Go apprentice

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You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (January 2025) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must follow the LLM translation guideline, revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 1,414 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Japanese Wikipedia article at [[:ja:院生 (囲碁)]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|ja|院生 (囲碁)}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

A go apprentice (院生, insei) is a student learning to play Go at an institution, typically with the aim of becoming a professional player.^[1] In Japan, such a student is called an insei (literally, "institution student"). Institutions for insei include the Nihon Ki-in (Japanese Go Association) and the Kansai Ki-in (Kansai Go Association). The equivalent of Go insei in Korea is yeongusaeng (Korean: 연구생; Hanja: 硏究生), read kenkyūsei in Japanese and yánjiūshēng (Chinese: 研究生, also meaning "graduate student") in Chinese.

In Japan, once a year 3 or 4 apprentices who qualify in a yearly tournament become professional players.

East Asian players are required to become a professional before the age of 18 while studying as insei, but foreigners have the chance up to the age of about 30.

To become an insei, a person requires a professional to sponsor them, and an application to the Nihon Ki-in. There is no official way to contact a professional for sponsorship.

While insei, many people live with their professional sponsor, who tutors and supports them. Some insei just visit their professional sponsor several times a week. The professional sponsor acts as a mentor for the insei.

• Nihon Ki-in
• Insei in Japan
• Korean-style Insei League online