Played in April, 1957, the game was the first between these two giants after World War II. At the time, Go Seigen was unanimously No.1 after beating one opponent after another in 10-game series (jubango). Meanwhile, Kitani, who was promoted to 9-dan just a year before, was winning games too. Thus this first meet between the two greats in 13 years became a big show. At the end, Go Seigen once again came out as the winner, but no one would say Kitani was a loser -- he had established himself forever as a winner.
Played in February, this game was the first game in history in which the "bending inward" variation of the onadare (great avalanche) joseki was played. This revolutionary joseki had its significance in the development of Go; therefore, this is a memorable game.
After the new "inward bend" went public, people started to imitate it in their games, and this of course led to the sequence being dropped as a joseki pattern since, if it gives one side or the other a favourable result, it is not joseki. However, the onadare joseki would come back when, a few years later, Wu Qing Yuan himself revealed a good counter move for White.