Kweon Hyo-chin

Kweon Hyo-chin (Hangul: 권효진, Hanja:權孝珍, b. 27 March 1982) Korean female professional 8 dan. Her name is also spelled Kwon Hyojin.

Kweon Hyo-chin is the daughter of Kweon Kap-yong 9p (1957–2023) and his wife Park Ok-joo (b. 1958). She became a professional when she was 13. She was the first Korean female professional.

There is also a male professional 7p 22 years younger with the same name (both Hangul and Hanja), Kwon Hyo-jin (m). Because of her seniority and achievements, many sites treat her as the ‘default’ Kwon Hyo-jin unless otherwise stated. But KBA now designates her with the character for female (여) (yeo), while her male namesake has the male character (남) (nam).

Promotion History:

• Professional Shodan / 1995.11.01 / Acquired points
• 2 dan / 2000.01.0
• 3 dan / 2001.08.23
• 4 dan / 2003.03.31
• 5 dan / 2006.12.20 / 12th GS Caltex Cup Preliminaries
• 6 dan / 2012.04.18 / 17th LG Cup Preliminaries
• 7 dan / 2020.10.20 / 7th Dan Promotion
• 8 dan / 2023.08.15 / 8th Dan Promotion

Personal life

Kweon Hyo-chin married Chinese professional 4p (now 6p) Yue Liang in 2005. They were the first Korean-Chinese professional Go couple, and they both live in Korea. They have a son Hyeon and a daughter Jiwoo.

Achievements

• 1994—1995: won the Korean Women’s National Go Championship, and became the first Korean professional. She started her pro career with 7 wins in a row.
• 2011: In the 5th Auction Cup, while a 5p, she defeated the great Cho Hunhyun 9p after he had won 8 games in a row, ending his winning streak.
• 2020: She won her 300th professional game.
• 2023: 10th Daeju Cup runner up (l. Yoo Chang-hyuk)
• 2025: as of 4 July, she has played 1141 pro games, with 476 wins to 662 losses, for a win rate of 41.83%

Links

• Korean Wikipedia
• Korean Baduk profile.
• Yue Liang blog
• Korean-Chinese couple No. 1 ‘Super Mom’ Kwon Hyo-jin speaks” 《Cyber ​​Oro》. 4 May 2019 (in Korean)
• Go4Go
• Go Ratings and Games

Pictures

Kwon Hyo-jin and Yue Liang
during their dating days
(Image credit: cyberoro.com)