Original title：趙治勲 私の履歴書（5）やんちゃ盛り
Original article: The Nikkei
Author: Cho Chikun, Honorary Meijin
It's hard to imagine today, with so many title matches available, but in the early years, Go players had to travel extensively to give teaching games to amateur enthusiasts to make a living. In late 1963, Kitani Minoru-sensei suffered his second stroke, but he quickly recovered and resumed his "tours." I often accompanied him along with several of my fellow disciples.
Our task was to play teaching games on behalf of the teacher. When facing those confident amateur players aspiring to become professionals, I never held back. It's said that on several occasions, I, this little brat, managed to break the spirits of some university students. However, when the opponent was a "customer," I knew to show some restraint.
In the summer of 1964, while we were touring the Kansai region, we stayed at the home of Kitani-sensei's friend, a wealthy businessman named Shiro Takeoka in Kobe. At that time, I was staring at a large painting of a tiger in his entrance hall. When Takeoka asked if I liked tigers, I nodded, and he generously said, "Then I'll give you this painting."
However, Kitani-sensei thought it wasn't appropriate and said, "Let's wait until this child becomes a pro at 10 years old, and then we can ask for your favor." According to reports, this was the first time Sensei mentioned the goal of me becoming a pro by the age of 10. This episode is documented in Miharu Kitani's book, Kitani Dojo and the Seventy Children.
At the time, I didn't remember this incident, so I didn't feel any pressure. However, after this, whenever Miharu-sensei scolded me, she would repeat this statement, gradually making me aware of this goal.
In fact, I was often scolded because I was mischievous. The lectures I received sometimes lasted for one or two hours, which was very difficult to endure. Miharu-sensei once said, "Raising Chikun alone takes as much energy as raising all the other children combined."
In March 1965, a "junior disciple who was four years older than me" entered the Kitani Dojo. This person would later become my lifelong rival—Koichi Kobayashi.
In Go, the weaker player usually plays with the black stones, while the stronger player plays with white. At that time, I played with white and defeated the newly joined Kobayashi. It is said that losing to a child playing with a toy gun motivated Kobayashi to surpass me within six months, though I no longer remember this victory.
What I do remember is that living with Kobayashi was annoying. He was so diligent that it was irritating—every morning, he would dutifully review game records and go to school on time. Even in the evenings, when I was tired and sleepy, he would still be studying hard under the lamp. I thought he was really an "annoying guy."
Because of this, I didn't focus on studying at all, and my Go skills stagnated. Later, after losing in practice games, I would take out my frustration by picking on weaker female disciples.
Satou (née Inoue) Machiko, Ishigure (née Ooshiro) Shigeko, and Ogawa Seiko were often my targets, which led Miharu-sensei to harshly criticize me, saying, "What kind of skill is it to bully the weak?"
I even threw pillows at these girls, but they were very tolerant and gently endured my mischief. Especially Seiko Ogawa, who even listened to my complaints—perhaps I saw her as a source of emotional support at that time.
In this environment, Kobayashi successfully became a professional player during the promotion exams in the winter of 1966, while I couldn't even pass the preliminaries among the insei (apprentice professionals). I was only nine years old at the time, and even now, I feel that if I had worked harder, the results might have been different.
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