Professional/ Discussion

Sub-page of Professional

Charles Most people would (still) take 'professional' to be an accredited player of one of the pro organisations (e.g. the Nihon Ki-in). I don't think that just being strong, or just making a living as a go teacher, counts. For example Kikuchi is not counted as a pro.

Blake: Yes, I agree. I will address this in the upcoming edit :)

Blake (later): I have added the notable professionals of various eras and nationalities to the page. I'd appreciate it if anyone who wants to could flesh out the list, though, as my knowledge is limited. In particular, I know very little about the Chinese go scene

Charles There are pros in Taiwan, and a pro organisation in the USA (though it doesn't grant diplomas, as far as I know). 'Inactive' is odd as a classification : Otake isn't retired for example, while some of those people are dead. I think there is a problem with trying to make this page a survey of the whole history of high-level play. It is probably misleading to imply there were pros in China before 1982, for example.

Blake: If you see errors, please feel free to fix them. And, as I said, I know next to nothing about Chinese go. Regarding "inactive;" I considered "retired," but obviously, as you say, some are dead. "Inactive" seems much more acceptable than saying "Notable Dead Modern Pros..."

Charles Suggest 'notable 20th century pros' as an interesting heading, avoiding all that.

Blake: Ah, good idea. Thanks.


Rafael Caetano: I agree with Charles. And when he says that just being strong is not enough, I believe he means that even playing at professional level (like Kikuchi) is not enough. As for teaching, in China there are many "semi-professionals" who make a living teaching go. Some of them are very strong, like former WAGC champion Li Daichun, but they are not called pros.


Bob McGuigan: In Japan there is a designation chihou kishi which refers to what we would call teaching professionals. They have some status in the Nihon Ki-in and used to have their photographs and brief biogaphies listed at the end of the Kido Nenkan but they are not full fledged professional players. Most of them are based in the countryside(hence the name) where regular pros would not be available. Many if not all of them were inseis who could not qualify as pros through the tournament system. In China professional status means much more than professional playing strength. A player can lose professional status if a prescribed list of tournament and teaching activities is not maintained.


See also Difference between Pros and Amateurs


unkx80: Any page on SL that relates between the dan ratings of amateur and professional players?

Neil: Not to my knowledge, but there is one alleged relation: On IGS, a rating of 9d* is said to be equivalent to a rank of 9p in Japan.

Bob McGuigan: Most of the time when pros play handicap games with amateurs the handicap is not strict. Usually the pros give fewer stones than the amateur would need if it were a "serious" game. I've heard from some pros that from a mid-level pro, in a non-teaching game, the number of stones should be 9 minus the amateur's dan rank. Thus an amateur 5d would need four stones. Of course amateur dan ranks are not consistent from country to country, but this might give some ideas.

Charles With European grades, should be one stone fewer than that. But such games are rarely played 'for blood': they are teaching games, and it would be unusual to use a clock.

Rafael Caetano: You're probably underestimating the difference between Japanese and European grades.


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