Jubango

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jubango (十番碁) is a Japanese term for a Go match consisting of at most 10 games. Whoever wins 6 games first is the winner of the match. Some notable Jubango players are Go Seigen, Kitani Minoru and Honinbo Shuei.

These matches are usually spread over long time periods, with gaps of months possible between games. They were also peripatetic, taking place in different venues. Both these features make them different from modern mind sports matches, which tend to be held over a short time in a definite location. Modern go title matches have adapted these characteristics of a jubango.

[edit] Traditional format

The jubango was a traditional form of contest in the Edo period, where players would undertake such a match against a close rival in the hope of proving stronger. In that era top rankings were hard to achieve. The normal conditions would be that the players were of equal rank. This means they should alternate with Black and White, this being before the era of komigo.

If agreed, there was the possibility of playing at a handicap, namely Black two games out of three, if one player went far enough ahead. This could be reinforced to one player always taking Black, a handicap equivalent to two professional ranks, in extreme cases. For details see professional go handicaps. An uchikomi jubango was one in which such beating down applied.

[edit] The Yomiuri as sponsor

These conventions were revived and made more precise by a series of high-profile matches in the twentieth century, sponsored by the Yomiuri Shimbun. Between about 1930 and 1960, jubango included many of the most important games, judged by prestige, in Japanese professional go. After 1960 the annual title matches sponsored by newspapers took over, in the public interest.

The era of jubango was dominated by Go Seigen, who had a tremendous record in these games against his peers.