Go professional
From Free net encyclopedia
A Go professional is a professional player of the Chinese 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 $175,000.
Almost all professional players are from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. This is due to the fact that only China (Zhongguo Qiyuan), Japan (Nihon Ki-in), Korea (Hanguk Kiwon), and Taiwan (Taiwan Qiyuan) have professional Go organizations.
Professional rankings are separate from the amateur ratings (approximately 30 kyu through 7 dan). Professional rankings are 1 dan through 9 dan (sometimes written 1p through 9p). 1 dan professional is roughly equal to (European) 7 dan amateur.
However, there are an increasing amount of Go activities in the United States. Particularly as more and more immigrants from China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan entered into US, they brought with them many current and formal professionals and strong amateurs. Go has become a boom in areas like San Francisco and Los Angeles, and alone with it create a new industry for Go lecture and tutoring.