Biography
Sakata became a professional Go player in 1935. His first title match was the Hon'inbō in 1951 when he challenged Hashimoto Utaro. At the time, Hon'inbō started the Kansai Ki-in, so Sakata was under pressure to win the title back for the Nihon Ki-in. Sakata started out well, winning three of the first four games, but Hashimoto fought back and won the final four games, and so kept the Hon'inbō title. Afterwards, Sakata went on to win a couple of small titles which were the start of a meteoric run of major wins in which he won almost all of the titles in Japan except the Hon'inbō. In 1961 he was once again the challenger for the Hon'inbō. His opponent, Takagawa Kaku, had held the title for nine years straight. Sakata won the Hon'inbō and then, in 1963, captured the Meijin, making Sakata the first player to simultaneously hold both titles (which at the time were the biggest titles in Japan). Sakata's strongest year was 1964, when he won 30 games and lost only two and held seven major titles: Meijin, Honinbo, Nihon Ki-in Championship, Asahi Pro Best Ten, Oza, Nihon Kiin#1, and NHK Cup.
Sakata's professional career waned in 1965. Sakata's challenger for the 1965 Meijin was Rin Kaiho, who at the time was just 23 years old. Sakata was the overwhelming favorite, but Rin won the title. Sakata challenged two years in a row but could not win the Meijin back. Rin then went on to take the Hon'inbō from Sakata. Although Sakata suffered defeats for these top titles, he went on to win many other titles, including the Judan and Oza.
Sakata wrote many books in Japanese; several have been translated into English, including Modern Joseki and Fuseki, The Middle Game of Go, Tesuji and Anti-Suji of Go and Killer of Go.
Sakata died on October 22, 2010 at the age of 90.
Read more about this topic: Eio Sakata
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