Original title ：趙治勲 私の履歴書（9）阪田栄男先生
From：The Nikkei
Author: Cho Chikun, Honorary Meijin
My rise to fame began when I participated in a rapid tournament for young Go players organized by TV Tokyo. This was the Shinjin-O Championship. In 1972, I finished as the runner-up, but in 1973 and 1974, I won the championship consecutively.
In December 1974, I became the challenger for the Nihon Ki-in Championship. The following year, this competition merged with the Kansai Ki-in Championship to become the Tengen, one of the seven major titles. In the elimination rounds that determined the challenger, I defeated senior players such as Yoshio Ishida, who held both the Meijin and Honinbo titles, Hideyuki Fujisawa, and Rin Kaiho, showcasing my abilities.
At that time, the holder of the Nihon Ki-in Championship was Sakata Eio Sensei. He was a famous Go player from the Showa era and was 54 years old at the time. Throughout his career, he won 64 titles, most of which were achieved after he turned 30. Even at this age, his sharp playing style, which earned him the nicknames "Enduring Sakata" and "Razor Sakata," was still very much alive.
It was only the second time I faced such a high-ranking opponent, and it was my first time playing in a best-of-five series. But at 18 years old, I was fearless, winning the first two games and needing just one more win to claim the title.
As the atmosphere grew tense, the Korean media also began reporting on the match. What stands out most in my memory is the fourth game after Sakata had won back one game. I played as White and performed exceptionally well, nearly securing the game. During the final phase, I was practically guaranteed to win, with a lead of about 20 points after counting the territories.
However, something unexpected happened. I made an unbelievable blunder, allowing my opponent’s stones, which should have been captured, to come back to life, significantly reducing my lead.
Frustrated by my mistake, I immediately resigned, but what hurt even more was realizing that at the moment I resigned, I might have still been ahead. At the very least, the situation would have been close, but to this day, I haven’t dared to thoroughly review that position.
This blunder deeply affected me, and I lost the fifth game ten days later. After winning two games in a row, I then lost three consecutive games, and my dream of claiming my first title was shattered.
Even worse, I went on to lose nine straight games to Sakata Eio Sensei in official matches, becoming like a "frog caught in the gaze of a snake." Some commentators noted that our playing styles were similar, especially in our approach to handling weak groups, but Sakata’s confident and aggressive handling was vastly different from my passive and timid approach.
To this day, I still feel that if I had won that fourth game, I might have developed more confidence in my play. However, what sticks with me most is something Sakata Eio Sensei said to me after the fifth game: "It's better that you lost." This was a deeply meaningful statement from someone who had experienced countless big matches, likely implying that one learns more from failure when young.
Later on, Sakata Eio Sensei took great care of me. He didn’t like playing against weaker opponents and was known for his straightforward and often blunt manner, which sometimes offended people, but he was honest and never held grudges. Talking with him was always easy.
Despite his reputation for being strict about money and never treating junior players to meals, I was an exception. He took me out for meals several times.
However, there was one unforgettable experience at a high-end club in Tokyo's Ginza. Beforehand, he gave me 100,000 yen, instructing me to use it to pay the bill and keep the remainder for myself, which made me very happy. A few days later, when I received my compensation from the Nihon Ki-in, I noticed it was mysteriously 100,000 yen short—it turned out that Sakata Sensei had deducted it in my name. I remember being completely bewildered when I saw the detailed statement.
Sakata proving that you can be the best player and still have piece of shit behavior at the same time hehe