Female Go players
This is an article about the history of Female Go players.
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 players.
- In Japan, there are only three female 8-dan players.[1] And there are no female 9-dan. In addition, there are no female winners at games without gender rules. Asami Ueno was the first female player who managed to be a finalist.[2][3]
- In China, there was no female 9-dan before Rui Naiwei.[4]
- Most players and winners at World championships[5] are male.
- Not all female players are fairly paid. Joanne Missingham[6][7][8] is known for her protests to this issue.[9][10]
- At most Go organizations, directors are only male.[11]
These are caused by many reasons. One factor is they retire earlier due to marriage, pregnancy and maternity.
Comparison with female shogi players
In Japan, Go players are always compared with shogi players. This is because newspapers like Asahi Shinbun 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).[12] The others belong to the Japan Shogi Association (JSA).[13] Some LPSA players like Kana Satomi have tried to enter JSA. But currently, no one has entered.
Promotion of female players
Europe
In Europe, there were no notable female players before Svetlana Shikshina[14] and Diana Koszegi.[15] In order to increase female players, the European Go Federation is holding the European Womens Go Championship (EWGC) since 1996 and the European Pair Go Championship (EPGC) since 1997.[16][17]
Japan
Kansai Ki-in has eased the age rules to female players.[18] At Nihon Ki-in, there is a special exam for female players. Most female professionals (except Xie Yimin and Keiko Kato etc.) have got their pro status by this way.[19] In 2019, Nihon Ki-in has started a female player test system to give more support to them.[20] Nihon Ki-in is also sponsoring female amateur games.
Female Student Honinbo
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.
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 became a pro. The next table shows the notable winners.
| Year | Winner |
|---|---|
| 1965 | Tomoko Ogawa[21] |
| 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[22][23] |
| 2000-2001 | Mieko Nakajima[24] |
| 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[25]) |
| 2004 | Miori Shimosaka |
| 2005 and 2007 | Akane Ishii (currently known as Akane Tatsumi[26]) |
| 2014-2015 | Akiko Fujiwara[27][28][29] |
| 2016 | Reina Oshima[30] |
| 2017 | Saeka Iwata[31] |
Kaori Chinen, Yukari Yoshihara and Rina Fujisawa also joined this game.
Notes
- ↑ Kazuko Konishi, Kazuko Sugiuchi and Mika Yoshida
- ↑ senseis
.xmp .net?UenoAsami - ↑ Asami Ueno profile at Nihon Ki-in
- ↑ senseis
.xmp .net?RuiNaiwei - ↑ senseis
.xmp .net?WorldAmateurGoChampionship - ↑ senseis
.xmp .net?JoanneMissingham - ↑ Joanne Missingham on Instagram
- ↑ Joanne Missingham on Twitter
- ↑ "Joanne Missingham Stands up for Gender Equality in Go". American Go Association. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
- ↑ Moskowitz, Marc (31 August 2013). Go Nation: Chinese Masculinities and the Game of Weiqi in China. University of California Press. p. 18. ISBN 978-0520276314.
- ↑ At Nihon Ki-in, there were no female directors before Chizu Kobayashi, Sachiko Hara and Tomoko Ogawa.
- ↑ LPSA website
- ↑ JSA website
- ↑ senseis
.xmp .net?SvetlanaShikshina - ↑ senseis
.xmp .net?DianaKoszegi - ↑ senseis
.xmp .net?EuropeanWomensGoChampionship - ↑ European Tournament Results by EGF
- ↑ "Kansai Ki-in player recruitment". Archived from the original on 2021-05-14. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
- ↑ Nihon Ki-in player recruitment
- ↑ Nihon Ki-in announcement
- ↑ Tomoko Ogawa profile at Nihon Ki-in
- ↑ Narumi Osawa profile at Nihon Ki-in
- ↑ senseis
.xmp .net?OsawaNarumi - ↑ Mieko Nakajima profile at Nihon Ki-in
- ↑ Kaori Mimura profile at Nihon Ki-in
- ↑ kansaikiin
.jp /kisi _prof /tatsumiakane .html - ↑ Waseda Weekly interview in 2018
- ↑ Tournament report article in 2018 Archived 2021-01-19 at the Wayback Machine by Asahi Shinbun
- ↑ Akiko Fujiwara at Sensei's Library
- ↑ senseis
.xmp .net?OshimaReina - ↑ kansaikiin
.jp /kisi _prof /iwatasaeka .html