Go Professionals in the US and Canada
AGA Professionals
Ryan Li
3p
Location: New York, New York
Contact: ryan.li@usgo.org, https://www.ny-go.org/
Available for: Lectures, Simultaneous Games, Small group lessons, Seminar
Ryan became the fourth AGA professional in the 3rd AGA professional qualification tournament. Ryan represented North America in numerous occasions, including the IMSA Elite Mind Games, Samsung Cup, and Mlily World Go Open. In the 3rd Mlily World Go Open, Ryan defeated two-time world champion Chen Yaoye 9p to advance to the final 16 players. Ryan is currently a PhD student at Yale University studying earth sciences. Ryan is an invited Go instructor at New York Institute of Go.Andy Liu
1p
Andy Liu was the first AGA certified professional in the 2012 AGA Professional Tournament held in Black Mountain, NC.Eric Lui
2p
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Contact: eric.lui2002@gmail.com
Available for: Lecture, Simultaneous Games, Small group lessons, Seminar
Eric Lui was born in Maryland and started playing go at age 5, becoming AGA 1 dan in less than a year. In 2010, he finished 2nd in the North American Ing Masters. In the 2015 AGA Professional Tournament, he became an AGA professional. To date, Eric has had more than twenty international representations for the US and North America to major tournaments including the Samsung Cup, MLILY Cup, Ing Cup, Chunlan Cup, Tianfu Cup, IMSA Elite Mind Games (twice), Sankei Cup, Pair Go World Cup, World Student Go Oza, and five times to the World Youth Go Championship. He twice represented the US to the World Amateur Go Championship (2009, 2011) and Korea Prime Minister Cup International Baduk Championship (2006, 2015), achieving the best-ever US finish in both tournaments.Gansheng Shi
1p
Gansheng Shi was the second professional certified by the AGA in the 2012 AGA Professional Tournament held in Black Mountain, NC.Calvin Sun
1p
Calvin Sun won the third professional that was certified by the AGA in the 2013 AGA Professional Tournament.
Professionals Living in the US and Canada
The players listed below live in the United States or Canada and hold credentials from Asian professional institutions. Many are available to help you get stronger; some participate in events like the US Go Congress, and some may be available to teach workshops in your area.
Xiaoren He
6p
Location: Montreal, Canada
Contact: xiaorenh@hotmail.com, 450-926-1794 Ms. He is a Chinese go player who became professional in 1982. She teaches in person and on the internet.Ming-jiu Jiang
7p
Location: San Francisco, California
Mr. Jiang teaches actively in the San Francisco area and gives regular free lectures on KGS. Learn more about lessons on Mr. Jiang's website.James Kerwin
1p
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Contact: jimk@maroon.tc.umn.edu, 612-823-0699
In 1978 Mr. Kerwin became the first ever non-Asian professional at the Japan Go Association, and won the 1-dan section of the Kisei tournament the following year. He teaches in person, at workshops and on the internet, and is a regular contributor to The American Go E-Journal.Janice Kim
3p
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Contact: janice@janicekim.com
1987, first Westerner to be awarded professional 1 dan pro the Korean Baduk Association. 1985 World Youth Championship, 2nd place. 1984 Fuji Women's Champion. 1994 EBS Cup, 3rd place. 2008, World Poker Tour Bellagio Five Diamond Classic, 4th place. Author of the Learn to Play Go series. Offers intensive online tutoring for Go students. Currently seeking graduate degree in Neuropsychology. Mom of Malachi and Ashira.Myungwan Kim
9p
Location: Arcadia, California
Contact: 213-210-1577, bigtory@gmail.com
Mr. Kim became a pro in 1994 at the age of 16. He was the first pro sent to the US to spread go by the Korean Baduk Association, coming to the Los Angeles area in 2008. Kim was one of the quarter finalists at Samsung World Championship in 2005 and runner-up in BC Card Cup in 1998, 1999 and 2001 playing Lee Se-dol. He also won the US Open in 2008, 2009, and 2010. Mr. Kim was promoted to 9-dan professional in 2009. Kim is currently teaching prospects in Arcadia, a neighboring city of Los Angeles.Yoonyoung Kim
8p
Location: Montreal, Canada
Contact: http://yybaduk.mozello.com/, lanikim89@gmail.com, 514-892-9208
Available for: Lecture, Simultaneous Games, Small group lessons, Seminar
I started leaning Go when I was 5 years old and became a pro in 2007. In 2010 I won the female Kisei cup along with a Gold medal from 2010 Asian game in Guangzhou and promoted 3 Dan. In 2014 I was top 32 in Samsung Cup and promoted to 4p. In 2017 I won Huang Longshi cup with the Female team. I qualified to a lot of international tournaments and as a representative for Korea. I studied in the Korean national team 2014-2017 February. In 2019 I was promoted to 8p by KBA.Li Chenshuo (Cathy Li)
1p
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Contact: cathyli11802@hotmail.com
Ms. Li is a professional 1-dan go player in the Chinese Go Association. Ms. Li was born in 1974 in Shanghai, China. She started learning go at the age of seven, studying with famous go instructor Bai Rui Qiu. At the age of 11, she was the only female go player in China to be honored as a "female prodigy" of go. In 2008, Ms. Li coached Canada's go team in the first World Mind Sports Games.Hai Li
5p
Location: Irvine, California
Contact: https://www.ca-go.org, zgds1102@sina.com, 949-506-6759
Available for: Lecture, Simultaneous Games, Small group lessons, Seminar. The cost can be discussed depending on the location of the club. A mandarin translator will be helpful.
Hai Li was born in China in 1961. In 1988, he was granted professional 5-dan status by the Chinese Weiqi Association, and has won several national Go championships in 1993-1998. From 2003 to 2005, he worked as the chief instructor of the Tianjin Go Team. After that he opened the Jinhai Go school in China where he has instructed thousands of students, including more than 10 players who became professional. One of his student, Yue Shi, has won the world champion in the LG cup championship. Since 2010, he organizes the annual Tianyuan Go Competition, 11 years in a row, which usually has over 700 participants from the Bohai-Rim region of China. He is also actively attending international workshops and has given lectures in Japan, Korea, and the US since 2005. Since 2017, he organized Go players from China to attend the US Go Congress, 3 years in a row. In 2018, he immigrated to the US and is now living in Orange County California. He gives Go lessons in several Go clubs and Chinese schools, including the San Diego Go Club, South Coast Chinese Culture Center (Irvine, CA), etc. In the past 3 years, he has instructed over 100 students and extensively promoted Go activities in the south California area. He also helps with the California State Go Championship and San Diego Go Championship several times per year.Shirley Lin (Xuefen Lin)
1p
Location: Los Angeles, California
Contact: linxuefen@gmail.com, 626-512-2130
Available for: Simultaneous Games, Small group lessons, Seminar
Ms. Lin became a professional in China in 1992, and has resided in the United States since 2001. Ms. Lin won the 2005 US Open, and currently lives and teaches in LA, California.Jing (Jennie) Shen
2p
Location: Santa Barbara, California
Contact: JennieJShen@hotmail.com
Jennie is a 2 dan professional from China, she moved to the US in 2007 and resides in Santa Barbara.Huiren Yang
1p
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Contact: yangxujian@hotmail.com
Mr. Yang was born in 1952 in the city of Guiyang, Guizhou Province, People's Republic of China. He emigrated to the US in 1994 and has lived in the Boston area with his wife and son since 1995. He is the chief go instructor of the Massachusetts Go Club, giving monthly lectures and conducting weekly study groups.
Mr. Yang started playing go at the age of 12 and was the Guizhou Provincial Junior Champion at the same age. He won the Guizhou Province and Guiyang City championships from 1970-1979, and took fifth place in the National Professional Weiqi competition and was selected to the China weiqi team in 1979. He was the weiqi coach of the sports commission of the Guiyang Railway Bureau and was a coach and mentor to many young future professional players. Among his many students, the most famous one is Quing Liu, who was once one of the top eight players in China.Yilun Yang
7p
Location: Corona, California
Contact: 951-471-5518, yly_go@yahoo.com
Yilun Yang was born in Shanghai, China in 1951 and became a professional Go player at the age of 14. He joined the Chinese National Go Team in 1973 and coached the Shanghai Professional Go Team in 1979. Yang has had the following distinctions in Chinese National competition:
1973: Champion in the National Young Men's Competition
1978,1979,1980,1985,1986: National Champion in Team Competition
1986: champion in the Yuntze Cup Tournament
Yang lives in California in 1986. He has taught hundreds of students worldwide via the internet and teaches workshops across the country. He has written many books, including Fundamental Principles of Go, Whole Board Thinking In Joseki, and Ingenious Life And Death Puzzles.Mingming (Stephanie) Yin
1p
Location: New York, New York
Contact: president@ny-go.org
Available for: Lectures, Simultaneous Games, Small group lessons, Seminar
Stephanie Yin (Chinese: Yin Mingming) is a professional 1 Dan Go player in American Go Association and Chinese Weiqi (Go) Association. She became professional in 2007 and won multiple tournaments in the US since 2010. As an experienced Go teacher, Stephanie is fluent in both English and Chinese. Since New York Institute of Go has been founded, Stephanie has been invited to multiple international Go events such as US Go Congress. In May 2017, as a main commentator of the Google team, Stephanie attended the "Future of Go Summit" in the historical town of Wuzhen, China from May 20-28.Feng Yun
9p
Location: Somerset, New Jersey
Contact: http://www.fengyungoschool.com
Ms. Feng is a former Chinese national champion, women's world champion, and one of only a few female 9 dan professionals in the world. She lives in New Jersey, where she teaches over 100 students in her go school. She also teaches online private lessons and group workshops in the United States and China. See Ms. Feng's website for more details about her go school.
Americans with Professional Status
In addition to the professional go players living in the US and Canada listed above, there are some American citizens living abroad who hold Asian professional credentials and compete actively in the Asian pro tournament circuits.
Jimmy Cha (Cha Min-su)
4p
Location: Seoul, Korea
This Korean-born pro lived in southern California for many years, where he developed a reputation as both a flamboyant and charismatic professional gambler and a tough player. In the 1980s Mr. Cha played for North America several times in the World Fujitsu Cup. Known for his ability to play his best in important games, he upset several top professionals. Today Mr. Cha visits the US on occasion, but is currently not involved with the American go community.Zhujiu Jiang (江鑄久)
9p
Location: Shanghai, China
In the 1980s, Mr. Jiang made history by defeating five top Japanese pros in succession. He resided in the US during the 1990s--where he became the perennial winner of the North American Masters Tournament--before moving to Korea to compete in professional tournaments. He and his wife Naiwei Rui, live in Shanghai and run their go school.Michael Redmond
9p
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Originally from Santa Barbara, California, Mr. Redmond is the only non-Asian in history to achieve the top rank of 9-Dan in an Asian go association. He is the author of The ABCs of Attack and Defense and Patterns of the Sanrensei.Naiwei Rui
9p
Locations: Shanghai, China
One of only a few female 9-Dans in the world, Ms. Rui achieved world fame in 2000 by becoming the first woman to win a major tournament, the Korean Kuksu. She is especially interested in teaching women to play go and lived and taught in the US in the 1990s. She and her husband Zhujiu Jiang, live in Shanghai and run their go school.
This information is provided as a free service by the American Go Association. Contact the professionals for more details about their services and workshops. To correct or add to the information above, professionals should contact the AGA webmaster.