Cho Namchul (November 30, 1923 – July 2, 2006, alternately Cho Namcheol) was a professional Go

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

(Baduk in Korean). He died of natural causes in Seoul at the age of 83.

Biography

Cho was born in a farming village in Buan, North Jeolla Province. In 1934, Japanese professional

Kitani Minoru was one of the most celebrated professional Go players and teachers of the game of Go in the twentieth century in Japan. Biography He earned the nickname "the Prodigy" after winning a knockout tournament. He defeated eight opponents from the ...

visited Korea and played with ten-year-old Cho, who deeply impressed the great master. He went to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in 1937 to study go as Kitani's first ''insei'', or live-in student. In 1943, he returned to

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

and played a key role in the founding of the Hanguk Kiwon. It wasn't until 1983, that he would be awarded 9 dan, but for most of the 1950s and 1960s, he won the vast majority of national tournaments. He is known as the founder of Korean modern Go. Namchul is also the uncle of the top Japanese Go title holder

Cho Chikun Cho Chikun ''25th Honinbo'' ''Honorary Meijin'' ( ko, 조치훈; born June 20, 1956) is a professional Go player and a nephew of Cho Namchul. Born in Busan, South Korea, he is affiliated to Nihon Ki-in. His total title tally of 75 titles is th ...

. After his death, he was honored by the president of Korea with a medal and floral tribute.

Titles and runners-up

Ranks #7 in total number of titles in Korea.

References

External links

Biography at "Sensei's Library"
1923 births 2006 deaths South Korean Go players Pungyang Jo clan {{SouthKorea-Go-bio-stub