Taiwanese Go player Hsieh Yi-min defeated her Japanese opponent Chiaki Mukai in Japan Oct. 20, successfully defending the Women’s Honinbo title with a 3-0 victory in the best-of-five showdown.
The 20-year-old Go professional became the second and youngest player to win the prestigious title four years in a row.
“I’m really happy to have won, but these three matches have been exhausting,” Hsieh said. “There were many ups and downs along the way, and I was surprised at how long we’d been playing when I looked up and saw how late it was.”
With the win Hsieh retained her status as holder of three major titles in Japanese women’s Go tournaments, after also grabbing the Kisei championship title Jan. 28 and the Meijin March 10.
Hsieh, who started to play Go at age 5, was at 14 the youngest player to ever enter the Japanese women’s Go circle. She is currently considered the top female Go player by Japanese media.
As Hsieh’s win in three straight games ended the tournament earlier than expected, she said she now had more time to concentrate on preparing for the Asian Games, to be held in the mainland Chinese city of Guangzhou Nov. 12-27. Hsieh is a member of Taiwan’s national team for the games. (THN)