One day at work I was wearing my Go t-shirt and a Chinese coworker asked me if I played the game. I replied yes, and that I was about 10 kyu. She didn’t understand me at first, but as it eventually became clear, she said, “Oh, you mean negative 10 … I thought you meant a positive 10!” Typically it’s not said that way, but it’s pretty accurate: I’m still in the negative digits when it comes to playing Go.
She was quite surprised that I was a “10″ because the highest Go players in the world are a positive “9″, or more commonly “9 Dan” (using the same kyu/dan rankings as many martial arts programs). It would be pretty unthinkable for me to be anywhere near that level of play. In fact, it got me thinking—how many Americans are there total who are even near that level of play? In Japan, the “Dan” rank is typically only used for professional Go players. “How many professional Go players are there in America?” I wondered.
I did some digging around and discovered a page on Sensei’s Library (a Go-related wiki) that had a list of non-Asian players that have received professional ranks in the world of Go. The list was surprisingly short: a total of eight players. Three from the US, two from Russia, a German, an Austrian, and a Romanian. Only three were above 3 Dan.
“Well,” I thought, “maybe there just aren’t as many opportunities for American Go players to make a living playing Go.” After all, the titles of the above eight were conferred by Japanese and Korean bodies, not by any American organization. “But maybe there are strong amateur players in the US?”
Turns out that the American Go Association’s web site has a “Search Ratings” feature. I checked it out: a total of 540 players in the US with a rating above +6.00. A quick glance at the list reveals mostly Asian names, although there are a fair share of Western-sounding names in the list as well. Regardless, suffice it to say that being a Westerner who can play at a professional level is unusual to say the least.
In a bit of pride, I must mention that the Seattle Go Center’s Jon Boley (very much a Westerner) appears on that list at +6.33! Hmm… I wonder if he’s taking students?
The difference between a stone played on one intersection rather than on an adjacent neighbor is insignificant to the uninitiated. The master of Go, though, sees it as all the difference between a flower and a cinderblock. Certain plays resonate with a balletic grace, others clunk, hopelessly awkward, and to fail at making the distinction is a bit like confusing the ping of a Limoges platter with the clink of a Burger King Smurfs tumbler.
—Dave Lowry, The Challenge of Go: Esoteric Granddaddy of Board Games
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