Professional Go Handicaps - Beating Down

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.