Honinbo Shusaku liked to play Castle games as shown by his perfect record in this yearly event (19 wins, no losses). However, Ito Showa came very close beating Shusaku and fierce ko fights were needed to turn this game around.

Professional lightning Go gives very special games as shown by this sample: both players apply the ko weapon to fight over every inch of the board.

A modern fighting game played during the 8th match between Chinese and Japanese professionals (the super-match).

A famous game for it's length alone (411 moves). The length is mainly due to the many ko fights in this game. A great game - the players seem to be playing so 'hardcore', not giving an inch, as if every fight were going to be the last. (Robin Upton)

This is another game that I like because of the huge swap in the middle. It is really an object lesson in how to prepare for fighting kos by making threats available. (Robin Upton)

A funny thing happened in the 49th Honinbo League between Komatsu Hideki and Rin Kaiho. In a corner fight the best sequence resulted in an eternal ko featuring two stone captures.

I really appreciate this game because of the nice flow right from the start. At move 123 a big Ko occurs - yet it takes 60 moves before it's over, leading to some Furikawari. The game is decided by 0.5 moku, amazing after these masters exchanged that many and big threaths. Balance doesn't need to be static - a memorable battle! (Michael Schneider)