Cho Hun-hyeon
Cho Hun-hyeon (조훈현)
Cho Hun-hyeon (Hangul: 조훈현, Hanja: 曹薰鉉, Cho Hunhyun, b. 10 March 1953) is a Korean, professional 9-dan. He is commonly held as one of the greatest players of all-time, having amassed more titles & played and won more games than any other professional. He was the highest rated player in the world from ![[ext]](images/extlink.gif)
1983 to 1990. His total score (as of 29 Jun 2025) is 2,822 games, 1966 wins, 847 losses, for a 69.9% win rate.
Cho Hun-hyeon is also responsible for having been the main teacher of one of the other greatest players of all time, Yi Ch'ang-ho, the highest rated player in the world from 1991 to 2006. Reflecting on their relationship, Cho said:
“Looking back now, Chang-ho was originally a very great kid, so I absolutely do not think that I raised him, but the fact that Chang-ho learned from me is an honor beyond pride, and I feel happy that I contributed greatly to the world of Baduk through Chang-ho.”
| Table of contents |
Go career highlights
- 1962: He became the world’s youngest pro at 9 years old via the Hankuk Kiwon.
- 1963: He went to Japan to become a pupil of Segoe Kensaku, and was initially ranked as a 4 kyu insei. Japanese reading of his name was Sō Kungen.
- 1966: Passed the insei league honsen to make it decided that he was pro (July).
- 1967: Achieved 1 dan pro at the Nihon Ki-in at age 14.
- 1972: Back to Korea. Hankuk Kiwon admitted him as 5 dan, which was his ranking at the Nihon Ki-in.
- 1980: Winner of all the domestic titles (9 titles).
- 1982: He became the first 9 dan ever in Hankuk Kiwon. Winner of all the domestic titles (10 titles).
- 1986: Winner of all the domestic titles (11 titles).
- 1990: Winner of the 1st Ing Cup (d. Nie Weiping).
- 1994: Winner of the 5th Tong Yang Securities Cup (d. Yoda Norimoto) and the 7th Fujitsu Cup (d. Yu Ch'ang-hyeok).
- 1995: Earned 1000th win at Hankuk Kiwon.
- 1997: Winner of the 8th Tong Yang Securities Cup (d. Kobayashi Satoru).
- 1999: Winner of the 1st Chunlan Cup (d. Yi Ch'ang-ho).
- 2000: Winner of the 13th Fujitsu Cup (d. Chang Hao).
- 2001: Winner of the 14th Fujitsu Cup (d. Ch'oe Myeong-hun) and the 6th Samsung Cup (d. Chang Hao).
- 2002: Winner of the 7th Samsung Cup (d. Wang Lei Sr.).
- 2010: Winner of the 1st Daejoo Cup (d. Seo Bongsoo). Daejoo was the title #158 in Cho’s carreer.
- 2013-09-02: Earned 1900th win at Hankuk Kiwon, beating Choi Jung in the 7th Auction Cup.
- 2013: Winner of the 4th Daejoo Cup (d. Choi Kyubyeong). Daejoo was the title #159 in Cho's carreer.
Books
- Biography: GoWithTheFlow
Personal life
Cho has been married to Jeong Mi-hwa for many years. They have one son (Cho Min-je) and two daughters (first daughter Cho Yoon-sun, second daughter Cho Seung-hee).
![[Welcome to Sensei's Library!]](images/stone-hello.png "Sensei's Library")