 |
| Part of a series on |
| Go |
|---|
 |
| Game specifics |
|
| History and culture |
| Players and organizations |
| Computers and mathematics |
This is an article about the history of female Go players in Asia and Europe.
|
| Part of a series on |
| Go |
|---|
| |
| Game specifics |
|
| History and culture |
| Players and organizations |
| Computers and mathematics |
This is an article about the history of female Go players in Asia and Europe.
Female Go players are viewed to be a minority. This is due to these reasons:
In Japan, Go players are always compared with shogi players. This is because newspapers like The Asahi Shimbun treat them equal. But there is a big difference among female players. Female Go players usually belong to the same organization with others. But this does not happen for shogi. Female shogi players belong to the Ladies Professional Shogi Association (LPSA). [10] The others belong to the Japan Shogi Association (JSA). [11] Some LPSA players like Kana Satomi have tried to enter JSA. But currently, no one has entered.
In Europe, there were no notable female players before Svetlana Shikshina [12] and Diana Koszegi. [13] In order to increase the number of female players, the European Go Federation is holding the European Women's Go Championship (EWGC) since 1996 and the European Pair Go Championship (EPGC) since 1997. [14] [15]
Kansai Ki-in has eased the age rules to female players. [16] At Nihon Ki-in, there is a special exam for female players. Most female professionals (except Xie Yimin etc.) have got their pro status by this way. [17] In 2019, Nihon Ki-in has started a female player test system to give more support to them. [18] Nihon Ki-in is also sponsoring female amateur games.
This is a tournament operated with the All Japan Student Go Federation. Some winners have got pro status, or became top amateur players. Only players who cleared regional games can attend.
The All Japan Female Amateur Go Championship is the highest match for female amateur Go players. Some winners have become a pro. The next table shows the notable winners.
| Year | Winner |
|---|---|
| 1965 | Tomoko Ogawa [19] |
| 1970–1971 and 1975 | Kazuko Kanai |
| 1977–1978, 1980, 1985 and 1987 | Yoshiko Kamekura |
| 1981–1984 | Yasuko Yoshie |
| 1990–1991 and 1993–1995 | Akiko Sato |
| 1997 | Narumi Ohsawa [20] [21] |
| 2000–2001 | Mieko Nakajima [22] |
| 2002 and 2013 | Maya Ohsawa (Narumi Ohsawa's sister. The Ohsawa sisters became the first sisters to win at here) |
| 2003 | Kaori Mukai (Chiaki Mukai's sister, now known as Kaori Mimura [23] ) |
| 2004 | Miori Shimosaka |
| 2005 and 2007 | Akane Ishii (currently known as Akane Tatsumi [24] ) |
| 2014–2015 | Akiko Fujiwara [25] [26] [27] |
| 2016 | Reina Oshima [28] |
| 2017 | Saeka Iwata [29] |
Kaori Chinen, Yukari Yoshihara and Rina Fujisawa also participated in this championship before becoming a pro.
Since 1986, four female Go players have held the top spot. For the past 7 years, Choi Jeong has been ranked number 1 in the rankings. [30] [31]
| Year | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986-1989 | Rui Naiwei | Zhang Xuan | Feng Yun |
| 1990-1993 | Yang Hui | ||
| 1994-1997 | Feng Yun | ||
| 1998-2003 | Cho Hyeyeon | Zhang Xuan | |
| 2004 | Park Jieun | ||
| 2005 | Cho Hyeyeon | Rui Naiwei | |
| 2006-2007 | Rui Naiwei | Cho Hyeyeon | |
| 2008-2010 | Li He | Qiao Shiyao | |
| 2011 | Yu Zhiying | Choi Jeong | |
| 2012 | Choi Jeong | Yu Zhiying | |
| 2013-2015 | Yu Zhiying | Rui Naiwei | |
| 2016 | Oh Yujin | ||
| 2017-2019 | Choi Jeong | Yu Zhiying | |
| 2020-2023 | Zhou Hongyu | ||
| 2024 | Kim Eunji |
Shogi, also known as Japanese chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is one of the most popular board games in Japan and is in the same family of games as Western chess, chaturanga, xiangqi, Indian chess, and janggi. Shōgi means general's board game.
Minoru Kitani was one of the most celebrated professional Go players and teachers of the game of Go in the twentieth century in Japan.
Rui Naiwei is a Chinese professional Go player, once active in South Korea. She is the strongest recorded female Go player, and is the only woman to have won one of the major open Go titles. She achieved this by winning the 1999 Guksu title, on the way beating Lee Chang-Ho and Cho Hun-hyun, the two strongest players in the world at the time.
The NHK Cup (Go), or as it is more commonly known the NHK Cup TV Go Tournament (NHK杯テレビ囲碁トーナメント, enu eichi kei hai terebi igo tōnamento), is a professional Go tournament (Go competition) organized by the Japan Go Association (Nihon Ki-in) and sponsored by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK). The tournament lasts roughly one year from April to the following March. Tournament games are televised each Sunday from 12:30 to 14:00 (JST) on NHK Educational TV (NHK-E) and live commentary and analysis is provided by two commentators (Go professionals): A host (司会) (typically a female Go professional) who serves in that role for the entire tournament and a guest commentator (大盤解説者) to provide detailed analysis. Post-game analysis involving the two players and the two commentators takes place once the game has ended (broadcast time permitting). This year (2023) marks the 71st time the tournament has been held and the host is Shiho Hoshiai 2P. Prior to 1963, the tournament was broadcast on the radio.
Shoji Hashimoto was a professional Go player.
The Women's Kisei is a Japanese Go competition.
Yasuro Kikuchi was a Japanese amateur Go player.
Diána Kőszegi is a Hungarian professional Go player. She became the sixth European professional player when she was promoted by the Korean Go Association on January 4, 2008 and is the first Hungarian professional player.
Kita Fumiko was an important Japanese professional 8-dan go player. Born Shiba Fumi, she was adopted by Hayashi Sano, a strong Meiji-era player and member of the Hayashi house. Fumiko achieved the professional rank of 1-dan at the Hoensha in 1889 and married the famous Noh actor, Kita Roppeita, in 1895, after which she was known as Kita Fumiko. After some years away from go she resumed her career in 1907 and rose through the ranks, reaching 6-dan in 1938. In 1924, at the time of the formation of the Nihon Ki-in, she played a key role as a mediator between rival factions. She is known affectionately as the mother of women's go in Japan; virtually all of the women professionals before the second world war were her pupils. There is an essay titled "The Art of Resigning" in Noriyuki Nakayama's book The Treasure Chest Enigma describing young Fumiko's difficult relationship with her mother, Hayashi Sano. A more detailed article may be found on Sensei's Library. In recognition of her contributions to modern go she was inducted into the Nihon Ki-in Hall of Fame in 2013.
The Japan Shogi Association, or JSA, is the primary organizing body for professional shogi in Japan. The JSA sets the professional calendar, negotiates sponsorship and media promotion deals, helps organize tournaments and title matches, publishes shogi-related materials, supervises and trains apprentice professionals as well as many other activities.
A professional shogi player is a shogi player who is usually a member of a professional guild of shogi players.
Joanne Missingham is an Australian-born Taiwanese professional Go player and actor. She is the first Australian-born player to achieve a professional go ranking.
Ryo Ichiriki is a Japanese professional 9-dan Go player and journalist. As Go player, he was a pupil of So Kofuku. Since 2020 he has also worked as a journalist for Kahoku Shimpo.
Mana Watanabe is a Japanese women's professional shogi player ranked 3-dan. She is a former Women's Ōi title holder. She is also the first women's professional to come out of the Ladies Professional Shogi-players' Association of Japan (LSPA) and subsequently be recognized as such by the Japan Shogi Association.
Saori Shimai is a Japanese women's professional shogi player ranked 2-dan. As of January 2023, she is serving as an executive director of Ladies Professional Shogi-players' Association of Japan (LPSA).
The Ladies Professional Shogi-players' Association of Japan or LPSA is a guild of women's professional shogi players headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The organization was established in May 2007 when a number of women's shogi professionals decided to leave the Japan Shogi Association (JSA) due to disagreements over various matters. The current representative director of the organization is Hiromi Nakakura.
The All Japan Student Go Federation is a Japanese student Go organization for holding university Go championships. They have branches in each region. For similar organizations, there is the American Collegiate Go Association in the United States.
Mgr. Pavol Lisý was the first professional go player certified by the European Go Federation.
Sachiko Honda was a 8-dan professional go player at the Japanese Go Association. She was the inaugural winner of the Women's Honinbo in 1982, the runner-up in 1983 and 1985, and the winner in 1984.
Yo Seiki or Yu Zhengqi is a Taiwanese professional Go player currently playing in Japan as a member of the Kansai Ki-in.
