Honinbō Shūsaku, born in Innoshima Island, was a professional Go player (Japanese chess) and is considered by many to be the greatest player of the golden age of Go in the mid-19th century. He was nicknamed "Invincible" after he earned a perfect score for 19 straight wins. At age 8, Shusaku was already almost a player of professional caliber and later left home to join the Hon'inbō school (the most important institute in the game of Go in Japan). In 1862, a cholera epidemic swept through Japan. Shusaku tended patients within the Hon'inbō house, and fell ill, dying of it. He was only 33 years old. He is still considered one of the best Go players ever to have lived.