Catalin Taranu
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Catalin Taranu | ||
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Full name | Catalin Taranu | |
Kanji | タラヌ・カタリン | |
Date of birth | March 31, 1973 | |
Place of birth | , Romania | |
Teacher | Saijo Masataka | |
Rank | 5 dan | |
Affiliation | Nihon Ki-in |
Catalin Taranu (タラヌ・カタリン, born March 31, 1973) in Romania, is a professional Go player.
[edit] Biography
Catalin started learning Go when he was 16 in 1989 from Cristian Cobeli. His first tournament was a 10-4 kyu group in which he was a 6 kyu. He won all eight games. He moved up to 1 dan in a year, and just a year later moved up to 4 dan. He started winning small tournaments in Romania around this time. He was invited to Japan by Saijo Masataka in 1995. He quickly joined the Nagoya branch of the Nihon-Kiin and became an insei. After two years he became the first European to pass the professional exam. It took Catalin just 4 years to reach 5p.