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This is an article about the history offemale Go players inAsia and Europe.

Female Go players are viewed to be aminority. This is due to these reasons:

• There are many male players but only fewfemale players.^{[citation needed]}
  • InJapan, there are no female winners at games without gender rules.Asami Ueno was the first female player who managed to be a finalist.^{[when?][1][2]}
  • InChina, there was no female 9-dan beforeRui Naiwei.^[when?][3]
  • Most players and winners at World championships^[4] are male.^{[citation needed]}
• Not all^[quantify] female players are paid equally to male players.Joanne Missingham^[5][6][7] is known for her protests to this issue.^[8][9]

In Japan, Go players are always compared withshogi players. This is becausenewspapers likeThe Asahi Shimbun treat them equal. But there is a big difference among female players. Female Go players usually belong to the same organization with others. But this does not happen for shogi. Female shogi players belong to the Ladies Professional Shogi Association (LPSA).^[10] The others belong to theJapan Shogi Association (JSA).^[11] Some LPSA players likeKana Satomi have tried to enter JSA. But currently, no one has entered.

InEurope, there were no notable female players beforeSvetlana Shikshina^[12] andDiana Koszegi.^[13] In order to increase the number of female players, theEuropean Go Federation is holding the European Women's Go Championship (EWGC) since 1996 and theEuropean Pair Go Championship (EPGC) since 1997.^[14][15]

Kansai Ki-in has eased the age rules to female players.^[16] AtNihon Ki-in, there is a special exam for female players. Most female professionals (exceptXie Yimin etc.) have got their pro status by this way.^[17] In 2019, Nihon Ki-in has started a female player test system to give more support to them.^[18] Nihon Ki-in is also sponsoring female amateur games.

This is a tournament operated with theAll Japan Student Go Federation. Some winners have got pro status, or became top amateur players. Only players who cleared regional games can attend.

The All Japan Female Amateur Go Championship is the highest match for female amateur Go players. Some winners have become a pro. The next table shows the notable winners.

Kaori Chinen,Yukari Yoshihara andRina Fujisawa also participated in this championship before becoming a pro.

Since 1986, four female Go players have held the top spot. For the past 7 years,Choi Jeong has been ranked number 1 in the rankings.^[30][31]

• Female Go players
• History of Go
• Women in sports

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