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; Jiwoo aspires to become a Go professional too. She is now fluent in Chinese. In 2026, she was the coach of the Seoul Bukwang Tax team in the Korean Women’s league, and looked after guest Chinese player Yu Zhiying, then world #1 female.

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)