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 i ...

(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,

Zenrahoku-dō , alternatively Zenrahoku Province, Zenra Hoku, or North Zenra Province, was a province of Korea under Japanese rule. Its capital was Jeonju, Zenshū (Jeonju). The province consisted of what is now the South Korean province of North Jeolla Provin ...

Korea, Empire of Japan From 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled by the Empire of Japan under the name Chōsen (), the Japanese reading of "Joseon". Japan first took Korea into its sphere of influence during the late 1800s. Both Korea (Joseon) and Japan had been under polic ...

. In 1934, Japanese professional Kitani Minoru visited Korea and played with ten-year-old Cho, who deeply impressed the great master. He went to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

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

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

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. 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 Nam-chul {{SouthKorea-Go-bio-stub