Kim Eunji

Keywords: People

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

As of 2024-05-10, Kim Eunji is the [ext] #3 ranked female player and #1 ranked female teenager in the world, and #158 overall, and #2 ranked female player (behind only Choi Jeong) and # 59 overall in Korea.

Table of contents
Promotion history

Cheating controversy

Women's Kisung finals

Genius Girls victory

Other appearances

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

Links

Youtube reviews of her games

Other videos

Pictures

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Promotion history

9 dan / 2023.12.19 / Win major title — Shortest period of time, youngest member of the team
8 dan / 2023.11.12 / Winner of a title, Jehangijeon special promotion 1st dan
7 Dan / 2023.09.20 / 7th Dan Promotion
6 dan / 2023.07.25 / Winner title, Jehangijeon promoted to 1st dan
5 Dan / 2022.12.04 / Winner title
4 dan / 2022.11.19 / 4th dan promotion
3 Dan / 2022.04.21 / 3rd Dan Promotion
2 Dan / 2020.10.22 / 2nd Dan Promotion
1 Dan / 2020.01.10 / 53rd Women’s Entrance Competition

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.

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Cheating controversy

In November 2020, shortly after qualifying as a professional, Kim became mired in an online AI cheating controversy concerning [ext] a game she had played against Yi Yeong-ku. The fallout from this resulted in her being suspended from the KBA for a year. Kin Eunji didn't attend the hearing, but her mother Kim Yeon-hee did, and said:

I have nothing to say but I'm sorry. I was so busy raising my child that I didn't pay attention to what was going on around me. I will think about it again using this incident as an opportunity.

[ext] Kim used this year to read a book a day, learn horse riding, and study for middle school qualification. Previously her life had been all Baduk. Because Baduk is usually played without talking, she had no real friends, just an older sister.

The only person she had deep conversations with was her mother, also her homeschool teacher and advocate. She was particularly grateful that horse-riding had improved Eunji's spirit and strength, adding:

Eun-ji is naturally fearless. She really enjoys riding a horse and running through mountains, fields, and lakesides. … She has really grown so much.

After reading after reading the book series Grumpy Jae-seok, Kim Eunji wrote:

I have only studied Baduk since I was 6 years old, so I never felt the importance or need for friends. This book helped me understand the meaning of friends and relationships when I didn’t go to school and didn’t have any friends my age, and it comforted me a lot during my difficult times. After reading this book, I also started to think about making real friends for the first time.

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

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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.

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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. [ext] Kim Chang-geum: Kim Eunji, Winner of Korea-China-Japan Genius Girl's Three Kingdoms by defeating Wu Yiming, 2024-01-07 (in Korean)

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Other appearances

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

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

(Based on [ext] Kim Eunji, Go Ratings and game list), as of 17 Jul 2024.

Choi Jung, 9p, #1 female and overall #65 in world: 4–14
Kim Chaeyeong, 8p, #8 f. world, #4 f. Korea: 6–2
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, #16 f. world, #3 f. Japan: 5–0
Cho Hyeyeon, 9p, #20 female in world, once #1 and many years #2 female in world: 1–2
Kim Hye-min (#25 f, #8 f Korea): 6–2

Kim has also beaten some very strong male players, e.g. a [ext] sensational win over Gu Zihao, ranked #5 in the world, on 4 April 2024.

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