Kazuko Sugiuchi, a professional Japanese girl from Go, announced on Wednesday to retire at the age of 98, explaining that he could no longer “play six hours without break”. The GO is a very popular strategy game in Japan, South Korea and China, in which two players place in turn black and white stones on the intersections of a grid plateau with the objective of taking control of the play area.
Kazuko Sugiuchi became a professional in 1948 and won his first title eleven years later. At her record, she also has the prestigious female tournament Meijin, won four consecutive times. “I have always worked hard with the conviction that the Go is an art and a quest for a lifetime, but I decided that it was no longer possible for me to play six hours in a row without break,” she said according to the public television NHK.
In April 2024, she had become the dean of Japanese professionals of this set of set, broke the record previously owned by her late husband. “I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all those who showed me benevolence during my 80 years of career,” she added, when she will in an honorary manner the first woman to obtain the ninth Dan.
