For those who don’t know, Bob Gale (SAGA 2-kyu) is spending a year in Korea. He has this to say about Korean ranks:
Ya, just lost 2/3 to a 1 dan on 7 stones. I do seem to be about 7 kyu, if anything then on the weaker side of 7. The difference is huge. This means that the 3 dan in the geewan must be pretty bloody strong.
Posted by tristen in News
What is “the geewan”? Just another spelling of “kiwon” – institute? Or something else?
Ranks in Korea are confusing because they didn’t have dan ranks for a long time – a 1 kyu was the strongest you could be as a non-professional. Now there is a dan system, but plenty of amateur players still don’t know about it, so you can encounter some really tough opposition players who call themselves 1-kyu.
Is Bob over there to study Go, or touring, or has he gone over there for work?
Bob is teaching English. I have no idea what geewan is.
When I was playing go in Cambridge our strongest player was Kim Seong-june, who at BGA 6 dan used to win most of the tournaments on the British circuit. When asked his strength he would sometimes quip that he is 1 kyu (adding “in Korea” as an afterthought).
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