Cho Hunhyun is a South Korean 9-dan professional Go player. Considered one of the greatest players of all-time, Cho reached professional level in Korea in 1962. Since then, Cho has amassed 150 professional titles, more than any player in the world. He thrice held all of the open tournaments in Korea in 1980, 1982 and 1986. Cho has also won 11 international titles, third most in the world behind Lee Chang-ho and Lee Sedol. He reached 1,000 career wins in 1995.
Early life (1962–1982)
Cho began learning Go at the age of four and passed the test for becoming a professional in 1962. In 1963, Cho was invited to Japan. Originally intended to study under Minoru Kitani, Kensaku Segoe took Cho under his tutelage. Segoe was responsible for bringing Go Seigen to Japan and also teaching Utaro Hashimoto, founder of the Kansai Ki-in. Cho was considered a 2 dan professional in Korea, but was demoted to 4 kyu upon arriving in Japan. Cho passed the Nihon Ki-in professional exam three years later and became the first player to hold professional certificates from two Go associations. It was at this time when Cho was introduced to Hideyuki Fujisawa. Fujisawa began mentoring Cho, and the two kept a friendly relationship between each other until Fujisawa's death in 2009. Cho participated in some Japanese tournaments, finishing runner-up to Takaho Kojima in the 3rd Shin-Ei tournament. In 1972, Cho returned to Korea to begin mandatory military service. Cho won his first title in 1973, defeating Kim In in the 14th Chaegowi. That same year, Cho lost his first title to rival Seo Bongsoo in the 6th Myungin. Since 1973, Cho and Seo have met 65 times in the finals of tournaments, with Cho winning 53 of them. Their most recent title match-up came in the 1stDaejoo Cup in 2010. Cho continued winning several titles, including the Paewang in 1977, a title he defended sixteen straight times until 1992. In 1980, he held nine titles simultaneously: Guksu, Myungin, Wangwi, Kisung, Paewang, Kiwang, Daewang, Jaewang and the Baccus Cup. Cho repeated this twice, in 1982 and 1986, winning ten and eleven titles respectively. Despite winning several titles, Cho wasn't considered the best Korean player at the time. Instead, the media favored Cho Chikun, a Korean-born 9 dan professional in Japan. In 1980, Cho Chikun visited South Korea after winning the Meijin title and the two began a friendship match consisting of two games. The two game series was played on 31 December 1980 and 2 January 1981 with Hunhyun losing both games. From 1981 until Hunhyun's loss in the 8thSamsung Cup, Cho Hunhyun didn't lose a match to Cho Chikun.
First Korean 9 dan (1982–2004)
In 1982, Cho was promoted to 9 dan, becoming the first Korean 9 dan. Cho was the sole Korean player invited to the 1st Ing Cup, which featured nine players from the Nihon Ki-in and six players from China. Cho was matched up with Taiwanese-born Japanese professional O Meien in the first round. Cho won the match and went on to defeat Koichi Kobayashi in the quarter-finals. He then met another Taiwanese-born Japanese professional Rin Kaiho in the semi-final. Cho won the best-of-three match in two games and progressed to the final to face Nie Weiping in a best-of-five final. Cho won the first game, but Nie went on to win the next two. The match came down to a fifth and final deciding game, with Cho winning by resignation. In 1984, Cho began teaching Lee Chang-ho. Two years later, Lee became a professional and began challenging Cho. By 1989, Lee defeated Cho for the first time in a title final by winning the 29th Chaegowi. In 1992, he lost the Paewang title to Lee after defending it for sixteen consecutive years. Their rivalry would continue until 2003, when Lee won the 34th Myungin. As of 16 June 2011, the score between the two in title finals is Lee 47–19 Cho.
2018, , is a 2015 autobiography written by Korean, professional 9-dan Cho Hunhyun and translated by You Jungmin. The original Korean edition was published in 2015 and the English edition as was published in 2018. It features a collection of eight thematic stories and self-reflections about go and life. Since he became a professional Go player at the age of nine, he has won 1,935 matches and taken various championship titles as many as 160 times over 56 years, achieving unprecedented record in the world Go history. Now, he gives what he has learned through his life, the essence of how to train our heart and mind.
