My name is Taranu Catalin. I was born on the 31st of March 1973 in a small town in northern Romania.

Since middle school I became very attracted to mathematics and I thought for a while that this will be my lifetime passion. But in mid-highschool, when I just turned 16, I met a math teacher who taught me Go. His name is Cobeli Cristian and I will forever be grateful to him for giving me the opportunity to learn this marvelous game.

For the next 6 years I continued to play Go with a growing passion and I became so addicted to it that I decided to try to become a professional.

In the summer of 1994, at the European Go Congress in Maastricht, I asked my future teacher, mentor and benefactor, Saijo Masataka sensei 9 dan from NIhon Kiin to help me study Go in Japan. He strove hard to make it possible and he succeeded. And so, in april 1995 I quit the university and went to Japan, full of hopes and dreams.

I managed to become pro after two years of studying as insei at the Nagoya branch of the Nihon Kiin. Five years later I achieved my main goal by becoming a professional 5 dan, a very respected feat in Japan, where pros from 5 dan up are considered the high level group.

After seeing my dream come true, I needed to pursue a new goal . This is why I decided, after a total of nine years of stay in Japan, to follow the longing of my heart and the desire to share my knowledge with the people back home.

I returned to Europe in April 2004. I now live in Bucharest and for the past years I was actively involved in promoting and teaching Go. During my years in Japan I had the golden opportunity to learn the art of teaching from Saijo sensei, one of the best teachers in the world. I have now extensive teaching experience and my lessons stress the fundamentals and the natural way of playing. I believe that every Go player has an unique style of playing. In order to make this individuality come out in a succesful way on the Go board, each player needs to understand the basics of Go and the normal way of playing in specific situations. This is where my lessons can be very useful.