Go Timeline
Here is a chronological listing of historical Go events. If you feel something is missing, please Contact us.
Date | Event |
ca. 2200 BCE | According to Chinese legends, Emperor Yao invents Go to educate his son. |
ca. 2000 BCE | Yunzi-style stones were used in Siberia (recently discovered by Russian archaeologists and dated to be 4,000 years old). |
ca. 475-221 BCE | Analects of Confucius are written and make a reference to Go. |
ca. 389 BCE | Zuo Zhuan - a Chinese history text - is published and makes a reference to Go in 548 BCE. |
ca. 206-25 BCE | The oldest surviving, complete, unambiguous Go board, a 17x17 stone board, was dated to this time. It was discovered in 1952 in a tomb in the Chinese province of Hebei. |
109 BCE | Chinese armies invade ancient Korea; Go was possibly introduced to Korea at this time. |
ca. 230 CE | The "Wu Diagrams" are created, containing the earliest recorded Go game. |
475 | Go-playing priest To-lim from Goguryeo (one of the ancient Three Kingdoms of Korea), used Go to play a key part in the successful invasion of neighbouring kingdom Baekje. |
608 | A Chinese envoy to Japan writes about Japanese fondness of Go. |
ca. 700 | The oldest survivng Go painting was created. |
701 | "Taiho Statutes: Rules for Monks and Nuns" is published in Japan and makes a reference to Go. |
712 | The current Japanese character for "Go" is first seen in Kojiki ("Records of Ancient Matters"). |
735 | According to legend, Kibi no Makibi brought Go to Japan after studying in China. |
747 | An ancient Korean poem from the Silla Kingdom makes a reference to Go. |
880 | A 17x17 stone board dated from this time was found in Korea. It is believed that famous scholar Ch'oe Ch'i-weon played on it. |
ca. 1008 | Murasaki Shikibu's classic The Tale of Genji is written and contains references to Go. |
1330 | A Mongol emperor inquires about whether it was dignified for the "Son of Heaven" to play Go. |
ca. 1339 | The Classic, a Chinese collection of over 300 Go problems, is printed. |
Jun. 26 - Oct. 28 1575 | Augustinian monk Martín de Rada lives in China (as leader of a Spanish legation of the Philippines) and collects many books, including one on Xiangchi (Chinese Chess) and Go. |
June 20 1582 | Honinbo Sansa and Kashio Rigen complete the famous "triple ko" game at Honnō-ji temple in the presence of the Japanese warlord Oda Nobunaga. The temple is attacked the next morning and Nobunaga commits seppuku, resulting in a triple ko being considered a bad omen. |
1588 | Toyotomi Hideyoshi sponsors Japan's first national tournament and ranking system. |
ca. 1601 | Matteo Ricci, a Jesuit missionary, writes on how popular Go is amongst Chinese Officials. |
ca. 1603 | Honinbo Sansa is appointed as Japan's Godokoro (person in charge of official Go matters) by Tokugawa Ieyasu. |
ca. 1605 | Top Jappanese players begin playing official games in the presence of the shogun and court. |
1612 | Japan's four major Go houses are established: The Honinbo, Inoue, Yasui and Hayashi. |
1616 | Ernest Augustus, duke of early German state Brunswick-Lüneburg, translates a paragraph on Go by Matteo Ricci to German in Das Schach- oder König-Spiel ("The Chess or King Game"). |
1617 | The third edition of Purchas, his Pilgrimage by English writer Samuel Purchas is published and contains a reference to Go. |
1628 | The "castle games" in Japan are formalized into an annual event at Edo Castle. |
1643 | Álvaro de Semedo, a Portugese Jesuit missionary to southern China, mentions Go in Relatione della Grande Monarchia della China ("Relation of China's Great Monarchy"). |
1678 | Honinbo Dosaku is appointed Godokoro after years without a Godokoro. |
1694 | Thomas Hyde writes De Circumveniendi Ludo Chinensium ("About the Chinese Encircling Game"), the first detailed description of Go in a European language (Latin). |
1766 | Satsugen is appointed Meijin ("Great Expert"). |
1770 | Satsugen is appointed Godokoro. |
1799 | The collection of Dutch-American merchant Andreas Everhardus van Braam Houckgeest from Christie's auction house in London, England, contains an essay on Go, a board, and two bowls. |
Jun. 6 1829 | Honinbo Shusaku, one of the greatest players in his time, is born as Torajirō Kuwabara. |
Sept. 11 1846 | Gennan Inseki and Honinbo Shusaku play the famous Ear-Reddening Game. |
ca. 1852 | Many Chinese immigrants begin settling and playing Go on the west coast of North America. |
1876 | British diplomat and sinologist Herbert Allen Giles mentions Go in his book, Chinese Sketches. |
1877 | Herbert Allen Giles publishes Wei-chi, or the Chinese game of war. |
1880 | German Engineer Oscar Korschelt publishes some articles on Go, which later become a book. These writings popularize Go in Europe. |
1892 | Edward Falkener from London, England, mentions Go in his book Games Ancient and Oriental. |
1897 | The book Kōgyoku Yoin, containing 100 of Honinbo Shusaku's games, is published by Ishigaya. |
Jan. 1904 | Zain Danso is published by Ando Nyoi and Yamada Gyokusen, revealling Honinbo Jowa's controversial efforts to secure the Meijin Godokoro title. |
May 1904 | Shusaku Koketsu Kifu (Shusaku's Games as Revealed to Me) is published by Ishigaya (a pupil of Josaku, Shuwa and Shusaku) as a follow-up to his last book. |
1905 | Chess player Edward Lasker learns about Go from Oscar Korschelt's articles. |
1905-1910 | Max Lange becomes the first to learn Go in Germany and travel to Japan to study the game. |
1908 | Leopold Pfaundler publishes "The Chinese-Japanese Game Go" which promotes Go in Austria. |
Arthur Smith, who learned of the game in an Eastern tour, writes The Game of Go in New York. | |
1909-1910 | Leopold Pfaundler publishes the German Go Journal, the first Go journal from outside of Asia. |
1910 | Go first appears in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. |
1911 | The first substantial English Go book, Goh or Wei-Chi is published by Horace Cheshire. |
1914 | Shusai becomes Meijin and is called the "Invincible Meijin" as he won all of his big games. |
Edward Lasker moves to New York and founds the New York Go Club with Karl Davis Robinson and Lee Hartman. | |
Edward Lasker writes his own The Game of Go, which helps popularize Go in North America. | |
1924 | The Nihon Ki-in (Japanese Go Association) is formed after the Kanto Earthquake. |
1928 | Go Seigen, a Chinese prodigy, travels to Japan with sponsorship from Baron Okura Kishichiro. |
ca. 1930 | In a journal, the rules of Go are published in the Czech language for the first time. |
1934 | Edward Lasker rewrites The Game of Go and it is published as the popular Go and Go-Moku. |
1936 | Honinbo Shusai transfers his title to the Nihon Ki-in, and it later becomes a tournament title. |
1937 | Edward Lasker, Karl Davis Robinson, and Lee Hartman form the American Go Association in New York. |
1937 | The German Go Association is founded. |
July 1939 | The first biannual Honinbo tournament is held. |
1939 | In Cologne, socialist resistance fighters use go boards to camouflage their activities (and play). |
1942 | During World War II bombings, large quantities of German Go literature are destroyed. |
1950 | Honinbo Hashimoto Utaro founds the Kansai Ki-in after Japan's Osaka group has a dispute. |
1950s | Chen Yi popularizes Go as a national sport in China, and Go institutions in Beijing and Shanghai are formed. |
1953 | John Barrs founds the British Go Association. |
1957 | The first European Go Congress is held in Germany. |
Jan. 25 1958 | In Korea, Go is broadcast on TV for the first time. |
1960s | Chen Yi invites five Japanese players to contend with Chinese players. These "Super Go" competitions were held annually until 1972 (when they were interrupted by the Cultural Revolution). |
1970 | John Williams, Harry Schwartz and Dr. Yoshio Tsuchiya form the Canadian Go Association. |
Oct. 19 1970 | The French Go Association is created. |
1973 | The current Chinese Go Association (a branch of the Zhongguo Qiyuan) is formed. |
1978 | The current French Go Federation, an association of French Go clubs, is created. |
Jan. 26, 1978 | Manfred Wimmer from Austria becomes the first Western professional Go player. |
Sept. 1978 | The first Canadian Open Championship is held in Toronto. |
Spring 1979 | The first annual World Amateur Go Championship is held in Tokyo, Japan. |
Mar. 18 1982 | Shizuo Asada and 29 members form the International Go Federation. |
1984 | Roger B. White, a Cleveland industrialist, establishes the American Go Foundation. |
1985 | The first annual U.S. Go Congress is held in Westminster, Maryland. |
1988 | The American Go Association begins participating in the World Go Championship (Fujitsu Cup). |
Sept. 1989 | Korea's Cho Hun-hyun wins the first ING cup, with a prize of $400,000 USD. |
1991 | Manfred Wimmer introduces Go in Madagascar (and, reportedly, in Kenya around this time). |
Feb. 1992 | The Internet Go Server (the first dedicated online Go server), starts and is based from the University of New Mexico, where it was mostly written by Tim Casey. |
May 9 1992 | The European Go Cultural Centre is opened in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. It is founded by the Iwamoto Foundation. |
1996 | Astronauts Daniel Barry and Koichi Wakata become the first people to play Go in space. |
1997 | The Department of Baduk Studies is established at Myongji University in South Korea. |
1998 | Hikaru no Go, a Japanese manga about Go is first published. It becomes very popular and encourages youth worldwide to learn Go. |
2000 | Michael Redmond becomes the first and only Western Go professional to reach the 9-dan level. |
Feb. 2000 | Korean Rui Naiwei becomes the first woman to win a major title (the 43rd Kuksu). |
Apr. 1 2010 | Japanese Fujisawa Rina becomes the youngest Go professional, at age 11 years 6 months. |
The launch of All About Go! | |
Oct. 2015 | Google DeepMind program AlphaGo defeats Fan Hui 2p, the first time a computer won against a professional Go player in an even game. |