A Go congress wouldn’t be complete without Pros. A standout this year would certainly be Michael Redmond 9P, the only Westerner ever to reach such a rank. Also in attendance is Yeonwoo Cho of South Korea, the very popular YouTuber, owner and administrator of the channel: GoProYeonwoo. Below are bios and pictures for players who have agreed to come to this year’s congress:
Michael Redmond, Professional 9 dan
Michael Redmond 9P is a pioneering figure in Western Go and the first Western player to qualify as a pro through the Nihon Kiin’s competitive examination system. Born in 1963 in Santa Barbara, California, he moved to Japan as a teenager to study Go, entering the Nihon Kiin insei system in 1977. In 1981, at the age of 18, he qualified as a Nihon Kiin professional and later advanced to 9-dan, the highest rank in professional Go.
Redmond has competed for decades in top-level Japanese tournaments and continues to take part in professional competition. Alongside his playing career, he has been deeply involved in teaching, writing, and the promotion of Go, contributing to its transmission beyond East Asia.
He is widely known to international audiences as the English-language commentator for the historic 2016 AlphaGo–Lee Sedol match, where his analysis helped guide millions through the games and their broader implications for Go and artificial intelligence. For decades, he has played a key role in connecting professional Go culture in Asia with the international Go community.
Yeonwoo Cho, Professional 2 dan
Yeonwoo (Cho Yeonwoo) is a professional 2p Go player, Go content creator, and running Go Academy.
She began playing Go at the age of nine and became a professional after years of intensive training in Korea’s insei system. She has become one of the most influential Go communicators worldwide through her widely followed YouTube channel, which has over 210,000 subscribers.
Yeonwoo is known for making Go accessible, and engaging. She runs Yeonwoo’s Go Academy, an online Go school offering structured courses for players of all levels, and regularly conducts Go workshops for major corporations including Hyundai and ASML. She has appeared on Baduk TV and various broadcast programs, and was also a cast member of Netflix’s Devil’s Plan.
Feng Yun, Professional 9 dan
Feng Yun is a professional weiqi (a.k.a. go) player. She is one of only a very few women ever to earn a professional 9 dan rank, the highest possible, in competition with both men and women, and was a member of the China National Weiqi Team for two decades. Feng Yun was women’s world champion in 1995, and has won national championships in China and in the United States.
Feng Yun started learning go in the Henan province of China when she was 9 years old, and became a professional player in 1979 at the age of 13. She was selected for the China National Weiqi Team in 1982, and retired from the National Team only after emigrating to the United States.
Since 2002, Feng Yun has taught thousands of students, at all levels, in the United States.
Yoonyoung Kim, Professional 8 dan
Yoonyoung Kim is a professional 8-dan Go player from South Korea. She became a professional in 2007 and was a member of the Korean national team from 2015 to 2017. She won a gold medal in the Women’s Team Event at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games and claimed her first title in the Women’s Kiseong tournament the same year.
In 2017 she moved to Canada to promote Go and participated in major North American events, including the 2018 and 2019 US Go Congress and the Canadian Open. After three years, she returned to Korea in early 2021. During her time in Korea, she won the 2022 Women’s Baduk League and was the runner-up in the Nanseolheon Cup.
After three years in Korea, she returned to Canada in the summer of 2024 with her two children. Now, while raising her kids, she continues to teach Go through private lessons, workshops, and educational programs.
Website: https://yybaduk.mozello.com
Ryan Li, Professional 4 dan
Ryan is a Canadian professional Go player. He achieved professional 1 dan in 2014 and 3 dan in 2021. Ryan won several games representing North America in world professional tournaments including the IMSA Elite Mind Games, Samsung Cup, MLILY Go Open, Ing Cup, and Chunlan Cup. He defeated world champion Chen Yaoye 9P and advanced to the world top 16 in 2017. Ryan runs the Random Opening Challenge series on the NYIG Go YouTube channel.
Outside Go, Ryan has a PhD from Yale University and several publications in scientific journals. Ryan and his wife, Stephanie Yin 1P, run the New York Institute of Go focused on Go teaching and outreach on the East Coast.
Michael Chen, Professional 1 dan
Michael played extensively as an amateur player, including against top Professionals in the 2014 Samsung Cup. You can find more of his Go adventures, such as playing on his Pro Fox account (zchenmike) and on his Twitch and Youtube channels.
Michael became 1P in the 2023 NA Qualifier after playing the game for 25 years. As both the newest Pro and the oldest by qualification age, he is excited to finally share his views and approaches to the game with the Go community.
Michael works as a financial advisor in New Jersey.
Alex Qi, Professional 1 dan
Alex started playing go at the age of 8. By age 14, he was certified as a professional 1 dan by the North American Go Federation.
After reaching professional rank in 2022, he has played in several major international Go tournaments, including the 1st Quzhou Lanke Cup and the 5th MLILY Cup.
Guanyu Song, Professional 1 dan
Guanyu Song learned Go at age of 6 in China and moved to Canada at the age of 14. Starting with Ottawa tournaments, he soon extended to Toronto and North American events. He won the Canadian Open in 2020 and 2022, and the California Open in 2024. In 2025 he was promoted to professional 1-dan by the North American Go Federation. Guanyu is a CS graduate from University of Toronto and is currently working as a machine learning engineer in Silicon Valley.
In-seong Hwang, Amateur 8 dan
Inseong is a strong 8 dan amateur who teaches Go for a living and who’s online Go School is very popular in the U.S. and Europe.
He was a Korean Yunguseng (Insei) from 1996 to 2001. He joined the Myoung-ji University Baduk Department in 2002 and also worked as a Baduk television commentator. He came to Europe in 2005 and since then, has been teaching Go for western Go players for over 15 years. While living in Europe, he was the top-ranked player for 5 years (2013-2018), and for the last ten years he has been the Official Go Instructor of the French and Swiss Go Associations. His four-lecture series has been a popular feature of recent Congresses.
He has run an online Go academy, American Yunguseng Dojang, for over 10 years.