Up to the early 1980s he would try to develop rapidly even at the expense of creating thin positions. He usually became involved in running fights with a number of weak groups under attack. As such he became a master of shinogi (rescuing weak groups). As his career progressed his territorial style grew to encompass a more steady, slow-paced game; and as he learned to split the game up into a number of skillfully coordinated, smaller fights his play developed a new depth.