I am wanting to focus on professionals who are extremely aggressive (love getting into fights and excel at them),
and extremely defensive (excel at saving dead/dying groups).

Just wondering if anyone has any favorites.

Thanks.

Sakata was called master of attack and defense, so good at both.

You might see some other threads on Seo Pong-su for classic Korean fighting style.

Miyazawa Goro comes to mind as aggressive.

Yi Ch'ang-ho gives some impression of slow moves, especially from games in the 90s, focusing on endgame.

Amateurs will get more extreme than pros in any dimension. For any given pro player with a known style you will find games where they play the opposite style because that is what's called for to win the specific game.

Thanks.

I was hoping that in studying aggressive play, and defensive that i may end up having a feeling for both of them and not be stuck in one extreme or the other.

Sakata is good, but wasn't he known more for skills in sabaki/defensive rather than being aggressive.

How about the early Kato - The Killer?

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Aggressive/Fighting: Honinbo Jowa, Honinbo Shuho, Shinohara Masami, Fujisawa Hosai, Miyashita Shuyo, Miyazawa Goro, Tozawa Akinobu, Kato Masao, Chen Jiarui, Jiang Zhujiu, Liu Xiaoguang, Seo Pong-su, Yu Ch'ang-hyeok, Rui Naiwei, So Yokoku, Gu Li, Ch'oe Ch'eol-han, Yi Se-tol

Defensive/Solid: Yasui Chitoku, Honinbo Shuwa, Suzuki Tamejiro, Sekiyama Riichi, Takagawa Kaku, Shimamura Toshihiro, Cao Dayuan, Shao Zhenzhong, Zhou Heyang, Yamada Kimio, Yi Ch'ang-ho, Kang Tong-yun, Chen Yaoye

I've been looking at games of Takemiya (Masaki) vs. Cho Chikun lately because of the contrast. I've only gone over a handful so far, but every one I've looked at has ended with a big group dying and the game is over via resignation.

I don't know if I would necessarily classify either player as "aggressive" or "defensive", but the games are fun to watch if you're looking for some killing.

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Sakata's nickname was The Razor. He was known for his shinogi.

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True and true but a non sequitur. He had several nicknames. When talking about his shinogi ability, Shinogi no Sakata was used. Kamisori Sakata referred to his razorsharp ability to find wicked moves, most notably on the second line, as if ducking under the opponent's chin to slice through his jugular (it is after the 9pm watershed here ). A sort of wordplay on that was the nickname Namakura Sakata (Blade-dulling Sakata), referring to his ability to wear down the opponent and grind out a positive result in any sort of game. As will be obvious from the usual use of namakura, this was not meant to be entirely flattering, but personally I rather like it, and since it seems to sum up the equally successful Magnus Carlsen, there is presumably a lot to be said for it.

Who will be the first to nick namakura as a kgs nick?

The name is not currently in use. However, according to the archives 'namakura' played his/her first game on July 8, 2006.

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OK, I took it. Bidding starts at 5 USD.

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Oh, yeah... true.

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WARNING: This post might contain Opinions!!

Have you reached at this?
(But it needs to be updated.)
http://senseis.xmp.net/?ProfessionalPlayersGoStyles


I think you will get something important for you.

Thanks for all of the input! I now have an idea of who i want to focus my study on.



I did a little research on Sakata and Kato...

Maybe this is the second thought.
If you wanna study ones of attack and defense, the ancient Chinese matches are amazing.
They are at all time fighting and defending (even with their weak groups).

As you know, Go is a game of territory.
The more territory you got, the more chance to win.
However, just taking territory is unexciting. Therefor the Chinese ancestry tried to a new path of fighting which is full of enjoyment.

Get a taste of the truth of go, igo, weiqi, baduk or whatever you call it.

(Oh! by the way, that's just my opinion.)

Rui Naiwei is known of aggressive style. Attack and Kill are her second nature.

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