Firsts in international go

The first international game known for certain was when the Peichin Tsuhanoko visited Japan as part of a Ryukyuan embassy in 1634. He played Honinbo Sanetsu on 2 stones. Further Ryukyuan embassies followed in 1682, 1710 and 1748. There were, however, probably games between Japanese visiting Tang China and Chinese players. The famous position where one move wins two ladders is said to be by a Chinese player, Gu Shiyan, victorious over an unknown Japanese prince in 853. This is the position rather peculiarly called Pressing the Divine Head. The meaning is that because the head is divine it is possible only to press from a respectful distance.

Manfred Wimmer (1944~95) travelled a respectable distance all the way from Austria to earn acceptance as the first non-Oriental pro, being inducted into the Kansai Ki-in in Japan on 30 January 1978. The first non-Asian pro at the Nihon Ki-in, and the first US pro, was James Kerwin, inducted on 1 April 1978. The first European to become a Nihon Ki-in pro was Catalin Taranu in 1998. Alexandre Dinerchtein and Svetlana Shikshina of Russia were jointly the first non-Oriental pros at the Hanguk Kiweon in Korea on 28 June 2002, and Shikshina was perhaps also the first female non-Oriental pro anywhere, though Janice Kim can make a claim, being born in Illinois, USA but with Korean parentage. She became a pro in 1987.

Wu Songsheng of China was the first foreigner to be allowed to play in Korea, ahead of Rui Naiwei and Jiang Zhujiu - these were all by invitation. The first foreigner to qualify as a Korean 1-dan was Zhang Zhengping of Taiwan, in 1998. The first female Taiwanese pro in the Nihon Ki-in was Han Konyu in 2001. Skipping the thorny political issue of Taiwan and Zhou Junxun, Mok Chin-seok was the first foreigner to play in Chinese events when he appeared in the Cities League in 2001.

The first pros as part of a pro organisation in Korea appeared in 1950. In China male and female pros appeared in 1982. The first pros in Taiwan were in 1979. Japan can probably fairly claim pros as far back as 1612, with the institution of the Godokoro, and for women Yokozeki Iho, who became 1-dan in 1778, is probably the first female pro anywhere. The first female Korean pros were Yun Heui-yul and Cho Yeong-suk in 1975. The first in Taiwan was Zhang Zhengping in January 2000 when she returned from Korea.

The first international telegraph game took place in 1936 when Hatoyama Ichiro (a future prime minister) in Japan played Felix Dueball in Germany.

The first overseas visit by a Japanese pro specifically to play go was by Karigane Junichi to Korea in 1899. The first visit overseas by Nihon Ki-in pros was led by Fukuda Masayoshi to Germany in 1937. The party even taught the Hitler Youth.

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