INTERVIEW / Transcending runner-up label: Go player Yang Tzu-hsuan's not-too-late comeback

By Chao Yen-hsiang, CNA staff reporter

Among women currently active on Taiwan's professional Go circuit, six-dan pro Yang Tzu-hsuan (楊子萱) stands out as one of the board game scene's most representative figures.

For Yang, 2025 marked a turning point. She became the first Taiwanese woman invited to compete in both the Chinese and South Korean professional leagues and captured her second Synmosa Cup Woman Ace Player Tournament title in four years, finishing the season with the highest annual prize earnings of any Taiwanese female player.

That performance earned her a spot at the Senko Cup in Japan this March, marking her debut at the annual female-only international tournament.

Yet behind the accolades lies a far less glamorous story.

In an interview with CNA, Yang spoke openly about a nearly five-year mental struggle that included thoughts of stepping away from professional play after the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, and how unexpected opportunities abroad helped reignite her competitive drive.

A decade of runner-up finishes

Since turning professional in 2017, Yang has won three major women's titles: the 2020 Da Sen Cup Woman Meijin Tournament and the 2022 and 2025 Synmosa Cup Woman Ace Player Tournaments.

She has also finished runner-up eight times across the Woman Meijin and Woman Ace Player tournaments, a string of near-misses that weighed heavily on her confidence.

"When you keep taking second place and losing games you think you should win, you lose confidence and some of your passion for Go," she said. "I didn't even know what I was training for."

Yang represented Taiwan at China's Wu Qingyuan Cup from 2018 to 2020 and reached the quarterfinals of the Bingsheng Cup. After the COVID-19 pandemic, however, international appearances became scarce, compounding her frustration.

That disappointment peaked at the Hangzhou Asian Games, where Taiwan's women's team failed to reach the semifinals after months of intensive preparation.

While the result was partly due to an early draw against powerhouse teams China and Japan, the loss still prompted Yang to consider an alternative career path.

Before she could chart one, invitations arrived "out of the blue" in mid-2025 from women's professional league teams in China and South Korea. A Chinese Guizhou team even offered her a multi-year contract.

"I was at a low point, and then these opportunities came," Yang recalled. "It made me wonder if I still had what it takes."

She answered on the board, maintaining winning rates above 50 percent in both leagues. She helped Guizhou secure promotion to China's top division, while her Korean team reached the playoffs.

"Going to China for one or two months at a time is tough," she said. "But I'm willing to sacrifice. I want clear goals, instead of just drifting along."

Chess, chase, cherish

A strategic board game originating in China in which players take turns placing black or white stones to control territory, Go is renowned for its depth and complexity. The game is especially popular in East Asia, including Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.

Generally, professional Go players are believed to peak at age 25 and then start declining.

The 23-year-old Yang said she no longer feels young, but feels "blessed" to still be competing. Training in China has sharpened her perspective, she said, as younger players continue to emerge at a rapid pace.

She deeply admires Chinese nine-dan pro Rui Naiwei (芮迺偉), a 62-year-old who remains competitive and still reviews games passionately with opponents long after matches end.

"Sometimes I feel old. But compared to the very top players, I'm still relatively young. I think I can fight for a few more years."

According to Yang, her competitive spirit has always extended to male players. Since she began learning Go at age five, holding her own against boys became a source of confidence.

Yang praised 19-year-old South Korean standout Kim Eunji for reshaping her expectations. "She exceeded my imagination of what a female player could be," she said. "It made me realize men and women can be exactly equal on the Go board."

However, maintaining composure remains her biggest hurdle.

Yang, who describes herself as pessimistic by nature, said she found Chinese players much more confident than those in Taiwan. "Sometimes I wish I had that kind of self-belief."

For her, confidence cannot be forced or granted -- it must be earned.

Three days before the interview, Yang defeated Japan's Ueno Asami and Ueno Risa, champions of the 2022 and 2025 Senko Cups, on the same day at a Taiwan-Japan elite exchange event.

Looking ahead to her Senko Cup debut, Yang said she hopes to reach the final.

"I can't say with absolute confidence that I'm already Taiwan's female Go ace," she said. "But I hope to achieve better results internationally -- to prove that I am."

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