Japanese Pro “Go” Player Nakamura to Move to S. Korea

Jiji Press

11:44 JST, September 12, 2023

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Fourteen-year-old Japanese professional “go” player Sumire Nakamura is preparing to move her base to South Korea, one of the world’s strongest countries in the traditional board game, it was learned Monday.

Nakamura, who became the then youngest-ever professional go player, or kishi, in Japan in 2019 when she was 10 years and zero month old, has applied for kishi registration with the South Korean go association, according to officials of the Nihon Ki-in, or the Japan Go Association.

If the application is approved, Nakamura will be the first Japanese kishi to transfer abroad. Her career as a visiting player in the neighboring country, where she has learned the board game, will start in March next year.

In February this year, she became the youngest winner of the Women’s Kisei title at the age of 13 years and 11 months.

Her last games in Japan will be Kisei title defense matches early next year.