Michael Redmond 9p
Michael Redmond is one of very few Western Go players and plays in Japan. He's the strongest Western professional, weighing in at a whopping 9 dan, and is the author of "The ABC's of Attack and Defense." I had the pleasure of briefly meeting Redmond at the U.S. Go congress in 2006 when he was there. It was kind of cool to discuss a board position, and then turn and say, "Well, what would Michael Redmond 9 dan think of this position? Why don't we just mosey over and ask him?" Redmond became a professional at the age of 18 in 1981 after having been an insei in Japan for four years. He started off a lot later than your average insei, so he probably had to work twice as hard as the other children to catch up. Redmond has racked up an impressive slate of wins and became 9 dan in 2000. He still works hard at improving his Go even into his forties, and concentrates on studying the caste games of Shuusaku and improving his endgame accuracy. In an interview with the AGA E-Journal, Remond said, The result was that I was reviewing very high-quality games, games in
which the players were not being greedy, but were going for the balanced
moves, and showing very good positional judgment, and I think that
reflected onto my game and helped me a lot,” said Redmond. “I’m much
more aware of what’s going on.”
