Michael Redmond (Go player)

Michael Redmond
Michael Redmond 9P at the First WMSG, Beijing Olympic Village, 2008
Full name	Michael Sean Redmond
Kana	マイケル　レドモンド
Born	May 25, 1963 (1963-05-25) (age 48) Santa Barbara, CA, United States
Residence	Tokyo, Japan
Teacher	Yusuke Oeda
Rank	9 dan
Affiliation	Nihon Ki-in

Michael 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,^[1] 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.^[2]

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 5 dan^{[citation needed]} professional. They have two daughters, Yumi and Emi. Redmond and his family are sponsors of many Go activities for children in America, such as the Redmond Cup and the Redmond Handicap Tournament.

Bibliography

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

Past runners-up

Title	Years Lost
Shinjin-O	1992
NEC Shun-Ei	1990

References

1. ^ Shotwell, Peter (2003). Go!: more than a game. Tuttle Publishing. pp. 158. ISBN 9780804834759. http://books.google.com/books?id=I7Z0PRuhIvUC&pg=PA158&dq=%22michael+redmond%22+go+japan&hl=en&ei=IuMaTaT5HpG8sQPR2p2zAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=%22michael%20redmond%22%20go%20japan&f=false. Retrieved 29 December 2010. 
2. ^ Michael Redmond's Bio at Sensei's Library

External links

• (English) Page on Redmond from Sensei's Library
• (Japanese) Nihon Kiin's bio of Redmond

Persondata
Name	Redmond, Michael
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 25, 1963
Place of birth	Santa Barbara, CA, United States
Date of death
Place of death