Michael Redmond - Go player

Michael Sean Redmond (マイケル・レドモンド, born May 25, 1963) is an American-born professional Go player. He is one of only a few such players, as Go is not as widespread or developed in the West as in China, South Korea, or Japan. He is the only westerner to reach the grade of 9-dan - the highest grade.

Biography

Michael Redmond was born in 1963 in Santa Barbara, California, and began playing Go at age 11. At the age of 14, he became an insei at the Nihon Ki-in. He was promoted to professional 1 dan at age 18, and 2 dan in the same year. He was promoted to 5 dan in 1985; 8 dan in 1996; and 9 dan in 2000, becoming the first western Go professional to reach 9 dan.

Redmond has not won any titles but has come close. He was runner-up in the Shinjin-O, Kisei 7 dan section, and NEC Shun-Ei competitions in the early 1990s. He was also a semi-finalist in the Fujitsu Cup and Tong Yang Cup. Currently he is a celebrated commentator for the NHK channel. In 2005, he was voted "Best Commentator" for the NHK channel, over Ishida Yoshio.

In August 2006, he taught at the AGA East Coast Go Camp in Pennsylvania, and attended the 22nd annual US Go Congress in Black Mountain, North Carolina. He has also attended several other US Go Congresses.

Redmond is married to Xian-Xian Niu, a Chinese 3 dan professional. Niu's elder sister, Lili Niu, is a Chinese 5 dan professional and collaborator of Wu Qing-Yuan (Go Seigen). Her husband is Xiangqi (Chinese chess) champion Zhao Guo-rong.

Bibliography

• The ABC's of Attack and Defense (Slate and Shell, 2002)

Past runners-up