Japanese Baduk Prodigy's Surprise Declaration: "I Want to Pursue a Professional Career in Korea"

Admission to Japanese Origin by Gifted Selection and Victory in Women's Kisei Title
Expected to Go to Korea After February Next Year Upon Approval of Guest Activity

Nakamura Sumire (14), a 3-dan player known as a 'Go prodigy' in Japan, has reportedly expressed her intention to pursue professional Go activities in Korea.

Sumire Nakamura 3-dan. [Photo by Yonhap News]

According to the Go community on the 10th, Nakamura 3-dan recently officially submitted an application to become a guest professional player at the Korea Baduk Association.

Nakamura 3-dan began learning Go at the age of three and moved to Korea in 2015, where she studied Go for nearly four years. After achieving good results in children's Go tournaments and other competitions, the Nihon Ki-in admitted her through a special prodigy selection in April 2019.

Nakamura became the youngest professional player by joining the Nihon Ki-in at the age of 10. She also became the youngest winner in history by winning the Women's Kisei title match held last February.

The Go community believes that Nakamura's choice to move to Korea, where the professional player base is strong, was made with the judgment that it would help improve her skills.

The Korea Professional Baduk Association plans to discuss Nakamura's guest professional activities at the delegates' meeting on the 13th. If approved at the delegates' meeting, the matter will be formally submitted to the Korea Baduk Association, which will make the final decision through the Operations Committee and the Board of Directors.

If her guest professional activities are approved, Nakamura is expected to come to Korea after competing in the Women's Kisei title match in February next year.

There have been previous cases of foreign players working as guest professionals at the Korea Baduk Association. For example, Chinese 9-dan player Lu Naiwei (59) worked as a guest professional from 1999 to 2011 for 13 years.

At that time, Lu Naiwei, who was regarded as a world-class player, helped raise the skill level of Korean female players who worked alongside her. The Go community expects that Nakamura 3-dan's registration will also help improve the skills of other players.