Problem No. 120 from "Igo Hatsuyōron"
In 2023, the Ifū Publishing Company released a faithful reprint of the only surviving copy of Igo Hatsuyōron from the time of Inoue Dōsetsu Inseki, which provides completely new insights into Dōsetsu's work and world of thought.
... explains all the elements of Inoue Dōsetsu Inseki's masterpiece in a coherent, rewritten, form – based on our current state of knowledge.
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Igo Hatsuyōron is the most difficult of the classical books on tsume go (詰碁 = "Go problem"). This problem collection was compiled in 1713 by Dōsetsu Inseki, the third head of the Inoue Go School, and was designed for the training of the highest caliber students at the school. It was kept secret from all but a few of them, who studied the book under the direct supervision of the Inoue. 183 problems were compiled based on the Yōshin Teiki (要津定規; lit. “Principles to Follow at Important Points”), another collection of over 1,500 problems published by Dōsetsu in 1708 (designed for strong Kyū to high Dan players), but most of which were unfortunately lost in fire. |
Black to play Please click the board to proceed to our analysis. |
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Amoung these the most difficult is #120, widely believed to be the most difficult Go problem ever created, which has still not been solved by professional Go players. The long standing collaboration of three amateurs, from Germany, and the United Kingdom, has found the answer! |
In February 2022, after training KataGo (probably the best freely available Go engine, available here) for 11 months, this problem has potentially been solved: The main variation has 205 moves and finishes with a score of White +1 (assuming White begins the game and there is no prisoner initially; it would be White + 2 otherwise), and the score does not depend on the rule set (either Japanese, Chinese, Tromp-Taylor or New Zealand rules). Although a crucial move may still be overlooked, the result appears to be quite solid: KataGo took less than 4 months to figure out the best line of moves, and despite 7 more months of training and multiple actions to encourage it to explore new lines of play, the best line of play remained unchanged and KataGo only consolidated its view of the problem. Please refer to KataGo @ Igo Hatsuyoron 120 • Life In 19x19 for further details. |
History of Our Research
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