, who at the time was just 23 years old. Sakata was the overwhelming favorite, but Rin won the title. Sakata challenged two years in a row but could not win the Meijin back. Rin then went on to take the Honinbo from Sakata. Although Sakata suffered defeats for these top titles, he went on to win many other titles, including the Judan and Oza.

Sakata is also the author of many books in Japanese; several have been translated into English, including "Modern Joseki and Fuseki", "The Middle Game of Go", "Tesuji and Anti-Suji of Go" and "Killer of Go".

Titles and runners-up

Ranks #2 in total amount of titles in Japan.

Books

* Modern Joseki and Fuseki, Vol. 1: Parallel Fuseki, Ishi Press 1968, reprinted 2006 ISBN 0-923891-75-7
* Modern Joseki and Fuseki, Vol. 2: The Opening Theory of Go, Ishi Press 1971, reprinted 2006 ISBN 0-923891-76-5
* The Middle Game of Go or "Chubansen", Ishi Press, 1971, ISBN 0-923891-77-3

External links

* http://senseis.xmp.net/?SakataEio
* http://gobase.org/information/players/?pp=Sakata%20Eio
* http://www.andromeda.com/people/ddyer/age-summer-94/encounter.html
* http://www.xs4all.nl/~rongen17/Cho/Player/Sakata.html