American Go E-Journal » Lee Changho

2010’s Top 20 Professional Go Players

Saturday May 12, 2012

For those of you who like to follow the professional go scene, An Younggil 8P (r) recently finished writing a year-long series of articles for GoGameGuru profiling the top 20 professional go players of 2010. Throughout the series, Younggil goes well beyond the usual historical details to write about players’ personalities and go styles, as well as recounting his own meetings with many of them. Younggil’s intention was to introduce his professional colleagues to a Western audience as humans, rather than just pro go players. He also shares many insights into the life of a professional go player and the go scene in Korea. It makes fascinating reading for any serious go fan.
The full list of bios includes: Lee SedolKong JiePark JunghwanChoi CheolhanKang DongyunHeo YounghoGu LiXie HeWon SeongjinLi ZheZhou RuiyangTuo JiaxiLee ChanghoQiu JunKim JiseokWang XiCho HanseungChen YaoyePark Younghun and Lee Younggu.

photo: Kong Jie (left) and Lee Sedol play in the final of the 23rd Fujitsu Cup (2010). 

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China Wins 13th Nongshim Cup

Sunday February 26, 2012

On February 24, 2012, China won the 13th Nongshim Cup when Xie He 7P defeated Lee Changho 9P in the final game. The Nongshim Cup is a win and continue team event between China, Japan and Korea. The first two rounds took place in late 2011. Young players Tan Xiao 5P of China and Kim Jiseok 7P of Korea emerged as the early stars of the tournament, both winning four consecutive games. After eliminating Tan Xiao, Yamashita Keigo 9P, Piao Wenyao 9P and Gu Li 9P, Kim Jiseok was finally stopped by China’s last man standing, Xie He. Next Xie defeated Won Seongjin 9P and finally Lee Changho, to bring the Nongshim Cup home for China. Congratulations Team China.

Jingning; based her original article China wins 13th Nongshim Cup at Go Game Guru. Photo: Lee Changho 9P (left) plays Xie He 7P in the final game.

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Jiang Weijie Wins LG Cup, Collecting First International Title

Wednesday February 15, 2012

Collecting his first international title, Jiang Weijie 5P of China defeated Lee Changho 9P of Korea on February 15 in the final of the 16th LG Cup. The final started on February 13 and Jiang won the first game by resignation after unexpectedly killing a large white group late in the game. In Game 2, it was Lee who was on the attack. He put the 20-year-old Jiang through a severe test, but eventually resigned after 232 moves.
Jingning; based on her original article: Jiang Weijie wins 16th LG Cup at Go Game GuruPhoto: Jiang Weijie 5P (left) plays go legend Lee Changho 9P.

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Categories: World
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Park Younghun Wins 12th Maxim Cup

Monday April 11, 2011

On April 7 2011, Park Younghun 9P won the 12th Maxim Cup, beating Lee Changho 9P by half a point in the second match. Park won the first match several weeks ago (March 21), and with two wins he took the best of three title.

Two masters of endgame

Both Lee and Park are famous for their accurate counting and endgame skills. Go fans used to say that if Park and Lee played and the winning margin was half a point, the winner would be Lee. However, now people say that if the winning margin is half a point, the winner will be Park.

In November last year Park also won the Korean Myeongin (Korea’s equivalent of the Japanese Meijin).

The Maxim Cup

The Maxim Cup is a rapid Korean domestic tournament for 9 dan players only. This year, the tournament was held on the beautiful Jeju Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is popular with tourists.

Stone Babushkas?

Lee was accompanied by his wife and, prior to the match, revealed that the couple were very happy and plan on having two or three children. Given that Lee’s nickname as a Go player is “Stone Buddha”, perhaps the little ones could be called the “Stone Babushkas”? Before you ask, there was no mention of whether the children would learn Go.

After the match, a reporter asked Lee how he felt about losing his dominance of the baduk world after more than two decades. Lee was non-plussed, and replied that he did not mind as long as he could still play a good and interesting game.

– Jingning; based on her original report at Go Game Guru, which includes more pictures and game records.

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WORLD GO NEWS: Korean Myeongin Title Match Tied At 1-1

Monday December 7, 2009

The best-of-five-games match between Lee Changho 9P and Won Sungjin 9P (right) for the Meyongin (Japanese: Meijin) title in Korea was tied at 1-1 when Won won the second game on December 3rd by 1.5 points. The last winner of this title was Lee Sedol 9P, but since he has taken a temporary leave of absence from the pro scene, the title holder will be decided by this match. Lee Changho has won this title twelve times since first taking it from Cho Hunhyun 9P in 1991. Won’s latest title victories were the BC Card Cup and the Chunwon in 2007. He is ten years younger than Lee Changho.
– Bill Cobb, from Go News, GoGameWorld & Sensei’s Library

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