Rin Kaiho

Rin Kaiho Full name Rin Kaiho Chinese 林海峰 PinyinLín Hǎifēng Date of birth May 6, 1942(1942-05-06) (age 66) Place of birth Shanghai, ChinaResidence Tokyo, JapanTeacher Go Seigen Rank9 dan Affiliation Nihon Ki-in; Tokyo branch

Rin Kaiho (Chinese: 林海峰; Pinyin: Lín Hǎifēng; born on May 6, 1942) is a professional Go player.

1 Biography
2 Promotion record
3 Titles & runners-up
4 Trivia
5 External links

Biography

Rin Kaiho was born in Shanghai, China. He was a student of Go Seigen when Go brought him to Japan in 1952. He was a promising player who won his first title at the age of 23. That title was the Meijin. He is part of the 1200 win group. Rin's rise to fame came in 1965 when he challenged Sakata Eio Meijin for his Meijin title. Rin, at the time, was still only 23 and critics thought he would stand no chance against the then powerful Sakata. Even Sakata himself said that no Go player under the age of thirty should be Meijin. Rin put up a great fightback and won the Meijin title. Rin would continue winning the Meijin on different occasions, along with the Honinbo during the late 1960s and early 1970s. His number of titles currently is 36, ranking him 4th all time on the total number of titles list. Rin has been on a dry spell of titles lately, with the last time he even challenged for one was in 2001 for the Meijin. Rin became the first professional in Nihon Ki-in history to reach 1,300 career wins. He won the game against Nobuaki Anzai on October 19, 2006 in a preliminary match for the 32nd Kisei.[1] Rin currently resides in Tokyo, Japan, but maintains Republic of China citizenship.

Promotion record

Rank Year Notes 1 dan 1955 2 dan 1955 3 dan 1957 4 dan 1958 5 dan 1959 6 dan 1960 7 dan 1962 8 dan 1965 9 dan 1967

Titles & runners-up

Ranks #5 in total number of titles in Japan.

Title Years Held Current 18 Meijin1977 Honinbo1968 - 1970, 1983, 1984 Judan1975 Tengen1989 - 1993 Oza1973 Gosei1994 NEC Cup1989 NHK Cup1970, 1974, 1978 Defunct 15 Old Meijin1965 - 1967, 1969, 1971 - 1973 Kakusei1979, 1992, 1998 Hayago Championship1984, 1987 Asashi Pro Best Ten1966, 1974 Continental 2 China-Japan Tengen1990, 1991 International 1 Fujitsu Cup1990

Title Years (1st Runner up) Current 27 Kisei1980, 1982, 1984 Meijin1978, 1987, 1991, 1994, 2001 Honinbo1967, 1972, 1974, 1979, 1985 Judan1976, 1978, 1989 Tengen1994, 1996 Oza1966, 1974, 1986 Gosei1993, 1995 NEC Cup1986, 1995 NHK Cup1987 Ryusei1994 Defunct 7 Old Meijin1968, 1979, 1974 Hayago Championship1990, 1995 Nihon-Kiin Championship1967 Asashi Pro Best Ten1969 Continental 3 China-Japan Tengen1992 - 1994 International 3 Fujitsu Cup1988, 1989 Tong Yang Cup1992

Trivia

Rin is Honorary Tengen.
He needs to win the Kisei tournament and he will have won all 7 major Japanese titles.
In 1968 he became the second player to hold the Meijin and Honinbo titles at the same time.

×Starting in 1964, Rin had entered the Meijin League and remained in the league (including being the Meijin title holder) for 39 consecutive years, which is a historical record for all Go tournaments in Japan.

In 2007 Lee Changho mentioned to the media that Rin is his most respected professional Go player for his respectable personality.
His students are Cho U, Rin Kanketsu, and Rin Shien.