LG Cup
The international LG Cup, begun in 1996, is the successor to the discontinued Korean domestic Kiwang title. For the 29th Edn, the full name of the tournament is LG Cup Chosun Ilbo Giwangjeon.
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Prizes, format, and country wins
The winners prize is ₩300 million (about $US209,000), while the runner-up receives ₩100 million (about $US70,000).
The main event is a 32-player knockout tournament, leading up to a best of three (was best of five before 11th cup) final match. Time limits are 3 hours main time with 5 periods of one minute byo-yomi (2014 cup has 5 periods of 40 seconds byo-yomi).
In the 28 competitions held so far, a Korean has won the most with 14 times, a Chinese player has won 12 times, a Japanese representative twice, and a Taiwanese player once.
Previous Winners and Runners-up
(See also LG cup, Go to Everyone)
# | Timeline | Winner | Country | Runner-up | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | (Jun 1996 May 1997) | Yi Ch'ang-ho | 🇰🇷 | Yu Ch'ang-hyeok | 30 |
2nd | (Jun 1997 Mar 1998) | O Rissei | 🇯🇵 | Yu Ch'ang-hyeok | 32 |
3rd | (Jun 1998 May 1999) | Yi Ch'ang-ho | 🇰🇷 | Ma Xiaochun | 30 |
4th | (Jun 1999 May 2000) | Yu Bin | 🇨🇳 | Yu Ch'ang-hyeok | 31 |
5th | (Jun 2000 May 2001) | Yi Ch'ang-ho | 🇰🇷 | Yi Se-tol | 32 |
6th | (Jun 2001 Apr 2002) | Yu Ch'ang-hyeok | 🇰🇷 | Cho Hun-hyeon | 32 |
7th | (Apr 2002 Mar 2003) | Yi Se-Tol | 🇰🇷 | Yi Ch'ang-ho | 31 |
8th | (Jun 2003 Apr 2004) | Yi Ch'ang-ho | 🇰🇷 | Mok Chin-Seok | 31 |
9th | (May 2004 Apr 2005) | Cho U | 🇯🇵 | Yu Bin | 31 |
10th | (May 2005 Apr 2006) | Gu Li | 🇨🇳 | Chen Yaoye | 3-2 |
11th | (May 2006 Mar 2007) | Zhou Junxun | 🇹🇼 | Hu Yaoyu | 21 |
12th | (May 2007 Feb 2008) | Yi Se-Tol | 🇰🇷 | Han Sanghoon | 21 |
13th | (May 2008 Feb 2009) | Gu Li | 🇨🇳 | Yi Se-Tol | 2-0 |
14th | (May 2009 Feb 2010) | Kong Jie | 🇨🇳 | Yi Ch'ang-ho | 20 |
15th | (May 2010 Feb 2011) | Piao Wenyao | 🇨🇳 | Kong Jie | 2-0 |
16th | (May 2011 Feb 2012) | Jiang Weijie | 🇨🇳 | Yi Ch'ang-ho | 20 |
17th | (May 2012 Feb 2013) | Shi Yue | 🇨🇳 | Won Sungjin | 20 |
18th | (May 2013 Feb 2014) | Tuo Jiaxi | 🇨🇳 | Zhou Ruiyang | 21 |
19th | (June 2014 Feb 2015) | Park Junghwan | 🇰🇷 | Kim Ji Seok | 21 |
20th | (June 2015 Feb 2016) | Kang Dongyun | 🇰🇷 | Park Yeonghun | 21 |
21st | (May 2016 Feb 2017) | Dang Yifei | 🇨🇳 | Zhou Ruiyang | 20 |
22nd | (May 2017 Feb 2018) | Xie Erhao | 🇨🇳 | Iyama Yuta | 21 |
23rd | (May 2018 Feb 2019) | Yang Dingxin | 🇨🇳 | Shi Yue | 21 |
24th | (May 2019 Feb 2020) | Shin Jinseo | 🇰🇷 | Park Junghwan | 20 |
25th | (June 2020 Feb 2021) | Shin Minjun | 🇰🇷 | Ke Jie | 21 |
26th | (May 2021 Feb 22) | Shin Jinseo | 🇰🇷 | Yang Dingxin | 20 |
27th | (May 2022 Feb 23) | Ding Hao | 🇰🇷 | Yang Dingxin | 20 |
28th | (May 2023 Feb 24) | Shin Jinseo | 🇰🇷 | Byun Sang-il | 20 |
29th | (May 2024 Jan 25) | Byun Sangil | 🇰🇷 | Ke Jie | 21 |
29th edition finishing in 2025, rules controversy
For the 29th edition, Byun Sangil 9p and Ke Jie 9p reached the finals on 2024-10-02. The top seed and defending champion Shin Jinseo 9p had an upset loss to Han Sangcho, then-6p now-7p, in R2. Han was defeated by Ke Jie in R3.
The final match started on 2025-01-20 with a win to Ke Jie (B+2.5); he had also won all 6 of their previous games against Byun Sangil.
But then Byun won the next two by a strange type of foul. Under controversial new Korean rules, a player must deposit a captured stone on a lid, so it is visible to both, so score can be worked out accurately. The first violation resulted in a two-point penalty, and the second, automatic forfeit. Ke Jie is used to Chinese scoring, where prisoners dont count as such. Ke lost R2 that way, then refused to continue after the first penalty two-point penalty in R3 ( he was already losing by over 20 points on the board after an earlier big mistake). The
Go to Everyone page scored R2 as B+F and R3 as W+A to reflect the different circumstances of the disqualification losses.
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,
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 repealed this rule.