Professional go player Hsu Chia-yuan (許家元) was on Monday conferred the title of ninth dan — the highest professional ranking — at a ceremony in Tokyo.
Hsu, 23, received the title for winning the 59th Judan competition held in April. The competition, which is sponsored by Sankei Shimbun, has been held annually since 1962.
Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) attended the ceremony, and used the opportunity to thank Japan for donating 1.24 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Taiwan.
Photo: Lin Tsuei-yi, Taipei Times
Hsieh said Hsu’s win also demonstrated how the game of go could bring Taiwanese and Japanese even closer together.
At the Gosei competition held in 2018, Hsu beat Japanese Yuta Iyama to claim the title of Gosei.
Hsu had been given the rank of eighth dan after his Gosei win, but was upgraded to ninth dan on Monday for holding two of the seven professional go titles in Japan.
Hsu, who began his professional go career in 2013, became the third-fastest player in Japan to reach the rank of ninth dan, behind Shibano Toramaru and Yuta Iyama.
Hsu challenged Toramaru in the Judan competition, winning three out of five matches to claim the title.
Japan Go Association chairman Satoru Kobayashi praised Hsu for his “interesting go play style,” and said that Hsu and Toramaru are the “two most interesting people in the world of Japanese go.”
“Hsu’s style is modest. If he feels the game isn’t going well, he cedes defeat — he doesn’t sloppily drag it on,” Kobayashi said.
Hsu, Toramaru, 21, and Ryo Ichiriki, 23, have received attention among Japanese go players and fans due to their talent and young age, he said.
Hsu said go players’ skills have largely converged since the emergence of go-playing artificial-
intelligence software.
Mental drive is now as important as skill, he said, adding that winning was a great honor and a big confidence boost.
Hsu echoed Hsieh’s thanks to Japan for its vaccine donation, saying he was “deeply moved.”
To celebrate Hsu’s win, Sankei Shimbun began selling Taiwanese pineapples on its Web site on Sunday, the company said, adding that it sold 100 in just three hours.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS