Rui and Nakamura’s Korean dream

SON MIN-HO
The author is head of the leisure news team at the JoongAng Ilbo.

In 1990, Chinese Go player Jiang Zhujiu, 61, flew to the United States. His participation in the Tiananmen protest made it hard for him to play Go in China. In the same year, Jiang’s partner and top female player Rui Naiwei, 60, also left China. She wanted to go to the United States to join Jiang but chose Japan for the time being. While active as a professional Go player in Japan, she was biding her time.

But Rui’s plan went awry from the start. The Japanese Go Association did not allow Rui to participate in the tournament out of worries that she could sweep all games as she was too strong. Rui is the first female Go player to get the highest 9th dan in the world.

It was Korea that embraced Rui when she had nowhere to go. In April 1999, Rui and Jiang came to Korea together as the “guest players” and participated in the Korean tournament. The love story of Rui and her husband transcending borders garnered interests at home and abroad at the time.

In Korea’s most prestigious Guksu Cup, Rui defeated then-strongest players Lee Chang-ho and Cho Hun-hyun to win the championship. The news of Rui’s victory was reported in the evening news of Chinese national CCTV. Rui won 29 times in 12 years and eight months while she was active in Korea. In November 2011, she returned to China after 21 years.

Then, in 2023, 14-year-old Sumire Nakamura of Japan submitted an application to play as a guest player to the Korea Baduk Association. (Baduk is the Korean word for Go.) Nakamura is a prodigy who joined as the first member of the gifted program of the Japanese Go Association in 2019 at age 10. She won the 26th Women’s Kisei title in February this year, at the age of 13 years and 11 months, breaking the record for the youngest winner in Japanese Go matches. Her connection with Korea goes back to 2017, as she studied in Korea for nearly two years.

Nakamura’s official debut in Korea is yet to be confirmed. While the Korea Baduk Association recommended her entry, her application should be approved by the Korea Baduk Association’s operating committee and the board of directors. The result will be out by the end of October.

But it’s already meaningful. Nakamura is the first Japanese Go player hoping to play in another country. Japan, which claims to be the powerhouse of modern Go, must feel bitter. Satoru Kobayashi, chairman of the Japan Go Association, said that while he supports the challenge of Nakamura, there are voices that find the transfer of the next-generation star player regrettable.

Korea must feel proud. In the past, Korean Go players went to Japan to study Go. Many of the early masters — such as Cho Nam-chul, Kim In, Yoon Ki-hyun, Ha Chan-seok, and Cho Hun-hyun — studied Go in Japan. Just as Korea embraced Rui, who had no place to go for political reasons, I hope Nakamura will be embraced, as she had learned Go in Korea and became a professional player. At least when it comes to Go, Korea is a dream country.