Chinen Kaori

Chinen Kaori (知念 かおり ) born 28 July 1974 in Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture) is a Japanese female professional 6 dan Go player.

Name

Chinen Kaori's family name Chinen, written in Kanji, 知念, means “mindful knowledge” or “thoughtful wisdom”, appropriate for a Go professional.

Her given name Kaori means “fragrance”. It is written in the phonetic Hiragana script かおり so the pronunciation is unambiguous, and also the rounded script is considered more feminine.

Promotion history

Chinen became a professional in 1993. She was promoted to 2-dan in 1997, 3-dan in 1997, 4-dan in 2005, 5-dan in 2015, and 6-dan in 2017.

Achievements and Titles

Chinen has won 9 Japanese women's titles, the 8th most of any Japanese woman.

• 1999 China-Japan NEC cup for female players. She beat Liang Yadi (2 dan at the time)
• 2000–2003, 2005 Women's Kisei
• 1997–1999, 2004 Women's Honinbo

Her first title, the Women's Honinbo in 1997, involved huge press coverage at the time due to the fact that she was quite far along in her first pregnancy when the title match games were being played. Game four (which she won, along with the title) was actually played on chairs in the Yugen no Ma room of the Nihon Ki-in. As by that point in time, the baby was expected any day.

On the World Women's Rating Lists of 1994-01-01 to 1999-01-01, Chinen was the #1 Japanese woman.

Head-to-head scores against current female rivals

(Based on Chinen Kaori, Go Ratings and game list), as of 22 June 2024)

• Ueno Asami, 5p, according to rating list, #5 female and #200 overall in the world, and #1 female and #27 overall in Japan: 0–1
• Fujisawa Rina, 7p, #9 female in world, #2 female in Japan: 0–4
• Xie Yimin, 7p, many years #1 female in Japan: 1–7
• Sugiuchi Kazuko, 8p, 4× All-Japan Women's Championship, 4× Women's Meijin, 2× Women's Kakusei: 1–0
• Honda Sachiko, 7p, Sugiuchi Kazuko'a younger sister, 2× Female Honinbo, 5× All-Japan Women's Championship: 1–0
• Ogawa Tomoko, 7p, once Female Honinbo, 2× All-Japan Women's Championship: 7–4
• Kobayashi Chizu, 6p, 3× Women's Kakusei and All-Japan Women's Championship: 4–0
• Shinkai Hiroko, 5p, 2× Female Strongest: 2–1
• Aoki Kikuyo, 8p, 5× Women's Meijin, 4× Women's Kakusei, once Female Kisei: 5–8
• Yoshida Mika, 8p, 4× Women's Honinbo, 4× Kansai Ladies' Tournament, once Women's Kakusei: 5–10
• Kobayashi Izumi, 7p, 3× Female Honinbo], 3× Female Meijin, 2× Female Kisei, once Teikei Cup Female Legends: 13–9
• Kato Keiko, 6p, once Women's Meijin, once Female Strongest: 7–5
• Kato Tomoko, 6p, once Women's Honinbo, Women's Meijin, Women's Kakusei, and Female Strongest: 7–3
• Yashiro Kumiko, 6p, 2× Women's Honinbo, 3–6
• Umezawa Yukari, 6p, 3× Female Kisei: 6–2
• Suzuki Ayumi, 7p, #7 female in Japan, #33 female in world, twice Female Strongest, once Female Kisei: 5–4
• Koyama Terumi, 6p, 4× Women's Meijin: 1–0
• Nyu Eiko, 4p, 2× Female Strongest: 0–1
• Konishi Kazuko, 8p, once Kansai Ladies' Tournament, once Teikei Cup Female Legends: 2–1
• Mukai Chiaki, 6p, once Women's Honinbo: 3–4
• Mannami Kana, 4p, 2× Female Kisei: 6–5
• Mannami Nao, 4p, Kana's younger sister, once Female Strongest: 3–2
• Hoshiai Shiho, 3p, once Female Honinbo challenger: 1–1
• Nakazawa Ayako, 5p, 2× Women's Honinbo, 2× Women's Kakusei: 4–3
• Joanne Missingham, 7p, aka Hei Jiajia, #1 female in Taiwan, #39 female in world: 0–1
• Song Ronghui, 5p, #49 female in world: 0–1

Personal life

Chinen married Yo Kagen (now 9p) in 1997. They have three children, in order daughter, son, daughter. She says that her style changed from sharp attacking large groups into a more patient and stronger style after her marriage and children: “I think that Kagen's teachings have improved my balance, and perhaps my experience raising children has made me more patient in go.” (Aratani Kazunari, “Go Players' Happy Voices”, Asahi Shimbun, 2 May 2005.)

Links

• Japanese Wikipedia
• Nihon Ki'in profile
• GoBase profile
• IgoDB Japanese Go database profile
• Go Ratings and Games