Gu Li ( Chinese: 古力;

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese fo ...

: Gǔ Lì; born February 3, 1983) is a Chinese 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 is ...

Biography

Gu Li is a Chinese go player. He became a pro in 1995 when he was only 12. In 2006, he won the 10th LG Cup and became the youngest Chinese player to ever win a major international title; as a result, he was also promoted to 9 dan. In March 2007, he defeated Chang Hao 2-0 to win the

Chunlan Cup The Chunlan Cup, officially the Chunlan Cup World Professional Weiqi Championship (), is an international Go competition. Outline The Chunlan Cup is an international Go tournament sponsored and hosted by the Chunlan Group of China. 24 players ar ...

. In mid-2007, Gu Li experienced a playing slump, even losing many matches against lower dan players. However, he soon came back stronger than ever, winning many major titles both domestic and international, including the 2007

Changqi Cup The Changqi Cup (), or Chang-ki Cup, is a Go competition in China. Outline The Changqi Cup is a Go tournament held by the Zhongguo Qiyuan dedicated to Ing Chang-ki. It began every year on Ing's birthday, October 23 and ended in the spring of ...

and the 2008

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 ...

; the greatest factors in this turnaround was his improvement in the endgame, and territory skills, which many people had previously considered his biggest weaknesses. In 2009 Gu defeated Lee Sedol to win the 13th LG Cup. In July 2010, Gu Li became the "

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 ...

of Meijins" by defeating

Lee Changho Lee Chang-ho ( ko, 이창호; born 29 July 1975 in Jeonju, North Jeolla) is a South Korean professional Go player 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 Hu ...

and

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' ...

in a special tournament which pitted the domestic title-holders from China, Korea and Japan against each other. In October 2010, Gu Li defeated Han Sanghoon and

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 ...

in the round of sixteen and quarter-finals respectively to reach the semi-finals of the 15th Samsung Cup, whilst the defending Champion Kong Jie was knocked out by Kim Jiseok. Gu won the 2010 Samsung Cup, defeating

Heo Youngho Heo Young-ho (born 2 July 1986) is a 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 ** Pl ...

of Korea, and moves on towards the 2012 Ing Cup to become the second player to win all major international titles (Although Lee Chang-ho is the first and so far only person to win all titles, including the defunct

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, the ...

and

Zhonghuan Cup The CMC Cup () is a Go competition sponsored by CMC Magnetics of Taiwan and JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorpo ...

, as well as the

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 pla ...

). In 2014, Gu Li was defeated in a

jubango Jūbango (十番碁) is a Japanese term for a Go match consisting of ten games which might be ended earlier if agreed by both players. A decisive victory would result in the opponent being ' beaten down' to a lower rank. A player would be beaten do ...

against

(+2-6). The games took place on each last Sunday of the month.

Style

His given name Li, literally meaning strength, is also a Go term roughly meaning the ability of reading. Li also encompasses the meaning of the ability to discover strong moves and the ability to fight. Gu has a nickname "Gu Da Li". Da literally means large, big or huge. This refers to Gu's incredible ability at playing really strong moves that require sharp instinct as well as immaculate reading. One of his main weaknesses is his inaccurate endgame.

Promotion record

Career record

*Note: 2012 and 2013 also include one game with no result.

Titles and runners-up

Ranks #2 in total number of titles in China and #5 in total number of international titles.

Head-to-head record vs selected players

''Players who have won international Go titles in bold.'' *

24:24 +1 no result * Kong Jie 26:18 * Hu Yaoyu 24:12 *

Liu Xing Liu Xing (; born December 10, 1984) is a Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the C ...

21:13 *

Zhou Ruiyang Zhou Ruiyang (; born March 8, 1991) is a Chinese professional Go player. Biography Zhou began playing Go at the age of 7. He won the biggest amateur tournament in China, the Wanbao Cup, both the same year before he became a professiona ...

24:9 * Chang Hao 20:11 *

Chen Yaoye Chen Yaoye (Traditional: 陳耀燁; Simplified: 陈耀烨; Pinyin: Chén Yàoyè; born on December 16, 1989) is a Chinese professional Go player. Biography Chen Yaoye was born in Beijing, China. He is a young Go player who, at the age of ...

10:21 +1 no result *

Luo Xihe Luo Xihe (; born November 23, 1977) is a Chinese professional Go player. Play ...

16:12 *

Qiu Jun Qiu Jun may refer to: * Qiu Jun (poet) (1421–1495), Chinese playwright and politician, member of the Hanlin Academy The Hanlin Academy was an academic and administrative institution of higher learning founded in the 8th century Tang China by E ...

18:9 * Zhou Heyang 15:12 * Ding Wei 17:8 * Xie He 14:11 * Shi Yue 7:17 *

Gu Lingyi Gu Lingyi (; born 3 July 1991) is a Chinese professional Go player. Lingyi became a professional in 2002. He won his first title, the South-West Qiwang, in 2007. He challenged for the Mingren The Mingren () is a Go competition in China organi ...

13:10 * Piao Wenyao 13:8 * Wang Xi 12:9 *

Choi Cheolhan 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 ...

12:8 * Li Zhe 12:7 * Peng Quan 11:7 *

8:9 * Huang Yizhong 9:6 * Wang Yao 12:3 *

Jiang Weijie Jiang Weijie (born 17 October 1991) is a Chinese professional Go player. Jiang became a professional in 2005. He won his first title, the RICOH Xinxiu Cup, in 2008. Jiang ended Gu Li's six-year reign over the Mingren The Mingren () is a Go ...

7:7 * Wang Lei 11:3

References

External links

Interview with Gu Li
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gu, Li 1982 births Living people Chinese Go players Asian Games medalists in go Go players at the 2010 Asian Games Sportspeople from Chongqing Asian Games silver medalists for China Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games