Sumire Nakamura (仲邑 菫, Nakamura Sumire, born March 2, 2009) is a Japanese professional Go player. She became the youngest ever professional Go player in Japan on April 1, 2019.[1] She made her professional debut on April 22, 2019 in the preliminary round of the Ryusei tournament in western Japan at age 10 years and one month, breaking the record held by Rina Fujisawa in 2010 at age 11 years and 8 months. She is also the first Go player to turn pro under Nihon Ki-in's special screening system for "prospective, talented" players who can compete with top players from other countries.[2][3]
| Sumire Nakamura | |
|---|---|
 June 2019 World Go Festival in Takarazuka City Japan | |
| Born | March 2, 2009 Tokyo, Japan |
| Residence | Osaka, Japan |
| Turned pro | 2019 |
| Rank | 3 dan |
| Affiliation | Hanguk Kiwon |
Biography
editBorn in 2009 in Tokyo, Japan, Nakamura is the daughter of Shinya Nakamura, a 9-dan professional Go player. She started playing the ancient board game with her father when she was three and has been competing in national tournaments in Japan since she was seven.[4][5][6]
At the end of her first calendar year (2019) as a professional, the Power Report (for December 30, 2019) says "Sumire’s record for the first 'year' (actually nine months) of her career was 17–7, a winning record of 70.8%. These stats were the best of the 13 new 1-dans who debuted in 2019."[7]
According to "The Power Report: Woman power hits Japanese go" at American Go Association's E-Journal, Nakamura is doing amazingly well in the first third of 2021 (January 1 to April 30). For this period, she has the most wins (21 wins to 2 losses) at the Nihon Ki-in, the best streak of consecutive wins (10 wins since March 18), and the best winning percentage (91.3% with no rivals of either gender in sight).
The parents of Nakamura Sumire decided to send her to South Korea for Go training in 2017 because they believed she needed more challenging opponents to continue improving her skills.[8]
On 6 February 2023, at the age of 13 years and 11 months, Nakamura became the youngest ever winner of the Women's Kisei. She defeated defending champion Ueno Asami by two games to one.[9]
In September 2023, it was revealed that Sumire had applied to the Korea Baduk Association to play professionally in South Korea.[10] She remains in Japan through February 2024. She continued to compete in Nihon Ki-in matches during that time, particularly the Women's Kisei title defense match in February 2024, which she lost to Ueno Risa.[11][12][13]
She secured her first title on June 10, 2024, just three months after transferring to South Korea, defeating Yu-Jin Oh (오유진) in the finals of the International Go Chunhyang Selection Tournament (국제바둑춘향 선발대회)..[14]
References
edit- ^ "Youngest professional Go player aged 10 marks debut with loss". April 23, 2019 – via Mainichi Daily News.
- ^ Komatsu, Yusuke (April 23, 2019). "Youngest professional Go player aged 10 marks debut with loss". Mainichi Shimbun. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
- ^ Yoshida, Reiji (January 5, 2019). "Osaka girl, 9, to become Japan's youngest pro go player in April". The Japan Times. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
- ^ "Girl to be youngest pro Go board game player in Japan aged 10 in April". Kyodo News. January 5, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
- ^ "Japanese girl to become youngest professional Go player". BBC Online. January 6, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
- ^ Yip, Wai Yee (January 8, 2019). "10-year-old set to be youngest pro Go". The Straits Times. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
- ^ John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal of the American Go Association
- ^ "日도 들썩…천재 바둑소녀 나카무라 스미레 이적 소식".
- ^ Takeuchi, Ryo (February 6, 2023). "Teen Go prodigy Nakamura becomes youngest in Japan to capture title". Mainichi Shimbun. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
- ^ "일본 '바둑 천재' 스미레, 깜짝 한국행 희망…객원기사 신청". Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). September 10, 2023.
- ^ "한국행 앞둔 스미레, 일본 여류기성전 방어 실패". Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). February 6, 2024.
- ^ "일본 '바둑영재' 스미레, 타이틀 방어 실패…3월부터 한국 활동". Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). February 5, 2024.
- ^ "囲碁 仲邑菫女流棋聖 韓国移籍前最後のタイトル戦初防衛ならず". NHK News (in Japanese). February 5, 2024.
- ^ "일본 '바둑 영재' 스미레, 한국 이적 3개월 만에 첫 우승".