I started to play Go in 1986. I was 6 years old and my father (10 kyu) was my first teacher. For the several years I was playing both chess and go, but from the age of 10 I gave up chess and started to learn Go more actively with a new teacher Valery Shikshin, 4 dan and his students. I was very fortunate to be living in Kazan, because it was the capital of Russian Go. There were so many 5-6d players around me, they kindly gave me Go lessons and I owe them a big debt of gratitude.

Started playing go in 2006(12 years old), after being introduced by a friend who watched Hikaru no Go.

I learned to play Go at the age of 7. My father read about the game in a newspaper and then he taught me and my brother to play. At first I visited a local Go club. After I got stronger than my teacher (3 kyu), I studied the game alone.

My name is Mateusz Surma. I was born on September 3, 1995 in Rydułtowy in the region of Silesia in Poland. My dad taught me to play go when I was six and a half.
At various points from 2009-2013, I trained in South Korean schools: King’s Baduk Dojang, Yang Jae-Ho Baduk Dojang, and Choong-Am Baduk Dojang. Altogether, I spent 2 years and 5 months there.
In Poland, during middle school (Gimnazjum nr 1 w Rydułtowach) and high school (Liceum Ogólnokształcące w Rydułtowach), I had an individual study path. I would train in Korea for 3 months, then go back to Poland and study for school at home. In middle and high school, I had one exam per subject after every term.
In 2014, after passing matura (an equivalent to A-level, SAT, Abitur, etc.), I managed to qualify to study at the Faculty of Aeronautics and Space Technology. I was about to enroll, specialising in pilotage, but then— something happened.
In March 2015, I was one of sixteen people invited for the “pro” title qualification tournament in Pisa, Italy. I went there - and managed to win the tournament.
This way I became the first Polish player with the “pro” title.
I finished my first year at university. Even though I had one of the highest average grades at the faculty and a pretty high chance of acceptance to pilotage, I took one year off. I was invited to Beijing, China to study go at Ge Yuhong Weiqi Daochang. I trained there for 8 months through years 2015–2016.
I’ve decided not to go to university anymore, because I’ve realized that it made me study too many completely useless things - much more useful stuff might be learned by just self-studying at home. In regards to my graduation - I have my own company, nobody will ask me for any graduation certificates :-)
I wrote nine go books (available in five languages: English, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Spanish).
I run an Online Go School and Online Go Shop - https://polgote.com/en.
I'm married since 2018. My daughter was born in February 2020.

My latest achievements:
• 2nd place in the European Professional Championship (2017, Saint Petersburg, Russia)
• Four wins in a row in the Chinese Go League (2017, Quzhou, China)
• 1st place in the Samsung Cup preliminaries - World Division Baduk Masters
(2017, Seoul, South Korea)
• 2nd place in the European Championship (2017, Oberhof, Germany)
• 2nd place in the European Professional Championship (2019, Jena, Germany)
• 1st place in the European Grand Slam (2019, Berlin, Germany)
• 1st place in the European Grand Prix Finale (2020, Leksand, Sweden)