This is an article about the history of female Go players in Asia 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 players. In Japan, there are no female winners at games without gender rules. Asami Ueno was the first female player who managed to be a finalist. In China, there was no female 9-dan before Rui Naiwei. Most players and winners at World championships are male. Not all female players are paid equally to male players. Joanne Missingham is known for her protests to this issue.
Comparison with female shogi players In Japan, Go players are always compared with shogi players. This is because newspapers like The Asahi Shimbun 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).LPSA website The others belong to the Japan Shogi Association (JSA).JSA website 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 and Diana Koszegi. In order to increase the number of female players, the European Go Federation is holding the European Women's Go Championship (EWGC) since 1996 and the European Pair Go Championship (EPGC) since 1997.European Tournament Results by EGF
Japan Kansai Ki-in has eased the age rules to female players.Kansai Ki-in player recruitment At Nihon Ki-in, there is a special exam for female players. Most female professionals (except Xie Yimin etc.) have got their pro status by this way.Nihon Ki-in player recruitment In 2019, Nihon Ki-in has started a female player test system to give more support to them.Nihon Ki-in announcement 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 become a pro. The next table shows the notable winners. YearWinner1965Tomoko OgawaTomoko Ogawa profile at Nihon Ki-in1970–1971 and 1975Kazuko Kanai1977–1978, 1980, 1985 and 1987Yoshiko Kamekura1981–1984Yasuko Yoshie1990–1991 and 1993–1995Akiko Sato1997Narumi OhsawaNarumi Osawa profile at Nihon Ki-in2000–2001Mieko NakajimaMieko Nakajima profile at Nihon Ki-in2002 and 2013Maya Ohsawa (Narumi Ohsawa's sister. The Ohsawa sisters became the first sisters to win at here)2003Kaori Mukai (Chiaki Mukai's sister, now known as Kaori MimuraKaori Mimura profile at Nihon Ki-in)2004Miori Shimosaka2005 and 2007Akane Ishii (currently known as Akane Tatsumi)2014–2015Akiko FujiwaraWaseda Weekly interview in 2018Tournament report article in 2018 by The Asahi ShimbunAkiko Fujiwara at Sensei's Library2016Reina Oshima2017Saeka Iwata Kaori Chinen, Yukari Yoshihara and Rina Fujisawa also participated in this championship before becoming a pro.
World Ranking Changes by Year Since 1986, five female Go players have held the top spot. + Female Go Player Ranking Year 1st 2nd 3rd 1986-1989 Rui Naiwei Zhang Xuan Feng Yun 1990-1993 Yang Hui 1994-1997 Feng Yun 1998-2003 Cho Hyeyeon Zhang Xuan 2004 Park Jieun 2005 Cho Hyeyeon Rui Naiwei 2006-2007 Rui Naiwei Cho Hyeyeon 2008-2010 Li He Qiao Shiyao 2011 Yu Zhiying Choi Jeong 2012 Choi Jeong Yu Zhiying 2013-2015 Yu Zhiying Rui Naiwei 2016 Oh Yujin 2017-2019 Choi Jeong Yu Zhiying 2020-2023 Zhou Hongyu 2024 Kim Eunji 2025 Kim Eunji Choi Jeong Tang Jiawen 2026 Zhou Hongyu
References