Wu Yiming

吴依铭 Pinyin: Wú Yīmíng.
b. 2006-11-22 in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, China.
Chinese female professional 6 dan. She is a prodigy, often called China’s genius girl.

According to the Go rating list at 2024-11-26, Wu is is the #10 female, #2 female teenager (behind only Kim Eunji, against whom she has a 2–1 score), and #269 overall in world; and #4 female in China.

Table of contents Early life Achievements Nickname Head-to-head scores against current female rivals Links Videos Pictures

Early life

Wu Yiming learned Go in kindergarten when her mother Lin Jie brought home a leaflet about Go. Lin thought that her very active daughter would benefit from a contemplative game. But Wu showed such talent that by 10, she made it to the National Games stage. This delighted her father, a former top swimmer in the Jiangsu Provincial Swimming Team who had always wanted to appear in the National Games.

Wu’s mother resigned her job of 23 years to devote herself to Wu’s Go career. Wu became the youngest ever female professional in China at 11.

Achievements

Wu's promotion record was one dan per year: 1p 2018, 2p 2019, 3p 2021, 4p 2022, 5p 2023, 6p 2024.

In 2022, Baduk Doctor reviewed a game they played on Fox, when Wu was 15 years old, calling her a “genius”.

She dominated the Hoban Cup in 2022, beating five opponents.

• Winner of the gold medal in the female team tournament at the 2023 Asian Games

Nickname

Wu Yiming is nicknamed 小魔女 (Xiǎo mónǚ) or “little witch”. The name was given by an elementary school teacher when Wu was first learning go, and was thought to be naughty but very strong. Later, Wu adopted the nickname with pride, explaining:

“After I entered the profession, I learned that Rui Lao (Rui Naiwei 9 Dan) used to be called the ‘Witch’. I particularly admire Rui Lao and am honored. I hope to pass on her spirit, so I like this title very much.” This year's women's event In the third round of League A, Wu Yiming defeated Rui Naiwei.

Head-to-head scores against current female rivals

(Based on Wu Yiming, Go Ratings and game list), as of 25 Nov 2024

• Choi Jung, 9p, current Korean and World #1 female: 0–1
• Kim Eunji, 9p, #2 female and #1 female teenager in world, #2 female in South Korea: 2–1
• Zhou Hongyu, 7p, #3 female in world, #1 female in China: 3–6
• Yu Zhiying, 8p, #4 female in world, #3 female in China: 1–6
• Ueno Asami, 5p, #5 female in world, #1 female in Japan: 1–1
• Lu Minquan, 6p, #6 female in world, #3 female in China: 3–3
• O Yujin, 9p, #7 female in world, #3 female in South Korea: 1–4
• Fujisawa Rina, 7p, #8 female in world, #2 female in Japan: 0–0
• Kim Chaeyeong, 9p, #9 female in world, #4 female in South Korea: 1–2
• Li He, 5p, #10 female in world, #4 female in China: 4–2
• Cho Seunga, 7p, #12 ranked female player and #304 overall, and #5 ranked player in Korea: 0–1
• Tang Jiawen, 6p, #13 female in world, and #6 female in China: 6–5
• Nakamura Sumire, 3p, #14 ranked female and #3 female teenager in the world, #4 ranked female in Japan, #6 ranked female in Korea: 6–0
• Gao Xing, 4p, #18 in world, #9 in China: 0–3
• Cho Hyeyeon, 9p, #19 female in world, once #1 and many years #2 female in world: 3–3
• Rui Naiwei, 9p, #20 female in world, many years #1 female in world: 3–2
• Ueno Risa, 2p, #21 female and #3 female teenager in world, #3 female in Japan: 1–0
• Kim Hye-min, 9p, #25 female in the world, #8 female player in Korea: 0–0
• Kim Dayoung, 5p, Kim Chaeyeong's younger sister, #27 ranked female in the world and #9 female in Korea: 1–0
• Wang Chenxing, 5p, #16 female in world, #8 female in China: 5–5
• Xie Yimin, 7p, #30 ranked female in the world, #5 ranked female in Japan (#1 for many years): 2–0
• Nyu Eiko, 4p, #34 ranked female player and #304 overall, and #7 ranked female player in Japan: 1–0
• Heo Suhhyun, 4p, Hyorim Cup winner: 1–0

Links

• Chinese Wikipedia
• Go4Go
• Go Ratings and Games
• Perfect Weiqi Database

Videos

• A post-game interview after the 1st match win against Nakamura Sumire in the 2022 Hoban Cup. YouTube link
• 'Quick questions and answers' interviewed by Fan Weijing in May 2023. bilibili link
• A post-game interview of Kim Eunji and Wu Yiming, “the youngest national team members of Korean and the Chinese teams”, in July 2023. YouTube link

Pictures

Wu Yiming Jianqiao 2023 (Image credit: Foxwq.com)

Ueno Asami vs Wu Yiming, Asian Games, 2023 (Image credit: Foxwq.com)

Wu Yiming Asian Games, 2023 (Image credit: Foxwq.com)