Huang Longshi

Huang Longshi 黃龍士 (1651/1654 – ?, also known as Huang Yuetian) is known as one of the greatest go players in history.

Biography Huang Longshi was said to be born around Shunzhi 8 or 11 during the Qing Dynasty (1651/1654). He was said to have died in his forties, but the exact date is unknown. Huang was born in Jiangyan near Taixian in China. His family was poor and he found that he could neglect his studies. However, he did not stop studying go, and soon become a strong enough player to earn money for his family.

As a child, Huang is said to have watched a prince agonize for hours over a critical position before finding the winning move; surprised at Huang's evident understanding of the game from having observed so many matches by strong players, the prince, delighted, gave the boy his own collection of go books to study from. At the time of his death, there was no record that he had left behind a wife or children. Only his masterpieces survived.

Go playing style He was also known for his contribution to go theory, particularly the concept of influence and density among groups of stones. He would use a lot of forcing moves to give his opponent inefficient shapes, and would attack while gaining territory. He also mastered amarigatachi (elongated shapes resulting from a failed attack), and his games are noted for frequent use of myoshu (妙手), striking and unexpected moves. He certainly had a unique style of go. He would play moves that were normal, that looked plain and clear. This left his opponents not knowing what to do, and if they would try to muscle him out, he would catch them with a surprising move or attack a weak point.

Quotes He has been praised many times during his life and after his death. Famous book publisher Deng Yuanhui had this to say about Huang;

Huang was also regarded as one of the Fourteen Sages of ancient China by his contemporaries.

Go Seigen, considered to be one of the best go players of the 20th century, and of all time, had also commented on Huang. He had said that if Huang were alive during modern times, he would be a 13 dan. He also went on to say that Huang was at least the level of Honinbo Dosaku. Honinbo Dosaku is considered by many to be the greatest go player of all time.

Even with all this praise, Huang is barely known anywhere outside of China. Much of this had come from Inoue Inseki's impressions of Chinese go players during the 17th century in his famous book Hatsuyorun. He had said that Chinese players would have to take senaisen (handicap) from the top Japanese players, although there is no mention of Huang. This led many to believe that all Chinese go players were no match to the Japanese go players.

Hayashi Genbi had also said something along the lines of Chinese players being inferior, although he said this about Huang, "Huang Yuetian and Xu Xingyou are known as recent champions of the Qing era. In my opinion, for Yuetian this must be so, but for Xingyou, judging by the games given in this book (Gokyo Seimyo) he is far behind."