Early Showa · the New Fuseki revolution
Go Seigen turns 3-3, star, and tengen into a manifesto
In 1933 the board's greatest institutional authority sat as White. Nineteen-year-old Go Seigen answered with territory, speed, and then a stone at the exact center.
Go Seigen (Black) vs Honinbo Shusai Meijin (White) · 1933.10.16—1934.01.29 · White won by 2 · no komi
A public stage for old and new Go
Go won a Nihon Ki-in event for the right to face Shusai, the last hereditary Honinbo and holder of Meijin. Newspapers framed the game as generational and national confrontation.
The game stretched across nearly three months. White could adjourn on his turn without sealing a move, creating a lasting fairness controversy. Sealed moves were introduced for Shusai's later retirement game.
Was tengen nonsense, or the perfect headline for a media age?
The three moves were not isolated stunts. Nihon Ki-in history credits Go and Kitani Minoru with New Fuseki: Kitani stressed influence and height, Go the speed of finishing a corner in one move.
Tengen did not claim to be universally best. It made a public thesis: territory, expansion, and central scale could coexist.
Why K10 shocked the Go world—and why it is not KataGo's first choice
Tengen surrounds no immediate territory but is equidistant from every direction. With 3-3 and star, it refuses to settle the opening one corner at a time.
Under no-komi Japanese rules, KataGo already gives Black about 94.3% and +5.9 after move four. K10 lowers that to about 91.3% and +5.0; R5 or E17 delivers more immediate edge value.
AI accepts speed but places it nearer the corners
TreeView compares K10 with R5, E17, and Q5. The AI routes are not conservative; they also move quickly around the whole board while combining territory and influence.
The near-mirror R5 and E17 lines also warn against turning tiny ordering differences into dogma.
A revolutionary move need not be the best move
Go Seigen changed the question from what old joseki permit to how whole-board resources cooperate fastest.
AI continues that revolution with different coordinates. You can dispute K10 inside a conceptual room that Go helped open.