Ueno Asami - Senko Team Captain 25-26

Ueno Asami (上野愛咲美), born 26th October 2001 is the current number 1 female Japanese GO Professional. She is well known for being a very aggressive fighty type player (with a nickname of 'Hammer' in Japan which apparently was from a commentators picturing of her chasing down opponents with a Hammer, though personally I am quite fond of Dwyrin's own choice of 'Miss Stabby'). She was/is a pupil of Fujisawa Rina's father. 

She became a Pro in 2016 aged 14 years 6 months and has accumulated a very impressive array of statistics. Her win percentage is the highest win rate for a Japanese female Professional at 67.1%, she has won 17 titles (I expect that to increase) in 2024 was the #3 woman player in the world though on this day the #191st ranked world player and #4th best woman (just above Chinese Wu Ximing. She has also won an international competition so is the 1st Japanese Woman to do so ever. She has been Kisei 4 times and Meijin twice (and is the current title holder).

 

 

 

To quote her in a 2024 interview, (she has) "A fighting style. My ultimate ideal is to have about 10 weak stones for both black and white, and entangle them. I like the thrill of chasing big stones, so I also enjoy pursuing a single stone"

In the past she used to have some weaknesses counting territory under time pressure and yose calculations but studied with top men Iyama Yuta and Ichiriki Ryo leading to those weaknesses being removed or at least mitigated.

She is therefore quite an exciting player to watch as she wants to generate complex hard to read positions without stability that she can then leverage her fighting skill to gain an advantage from.

Rating wise she is currently at an ELO of 3290 with her chart looking like

So she has rocketed up the ranks and currently seems to be plateauing amongst the elite,  not a bad place to be...

Out of the Japanese women her nearest competitors are Fujisawa Rina at #247, Nakamura Sumire at #272 and her sister Ueno Risa at #298.

She Captained the same team last year and won the most pool games only to lose out to Rina's team in the finals.

Looking over to notable competition finals let's start with the Honinbo where she has only appeared twice

39th final losing to Fujisawa Rina 2-3
41st final losing for Fujisawa Rina 0-3

Next we have the Blitz Kisei

21st beat Xie Yimin 2-0
22nd beat Fujisawa Rina 2-0
23rd lost to Suzuki Ayumi 1-2
24th beat Suzuki Ayumi 2-1
25th beat Suzuki Ayumi 2-0
26th lost to Nakamura Sumire 1-2

Then we have the Meijin

32nd lost to Fujisawa Rina 2-0
34th beat Fujisawa Rina 2-0
35th lost to Fujisawa Rina 2-0
36th beat Fujisawa Rina 2-0

So apart from a raft of Suzuki Ayumi you can see the prime competitions being a fairly even back and forth between her and Fujisawa Rina

We also can look at the Tachiaoi

6th lost to Fujisawa Rina 2-0
8th lost to Fujisawa Rina 2-0
9th beat Fujisawa Rina 2-1
10th beat Fujisawa Rina 2-1
11th beat Mukai Chikai 2-0
12th beat Fujisawa Rina 2-1

Here early losses to Rina were countered by later dominance.

All in all any matches between these two should be scorching hot..

Here is Ueno Asami's fluff piece on X. She discusses how she enjoy's the chance to use Fischer timing (which she is almost ideal for taking advantage of). She apparently also does 777 jump rope reps (skipping I think) prior to every match which is interesting as it shows commitment to fitness as an advantage for competitive games (beyond the assistance in allowing concentration over long games it also gets the heart and blood flow pumping which assists with brain power I suspect) and has a 'Igaiiga-kun' hand acupressure point for helping deal with  stress. (See post link below for what AI says concerning this)

https://x.com/li_league/status/2002665343400005764?s=20


AI notes on that pressure point

Igaiiga-kun" is a cute Japanese nickname for the acupressure point known as Hegu (or LI4 in acupuncture terminology). It's popularly called this in Japan because pressing it is said to help relieve "igaiiga" — that itchy, scratchy, or irritated feeling in the throat (often from early colds or allergies).

Location

It's located on the back of your hand, in the webbing between your thumb and index finger.

• Specifically: The depression where the bones of the thumb and index finger meet (slightly toward the index finger side).
• To find it easily: Spread your thumb and index finger apart, then bring them together firmly — the point is at the highest bulge of the muscle or the tender spot in the dip.

How to Press It

• Use the thumb of your opposite hand to press firmly (it should feel sore but good).
• Press for 5–10 seconds, release, and repeat for a few minutes.
• Do both hands alternately.

This versatile point is traditionally used for headaches, shoulder stiffness, toothache, and more, but it's especially popular for soothing sore or itchy throats.

Note: Avoid strong pressure if you're pregnant, as this point is known to stimulate contractions.

These diagrams clearly show the location of the Hegu (LI4) point on the hand. Use them as a visual guide!