All Things Go

This video shows the final game of a 6-game challenge match in the 17th century between Honinbo Sanetsu and Yasui Sanchi that was meant to decide the 3rd Meijin.

Honinbō Sanetsu (1611-1658) was the second head of the Honinbō school.

When the 2nd Honinbo Sansa (1st Meijin) passed away, Sanetsu was 13 years old and considered too young to inherit Sansa's stipend, leading to the temporary discontinuation of the Honinbō school. Nakamura Doseki (2nd Meijin) became his guardian and restored the Honinbō school with Sanetsu as its leader in the year 1630.

After Nakamura Doseki’s death in 1630, there was no Meijin for several years. A challenge match between Honinbo Sanetsu and Inoue Genkaku Inseki was considered but never held.

Finally, the Shogunate ordered Honinbo Sanetsu and Yasui Sanchi to compete for the Meijin post. From 1645 to 1653, Sanchi and Sanetsu played six castle games, ending in a 3-3 tie, after which the Shogunate again could not appoint a Meijin. This set the stage for a second challenge match later in Sanchi's career.

Yasui Sanchi (1617-1703) was the second head of the Yasui house, and the third Meijin Godokoro. To distinguish him from the ninth-generation Yasui Sanchi, he is sometimes called Meijin Sanchi. After Sanetsu’s death in 1658, Sanchi applied for the Meijin Godokoro title and assumed the position in 1668. However, Honinbō Dōetsu, Sanetsu's successor, contested this, stating that he had not had the chance to compete directly with Sanchi. This led to a 60-game series starting in 1668 that will be followed in a future video.

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