Kobayashi has no qualms about replying passively to White's move. A move that professionals without Kobayashi's pragmatism would find painful to play and thus not seriously consider.  

In fact, Kobayashi's aesthetic indifference and reductionist style initially irritated some professionals, esp. Takemiya Masaki. In the 1980s, Takemiya made several insulting comments towards Kobayashi. Of particular note were those in 1987 leading up to the 11th Kisei title match. In an interview with Igo Club he said:

I'm sorry to say this, but with his kind of game it's regrettable that he's Kisei. I don't want to have go fans thinking that it's OK to play like that, so I have to beat him and settle the issue. In a word, his go is like the subway. You get where you want to go, but you don't see any scenery.^[10]

On the other end, Kobayashi chose to remain silent towards his critics, possibly not wishing to be dragged into futile mudslinging while letting his victories speak for themselves. An appreciation for his style of go reached a wider consensus toward the end of the decade as Kobayashi continued to dominate the Japanese go world.

In 1986, the Nihon Kiin issued a special publication of Igo Club titled: "A Life Devoted to Go: The Secret of Kobayashi Koichi's Strength." In the book, three essays were written about his style by Ishida Akira, Kato Masao and Rin Kaiho. A short summary of each players' thoughts were as follows^[2]:

Ishida Akira: Single-minded devotion to the game and his studies, but his effort and study isn't everything, after all many people put in as much effort and study. Willingness to consider painful variations on a global scale as much as the natural, conventional ones. A strong spiritual strength that doesn't become disheartened by making a small oversight and motivates him to keep playing his hardest. Maintaining a hunger to win, even after experiencing great success in his go career. Studying to refine your game versus studying to win your games. Both lead to one another, but the latter is more difficult because it discards a certain level of pleasure in your games, but Kobayashi is able to take this path.

Kato Masao: Initially, Kobayashi had a certain amount of disinterest in territory, would play slack variations that gave away territory too easily. This would often force him to have to stake his entire game on the center. Another problem was that since his influence could be based on a slack exchange, then it could be less effective than otherwise, making his center claims all the more difficult to win with. But he underwent an astonishing transformation in this regard, switching from moyo to territory in a short space of time. At some point it became clear to him that: "First class players all play a territorial game," or at least they don't undervalue it so lightly.

His calculation was second to only Ishida Yoshio in the Kitani Dojo. He became increasingly skillful at winding-up a game, even in cases where an attack wasn't successful. In time, he had cultivated a strong spirit. He also developed a flexible attacking style (counter to his old, large-moyo style attacking, where everything could be on the line), building sequences that created solid attacks & shapes, but didn't over-invest in the attacks. He acquired the steady patience required to lead this style to the end of the game. However, strong calculating styles all reach their zenith, with the ultimate factor simply being the end of one's youth. So I wonder how long Kobayashi can keep up his current style. I will meet him in the Meijin finals this year to test his strength.

Rin Kaiho: "The player most skilful at winning a won game is Kobayashi." It's an inborn weapon of his, yet we can see its emergence in his games. In his old-style he could fall behind when his attacks failed, he had an overly-optimistic positional judgement, undervalued territory, and he would play thickly even when this caused him to fall behind. He also seemed to run away with his own aggressiveness from time-to-time. From his own realizations of the importance of territory and from the influence of his friends Cho Chikun and Kato Masao, he made a transformation from a large attacking style to a territory one. But then he went too far in the other direction. After some years, he found a good balance.

He developed an outstanding sense of territorial balance, which gave him the freedom from indecisiveness in his games, allowing him to play flexible moves so as long as the result was adequate. He now plays for the averages and for the long-distance race. "You have to run at a steady pace through the opening, the middle game, and the endgame, and pull ahead of the opponent with a little spurt when you near the goal. In my opinion, Kobayashi understands this aspect of go better than anyone else."

Kobayashi Fuseki

Kobayashi has been a major contributor of opening theory and new josekies in modern go. Although he often carries a set of preferred openings, particularly as Black, he's equally well-known for developing openings to counter opponents with strongly distinctive styles, such as Takemiya Masaki and Kato Masao. Nonetheless, his most well known opening innovation is the kobayashi fuseki -- marked by the formation of Black 3-5-7 below (Black 7 can also be @ A):

Kobayashi Fuseki  

The fuseki is similar to that of the Mini-Chinese fuseki, in that it induces the opponent to play their next move on the right-side, else Black will build a tremendous moyo by playing on the right himself. Once White makes the standard approach at B, Black can play C to further induce an invasion later at D. Another response to White B is Black F. In either case, Black's goal soon turns to threatening a moyo on the bottom, which will lead to a fighting game when White tries to prevent it. Since Kobayashi's role in popularizing the pattern, it has appeared in over 2,500 professional games and has grown to include several sub-variations derived from White's different replies.

Study Ethic

Kobayashi is usually referenced as the most studious player of his generation. When John Power was researching Honinbo Shusaku for his book Invincible Kobayashi made the off comment that he had studied the complete games of Shusaku's ten times since being an insei. Given that Kobayashi wasn't known for his exaggeration, this meant that from 1965 to 1980 he went through Shusaku's 400-plus games about every 18-months. He further referred to a rare, life-and-death, problem book for professionals by Segoe Kensaku, saying that even though he'd gone through the problems about 20 times, he still had difficulty with a few.^[4]

Kobayashi's dedication to the study of past masters and games have allowed him to make significant theoretical and joseki contributions to go and led to him publishing many historical, game-commentary books.

Kobayashi's Slump and His Wife's Battle with Cancer

Kobayashi's wife, Reiko, began her battle with breast cancer in late '94. Although fighting to remain strong in his go for Reiko, Kobayashi eventually succumbed to a slump in mid '95. On 16 April 1996, Reiko passed away. Koichi had not told most people about his wife's illness.

Hurt that his wife's last memories of him were his feckless tournament results, he vowed to gain another title in her honor. His first international victory of the 10th Fujitsu Cup was this title.

Reporter Kawakuma Hiroyuki: "Most of the fans assembled to watch the public commentary on the final were only too well aware of his feelings. When he appeared on the stage after the game, he was enveloped in thunderous applause. I've never heard such warm applause before."^[3]

Although still in mourning, Kobayashi was able to gain his strength back to compete in top level events. He proceeded to earn over 20 additional titles in the following years.

In 1998, Kobayashi remarried. His new wife is his younger brother's wife's sister, 15 years younger. Reiko, knowing that she was dying, had played matchmaker so her husband wouldn't be alone.

Cho vs Kobayashi

Cho Chikun and Kobayashi Koichi were both students of the Kitani dojo. Although Cho entered three years earlier, Kobayashi became a professional one year earlier and even though he was nearly four years older.

Even their personal lives followed a similar pattern. Both married in their early 20s to older women, both had very happy marriages, both had a son and daughter, and both tragically lost their wives to cancer.

Even early on in their careers a rivalry was noted between the two, with Kido sponsoring a Three-game Rivals Match between the two in 1977. By that time they'd already faced off in a number of minor title finals. But Cho took off by winning big titles first. Kobayashi's first big title, the Meijin, was taken away from Cho. They also both fought back and forth on the Kisei. However, their most contested big title has been that of the Honinbo title. In fact, Kobayashi can put most of the 'blame' for not winning the Triple Crown (Honinbo, Kisei and Meijin) on Cho, recalling that Cho held the Honinbo title for 10 consecutive years from 1989-1998, nearly the entire time Kobayashi was also at his peak. Between Cho and Kobayashi, they really had a monopoly on the 'big three' titles. As such they were each other's most dangerous opponent.

In an interview before the 47th Honinbo match in 1992 Cho commented about Kobayashi's first Honinbo challenge, "At that time there was a difference in strength between us, so the result was understandable. Looking at it impartially, Kobayashi is now probably stronger than me." However, when a reporter relayed this message to Kobayashi he replied, "Cho's just being diplomatic. I've played many professionals up to now, but my opinion remains unchanged: Cho's the strongest. His knack of playing moves that are without parallel and his severity in the fighting are something new in go."^[6]

Games between these two rarely follow established patterns. The reasons for this are four fold. First is Cho's penchant for playing experimental moves. This allows him to use his intense reading to his advantage and keep games interesting to him. Second is Cho's perfectionist tendency towards the opening. If the reading reveals even the smallest defect or slightest personal distaste, Cho will try his best to find another variation, no matter how unconventional. Third is Cho's fighting style coupled with Kobayashi's attacking style. Fourth is both player's profound reading abilities, which reveal surprising moves at different points of the game. Cho's usually arrive in the opening and during complex infighting; Kobayashi's usually arrive towards the late opening to late mid-game. Cho's come from his obsessive-like reading and perfectionist openings, while Kobayashi's come from his flexible, long-term positional analysis and strong endgame.

Contrasting the two more precisely: Although they both play a territory-oriented style, Cho has a fondness for shinogi strategy, Kobayashi for playing aji-keshi moves to secure positions; Cho tries to seek truth on the go board, Kobayashi seeks the most pragmatic way to victory.