Meet Joanne Missingham, Taiwan’s Goddess of Go: Part 2
Last Sunday, we introduced you to Taiwan’s top Go player, Joanne Missingham, and showed you her early days learning the game in Taiwan. Today in Part 2, we follow her to the U.S., where Go was virtually unknown, and no teachers could tutor her. Instead, Joanne learned from advanced players online, meeting at midnight to make different time zones work. Finally, after two attempts at a test, she qualified as a pro player, at the age of 14. She then dropped out of normal schooling, to begin a career as a professional Go player. Always accompanied by her devoted mother, she entered many contests, and her rank rose. Here’s part two of our Sunday special report.
In 2005, Joanne was 11, and new in the U.S. Go barely existed in her new country. At one point, she wondered if her Go career would survive the move.
Joanne Missingham
Taiwan Go player
When I was 11, we moved to the U.S. for my dad’s work, and there was no Go in the U.S. There were no Go teachers, and no fellow Go learners, obviously. I just played online, by myself, and analyzed my own games. Later, I found an online teacher.
Chou Ko-ping
Teacher of Joanne Missingham
At the beginning, I thought “There’s not much Go in America. Maybe she’ll give up.” I didn’t imagine that she would persevere in playing online every day. She even managed the time zone problem, playing whenever it suited experts in Asia, people in Taiwan, Japan, Korea and China. She trained every day I was astonished.
Staying as committed to Go as ever, Joanne maintained her discipline, moving step by step towards her dream. Her teachers in Taiwan were touched.
Chou Ko-ping
Teacher of Joanne Missingham
Nobody made her do it. She made herself do it. It was no easy task, especially for an 11 or 12-year-old. Perhaps because her mom saw how she had such high expectations for herself, her mom took her to the professional exam in China.
Joanne Missingham
Taiwan Go player
My mom gave me a condition. When we moved to the U.S., I was amateur rank 6 dan. Mom said, “If you reach amateur 9 dan, I’ll take you to the professional exams.” In two years online, I reached 9 dan. So my mom took me to the professional exams when I was 13.
Ho Hsin-jen
Chinese Professional Go Association
Online Go is thriving these days, so the online Go platforms provide standards for rising through the ranks, based on the player’s game history. So you can rise all the way to amateur 9 dan. Even though it’s a certificate from a platform, it does prove the player’s capacity, to a certain extent. Someone who can get 9 dan online is almost certainly at a professional standard.
In 2007 at the age of 13, Joanne was on the cusp of adolescence. Accompanied by her mother, she went to China for the Go exam. In the girls’ category, only the top two players would receive professional status. Competition is fierce, merely to take the exam. Only 5% of entrants are allowed to compete.
Joanne Missingham
Taiwan Go player
Qualifying as a pro Go player is very hard. I took the exam in China. I first took it at the age of 13. Only two girls out of about 90 passed. I placed 20th that time. That’s a long way from passing. I asked my mom to give me another chance, so she took me back the next year. I came second that time.
Ho Hsin-jen
Chinese Professional Go Association
Every year, many people want to take the test. The Chinese population is so big. Thousands apply, and only 10% are accepted. In other words, it’s extraordinarily competitive. In general, it’s well known that the pros from China and Korea have a slightly higher standard than those from Japan and Taiwan. I think it’s because they train differently, and their competition systems are different.
There are nine professional Go rankings. One is the lowest, nine is the highest. Players only go up ranks, never down. A player that wants to rise in ranking needs to play in global contests.
Ho Hsin-jen
Chinese Professional Go Association
A new pro player starts at 1 dan, at least. Basically, to go up a rank, you have to accumulate wins in formal Go matches. Currently, Taiwan’s highest ranked player has a 9 dan rank.
Joanne’s wish to become a pro Go player came true when she was 14. Her mother was her minder and manager. She took her daughter to contests, big and small, and that cut into family time. Joanne’s formal education had to pause. At one time, her father opposed the choice.
Joanne Missingham
Taiwan Go player
My dad was worried about how I’d make an income. A professional Go player’s income isn’t very fixed. It depends on your success - that decides your prize money and income. So I made a promise to my dad. I said, “If I make enough money to support me and mom, you have to stop questioning it.” I was lucky that, in the first year, I managed that. So after that he was fully supportive.
In 2010, aged 16, Joanne joined Taiwan’s Go group training team. The Taiwan Go Association certified Joanne to move up to 2 dan rank. That November, she played at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, winning bronze for women’s Go. She and the legendary Chou Chun-hsun came fourth in mixed doubles.
Chou Chun-hsun
The “Red-faced Go Master”
Most women favor an aggressive strategy. But Joanne doesn’t need to use those tactics to lead the board into her preferred modes, places where she can easily win, or it’s hard for her to be unseated or to lose her advantage. That’s one of her strengths.
Joanne is focused and solemn when playing Go. But in her down time, she’s vivacious and sweet. She likes traveling with girlfriends, enjoying fine dining, desserts and fried snacks.
Hsieh Yi-min
Go player based in Japan
She loves fried chicken. She ate loads of it at the Asian Games. She can eat 20 fried chicken pieces in one meal, and then have an ice cream!
Her image as a Go player is a big contrast to her persona outside Go. She loves adventurous outdoor activities, like skydiving from 1,000 meters above Dubai, accompanied by an instructor. She never turns down a chance to bungee jump, either.
Hsieh Yi-min
Go player based in Japan
I went bungee jumping in Macao. I think it’s the highest in the world. I texted her before, “I’m about to jump.” She said, “Tell me how it feels!” She went to jump at the same place, soon after.
Chou Chun-hsun
The “Red-faced Go Master”
How I see Joanne is “a woman of justice.” She has a very strong sense of justice! When she was quite young, she did something incredible in the Go world. I think I’d never have the guts to do it. Some Chinese Go players came to play in Taiwan, both men and women. I don’t know why, but the Taiwanese organizers paid the men from Taiwan and China to play, and offered them prize money. There was no pay for the women. Joanne was very unhappy about it. “Why are the men paid, and not me?” She took a fan to the game. The fan said, “Protest Sexist Discrimination.” She revealed the writing during the game.
Joanne is not afraid to stand up for what’s right. That year, in 2011, she won silver in the World Women’s Go Championships. That brought her ranking from 2 dan to 5 dan. She was hailed as a “black horse.”
Chou Ko-ping
Teacher of Joanne Missingham
When she came back, our students were so excited. She was already a star by then, basically. Even people who didn’t play Go had heard of her, not to mention kids who did play Go!
The next year, Joanne played many games. Her rank went up to 6 dan, and she was selected as a World Go Ambassador.
Joanne Missingham
Taiwan Go player
First, you need to be passionate about Go, and willing to spend lots of time and energy on it. Secondly, if you want to play well, mindset is very important. You can’t win every game. You’ll win some, you’ll lose some. You need to learn how to face defeat.
They say the world is like a game of Go. In 2014, Joanne was 20 years old. Her Go career was taking off, and her talents were just beginning to shine. But then Joanne found herself reeling from a devastating blow, after her beloved mother suddenly passed away. Join s next week as we pick up at this critical juncture.
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2024-06-16
