Go Professional

A Go professional is a professional player of the game of Go. The minimum standard to acquire a professional diploma through one of the major go organisations is very high. The competition is tremendous, and prize incentives for champion players are very large. For example, the Honinbo Tournament has a grand prize of about $350,000.

Almost all professional players are from China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. This is because only China (Zhongguo Qiyuan), Japan (Nihon Ki-in, Kansai Ki-in), Korea (Hanguk Kiwon), and Taiwan (Taiwan Qiyuan) have professional Go organizations.

Professional rankings are separate from the amateur ratings (usually 30 kyu through 7 dan). Professional rankings are 1 dan through 9 dan (sometimes written 1p through 9p). In the past, a 1 dan professional was roughly equal to a (European) 7 dan amateur. However, since the competition to become a professional has increased since the late-90s (particularly in China and Korea), it has become the case that new 1 dan professionals are much stronger than they usually were in the past.

There have also been professional Go players from the West, specifically Romania, Austria, Germany, Russia, Hungary, Australia and the United States of America. With the proliferation of Go literature and the emigration of Go players from the East to the West, their number can only be expected to increase.