The First Meijin Tournament was a landmark go competition held in Japan in 1961 and 1962. Taking more than 18 months to complete, it was a round-robin (league) format event, featuring 13 top players. It arguably assembled the strongest field ever of players to compete in an all-play-all event. The structure, which produced in Fujisawa Hideyuki the first modern-era Meijin and initiated the titleholder system annual competition for that title, was never repeated. Subsequent Meijin Leagues have been round-robins for nine players, followed by a best-of-seven challenger match. ( Crosstable at Gobase.)The result was in doubt until the last game was finished, on 5 August 1962; the first games had been on 18 January 1961. The sponsors had held back the key games in the scheduling, to maintain the