Kim Eunji

Kim Eunji (김은지; 金恩持), b. 27 May 2007, is a Korean 9 dan professional Go player.

As of 2024-01-02, Kim Eunji is the #3 ranked female player and #1 ranked female teenager in the world, and #156 overall, and #2 ranked female player (behind only Choi Jeong) and # 61 overall in Korea.

Rank history

1p 2020.01.10, 2p 2020.10.22, 3p 2022.04.21, 4p 2022.11.19, 5p 2022.12.04, 6p 2023.07.25, 7p 2023.09.20, 8p 2023.11.12, 9p 2023.12.19

In 2023, Kim Eunji received the ninth professional dan rank, for taking the Women's Kisung title from Choi Jung. She was 16y 6m old, and apparently became the youngest ever, beating Fan Tingyu's 2013 record of 16y 7m. From qualification, it took her 3y 11m 9 days, or only 2y 11m 9 days if her 2020-21 suspension is excluded. This is probably also a record time.

Cheating controversy

In November 2020, shortly after qualifying as a professional, Kim became mired in an online AI cheating controversy concerning a game she had played against Yi Yeong-ku. The fallout from this resulted in her being suspended from the KBA for a year.

• Read more on forum thread in lifein19x19.com.
• See a Spanish language YouTube video about the controversy, by Estudiando Go con Ini..

Women's Kisung finals

In 2022, Kim lost to Choi Jung in the final of the 6th edition of the Women's Kisung, 0–2. The next year, she beat Choi 2–1, which earned Kim's promotion to 9 dan.

Genius Girls victory

In January2023, Kim won the Korea–Japan Genius Girls' tournament. She beat Nakamura Sumire 2–0 in hard-fought games.

In January 2024, Kim won a three-way competition, the "Three Kingdoms of Korea–China–Japan Genius Girl" tournament. She beat both Nakamura Sumire and Wu Yiming, the latter for the first time. Kim Chang-geum: Kim Eunji, Winner of Korea-China-Japan Genius Girl's Three Kingdoms by defeating Wu Yiming, 2024-01-07 (in Korean)

Other appearances

Kim played in the 2022 Uijeongbu International Rookie Team Championship and the 2023 Asian Games.

Head-to-head scores against current female rivals (at least three games)

(Based on Kim Eunji, Go Ratings and game list), as of 17 Apr 2024.

• Choi Jung, 9p, #1 female and overall #65 in world: 4–14
• Kim Chaeyeong, 8p, #8 f. world, #4 f. Korea: 5–2
• O Yujin, 9p, #7 f. world, #3 f. Korea: 9–3
• Wu Yiming, 5p, #11 f. and #2 f. teenager world, #5 f. China: 1–2
• Cho Seunga, 6p, #12 f. world, #5 f. Korea: 9–1
• Nakamura Sumire, 3p, #23 f. world, #4 f. Japan: 5–0

Youtube reviews of her games

• vs Byun Sangil, by Yeonwoo (video)
• vs Cho Yeonwoo, by Yeonwoo (video)
• vs Shibano Toramaru, by Baduk Doctor (video)
• vs Shin Minjun, by Yeonwoo (video)
• vs Shin Jinseo, by Dwyrin (video)
• vs Ueno Asami, by Baduk Doctor (video)
• vs Wu Yiming, by Yeonwoo (video)

The reviews of her games against Nakamura Sumire and Won Seongjin were removed, probably to become commercial content for Awesome Baduk.

Other videos

• A post-game interview with Kim Eunji and Wu Yiming, "the youngest national team members of Korean and the Chinese teams" in July 2023.
• A pre-game interview and a post-game interview after defeating Shin Minjun in the 46th Myeongin's quarter-finals in the winners' bracket in September 2023.

Pictures

kim eunji rookie female award dec2022 (Image credit: Foxwq.com)

kim eunji aug2023 (Image credit: Foxwq.com)

kim eunji asian games 2023 (Image credit: Foxwq.com)