Cho U

Table of contents Life Results as a professional Playing style Books

Life

Cho U (張 栩 Chō U, in Chinese: Zhang Xu, Pinyin: Zhāng Xǔ, in Korean: 장쉬 (Jang Shwi), born 20 January 1980), Nihon Ki-in 9 dan pro from Taiwan.

Cho U was a pupil of Rin Kaiho, is the husband of Kobayashi Izumi and the son-in-law of Kobayashi Koichi. He came to Japan at the age of 10, a behavior reminiscent of Rin Kaiho, Cho Chikun, Cho Shoen, and Cho Nam-ch'eol. Each of these professionals came to Japan at a young age to study go.

With his win in the 47th Judan, Cho became the first professional to simultaneously hold five of the seven major titles (considering the major titles since 1977). He also set a record by winning 30 titles by his 30th birthday, surpassing Cho Chikun who won his 30th title at age 32.

Results as a professional

• Winner of the 57th Oza title (2009)
• Winner of the 34th Gosei title (2009)
• Winner of the 47th Judan title (2009)
• Winner of the 56th Oza title (2008)
• Winner of the 34th Tengen title (2008)
• Winner of the 33th Meijin title (2008)
• Winner of the 32nd Meijin title (2007)
• Winner of the 31st through 33rd Gosei titles (2006-2008)
• Winner of 26th NEC title (2007)
• Winner of the 15th and 16th Ryusei titles (2006, 2007)
• Winner of the 13th, 14th and 15th Agon titles (2006, 2007, 2008)
• Winner of the 53rd Oza title (2005)
• Winner of the 30th Meijin title (2005)
• Winner of 17th Asian TV Cup (2005)
• Winner of 9th LG Cup title (2005)
• Winner of 52nd NHK Cup (2005)
• Winner of 24th NEC title (2005)
• Winner of 52nd Oza title (2004)
• Winner of 29th Meijin title (2004)
• Challenger for 42nd Judan title (2004)
• Winner of 59th Honinbo title (2004)
• Winner of 58th Honinbo title (2003)
• Winner of 51st Oza title (2003)
• Winner of 27th Shinjin O (2002)
• Winner of 49th NHK Cup (2002)
• Challenger for 56th Honinbo title (2001)

His winning record in 2002 was 70-14, a new record for wins (64 in 2001 by Hane Naoki). He was #1 in wins in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

In 2009-12-17, Cho U obtained 700 wins in his carreer (36th pro of the Nihon Kiin). His record is: 700 wins, 254 losses, 2 jigos, 1 no result. Cho is also the youngest pro with 30 titles.

valerio: from 2009-06 to 2010-03, Cho will play six title matches for a big title in one year. This record was set by Kobayashi Koichi in 1992.

Playing style

Michael Redmond 9p has this to say about Cho U's style:

"Cho U, the current Honinbo, is a very territory-oriented player, and it's almost like his weak groups are charmed, they don't die: it's almost impossible to kill a group of his. I actually beat him once, when he had two weak groups on the board, both of them lived but I managed to win that game. His reading is extremely deep, better than most of the top players. His specialty is creating small tsume-go problems that are very difficult for even the pros to solve, and he can make them very quickly."[1]

Game two of the 30th Meijin (2005) is a good example of a giant "charmed" group.

Books

Cho U is the author of the following books:

• Cho U's Tsumego: Difficult Tsumego Made Easy
• Cho U no Tokusen Tsumego

[1] January 14, 2004 AGA E-Journal