Ke Jie

Keywords: People

Ke Jie (柯洁 / 柯潔 / Kē Jié ) was born on 2 August 1997, to father Ke Guofan and mother Zhou Liuping, in Liandu District, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province in China^[1]). He is a leading Chinese professional 9-dan. Between September 2015 and March 2017 he was the highest-rated player in the world according to [ext] goratings.org ^[2]. On the [ext] 2025-01-15 rating list, Ke Jie is #3 in the world and #2 in China (Behind only Shin Jinseo and Wang Xinghao.

In July 2014, he broke into the top 10 in the Chinese pro ratings list after his performance at the 16th Ahan Tongshan Cup, and was subsequently promoted to 9-dan the same year.

Ke Jie in April 2017

Table of contents
Rank Promotion

Titles

Runners-up

Head to head scores against leading rivals

Personal Life

Fun Facts

Loss by unusual foul

Links

Videos

Pictures

References

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Rank Promotion

2008: 1-dan
2010: 2-dan
2011: 3-dan
2012: 4-dan
2014: 9-dan

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Titles

2014: 16th Ahan Tongshan Cup (d. Tang Weixing 9p)
2015: 15th Liguang Cup (Ricoh Cup) (d. Shi Yue 9p)
2015: 2nd Bailing Cup (d. Qiu Jun 9p 3-2)
2015: 20th Samsung Cup (d. Shi Yue 9p 2-0)
2015: 11th Qiwang (d. Fan Yunruo 4p)
2016: 2nd Mlily Cup (d. Lee Sedol 9p 3-2)
2016: 18th Ahan Tongshan Cup (d. Chen Yaoye 9p)
2016: 21st Samsung Cup (d. Tuo Jiaxi 9p 2-1)
2017: Weiqi Rally Tournament (d. Tuo Jiaxi 9p)
2017: Go at National Games of PRC
2017: 4th Limin Cup (d. Xu Jiayang 6p)
2017: Men’s Individual at 2017 IMSA Elite Mind Games (d. Park Junghwan)
2017: 1st Shinyao/ENN cup (d. Peng Liyao)
2018: 23rd Samsung Cup (d. An Kukhyun 8p 2-1)
2019: 4th Bailing Cup (d. Shin Jinseo 9p 2-0)
2019: 4th Qisheng (l. Lian Xiao 2–1)
2019: 16th Changqi Cup (d. Zhou Ruiyang 2-0)
2020: 25th Samsung Cup (d. Shin Jinseo 2-0)
2021: 5th Qisheng (d. Shi Yue 2-0)
2025: Runner-up of 29th LG cup (l. Byun Sangil 1–2, and he had won all 6 previous games before this final. See below for foul controversy.)

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Runners-up

2014 28th Tianyuan (l. Chen Yaoye 1–2)
2016 6th Quzhou-Lanke Cup (l. Mi Yuting)
2018 7th Quzhou-Lanke Cup (l. Tan Xiao)
2019 3rd World GO Championship (l. Park Junghwan)
2021 29th LG cup (l. Shin Minjun 1–2)
2012 1st Guoshou (l. Ding Hao)
2023 33rd Mingren (l. Mi Yuting 1–2)
2023 2nd Guoshou (l. Ding Hao 0–2)

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Head to head scores against leading rivals

Based on [ext] Ke Jie, Go ratings, as of 22 Jan 2025.

Shin Jinseo, World and Korean #1: 11–15
Wang Xinghao, World #2, China #1: 3–4
Ding Hao, #4 in world, #3 in China: 7–11
Park Jung Hwan, World #5, Korea #2: 17–16
Yang Dingxin, World #6, China #3: 10–6
Dang Yifei, World #7, China #5: 11–4
Li Xuanhao, World #8, China #6: 10–2
Li Weiqing, World #9, China #7: 6–0
Li Qincheng, World #10, China #4: 7–5
Byun Sangil, World #11, Korea #3: 7–2
Ichiriki Ryo, World #12, Japan #1: 7–3
Iyama Yuta, World #13, Japan #2: 4–2
Zhao Chenyu, World #21 (recently #11): 6–6
Gu Zihao, World #24 (recently $5), China #3: 7–8

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Personal Life

In 2019, he enrolled as a student at Tsinghua University majoring in Business Administration.^[3]
In December 2022 he started a restaurant business opening a Cantonese restaurant in Hangzhou. ^[4]

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Fun Facts

He is unusually active in social media for a high level professional Go player.
His character and personal life, combined with his success in Go, have made him somewhat of a celebrity. He has an unusually large number of fans as well as a fair share of critics.
He plays his Go stones with his right hand, but seems to eat his food with the chopsticks on his left hand.
He is good friends with Lian Xiao. They turned pro in the same year and they do things together in the free time. For example in June 2023 they went to camping together ( bilibili video) and in July 2023 they participated in a cooking competition ( bilibili video)
His winning percentage with White is over twice as high as with Black, and gained a reputation as the world’s best player with White, at least up to 2018.

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Loss by unusual foul

In the second game of the 29th LG Cup finals, he lost his first ever game against Byun Sangil after winning all seven of their previous games (including the first game in this final). His first loss was by an [ext] unusual type of foul. Under the new Korean championship rules, players must place captured stones in a stone box where they are clearly visible. Under Chinese rules, prisoners are not counted, just board stones and territory, so Ke was not used to it. The first time, he was penalized two points, and the second, he was forfeited. Thus Byun scored his first ever win over Ke, and tied the match 1–1. Protests by the Chinese delegation were to no avail.

Ke lost R2 that way, then refused to continue after the first penalty two-point penalty in R3 (BAD URL -- remove all <, >, ", and space.

This harsh rule has generated much anger among Chinese Go fans. Ke Jie boycotted the award ceremony and the Chinese Go Association refuses to accept the result. The KBA is having second thoughts, [ext] apologizing that its new rules brought the event into disrepute, and hopes to restore good relations with the Chinese Go community.

In early Feb 2025, the KBA [ext] repealed this rule.

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Links

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Videos

A clip from a match Xie Yimin&Iyama Yuuta vs Ke Jie&Yu Zhiying in 2017 Pair Go World Cup where the players couldn't stop from laughing. bilibili link
A post-game interview after LG Cup quarter-final victory over Park Junghwan on 7th November 2021. YouTube link
An interview in a show called "Situation" (《局面》经典节目) in 2021. YouTube link
Interview of Ke Jie, Lian Xiao, Tuo Jiaxi, Jiang Weijie and Chang Hao in March 2021. Ke’s part starts at the begin. bilibili link