Beating Down
Usually, after three or four games are won in a row by the same player (or some other agreed threshold is reached), the handicap shifts. For example when senaisen (BWB) was being used, the handicap moves to josen (B) or to tagaisen (even, BW). A player against whom the handicap moves is said to be 'beaten down', at least a requirement to acknowledge the strength of the opponent, possibly a severe professional humiliation. The jubango series sponsored by the Yomiuri Shimbun in the twentieth century emphasised this competitive aspect, which was part of the negotiated match conditions.
A game which if lost would result in a shift in the handicap is called a kadoban (corner game). This term is also now used in the titleholder system, for a game the loss of which loses the whole match (for example 2-3 down in a best-of-seven match, the next game will be a kadoban). Cf. match point in tennis.
Over a ten-game match, the worse possibility arises of being beaten down twice. In confrontations between top players, under the older etiquette players were spared the embarrassment, for the series would be suspended. Newspaper sponsors could be less accommodating.
The distinction between classical jubango and just any ten-game challenge match therefore lies in the drafting of the specific beating-down arrangements.
Read more about this topic: Professional Go Handicaps
Famous quotes related to beating down:
“When a lady of wealth, is seen roaming about in search of cheaper articles, or trying to beat down a shopkeeper, or making a close bargain with those she employs, the impropriety is glaring to all minds. A person of wealth has no occasion to spend time in looking for extra cheap articles; her time could be more profitably employed in distributing to the wants of others. And the practice of beating down tradespeople, is vulgar and degrading, in any one.”
—Catherine E. Beecher (1800–1878)