Rin Lin

Background

Rin Kaiho was born in Shanghai, Republic of China.

Career

He was a student of Go Seigen when Go brought him to Japan in 1952. 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 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 34, ranking him 7th of all time on the total number of titles list, tied with Norimoto Yoda.

Rin has been on a dry spell of titles lately, with the last time he even challenged for one being in 2001, for the Meijin. Rin became the first professional in Nihon Ki-in history to reach 1,300 career wins.

Rin currently resides in Tokyo, Japan, but remains a citizen of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

Rin is Honorary Tengen. 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.

Achievements

• Ranks #7 in total number of titles in Japan.