On Wednesday night, we had cake in honor of Go Seigen’s 100th birthday, with the slogan “Go Go Seigen”. Considered the greatest player of the 20th Century, Go Seigen (吳清源) is still playing and studying Go in Japan. Go Seigen was a 12 year old prodigy living in China when our benefactor, Kaoru Iwamoto, first played him. From what we’ve read, Iwamoto Sensei may have been the first Japanese professional to play Go Seigen. By the time he was 14, Go Seigen was already of professional strength, and he moved to Japan from China to study and play Go. There is a good summary of his long life at Sensei’s Library.