What's the deal with female pros?

[golem7]

Hi!

Something that's been bothering me for quite a while: It would be nice if someone could enlighten me on the status of professional female go. The only female professionals I know are Rui Naiwei, Guo Juan, Yoon Youngsun and Kobayashi Chizu, the latter three mainly because of their go-spreading activities in the west. It seems to me as if female pros only play in women-only professional tournaments.

However, are they allowed to compete in other tournaments, too?
How high is the price money in female tournaments?
Is there a seperate insei system/pro exam for women?
In HnG we see female inseis and women playing in normal tournaments, is this accurate?
What's the female/male pro ratio?
Who are the currently strongest female professionals?
How do they compare to their male counterparts?

If someone knows some answers to these and related questions I'd love to hear them! It would also be interesting to compare the situation of female players in Japan/China/Korea.

Thanks in advance!

[emeraldemon]

Women can and do compete in male tournaments, but so far only Rui Naiwei has won a large male title: she won the Kuksu in 1999.

[Joaz Banbeck]

Sensei's Library has a page with lots of good links: http://senseis.xmp.net/?Women

[Amelia]

However, are they allowed to compete in other tournaments, too?
How high is the price money in female tournaments?
Is there a seperate insei system/pro exam for women?
In HnG we see female inseis and women playing in normal tournaments, is this accurate?
What's the female/male pro ratio?
Who are the currently strongest female professionals?
How do they compare to their male counterparts?

The strongest female pro is without a doubt Rui Naiwei.
Here is the livejournal of Cho Hye Yeon 9p, a korean female pro and regular challenger of Rui Naiwei: http://loveku.livejournal.com/
(Although she has trouble against Rui Naiwei or her male counterparts, I admire her very much. She's very strong among females and not many pros manage to study (something else than go) while still pursuing their career in competition.)
You may find some infos there. Or you can ask your questions to her directly.
Cho Hye Yeon 9p is listed as being the 4th women to achieve 9 dan ranking and I think it says a lot.
In Korea female pros have their own insei league and pro exam (I read that on her blog). They also have their own tournaments and titles. This is to promote female go players because they have trouble competing against male top pros. I have no idea what the rate is but there are definitely more male pros than female pros.

[oren]

The strongest female pro is without a doubt Rui Naiwei.

While at one point you wouldn't have much of an argument, nowadays I don't think that case can be made so easily.

[Amelia]

The strongest female pro is without a doubt Rui Naiwei.

While at one point you wouldn't have much of an argument, nowadays I don't think that case can be made so easily.

She is getting old and the young ones are coming after her. However I have yet to see any of them match her accomplishments.

[Joaz Banbeck]

The strongest female pro is without a doubt Rui Naiwei.

While at one point you wouldn't have much of an argument, nowadays I don't think that case can be made so easily.

My guess would be Xie Yimin. She is by far the best female player in Japan, holding all three major women's titles, and having acquired each without a loss. It is not clear how strong she really is.

[Sumatakyo]

How high is the price money in female tournaments?

For the three major Japanese Female tournaments that I am aware of:

KyodoTsushin: 5,800,000 yen
Keizai Shimbun: 5,100,000 yen
NTT Docomo: 5,000,000 yen

Remove 2 zeros to approximate the amount in US dollars.

(Figures from 2011)

[golem7]

Hey guys, thanks for the information so far!
I have to remember some ladies' names or else I won't spot them when choosing a game to review.

I looked up Xie Yimin but her recent results in open tournaments aren't very impressive. It seems we'll have to wait a while for a lady to wipe the floor with some title holders.

Or does anyone know of some young talent that could do that in the future?

[Phoenix]

Or does anyone know of some young talent that could do that in the future?

Personally, I'm keeping a close eye on Joanne Missingham.

[oren]

My guess would be Xie Yimin. She is by far the best female player in Japan, holding all three major women's titles, and having acquired each without a loss. It is not clear how strong she really is.

In Japan, she is dominant. Against players from other countries her results haven't been that good.

[trout]

Right now, Huanglongshi cup is playing.

http://www.lifein19x19.com/forum/viewto ... =13&t=7919

5 players from each country(Korea, China and Japan) are playing. They are probably strongest in each country.

[badukJr]

There are usually a bunch of women entered into every 'normal' tournament, but most go out pretty early in the prelim stages. You can check http://igokisen.web.fc2.com/news.html and all female names are highlighted in red. Amateurs are in blue I believe.

However, are they allowed to compete in other tournaments, too?
How high is the price money in female tournaments?
Is there a seperate insei system/pro exam for women?
In HnG we see female inseis and women playing in normal tournaments, is this accurate?
What's the female/male pro ratio?
Who are the currently strongest female professionals?
How do they compare to their male counterparts?

The strongest female pro is without a doubt Rui Naiwei.
Here is the livejournal of Cho Hye Yeon 9p, a corean female pro and regular challenger of Rui Naiwei: http://loveku.livejournal.com/
(Although she has trouble against Rui Naiwei or her male counterparts, I admire her very much. She's very strong among females and not many pros manage to study (something else than go) while still pursuing their career in competition.)
You may find some infos there. Or wou can ask wour questions to her directly.
Cho Hye Yeon 9p is listed as being the 4th women to achieve 9 dan ranking and I think it says a lot.
In Corea female pros have their own insei league and pro exam (I read that on her blog). They also have their own tournaments and titles. This is to promote female go players because they have trouble competing against male top pros. I have no idea what the rate is but there are definitely more male pros than female pros.

What's with the weird spelling for Korea?

[TheBigH]

Why do we even need to distinguish between male and female players? Surely go is one game where physical differences are irrelevant.

[Amelia]

What's with the weird spelling for Korea?

Just my native language leaking through. Sorry.

(although I have moved to Germany a while ago, I'm actually French)