In 1990, two years after becoming the first female go player in the world to earn the rank of 9th dan, Rui Naiwei left her homeland, China, for Japan, hoping to take on top professional Japanese players.
But Rui, now 38, never had a chance to realize her wish, and has never even had an opportunity to take part in official professional go tournaments in Japan.
In fact, the only professional encounter she has ever had with a high-ranking Japanese go player took place in Taiwan, where she went up against Hideo Otake, also a 9th dan, in the semifinals of the Ying Changqi Cup, a global go tourney held every four years.
When she lost the third game of their best-of-three match, tears welled in her eyes. "I wasn't frustrated at losing, but it was painful to think I had no more stones to move on the board," she said.