This is an article about the history of female Go players in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and Europe.

Social background

Female Go players are viewed to be a minority. This is due to these reasons: * There are many male players but only few

female An organism's sex is female ( symbol: ♀) if it produces the ovum (egg cell), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete (sperm cell) during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and ...

players. ** In

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, there are no female winners at games without gender rules.

Asami Ueno , born 26 October 2001, is a Japanese professional Go player at Nihon Ki-in The Nihon Ki-in (), also known as the Japan Go Association, is the main organizational body for Go in Japan, overseeing Japan's professional system and issuing dipl ...

was the first female player who managed to be a finalist. ** In

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, there was no female 9-dan before Rui Naiwei. ** Most players and winners at World championships are male. * Not all female players are fairly paid. Joanne Missingham is known for her protests to this issue.

Comparison with female shogi players

In Japan, Go players are always compared with

shogi , also known as Japanese chess, is a Strategy game, 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 chess, Western chess, chaturanga, xiangqi, Indian chess, and janggi. ...

players. This is because

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

s like ''

The Asahi Shimbun is a Japanese daily newspaper founded in 1879. It is one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. The ''Asahi Shimbun'' is one of the five largest newspapers in Japan along with the ''Yom ...

'' 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). The others belong to the

Japan Shogi Association The , 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 materia ...

(JSA). Some LPSA players like

Kana Satomi is a Japanese women's professional shogi player ranked 6- dan. She is the current holder of the Women's Meijin, , , , and titles. She is also the career leader in women's professional shogi major titles. Satomi is also the first female to h ...

have tried to enter JSA. But currently, no one has entered.

Promotion of female players

Europe

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, there were no notable female players before Svetlana Shikshina and

Diana Koszegi Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997), ...

. In order to increase the number of female players, the

European Go Federation The European Go Federation (EGF) is a non-profit organization with the purpose of encouraging, regulating, co-ordinating, and disseminating the playing of the board game Go in Europe. The EGF was founded in 1957, the same year that the inaugural ...

is holding the European Women's Go Championship (EWGC) since 1996 and the European Pair Go Championship (EPGC) since 1997.

Japan

Kansai Ki-in The Kansai Ki-in (), i.e., Kansai Go Association, is an organizational body for the game of Go in Japan, which was founded by Hashimoto Utaro in 1950. Though it is not as large as its chief rival, the Nihon Ki-in, it also issues diplomas to stro ...

has eased the age rules to female players. At

Nihon Ki-in The Nihon Ki-in (), also known as the Japan Go Association, is the main organizational body for Go in Japan, overseeing Japan's professional system and issuing diplomas for amateur dan rankings. It is based in Tokyo. The other major Go associat ...

, there is a special exam for female players. Most female professionals (except

Xie Yimin Xie Yimin (; born on 16 November 1989) is a Taiwanese-born professional Go player in Japan. She holds the titles of Honorary Female Honinbo and Honorary Female Meijin, and, as of 2016, holds three major female titles in Japan: Female Meijin, F ...

etc.) have got their pro status by this way. In 2019, Nihon Ki-in has started a female player test system to give more support to them. Nihon Ki-in is also sponsoring female amateur games.

Female Student Honinbo

This is a tournament operated with the

All Japan Student Go Federation The All Japan Student Go Federation () is a Japanese student Go organization for holding university Go championships. They have branches in each region ( Kanto, Kansai, Kyushu, Tohoku etc.). For similar organizations, there is the American Colle ...

. Some winners have got pro status, or became top amateur players. Only players who cleared regional games can attend.

All Japan Female Amateur Go Championship

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.

Kaori Chinen is a professional Go player. Biography Kaori Chinen became a professional in 1993. She was promoted to 3 dan four years later in 1997. She married fellow professional go player Yo Kagen in 1997. She holds the female record for longest defense ...

Yukari Yoshihara née is a Japanese Go professional. Biography Yukari Umezawa was born in Tokyo in 1973, and graduated from Keio University in 1996. She first played Go at the age of 6 and she became a professional Go player in 1996. She then attained the r ...

and

Rina Fujisawa Rina Fujisawa (藤沢里菜 ''Fujisawa Rina'', born 18 September 1998) is a Japanese professional Go player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop g ...

also participated in this championship before becoming a pro.

World Ranking Changes by Year

Since 1986, four female Go players have held the top spot. For the past 7 years,

Choi Jeong Choi Jeong (; born February 28, 1987) is a third baseman who has played his whole career for the SK Wyverns (known as the SSG Landers beginning in 2021) in the Korea Baseball Organization. He bats and throws right-handed. Choi is the only memb ...

has been ranked number 1 in the rankings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Female Go players History of Go Women in sports