Lee Chang-ho (born on July 29, 1975) is a South Korean professional Go player of 9-dan rank. He is widely considered to be the current best player in the world. He was a student of Cho Hun-hyeon 9-dan. Biography
He turned pro in 1986 at the young age of 11. By the time of the early 1990's, he would start winning titles that his teacher, Cho had won. By 1992 Lee already won his first international title which was the 3rd Tong Yang Cup. No other Go player comes close to his international title record. Lee has won all of the international Go tournaments. He is only the second player to record a "Grand Slam". The first was Cho Hun-hyeon. 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 calculating ability is the best in the world. He does not attack much and never plays wild Go. He usually wins by making the opponent think they are winning. This is because he never kills large groups or makes a move that decides the match. Lee's power was never seen by pros in the beginning of his career. He is not like Shusaku; he never makes big moves or suprises with amazing play. Cho Chikun made a big mistake against Lee once in the final matches of a World Go competition. He went on and said he would teach Lee lessons about Go during the matches. Cho would eat his words when he lost three straight games to Lee. The Disciple Overcomes The Master
It was said by Lee's first teacher that he would always try to play brilliantly. That was until he became one of Cho Hun-hyeon's disciples. Cho did not think Lee's talent was of a high level, seeing as how he could not even re-create a game he played against Cho. Lee fell short of expectations in Cho's assessment. Although he did not have the conventional wisdom of a Go genius, his deep reading and study abilities were of a different level. Lee stopped his attempts at playing brilliant moves and started playing more "common" moves instead. Lee often toys with opponents by playing a normal move that would help him read moves ahead, rather than a brilliant move where he could not read ahead as well. It has been said that Lee's style of play in his early career was to only beat his teacher. He was not as effective against other top players as he was against his teacher. This is one of the reasons why he was underestimated so much by other players, such as Cho Chikun. His playing style would prove to be effective after some time against anyone. It could be seen that Lee did not have what it took to match his teacher. Instead of taking the style of his teacher's natural brilliance and quick thinking, he chose magnicficent calculation and deep reading. Many are still unimpressed by Lee's style of Go, as it seems too simple. Is Lee's Time Over?
Unfortunately, Lee's style of play is being broken down. Even Cho Chikun said that Lee Sedol 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. His new style is still in experimentation. He trys to tightly grip on his opponents more often, but makes mistakes. When asked if Lee's era was over, his teacher Cho HunHyun simply replied "No,". He continued in 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 rest and one of them will come out on top. Current
After he was hit with losing the Samsung Cup to Luo Xihe, Lee came back and took the newly made Sibdang Cup against Park Young-Hoon. This was payback to Park after he beat Lee in the Prices Information Cup. This means Lee will face off against Cho Chikun in another newly created tournament, the Korea-Japan Judan. Lee won the 49th edition of Korea's oldest title, the Guksu. Lee has failed Japan twice this year in international tournaments, first in the Nongshim Cup, and then in the newly created Kangwon Cup. This is a change for Lee, considering he has always been there to win in for Korea in the past.[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Lee Chang-ho ]
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