Life In 19x19

I decided to change the style a little. I will include Fox Server Id if I can find one. This way if you are interested you can copy paste the ID into the search box of Fox Server client and replay/watch live games.

7. Yuan Sitong (袁斯童) 1p

Birth Year: 1990
Birth Place: Nanjing, Jiangsu Province
Fox Server Id: 大刀胡乱冲

Tournament Results:
2008 Jiangsu Youth Weiqi Championship Group A Champion
2011 Grand Canal Cup National Weiqi Team Competition 2nd Place
2013 Fengzuihuang Cup Invitational Runner up
2014 Hangzhou Shanglu Cup 4th
2016 Longnan National Open Championship 3rd place (promoted to 6D)
2016 Qingshuitan Cup National Open Championship champion
2019 PQT Adult Male Group 5th (promoted to 1p)

Yuan Sitong graduated from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications. He has been teaching Weiqi since 2009 as an instructor at Nanjing Sanrensei Weiqi Center. Near 100 of his students has been promoted to 5D.

Yuan Sitong 1p

8. Zhang Mengyao (张梦瑶) 1p

Birth Year: 2004
Birth Place: Beijing
Tygem Id: 梦不遥远, 下水猫
Fox Server Id:

Tournament Results:
2015 National Youth Competition Girls Group 2nd Place
2017 National Youth Competition Female Youth Group Champion
2017 National Games Women's Amateur Group 3rd Place
2018 National Women's Amateur Championship Group A Champion （promoted to 6D)
2019 PQT U-25 Female Group 1st Place (EQ promoted to 1p)

Zhang Mengyao (right) vs Luo Jingyue in round 10

9. Li Sixuan (李思璇) 1p

Birth Year: 2006
Birth Place: Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province
Age started lerning Go: 5 1/2
Tygem Id: 弈代天骄, 灌南小李
Fox Server Id: 暖阳阳7

Tournament Results:
2012 "Little" Bailing Cup National Youth Competition Preschool Group (age <= 6) 1st Place
2015 "Little" Bailing Cup National Youth Open Group B (age 9-10) female 1st Place
2017 "Little" Bailing Cup National Youth Open Youth Group (age >= 15) female 1st Place
2017 Guobailing Cup Open Championship Female 1st Place
2017 National Weiqi Championship Female Children's Group 2nd Place
2018 National Weiqi Championship Female Youth Group 2nd Place
2018 Taohuaquan Cup Female 1st Place
2018 Shanglu Cup International Invitational Female 1st Place
2019 PQT U-25 Female Group 2nd Place (EQ promoted to 1p)

Li Sixuan is the second pro of Lianyungang city. First one was Tu Xiaoyu 5p who made pro in 2015.

Li Sixuan was a member of WBL team Chengdu Sports Investment which made to the A-League this year. There is a good chance that we will see her in next year's WAL.

Li Sixuan in quarter final of Yuan 19 Cup New Shodan CompetitionLi Sixuan (Left, 5D at the time) beat 2019 new pro Wang Meicheng (6D at the time) in 2019 WBL 4th round

10. Li Xuemeng (李雪萌) 1p

Birth Year: 2001
Birth Place: Baoding, Hebei Province
Age started lerning Go: 5
Go School/Dojo: Ge Yuhong Dojo
Times participated in PQT: 7
Tygem Id:
Fox Server Id: M123风

Tournament Results:
2016 1st National Women's Amateur Championship Group A (Open Group) Champion (promoted to 6D)
2017 1st Asian Female Baduk Tournament Individual Champion/Member of Championship Team
2019 5th Qiyuan Cup National Amateur Open Female 1st Place
2019 1st Tengchong Cup National Amateur Open Female 1st Place
2019 PQT U-25 Female Group 3rd Place (promoted to 1p)

Li Xuemeng's dad was a amateur Go player, and his idea of quality time with daughter was taking her to Hao's Weiqi School nearby to watch people play Go. When he found that his daughter enjoyed watching, he enrolled her in the Go school. She improved quickly and was a 4D at 6th grade. But somehow it was difficult for her to get to 5D. Her coach Zhang Yunfei 6D suggested that she go to Beijing to study at a pro dojo. Her parents were not sure but she persuaded them to let her go. She studied at Ge Yuhong Dojo for a few years before going back to Baoding to continue her regular school.

In 2016 she won the National Women's Amateur Champion to get her 6D. In 2017 she represented Hubei Province in the National Games and won all 9 games in team competition. Team Hebei won silver behind Jiangsu (that was Wu Yiming's team and she won gold medal that year).

Li Xuemeng in 2017 National Games

11. Li Xiaoxi (李小溪) 1p

Birth Year: 2005
Birth Place: Tai'an, Shandong Province
Age started learning Go:
Go School/Dojo: Hangzhou Go School
Times participated in PQT: 5
Tygem Id:
Fox Server Id: jingwoxin/佛晓09

Tournament Results:
2016 1st National Women's Amateur Championship Group B (Age <= 12) Champion
2018 1st Liaohe Cup Female 1st Place
2019 32nd Evening Post Cup Female 1st Place
2019 12th Fengcheng Cup Female 2nd Place （1st place was Wang Zishen 1p. Fengcheng Cup allows some female pros to participate)
2019 33rd Yellow River Cup Female 2nd Place (1st place was 2019 new pro Mao Yanxin)
2019 2nd Liaohe Cup Female 1st Place
2019 9th Qingdao Publishing Cup Female 1st Place
2019 4th Guofan Cup Female 1st Place
2019 PQT U-25 Female Group 4th Place (promoted to 1p)

We already mentioned that Li Xiaoxi (born 2005) 1p's Chinese name is exactly same as Li Xiaoxi 3p (born 1994). There are currently 4 pairs of pros having exactly the same name. Here is the list:
Li Xiaoxi in 2019 Guofan Cup

12. Wang Meicheng (汪美成) 1p

Birth Year: 1999
Birth Place: Beijing
Age started learning Go: 5 1/2
Go School/Dojo: Wang Jianhong Weiqi Institute
Times participated in PQT: 9
Tygem Id: 欢乐棋侠
Fox Server Id: wkdyg

Tournament Results:
2008 National Youth Championship Children‘s Group (Age <= 10) Champion
2016 2nd Shanglu Cup Female 2nd Place（1st place was North Korea player)
2017 16th Tianda Cup Female 1st Place
2018 6th Huaian Cup Female 1st Place
2018 Biguiyuan Cup National Grade School Championship High School Female 1st Place
2018 PQT U-25 Female Group 12th Place (promoted to 6D)
2019 PQT U-25 Female Group 5th Place (promoted to 1p)

Wang Meicheng is the daughter of Wang Jianhong 9p so it is no surprise that she started early. But Wang 9p said that it was not the plan to make his daughter a Weiqi pro. Wang 9p's Weiqi Club was opened in 1997 in Beijing. At the time Weiqi Club/Dojos were actually rare in China so Wang 9p had to find out how to manage it by trial and error. When Meicheng was born, he was extremely busy and had to take his daughter to the dojo to care for her. Meicheng got interested in Go simply by playing in the dojo and watching people play. Wang 9p decided to teach her only after he found out that Meicheng was very interested in Go and good at it too.

Meicheng won her first national championship in 2010 at age 10. But still her road to pro status was not smooth sailing all the time. She tried her luck 8 times before this year and had to watch many younger girls became stronger than her and earn pro status before she did. Even after she earned 6D last year by finishing 12th in PQT, Wang Jianhong 9p did not want to put pressure on his daughter and said that she did not have to be a pro to be successful and she could still contribute a lot to Go education as a strong amateur (Meicheng had been helping out in his dad's Go Institute while attending high school).

After making shodan, she said in a interview that she still would concentrate more on Go education than tournament play. Her goal was to bring Go to the world not just China and East Asia.


13 year old Wang Meicheng in 2013 China-Korea Amateur Win and Continue TournamentWang Meicheng in round 4 of 2019 WBL (sitting right behind her is Team Europe)First father-daughter pro pair in China

13. Wei Xintong (魏欣桐) 1p

Birth Year: 2005
Birth Place: Beijing
Age started learning Go:
Go School/Dojo: Hangzhou Go School
Times participated in PQT: 3
Tygem Id:
Fox Server Id: animato

Tournament Results:
2017 National Women's Amateur Championship Group B (Age <= 12) 4th Place
2017 National Youth Championship U16 Group Female 6th Place
2018 National Youth Championship U16 Group Female 3rd Place
2018 Biguiyuan Cup National Grade School Championship Middle School Group Female 1st Place
2019 PQT U-25 Female Group 6th Place (promoted to 1p)

Born 2005 in Beijing, Wei Xintong had trained at Beijing Youth Go Institute since she was an amateur 2D under the tutelage of Wang Xiangyun 3p, who was the head coach of the institute's youth team at the time. Later she also trained in the Pro Preparation Class at Hangzhou Go School.

Xintong's Parents recalled that in August 2016 Beijing Youth Go Institute organized a trip to Korea during the Samsung Cup and it left a deep impression in young Xintong's mind. Returning from that trip she was even more determined to become a pro player one day. But balancing the life of an aspiring pro-to-be and a regular grade school kid is always very tough. Both require a huge amount of time and the parents were in constant struggle as to whether support their children's dream or returning them to a normal kid's life with more playing time. Fortunately for Xintong, Wang Xiangyun 3p gave her parents affirmative answers when the parents seek counsel with her. She recognize the talent and was very positive about her chance to make pro, even though at the time Xintong was just promoted to 5D.

And she did not let go of her regular study either. She is student of the elite Qinghua University Affiliated Chaoyang School. It just means that she needs to spend more time than others to finish both regular school and Go school works.

Back from PQT she wasted no time to visit Wang Xiangyun 3p at her Xiangyunxing Dojo. She wanted to review her games with her mentor and share her progress.

Wei Xintong at 2019 PQTPlaying a game with Wang Xiangyun 3p at the dojoWei Xintong 1p and Wang Xiangyun 3p

14. Mao Yanxin (毛彦新) 1p

Birth Year: 2004
Birth Place: Leshan, Sichuan Province
Age started learning Go: 6 1/2
Go School/Dojo: Ge Yuhong Dojo / Hangzhou Go School
Times participated in PQT: 4
Tygem Id:
Fox Server Id:

Tournament Results:
2015 6th Little Bailing Cup Girl's Group A Champion
2016 Young Star International Women's Invitational Team Competition champion team member
2017 National Youth Championship Top Age Group Female 3rd place
2018 National Women's Amateur Championship Group A (Open Group) 3rd Place (promoted to 6D)
2019 1st Gaoshan Cup Youth Amateur Open Championship Champion
2019 33rd Huanghe (Yellow River) Cup Female 1st Place
2019 PQT U-25 Female Group 7th Place (promoted to 1p)

Mao Yanxin started learning Go at Leshan Morning Star Weiqi School in 2011. She did not start as fast as many other pros. It took her more than 1 year to get to 1D. Despite the relatively slow start she really loved Go and parents obliged. She began to receive pro training in 2012. She started to take 1 on 1 online lessons from Jia Yifan 4p in October that year. And from 2012 to 2014 she also went to several dojos in Beijing and Hangzhou for short term training. The training was effective and she improved from 1D to 5D in a little more than 2 years.

The obvious next step was to go to a pro dojo for long term training. At the time Ge Yuhong dojo was still the place to be. She trained at Ge Dojo for two years before moving to Hangzhou for final PQT preparation in 2017.

Mao Yanxin at award ceremony of 2018 National Women's Amateur Championship (from left to right according to finishing order: Zhang Mengyao 6D, Yan Yuying 6D, Mao Yanxin 6D, Li Sixuan 5D, Wang Meicheng 6D, Ren Ke 5D, Chen Chen 5D, Qinghuangdao Shareton Hotel (the sponsor and tournament venue) General Manager Yuan Bincai ) Li Xiaoxi 1p finished 5th but was missing from the ceremonyMao Yanxin 1p beat Cai Lichen 1p in 2019 Yuan 19 CupMao Yanxin in 2019 PQT 13th Round

wolfking wrote:14. Mao Yanxin (毛彦新) 1p

Birth Year: 2004
Birth Place: Leshan, Sichuan Province
Age started learning Go: 6 1/2
She did not start as fast as many other pros. It took her more than 1 year to get to 1D. Despite the relatively slow start she really loved Go and parents obliged.

This pretty funny, considering that we're talking about a 7 year-old.

@wolfking I just want you to know that you're my hero for posting all this, keep up the great work!

By the way, could someone provide a little background on why the adult qualifying tournament exists? I'm not too familiar with the Chinese system.

silviu22 wrote:

wolfking wrote:14. Mao Yanxin (毛彦新) 1p

Birth Year: 2004
Birth Place: Leshan, Sichuan Province
Age started learning Go: 6 1/2
She did not start as fast as many other pros. It took her more than 1 year to get to 1D. Despite the relatively slow start she really loved Go and parents obliged.

This pretty funny, considering that we're talking about a 7 year-old.

That is funny I think this is akin to a young girl refusing to leave a pet store until she is holding her dream pet. Granted pro Go lessons cost a lot more than a pet but in China parents consider Go education a good investment and good mental training for kids. It is similar to sending kids to piano lesson, painting lesson etc.

DoubleSente wrote:@wolfking I just want you to know that you're my hero for posting all this, keep up the great work!

You are very welcome!

DoubleSente wrote:By the way, could someone provide a little background on why the adult qualifying tournament exists?

It was designed to complement the U25 PQT. For quite a while the CWA had set up the PQT as a U17 event (U20 for women). For example in 2009 the PQT was held in July, the age requirement for the men's group was born on Jan 1st of 1992 or after. But even with that restriction, not all finishers in top 20 would be granted pro status. For those finished from 14 to 20, 4 more pro certs would be handed out, provided that the player was 15 or under. So if you were born before Jan 1st of 1994 and finished 14th, you would have gotten a 6D cert.

Many people thought that age requirement was too stringent. In 2010 a separate U25 group was added but only 2 pros would come from that group. The 15 age limit for those finished 14th to 20th in the U17 group stayed.

In 2011 the CWA eliminated the 15 age limit for 14th to 20th finishers. That means in the U17 group the top 17 finishers would receive pro certs. Everything else stayed the same. And people still complained about the U17 limit being too strict.

Things finally changed in 2012. The CWA completely did away with the U17 thing and the separate U25 group. From that time on there were only U25 groups for both men and women. Top 20 in the men's group and top 5 in the women's group would get pro certs.

In 2017 number of pro certs were increased from 5 to 10 for the women's group.

In 2018 the CWA decided to give aging amateurs another chance. That was the time the adult groups were added. But the trend of relaxing age limit has been on for a while.

15. Yu Jingying (于靖莹) 1p

Birth Year: 1997
Birth Place: Fushun, Liaoning Province
Age started learning Go:
Go School/Dojo: Ge Yuhong Dojo
Times participated in PQT: 10
Tygem Id:
Fox Server Id:

Tournament Results:
2009 Northeast Youth Tournament Female Group 1st Place
2010 and 2011 National Grade School Championship Middle School Female Champion
2019 Liaoning Weiqi Classic Female 1st Place
2019 PQT U-25 Female Group 8th Place (promoted to 1p)

Yu Jingying in round 8 of 2018 PQTYu Jingying in round 6 of 2019 NICYoung Yu Jingying playing in 2011 vs Team Tsinghua University (she was studying at Tsinghua University Affiliated High School at the time)

16. Chen Manqi (陈蔓淇) 1p

Birth Year: 2006
Birth Place: Taizhou, Shandong Province
Age started learning Go: 5 and 9 months
Go School/Dojo: Ge Yuhong Dojo
Times participated in PQT: 3
Tygem Id:
Fox Server Id: 红昭愿C

Tournament Results:
2016 Little Bailing Cup Children's Group B (U10) Female 1st Place
2017 Little Bailing Cup Children's Group A (U12) Female 1st Place
2018 32nd Yellow River Cup Female 3rd
2019 Little Bailing Cup Youth Group (U15) Female 2nd Place
2019 PQT U-25 Female Group 9th Place (promoted to 1p)

Chen Manqi was born in Taizhou, Shandong but moved to Guangzhou at 2 and half. Her parents were not Go enthusiastic and little Manqi stumbled on Go by accident. She started to learn piano at 4 and really liked it. But when she was 6 her kindergarten provided free Go lessons so she went with everybody else. It turned out that she liked Go even more than anything she was learning at the time (yes she was also taking lessons on English and Math!), including piano.

When she was in 2nd grade her mom asked her if she had to pick one to study which one would it be? She picked Go without hesitation. Mom gave her a small goal: reach 5D before graduating from elementary school. She is now in 6th grade. And she made pro. Shall we say mission accomplished?

Young Manqi working on Go problemsChen Manqi in round 13 of 2019 PQT