Games - Go ranks and ratings

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	Games - Go ranks and ratings

The traditional board game go (igo, baduk, or weiqi) has a number of national, regional and online systems of measuring levels of skill, as ranks and ratings. A go rank is comparable to a rank in some Asian-originated martial arts. A rating rigorously calculated on the basis of game results is less traditional (common on go servers). There is no universally applied system, but within most systems and at most levels, one handicap stone is given as the difference between each level. On this basis there are more than 40 distinct levels.

Go ranks

There are three main types of rank: kyu (級,급) (gup in Korean), dan (段,단), and professional dan. The means of awarding each of those ranks, and the corresponding levels of strength, vary from country to country and between online go servers.

Kyu (pronounced like the letter "Q" and abbreviated as 'k') ranks are for beginners, and start at around 30 kyu (30k), and proceed numerically downward as strength increases to 1 kyu. Grades below 30 kyu may have limited usefulness in teaching young children, since there are discernible differences in level; a player playing a first game of go is likely to be in the range of 40 to 30 kyu. Players in the weak kyu ranges often progress very quickly, especially young children, and may not attain stable rank until they reach single digit kyu (SDK, 9k to 1k).

One rank higher than a 1 kyu player is a 1 dan (1d), also called shodan in Japanese (roughly, "entry-level expert"). The 1 dan rank is achieved when all elementary and essential go concepts are mastered, implying a general competence in the game. This usually requires a number of years of playing seriously, though exceptionally talented players have risen from first exposure to the game to shodan in a year. Recognition as a dan player is the ambition of most club-level players (average club standard can be taken to be around 4 or 5 kyu).

Dan ranks ascend numerically with strength, to a normal high of 7 dan. A very few amateurs have proved very strong, even against professionals, though they do not have an official, professional rank. The conventional wisdom is that such players may achieve some of the insight of a pro, though perhaps not the detailed knowledge.

In the kyu and amateur dan ranks, the difference in ranks is a good guide to how many handicap stones may be given to adjust the game for a more even struggle. For example, a 3k player would normally give a 7k player four handicap stones. When the difference in ranks is only one, then no handicap stones are used. When ranks are equal, it is common to give a point advantage (komi) of 6.5 (Japanese rules) or 7.5 (Chinese or AGA rules) to the player using the white stones to compensate for moving second.

Beginners often play the first few games on 9×9 or 13×13 boards. Then, each handicap stone will compensate a difference of several ranks. Given 5 handicap stones on a 9×9 board, even a beginner is hard to defeat.

Professional strength

Professional ranks are at a standard that requires devoted study, not just competition play. The existing systems, for historical reasons, consist of nine levels, also called dan. The differences between professional levels are much smaller: perhaps of the order of three handicap stones between an average 1p and a prime 9p. To distinguish between amateur 5 dan and pro 5 dan the former is often written 5d and the latter 5p; this is not generally used as an abbreviation beyond the Internet, where it is common, but not universal.

A professional rank is currently only attained through competition in Japan, China, South Korea or Taiwan, through one of the professional go associations, most notably, the Hanguk Kiwon (Korea) or Nihon Ki-in (Japan). The highest professional rank is 9 dan pro, or 9p. There are currently over one hundred people who have the rank of 9p, though many of them no longer play competitively, due to age. A further distinction is that some 9p players regularly hold titles, some won some titles, some entered the title leagues and many 9p never had the luck to achieve any of above.

Qualification as a professional depends on the country. In China a few amateurs are given the 1p grade as probationers, on the basis of success in amateur tournaments. In Japan student professionals are called insei, and have to play in internal insei competitions to qualify; mostly they are adolescents, and must decide whether to continue based on their chances of a career in go, or go to university. Insei rarely take part in amateur events, but some of the top amateurs are ex-insei. In South Korea four amateurs become professional every year, at the top of a ferocious league system of 80 aspirant pros. Once within the professional system, promotion is based on game results. The Japanese Oteai
system, dating back to 1924, was reformed in 2004 to alleviate some rank inflation that had crept in over the years. Today's system uses various benchmarks; for example, winning certain tournaments or a certain number of games, to be promoted a rank. The Korean system has also been similarly changed in the past few years. A professional's rank may rise, but never fall.

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