The “Long-Thinking” Era of Go
Suzuki's Return and a Surprising Psychological Strategy
After years away from the Go board, Suzuki Tamejirō made a surprising return from a failed rubber business venture in British Malaya. Having left Japan in 1912 in pursuit of fortune, he returned in 1916 only to resume his Go career. His first match upon return was against Koishi Sōji, then a 3-dan rising star. Suzuki, a 5-dan, was given White and trailed by a few points in the endgame. However, Koishi made a blunder, and Suzuki seized the win.
What followed was even more striking: Koishi, despite being strong and methodical, seemed to mentally collapse every time he played Suzuki thereafter. Go masters observed that Koishi's signature sharpness vanished in these encounters. Iwasa Kei, a peer of both men, directly asked Suzuki about this phenomenon. Suzuki responded with a grin: "It's quite simple. Koishi's strength lies in long, deliberate thought. To beat him, I just think even longer."
This unusual psychological approach turned into a notorious technique: beat long-thinkers by out-thinking them... literally. Suzuki's secret was to stretch his time per move until it surpassed Koishi's. This created a sense of unease and second-guessing, neutralizing Koishi's greatest strength. Iwasa, intrigued, adopted the technique, and it quickly spread among professionals.
Rise of the "Long Think" Generation
As this strategy took hold, many Go instructors began actively teaching it. A new generation of players, some barely into their teens, began developing prodigious "sitting power." Long-thinkers became ubiquitous. No match reflected this more than the qualification tournaments for professional shodan (1-dan) status.
Young players knew that success in these tournaments could grant them entry into the professional world. Games routinely featured one- or two-hour per-move deliberations. Among these marathon games, none was more legendary than the match involving future 9-dan Hoshino Ki.
The 16-Hour Move
In a Tuesday match, Hoshino reached a modest position by move 56. His opponent then began a marathon deliberation. Despite being in a standard shape where the answer was well-known, the opponent thought for eight straight hours. By 8:30 p.m., he placed his stone.
Furious but determined, Hoshino recalled his teacher's instruction: "If they think for an hour, you take two." So Hoshino decided to double it: 16 hours. His stone was not placed until 2:00 p.m. the following day. The psychological warfare worked. The exhausted opponent made a sloppy move, lost a large group, and resigned. While Hoshino won, he and his rival were both too drained to compete in the next scheduled round on Thursday morning.
Endless Matches and Old Men in Pain
If teenage amateurs could wage wars of attrition, the older generation had it worse. The Go world, particularly in newspaper-sponsored matches, had grown accustomed to no time limits. Unlike the old "castle games" (御城碁), where games were expected to finish in a day, the new format favored spectacle over speed. Readers enjoyed serialized games. Players feared visible mistakes.
This setup made matches slow by design. Each move became a burden of responsibility. Veteran players, already suffering from age and health issues, approached matches with dread. They knew the physical toll of prolonged play, but no one wanted to be the first to propose limits and appear weak.
The Match That Broke the Press
A turning point came in 1920, when the Jiji Shinpō newspaper arranged a high-stakes face-off between Honinbo Shusai (formerly Tamura Yasuhisa) and Karigane Junichi. Given their storied history and Karigane’s dramatic return after 13 years, anticipation was immense.
The match began on May 11. Cautious from the outset, only 25 moves were made on Day 1. The newspaper milked the suspense, publishing one or two moves per day. The match quickly turned into a media marathon. Readers were enthralled at first, but eventually exhausted.
The game was paused 21 times and took over 150 hours of thinking time. Despite 234 moves, it became a symbol of what was wrong with unlimited-time matches.
What they remembered was the ordeal. The paper initially saw massive sales, but public fatigue set in. Even editors, once thrilled by record circulation, grew desperate for the match to end. Even the press realized the danger of endless play.
The Call for Reform
Despite mounting frustration, the entrenched culture persisted. Leading figures—Shusai, Hirose Heijirō, and Karigane himself—were all long-thinkers and resisted any suggestion of change. It wasn’t until years later, with the rise of the "Hiseikai" (裨聖会), that formal reforms began to take shape.
Until then, every long pause, every sleepless night, and every skipped meal would continue to define the “Long Thinking” era—an age where patience wasn’t just a virtue, it was also a weapon.
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Copyright Notice
This English adaptation is based on Japanese Go Stories (《日本围棋故事》, 2016) by Xue Zhicheng (薛至诚).
For non-commercial use only: Shared for educational purposes under fair use.
Rights retained: All copyrights belong to the original author and cited sources.
Modifications: Minor narrative adjustments were made for readability; all historical content remains accurate.
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References
Adapted from:
Xue Zhicheng (薛至诚), Japanese Go Stories (《日本围棋故事》), 2016.
Cited in original work:
Watanabe Hideo (渡辺英夫), Shin Zaigin Dansō (《新坐隱談叢》)
Watanabe Yoshimichi (渡部義通), Kodai Igo no Sekai (《古代囲碁の世界》)
Lin Yu (林裕), Weiqi Encyclopedia (《围棋百科辞典》)
