Cho Hun-hyun | |
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Member of the National Assembly | |
Assumed office 30 May 2016 |
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Constituency | Proportional representation |
Personal details | |
Political party | Saenuri Party |
Cho Hunhyun | |
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Full name | Cho Hunhyun |
Nickname | The God of War |
Hangul | 조훈현 |
Hanja | 曺薰鉉 |
Revised Romanization | Jo Hun-hyeon |
McCune–Reischauer | Cho Hun-hyŏn |
Born |
Mokpo, South Jeolla, South Korea |
10 March 1953
Residence | Seoul, South Korea |
Teacher |
Kensaku Segoe, Hideyuki Fujisawa |
Turned pro | 1962 (Korea) 1966 (Japan) |
Rank | 9 dan |
Affiliation | Hanguk Kiwon |
Cho Hunhyun (Korean: 조훈현;born 10 March 1953) 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 (21) and Lee Sedol (15). He reached 1,000 career wins in 1995.
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 1st Daejoo Cup in 2010.