is a 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 games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

Biography

Before becoming a professional, Sakai was majoring in

medical science Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practice ...

Kyoto University , mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture , established = , type = National university, Public (National) , endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 1000000000 (number), billion USD) , faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff) , administrative_staff ...

. For a long time, Sakai was the strongest amateur player 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 ...

, and when he won the

World Amateur Go Championship The World Amateur Go Championship (WAGC) is an international tournament for amateur Go players, held once a year since 1979. The organising body is the International Go Federation (IGF). Each participating country sends one player, although in ...

in 2000, the

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 ...

awarded him professional 5 dan (after defeating two 5 dan and two 7 dan players). He was also the first player in Japan to be awarded a special 8 dan (amateur) diploma. In 2003, he won the biggest Kansai Ki-in tournament, the

Kansai Ki-in Championship The Kansai Ki-In Championship is a Go competition. Outline The original Kansai Ki-In Championship ran from 1957 to 1975. It was merged with the Nihon Ki-In Championship to form the Tengen. A new Kansai Ki-In Championship tournament replaced the ...

. In 2004, he was runner-up for the Shinjin-O title, losing to

Mizokami Tomochika is a professional Go (board game), Go Go players, player. Biography Mizokami Tomochika is part of the older class of players in the 6 - 9 dan range in Japan. Titles & runners-up External linksGoBase Profile 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 ...

(participation in Meijin league 2005–present) and the Kansai Ki-in. In 2010, Sakai won the Gosei title, defeating title-holder

Cho U Cho U (; born on 20 January 1980) is a Taiwanese professional Go player. He currently ranks 6th in the most titles won by a Japanese professional; his NEC Cup win in 2011 put him past his teacher Rin Kaiho and Norimoto Yoda. Cho is the first pl ...

3–2.

Titles and runners-up

External links

GoBase ProfileSensei's Library Profile
(Japanese) 1973 births Japanese Go players Living people Sportspeople from Hyōgo Prefecture Kyoto University alumni {{Japan-Go-bio-stub