BQM 325
I have read that an insei must become a professional by age 18. However, the age is higher for westerners due to the difference in culture for western go. By what age must a western insei become a professional?
Bob McGuigan: There seem to be many loopholes in the age requirement. James Kerwin (1978, age 32), exceeded the age limit, as did Manfred Wimmer (1978, age 34), but actually many Japanese players became professionals though they were over the age limit. Sakai Hideyuki (2001, age 28), twice winner of the World Amateur Championship became a pro in the Kansai Ki-in by examination, playing a match against a high ranking pro, and started as 5p. Ishikura Noboru (1980, age 26) became a pro after graduating from Tokyo University, exceeding the age limit. Nakayama Noriyuki (1962, age 30) My guess is that there is virtually no age limit for becoming a professional if you are good enough.
Dave: Guidance for becoming insei and for
becoming a pro via the pro qualifying tournament are posted on the Nihon Kiin website. At present it seems that you can not remain an insei beyond the age of 19 but there does not seem to be a hard rule on this (undoubtedly 'hard' enough for Japanese but adjustable for special cases). For 2007 you can not take the pro qualifying exam if you are over 26 as of April 1st. This limit will drop to 23 in 2008.
Bob: There might be some confusion over the meaning of the word "insei". For example does it mean an officially accepted student by the Nihon Ki-in, or does it mean simply a deshi of some sensei who aims at becoming a pro?
Hicham: What is the reasoning about the age limitations? Why not just have the best players become pro?
Hotcoffee: The reasoning is presumably that by accepting only reasonably young entrants to the insei college, the students are still mentally flexible enough to learn very rapidly. Furthermore, the number of years of experiance 7 to 9 professional dan level go requires, means that the top level of play would be inaccessible in the lifespan of most players who trained to be 1p beyond a certain age.