Suzuki Ayumi
Suzuki Ayumi’s Nihon Ki-In photo
Suzuki Ayumi (鈴木歩) is a Japanese (Nihon Ki-in) female professional 7 dan Go player. Born on 23 September 1983 in Tokyo. Student of Iwata Hajime, who also taught Hara Sachiko and others.
As of 2024-01-02, Suzuki Ayumi is the ![[ext]](images/extlink.gif)
#33 ranked female player and #443 overall, and #6 ranked female player in Japan. Suzuki has won over 500 professional games (total 916 games, 527 wins, 388 losses, and 1 jigo, for a win rate of 57.6%).
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Early Go life
Suzuki showed Go talent from an early age. She attended the same school as Mannami Kana, and reached 4 dan amateur rank. In 1995, she won the Tokyo tournament in the elementary school division of the Boys and Girls Go Tournament. Therefore that year, she represented Tokyo in the World Four Cities Boys and Girls Go Tournament. Next year, she won the junior high school division. After that, she became an insei at the Nihon Ki'in.
Promotion history
- 1 and 2 dan in 2001
- 3 dan in 2002
- 4 dan in 2007
- 5 dan in 2010
- 6 dan in 2011
- 7 dan in 2016
Titles and runners up
- 2003: 5th Female Strongest
- 2007: 9th Female Strongest
- 2008: Runner-up for 27th Female Honinbo, she lost challenge to Xie Yimin
- 2010: Reached challenger final for the Female Kisei and 2nd place in the Female Meijin league
- 2011: Missed a berth in the Kisei league (and instant promotion to 7 dan) by a single game. She calls that loss to Kono Rin 9p her most memorable game, because she had got as far as she did.
- 2014: Won an unofficial pair go tournament with her husband Rin Kanketsu to commemorate the Nihon Ki'in’s 90th anniversary
- 2017: Reached main group of 44th Tengen by defeating Michael Redmond 9p and Ryu Shikun 9p, only the 10th female to reach the main section of a major tournament. But she lost in R1 to Hikosaka Naoto 9p.
- 2020: Won 23rd Female Kisei by defeating Ueno Asami 3d 2–1
- 2021–22: Runner up to Ueno in the 24th (1–2) and 25th (0–2) editions of the Female Kisei
- 2024: Runner up to Choi Jung in 6th Senko Cup
Head-to-head scores against current female rivals
(Based on Suzuki Ayumi, Go Ratings and game list, 8 May 2025
- Ueno Asami, 6p, #5 female and #200 overall in the world, and #1 female and #27 overall in Japan: 4–15
- Fujisawa Rina, 6p, #8 female in world, #2 female in Japan after several years as #1: 2–11
- Xie Yimin, 7p, Fujisawa’s predecessor as many years #1 female in Japan, #30 ranked female in the world, #5 ranked female in Japan: 5–13
- Ueno Risa, 3p, Asami’s younger sister, #21 female and #4 female teenager in world, #4 female in Japan, 2× [Female Kisei[: 0–1
- Nakamura Sumire, 4p, prodigy, #28 ranked female and #3 female teenager in the world, #3 ranked female in Japan: 4–1 (the best percentage against Nakamura of any Japanese female pro over more than one game)
- Aoki Kikuyo, 8p, 5× Women's Meijin, 4× Women's Kakusei, once Female Kisei: 6–2
- Kobayashi Izumi, 7p, 3× Female Honinbo], 3× Female Meijin, 2× Female Kisei: 2–3
- Koyama Terumi, 6p, 4× Women's Meijin: 3–3
- Yoshida Mika, 8p, 4× Female Honinbo, 4× Kansai Ladies' Tournament, once Women's Kakusei: 7–3
- Umezawa Yukari, 6p, 3× Female Kisei: 6–2
- Chinen Kaori, 6p, 5× Female Kisei, 4× Female Honinbo: 4–5
- Yashiro Kumiko, 2× Female Honinbo: 6–3
- Kato Keiko, 6p, once Women's Meijin, 5–4
- Nyu Eiko, 4p, #34 ranked female player and #304 overall, and #7 ranked female player in Japan, 2× Female Strongest: 3–7
- Mukai Chiaki, 6p, once Female Honinbo: 11–7
- Hoshiai Shiho, 4p, once Female Honinbo challenger: 0–3
- Joanne Missingham, 7p, aka Hei Jiajia, #1 female in Taiwan: 0–0
- Yang Zixuan, #2 female in Taiwan: 0–0
- Rui Naiwei, 9p, long-time world female #1: 1–1
- Choi Jeong, 9p, current Korean and World #1 female: 0–1
- O Yujin, 9p, #7 female in world, #3 female in South Korea: 0–0
- Yu Zhiying, 8p, #2 female in world, #1 female in China: 0–1
- Zhou Hongyu, 7p, current World #4 female: 0–0
- Wang Chenxing, 5p, #16 female in world, #8 female in China: 0–1
- Kim Eunji, 9p, the highest rated female teenager in the world, and #3 ranked of all female players, #2 female in Korea: 1–0
- Wu Yiming, 4p, #11 female and #2 female teenager in world, #5 female in China: 0–1
- Cho Seunga, 7p, #12 ranked female player and #304 overall, and #6 ranked female player in Korea: 0–0
- Tang Jiawen, 6p, #13 female and #3 female teenager in world, and #6 female in China: 0–0
Personal life
Suzuki married Rin Kanketsu on 4 June 2013. They have played only one official game with each other in 2011, two years before they married (Rin won). They now have two daughters; the first born in June 2014 and the second in May 2017. In an interview, they said their play improved when they started dating each other. Then both said that becoming parents of two daughters has improved their perspective. Previously, Suzuki said she found it hard to relax after a serious game and sometimes couldn’t sleep, but now when she sees her daughters’ faces, she can switch off and relax.
Suzuki is a good lifelong friend of Mannami Kana. Their friendship started when they went to the same school, and Mannami (with her first daughter as a baby) came to Suzuki’s wedding.
Weblinks
Pictures
Suzuki Ayumi in her wedding dress with Mannami Kana (holding her first daughter) (Image credit: pandanet.co.jp)
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