Cho U (; born on 20 January 1980) is a Taiwanese 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 ...

. He currently ranks 6th in the most titles won by a Japanese professional; his

NEC Cup The NEC Cup was a Go competition, supported by NEC Corporation between 1982 and 2012. Biography The NEC Cup was a Go competition used by the Japanese Nihon-Kiin. Unlike the big three titles in Japan, the NEC Cup is a single knockout tournament wh ...

win in 2011 put him past his teacher

Rin Kaiho Rin Kaihō or Lin Haifeng (; born May 6, 1942) is a professional Taiwanese Go player who made his name in Japan. He is, along with Cho Chikun, Kobayashi Koichi, Otake Hideo, Takemiya Masaki and Kato Masao, considered one of the 'Six Supers' tha ...

and

Norimoto Yoda is a professional Go player. Biography Yoda is a student of Takeo Ando. He has won 35 titles so far in his career, the seventh highest in Japan. He became a professional in 1980, and reached 9 dan in 1993. In 2006, he was the heart of the Jap ...

. Cho is the first player in history to have held five of the top seven major titles simultaneously with

Iyama Yuta is a Japanese professional Go player. In April 2016, he became the first player in Japanese history to hold all seven major titles simultaneously. In January 2018, Iyama became the first professional Go player to be awarded Japan's People' ...

being the second. Cho U,

Naoki Hane is a professional Japanese 9 dan Go player currently affiliated with the Nihon Ki-in The Nihon Ki-in (), also known as the Japan Go Association, is the main organizational body for Go in Japan, overseeing Japan's professional system and i ...

Keigo Yamashita is a professional Go player. Yamashita adopted the name Honinbo Dowa after winning his first Honinbo title in 2010. Biography A student of Yasuro Kikuchi, Yamashita turned professional in 1993. He won the 19th Kisei 2 dan division in 199 ...

and

Shinji Takao is a Japanese professional Go player. Biography Shinji Takao is one of Japan's best Go players. He turned professional in 1991. He won the Honinbo tournament in 2005 by a half point in the last game. Cho U, Naoki Hane, Keigo Yamashita ...

make up the group of players in Japan called the "

Four Heavenly Kings The Four Heavenly Kings are four Buddhist gods, each of whom is believed to watch over one cardinal direction of the world. In Chinese mythology, they are known collectively as the "Fēng Tiáo Yǔ Shùn" () or "Sìdà Tiānwáng" (). In the a ...

". His wife is one of Japan's best female go professionals,

Izumi Kobayashi is a professional Go player. Biography Izumi Kobayashi grew up in a family of accomplished Go players. She has joked that she first played Go in her mother's womb. Her father is Koichi Kobayashi, the man who ranks third in number of titles ...

, the great Kitani's granddaughter and daughter of

Kobayashi Koichi is a Japanese Go player. He is one of the 'Six Supers' who championed Japanese Go in the last three decades of Japanese Go. Biography Koichi Kobayashi was born in Asahikawa, Japan. In 1965, he came to Tokyo to be a disciple of Minoru Kitani. ...

Biography

Cho U was born in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. He began playing

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

and

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

as a young child. Cho's father Chang Yuen-hsi taught him to play Go, and he began beating family members by the age of three. He credits

Shen Chun-shan Shen Chun-shan (29 August 1932 – 12 September 2018) was a Taiwanese physicist who served as president of National Tsing Hua University from 1994 to 1997. He was known as one of the "four princes of Taiwan" along with Chen Li-an, Fredrick Chie ...

as one of his early Go teachers; he first played against Shen at age seven. Shen was impressed by the young Cho's skill and introduced his family to

. He earned a spot in the 13th

Fujitsu Cup The Fujitsu Cup (富士通杯) was an international Go competition that ran from 1988-2011. Outline The Fujitsu Cup was an international Go competition hosted by Fujitsu and Yomiuri Shimbun. The players were selected as follows: * The top 3 play ...

in 2000 through the qualifying tournament. In his first game, Cho defeated Dutch amateur 7 dan Rob van Zeijst. In the second round, Cho defeated former number one Chinese representative

Ma Xiaochun Ma Xiaochun (; born 26 August 1964) is a Chinese professional Go player. Biography Ma was born in Zhejiang, China. He began playing Go at the age of nine and was awarded 7 dan rank in 1982. In 1983, Ma was promoted to 9 dan. He visited Japa ...

. Cho lost to

Mok Jin-seok Mok Jin-seok (born 20 January 1980) is a professional Go player. Biography Mok Jin Seok became a professional Go player in 1994 when he was 14 and reached 9 Dan, the highest level, in 2005. He is called 'Goe dong' by media, which means a Bo ...

in the quarter-finals. In May 2000, Cho won a place in the

25th Kisei Kisei is a Go competition used by the Japanese Nihon-Kiin The Nihon Ki-in (), also known as the Japan Go Association, is the main organizational body for Go in Japan, overseeing Japan's professional system and issuing diplomas for amateur dan ...

, the first edition to feature a league system. Cho was the youngest player in the league at 20 years. He finished the league with a record of three wins and three losses. Later in the year, Cho qualified for the 56th

Honinbo In the history of Go in Japan, the four Go houses were four major schools of Go instituted, supported, and controlled by the state, at the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate. (There were also many minor houses.) At roughly the same time shogi w ...

league. He missed out on qualifying for the 26th

Meijin is one of the eight titles in Japanese professional shogi, and is the most prestigious title, along with Ryūō. The word ''meijin'' (名 ''mei'' "excellent, artful", 人 ''jin'' "person") refers to a highly skilled master of a certain field (t ...

league when he lost to

Hideki Komatsu is a professional Go player. Biography Komatsu was born in Aichi, Japan and quickly rose among the ranks of Go in the 1980s and early 1990s. He currently resides in Tokyo, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku' ...

in the last qualifying round. Cho finished the year with the second best record behind

with 53 wins, 12 losses and one jigo. He also won the Kido award for the best winning percentage (81.1%). Cho was promoted to 7 dan on 16 April 2001. Cho finished the 56th Honinbo league with a record of five wins and two losses. In an interview after his last match, Cho said "It feels strange to become the challenger after losing my game. I was really happy when I won five games in a row, but losing successive games leaves me with regrets. I'm very fortunate to be able to appear on the important stage of a best-of-seven title match." Cho won the first match, but title holder

O Meien Wang Ming-wan (; born November 22, 1961), also known as O Meien, is a professional Go player. Biography Wang was born in Taipei, Taiwan. He is known for his quick fuseki and fighting ability. He became a pro in 1977, two years after moving to ...

won the seventh and final game of the series. Cho collected ¥26,985,000 in prize money in 2001. In February 2002, Cho won one of Japan's seven non-seeded spots in the 1st

World Oza The Toyota-Denso Cup - World Oza was an international Go competition, sponsored by auto maker Toyota and parts manufacturer Denso. Outline The World Oza, sponsored by ToyotaDenso of Japan, was regarded as the newest international tournament, t ...

. His first title came the following month when he won the 49th NHK Cup. Cho broke the record for youngest winner of the title. After winning the title, Go journalist John Power commented, "Cho U is surely going to develop into one of the dominant players on the Japanese go scene. He is calm, has excellent concentration and reads very well -- in fact, he seems to relish reading out difficult fights. Perhaps his greatest weapon may be his outstanding positional judgement: he is already reputed to be one of the fastest and most accurate players at summing up a position." Cho was a member of the Japanese team in the 4th

Nongshim Cup The Nongshim Cup is a Go tournament sponsored by Nongshim, an instant noodle food company of South Korea. Outline The Nongshim Cup is a gathering of the best players from South Korea, Japan, and China. The Nongshim Cup is sponsored by Nongshim ...

. In October 2002, Cho qualified for his first Meijin league. At the close of the 2002 season, Cho set a record with 70 wins in a year. He was awarded the Shusai Prize for his record-breaking year. After unsuccessfully challenging for the Honinbo title the previous year, Cho won his first major title on 11 July 2003 by defeating

Kato Masao Masao Kato Honorary Oza (加藤正夫, ''Katō Masao'', March 15, 1947 – December 30, 2004), also known as Kato Kensei (加藤剱正 ''Katō Kensei''), was a Japanese professional go player. A late bloomer, Kato won 46 titles, including the ...

in six games for the 58th Honinbo. Cho set three records with his win: third youngest major title winner, second youngest Honinbo and youngest Japanese 9 dan. Cho met

Masao Kato Masao Kato Honorary Go titles, Honorary Oza (加藤正夫, ''Katō Masao'', March 15, 1947 – December 30, 2004), also known as Kato Kensei (加藤剱正 ''Katō Kensei''), was a Japanese professional go (board game), go Go players, player. A ...

, the player he defeated for the Honinbo, twice more in 2003 when they faced off in the

Agon Cup The Agon Kiriyama Cup (阿含･桐山杯) is a Go competition. Outline The Agon Kiriyama Cup is a Go competition endorsed by the Nihon Kiin. It was started in 1994Nihon Ki-in, Japanese languagtournament results page retrieved on June 3rd, 2015 ...

final and the Oza challenger final. Cho lost the Agon Cup final, but earned the right to face

in the Oza final. Cho won the title in four games, making the Oza his second major title. Cho would go on to win each major at least once: the

in 2004, the Gosei in 2006, the Tengen in 2008, the Judan in 2009 and the Kisei in 2010. In 2004, Cho became the third player in history to earn over ¥100 million in a year, after

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 ...

and

Koichi Kobayashi is a Japanese Go player. He is one of the 'Six Supers' who championed Japanese Go in the last three decades of Japanese Go. Biography Koichi Kobayashi was born in Asahikawa, Japan. In 1965, he came to Tokyo to be a disciple of Minoru Kitani. ...

. After defeating Yu Bin in the final of the 9th LG Cup, Cho U won his first international title and the first Japanese international win since Cho Chikun's Samsung Cup title in 2003. Cho lead the top prize winners list in 2010 with ¥90,499,000 ($1,120,250.25 as of 28 June 2011). In May 2011, Cho donated ¥15,000,000 from his Kisei prize money to victims of the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...

Promotion record

Career record

*1999: 51–13 *2000: 53–12–1 *2001: 52–24 *2002: 70–14 *2004: 38–25 *2006: 49–17 *2007: 51–22 *2008: 51–16 *2009: 35–19 *2010: 32–16 *2011: 30–18 *2012: 29–23 *2013: 28–25 *2014: 26–17 *2015: 24–17 *2016: 30–18

Titles and runners-up

Ranks 7th in total number of titles won in Japan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cho, U Taiwanese expatriates in Japan Taiwanese Go players 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Taipei Go players at the 2010 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for Chinese Taipei