Full name Norimoto Yoda Kanji 依田紀基 | Rank 9 dan Name Norimoto Yoda Turned pro 1980 | |
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Born February 11, 1966 (age 58) Iwamizawa, Japan ( 1966-02-11 ) |
Norimoto Yoda (依田 紀基, Yoda Norimoto, born February 11, 1966, in Iwamizawa, Japan) is a professional Go player.
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Biography

Yoda is a student of Takeo Ando. He has won 35 titles so far in his career, the seventh highest in Japan. He became a professional in 1980, and reached 9 dan in 1993. In 2006, he was the heart of the Japanese team in international tournaments, steering them to a win over Team Korea in the 7th Nongshim Cup.

In June 2017, Yoda scored his 1,100th win as a pro. He has 572 losses, two jigos, and two no-results. He is the 12th Nihon Ki-in player to reach 1,100 victories. At 51 years four months, he is the third youngest, and, at 37 years two months, the 4th quickest to do so.
Titles and runners-up
Ranks #7 in total amount of titles in Japan.
Appearance in Fiction
The climactic go game played between the fictional players Fujiwara-no-Sai and Toya Meijin in the anime and manga series Hikaru no Go was in fact a real 1997 game between Norimoto and Rin Kaiho. Norimoto played the winning white side attributed to Sai.