Western Professionals
Professionals that have received their ranks from Eastern professional go associations:
| Name | Nationality | Pro since | Affiliation | Most recent rank (Year) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manfred Wimmer | Austria | 1978 | Kansai Ki-in, Japan | 2 dan (1978) | deceased |
| James Kerwin | United States | 1978 | Nihon Ki-in, Japan | 1 dan (1978) | teaching / retired |
| Michael Redmond | United States | 1981 | Nihon Ki-in, Japan | 9 dan (2000) | active[1] |
| Janice Kim | United States | 1987 | Hankuk Kiwon, South Korea | 3 dan (2003) | teaching |
| Catalin Taranu | Romania | 1997 | Nihon Ki-in, Japan | 5 dan (2001) | teaching |
| Hans Pietsch | Germany | 1997 | Nihon Ki-in, Japan | 4 dan (2000, at time of death), 6 dan (2003, posthumously) | deceased |
| Alexandre Dinerchtein | Russia | 2002 | Hankuk Kiwon, South Korea | 3 dan (2008) | teaching |
| Svetlana Shikshina | Russia | 2002 | Hankuk Kiwon, South Korea | 3 dan (2008) | teaching |
| Diana Koszegi | Hungary | 2008 | Hankuk Kiwon, South korea | 1 dan (2008) | active / teaching |
| Joanne Missingham | Australia/Taiwan | 2008 | Taiwan Qiyuan, Taiwan (pro qualification through the Zhongguo Qiyuan, China) | 7 dan (2015) | active |
| Mariya Zakharchenko | Ukraine | 2012 | Hankuk Kiwon, South Korea | 1 dan (2012) | active |
| Francis Meyer | United States | 2014 | Kansai Ki-in, Japan | 1 dan (2014) | active |
| Antti Tormanen | Finland | 2016 | Nihon Ki-in, Japan | 1 dan (2016) | active[2] |
Professionals that have received their ranks from Western professional go associations:
| Name | Nationality | Pro since | Affiliation | Most recent rank (Year) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benjamin Dréan-Guénaïzia | France | 2025 | EGF | 1 dan (2025) | active |
| Bill Lin? | Canada | 2024 | NAGF | 1 dan (2024) | active |
| Michael Chen | USA | 2023 | NAGF | 1 dan (2023) | active |
| Jan Simara | Czechia | 2023 | EGF | 1 dan (2023) | active |
| Alexander Qi | USA | 2022 | NAGF | 1 dan (2022) | active |
| Kevin Yang | USA | 2022 | NAGF | 1 dan (2022) | active |
| Stanislaw Frejlak | Poland | 2021 | EGF | 1 dan (2021) | active |
| Tanguy Le Calve | France | 2019 | EGF | 1 dan (2019) | active |
| Andrii Kravets | Ukraine | 2017 | EGF | 2 dan (2024) | active |
| Artem Kachanovskyi | Ukraine | 2016 | EGF | 3 dan (2024) | active |
| Eric Lui | USA | 2016 | NAGF | 2 dan (2021) | active |
| Mateusz Surma | Poland | 2015 | EGF | 3 dan (2023) | active |
| Ilya Shikshin | Russia | 2015 | EGF | 4 dan (2021) | active |
| Ryan Li | Canada | 2015 | NAGF | 4 dan (2022) | active |
| Pavol Lisy | Slovakia | 2014 | EGF | 2 dan (2018) | active |
| Ali Jabarin | Israel | 2014 | EGF | 2 dan (2018) | active |
| Calvin Sun | USA | 2014 | NAGF | 1 dan (2014) | active |
| Gansheng Shi | Canada | 2012 | NAGF | 1 dan (2012) | active |
| Andy Liu | USA | 2012 | NAGF | 1 dan (2012) | active |
Some of these are professionals residing outside Asia as well. Quite a few non-Asian amateur players have also been insei for a time.
See also Westerners Beating 9d Professionals
[1] Active refers to activity in tournaments of the professional organisation(s). Those listed as teaching often still play in open or amateur tournaments in the US or Europe and occasionally as national or continental representatives in international championships.
[2]Newspaper announcement on Tormanen: ![[ext]](images/extlink.gif)
http://mainichi.jp/articles/20151208/k00/00m/040/037000c
See also: AgaProfessionals and EuropeanProfessionalSystem
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