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

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

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 Female (Venus symbol, symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ovum, ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the Sperm, male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gamet ...

players. ** In

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, 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. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, there was no female 9-dan before

Rui Naiwei Rui Naiwei (; born December 28, 1963) is a Chinese professional Go player, once active in South Korea. She is probably the strongest recorded female Go player, and is the only woman to have won one of the major open Go titles. She achieved ...

. ** 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 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'' ...

players. This is because

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written 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 politics, business, sports a ...

s like ''

The Asahi Shimbun is one of the four largest newspapers in Japan. Founded in 1879, it is also one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. Its circulation, which was 4.57 million for its morning edition and ...

'' 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 and titles as well as the , and titles, thus making her a . She is also the career leader in women's professional shogi major titles. Sat ...

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

Promotion of female players

Europe

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, there were no notable female players before Svetlana Shikshina and Diana Koszegi. 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 The European Pair Go Championship (EPGC) is a European international tournament for amateur Go players under the Pair Go rule, held once a year since 1997. History The first European Pair Go Championship was held in 1997. Past champions See a ...

(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 stron ...

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 Hsieh 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 currently 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 announcement
/ref> 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 Col ...

. 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 (board game), Go Go players, 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 ...

Yukari Yoshihara Married and maiden names, née is a Japanese Go (board game), 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 G ...

and

Rina Fujisawa Rina Fujisawa (藤沢里菜 ''Fujisawa Rina'', born 18 September 1998) is a Japanese professional Go player. Biography Fujisawa is the daughter of Kazunari Fujisawa, an 8-dan professional Go player. She is also the granddaughter of the late H ...

also participated in this championship before becoming a pro.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Female Go players History of Go Sportswomen