Lee Chang-ho ( ko, 이창호; born 29 July 1975 in

Jeonju Jeonju () is the 16th largest city in South Korea and the capital of North Jeolla Province. It is both urban and rural due to the closeness of Wanju County which almost entirely surrounds Jeonju (Wanju County has many residents who work in Jeonj ...

North Jeolla North Jeolla Province (; ''Jeollabuk-do''), also known as Jeonbuk, is a province of South Korea. North Jeolla has a population of 1,869,711 (2015) and has a geographic area of 8,067 km2 (3,115 sq mi) located in the Honam region in the southwes ...

) is a South Korean 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 ...

of 9-dan rank. He is regarded by many as the best Go player of the late 1990s and early 2000s. He was a student of

Cho Hun-hyun Cho Hunhyun ( ko, 조훈현; born 10 March 1953) is a South Korean professional Go player and politician. Considered one of the greatest players of all time, Cho reached professional level in Korea in 1962. Since then, Cho has amassed 150 profe ...

9-dan. He is the second youngest (11 years 1 month) to become a professional Go player in South Korean history behind

(9 years 7 months). He is the only player to have won all eight international competitions at least once.

Biography

He turned professional in 1986 at the young age of 11. By the early 1990s, he started winning titles that his teacher, Cho, had won. By 1992 Lee had already won his first international title, which was the 3rd

Tong Yang Cup The Tongyang Cup (Korean: 동양증권배 세계선수권전, Hanja: 東洋證券杯世界選手權戰) was a Go competition. The Tong Yang Cup was sponsored by Tongyang Securities of South Korea. The tournament was run from 1988 to 1998, with pl ...

. Lee has won all of the international Go tournaments at least twice, excluding the

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 ...

and

Ing Cup The Ing Cup () is an international Go tournament with a cash prize of over US$400,000. It was created by, and is named after, Ing Chang-ki. The tournament is held once every four years and hence often nicknamed the Go Olympics. In the 7th Ing ...

, which are held every two and four years respectively. He is only the second player to record a "Grand Slam". The first was Cho Hunhyun. In 2006, Lee won the Wangwi title for the eleventh straight year. His teacher, Cho Hunhyun, holds the record for the most successive domestic titles with sixteen consecutive Paewang titles.

Ma Xiaochun Ma Xiaochun (; born 26 August 1964) is a Chinese people, Chinese professional Go (board game), 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 pro ...

has the second-most successive domestic titles with thirteen Mingren titles.

Style

"Stone Buddha" is one of Lee's many nicknames. It derives from the fact that he always keeps a straight face and never smiles or frowns during a match. The nickname reflects his playing style as well. His reading ability is among the best in the world. This gives him an honorable nickname, "God of calculation." He does not attack as a general strategy and never plays "wild Go". Instead, he aims for only slightly superior positions where he can win without taking on unnecessary risks. He often wins by making his opponents think they are playing even with him or even winning, only to defeat them in the later stages of the game gradually. He rarely kills large groups or makes a single move that decides the match. His endgame skill is one of the strongest in history, and has resulted in countless wins by a small margin in top-level tournaments. When confronted with the newer and more dangerous style of players such as Lee Sedol and

Choi Cheol-han Choi Cheol-han is a South Korean professional Go player. He is the fourth youngest (12 years 2 months) to become a professional Go player in South Korean history behind Cho Hun-hyun (9 years 7 months), Lee Chang-ho (11 years 1 months) and ...

in the 2000s, Chango adjusted and changed his style to be more aggressive, remaining a dominant player throughout the decade.

Go career

Over the years, Lee's style of play has been broken down. Even Cho Chikun said that

Lee Sedol Lee Sedol ( ko, 이세돌; born 2 March 1983), or Lee Se-dol, is a former South Korean professional Go player of 9 dan rank. As of February 2016, he ranked second in international titles (18), behind only Lee Chang-ho (21). He is the f ...

would eventually pass Chang-ho because Chang-ho's style is no longer guaranteed due to the new generation of players. He has had to resort to abandoning his old style and improvising play against these new players. When asked if Lee's era was over, his teacher Cho Hunhyun simply replied, "No". He continued, saying that Lee Sedol is just someone who has finally fit the description of a rival for Chang-ho. He also said that both will battle many times and in the coming years the "smoke will settle" and one of them will come out on top. After losing the 10th Samsung Cup to Luo Xihe, Lee came back and took the newly made Sibdan Cup against Park Young-Hoon. This was payback to Park, who had beat Lee in the 1st Prices Information Cup. Lee also won the 49th edition of Korea's oldest title, the Guksu. Unusually for him, Lee lost three times in 2006 representing Korea in international tournaments. First in the

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 ...

, then in the newly created Kangwon-Land Cup, and finally in the

Asian TV Cup The Asian TV Cup is a Go competition. Outline The Asian TV Cup is the oldest continental tournament, dating back to 1989. The winners and runner ups of the biggest hayago competitions from Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most nota ...

. This is a change for Lee, considering he has won 17 international tournaments over the past 14 years. In the final match of the 11th Samsung Cup, Lee lost 0-2 to Chang Hao of China. This was the second year in a row Lee lost the Samsung Cup. In March 2007, the barely 19-year-old Yun Junsang beat title holder Lee Chang-ho 3-1 for the 50th Guksu title, but Lee got his revenge in July, beating Yun 3-2 to retain his Wangwi title. Although not having had a successful year internationally, he was the highest earner in South Korea for 2006.

Personal life

Lee

married Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

the former amateur Go player Lee Do-yoon on 28 October 2010. Their daughter was born on 8 March 2012.

Titles and runners-up

Ranks #2 in total number of titles in Korea and #1 in international titles.

References

External links

Official website

Sensei's Library page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Chang-ho 1975 births Living people People from Jeonju South Korean Go players Asian Games medalists in go Go players at the 2010 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Sportspeople from North Jeolla Province