A new opening

For centuries, players followed an old saying: corners first, then the sides, then the centre. A corner is the easiest place to make a living group, because two edges of the board do part of the surrounding for you.

In 1933 two young players, Go Seigen and Kitani Minoru, began playing openings that moved faster and reached further towards the centre, trading some certain territory for influence over the whole board. In one celebrated game that year, Go Seigen even placed one of his first stones on the very centre point, against the reigning champion, Honinbo Shusai. Their new opening ideas spread quickly and changed how the game is played.

Around the same time, professionals began giving White a few points of compensation for moving second, called komi. Both changes came from the same habit: questioning what everyone took for granted.