Manfred Wimmer ( 1944 – 1995) was the first
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
professional Go player.
Manfred Wimmer was born in
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
in 1944. He won the
European Go Championship in 1969 and 1974. He became a professional
shodan in the
Kansai Ki-In on January 26, 1978 (shortly before
James Kerwin, the American who became the second Western Go professional on February 14, 1978, in the
Nihon Kiin). Wimmer was promoted to the
rank of 2p the same year (though gobase.org lists him as a 1p).
In 1991, he introduced the game of Go in
Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
and, around the same time, reportedly in
Kenya
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
. Wimmer died of a
stroke
Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...
in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
in 1995 while playing Go at a cafe.
"Obituary of Manfred Wimmer" (European Go Federation)
/ref>
See also
* European Go Players
* European Go Federation
References
External links
Pok's "a kind of obituary" of Manfred WimmerSenseis Library page on Manfred Wimmer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wimmer, Manfred
1944 births
1995 deaths
Austrian Go players
Game players from Vienna