next session, in this case three days later, give thought to what the last play
of the preceding session should in fact have been. I had even heard of
players who, at perhaps one of the grand tournaments, would play as if
from kō to the far reaches of the board while the last allotted seconds were
being read off, and so prolong life a few seconds more. All manner of
devices had been invented to make use of recesses and sealed plays. New
rules bring new tactics. It was not perhaps entirely accidental that each of
the four sessions since play had been resumed at Itō had been ended with a
sealed play on the Black side.
The Master was so ready for a showdown that he said afterwards: “The
time had passed for pulling back with White 120.” And the next play was
this Black 121.
The important point, in any case, is that Black 121 angered and
disappointed the Master that morning.
In his review of the game the Master did not touch upon Black 121.
A year later, however, in “Selected Pieces on Go,” from Collected Works
of the Master, he spoke out quite openly. “Now was the time to make
effective use of Black 121.… We must note that if he proceeded at his
leisure (which is to say waited until White had linked diagonally), there
was a chance that Black 121 would not suffice.”
Since Otaké’s opponent himself made the admission, little doubt should
remain. He was angry at the time because the move was so unexpected. In
his anger he unjustly questioned Otaké’s motives.
Perhaps, embarrassed at the want of clarity, the Master made a special
point of touching upon Black 121. But is it not more likely that, in a work
published a year after the match and a half year before his death,
remembered the proportions of the controversy and quietly recognized the
play for what it was?
