Lee Sedol - Gu Li rivalry

Introduction

China's Gu Li & S. Korea's Lee Se-dol formed the 21st century's first international rivalry, contesting the status of unofficial world's strongest.^[1] As of January 2019, the two players have officially played each other in 51 games. The score is 25-25. A no result occurred in one match, which was the result of a rare quadruple ko position.

According to An Young-gil 8p, Gu Li displays his superior opening skills and timing of initiating fights, while Yi Se-tol displays his tenacity and superior endgame technique. Both excel in complex fighting, but with Yi having a slight edge.

On the other hand, the endgame has presented itself as a weakness for Gu Li, being the cause of at least a few of his losses against Lee Se-dol. In fact, all but one of the ten games which did not end with resignation were won by Yi, including four half-point finishes. Most recently was the 2012 Samsung Cup, wherein Gu twice had the advantage coming into the late middlegame, but due to endgame mistakes wasn't able to carry either to a victory.

Ten Game Match

In 2013, a 10-game match (aka jubango) was scheduled between the two players for the following year. The prize money was allotted as 5,000,000-yuan for the winner and 200,000-yuan for the loser, and was sponsored by MLily.

2014 Schedule

1. 26 January, Beijing
2. 23 February, Shanghai
3. 30 March, Chengdu, Sichuan province
4. 27 April, Shinan, Korean
5. 25 May Xianggelila, Yunnan province
6. 27 July, Liuan, Anhui province
7. 31 August, Lasa, Tibet
8. 28 September, Chongqing
9. 26 October, Hongkong
10. 30 November, Wuhu, Anhui province

Games

Their encounters can be organized into four categories: the China Weiqi League, International Individual Titles, International Team Titles, and Other. Victor marked in bold.

Game #	Year	Event	White	Black	Result	Notes	Commentaries
1	2004-06-17	2004 China Weiqi League, Division A, Round 9	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	B+2.75		at SL
2	2004-11-16	9th Samsung Cup, Semi-final, Game 1	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	W+R		at SL
3	2004-11-18	9th Samsung Cup, Semi-final, Game 2	Gu Li	Lee Se-dol	W+R		at SL
4	2004-11-19	9th Samsung Cup, Semi-final, Game 3	Gu Li	Lee Se-dol	B+R		at SL
5	2005-05-03	4th CSK Cup, Round 3	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	W+2.5
6	2005-08-06	2005 China Weiqi League, Division A, Round 9	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	W+0.25
7	2005-10-19	10th LG Cup, Semi-final	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	B+R
8	2005-12-10	2005 China Weiqi League, Division A, Round 20	Gu Li	Lee Se-dol	W+R
9	2006-05-03	5th CSK Cup, Round 3	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	B+R
10	2006-06-10	2006 China Weiqi League, Division A, Round 10	Gu Li	Lee Se-dol	W+R
11	2006-11-11	2006 China Weiqi League, Division A, Round 16	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	W+R
12	2007-10-13	2007 China Weiqi League, Division A, Round 13	Gu Li	Lee Se-dol	B+R
13	2008-06-07	21st Fujitsu Cup, Quarter-final	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	B+R
14	2008-06-21	2008 China Weiqi League, Division A, Round 11	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	W+R
15	2009-02-19	10th Nongshim Cup, Game 13	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	W+3.5
16	2009-02-23	13th LG Cup Final, Game 1	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	B+R
17	2009-02-25	13th LG Cup Final, Game 2	Gu Li	Lee Se-dol	W+R
18	2009-06-27	2009 China Weiqi League, Division A, Round 8	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	W+R
19	2009-08-29	Ancient Phoenix City World Summit (Fenghuang Special)	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	W+2.25
20	2010-04-14	23rd Fujitsu Cup, Round 3	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	W+R
21	2010-06-07	15th LG Cup, Round 1	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	B+R
22	2010-10-14	15th Samsung Cup, Quarter-final	Gu Li	Lee Se-dol	W+R
23	2011-04-23	3rd B.C. Card Cup Final, Game 1	Gu Li	Lee Se-dol	W+R
24	2011-04-24	3rd B.C. Card Cup Final, Game 2	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	W+R
25	2011-04-26	3rd B.C. Card Cup Final, Game 3	Gu Li	Lee Se-dol	B+R
26	2011-04-27	3rd B.C. Card Cup Final, Game 4	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	B+R		at GoGameGuru
27	2011-04-28	3rd B.C. Card Cup Final, Game 5	Gu Li	Lee Se-dol	B+R		at GoGameGuru
28	2011-05-17	1st Bosai Cup, Round 2	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	B+R
29	2012-09-05	17th Samsung Cup, Round 2	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	NR	Quadruple ko	at GoGameGuru
30	2012-09-05	17th Samsung Cup, Round 2	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	B+R	Their re-match on the same day	at SL
31	2012-09-16	1st Guilin Cup Final	Gu Li	Lee Se-dol	W+R
32	2012-12-11	17th Samsung Cup Final, Game 1	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	W+0.5		at SL at GoGameGuru
33	2012-12-12	17th Samsung Cup Final, Game 2	Gu Li	Lee Se-dol	W+R		at SL at GoGameGuru
34	2012-12-13	17th Samsung Cup Final, Game 3	Gu Li	Lee Se-dol	B+0.5		at SL
35	2013-03-20	2013 Tianxin Pharmaceutical Cup	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	W+R	Exhibition match
36	2013-10-20	2013 China Weiqi League, Division A, Round 17	Gu Li	Lee Se-dol	B+R		at SL
37	2014-01-26	2014 Jubango first game	Gu Li	Lee Se-dol	B+R		at SL at GoGameGuru
38	2014-02-23	2014 Jubango second game	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	W+0.5		at SL at GoGameGuru
39	2014-03-23	4th Zhaoshang Cup, Round 2	Gu Li	Lee Se-dol	W+R
40	2014-03-27	10th Chunlan, Round 2	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	B+R
41	2014-03-30	2014 Jubango third game	Gu Li	Lee Se-dol	W+R		at SL at GoGameGuru
42	2014-04-27	2014 Jubango fourth game	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	B+R		at SL at GoGameGuru
43	2014-05-24	2014 Jubango fifth game	Gu Li	Lee Se-dol	B+R		at GoGameGuru
44	2014-07-27	2014 Jubango sixth game	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	W+R		at GoGameGuru
45	2014-08-31	2014 Jubango seventh game	Gu Li	Lee Se-dol	B+R		at GoGameGuru
46	2014-09-28	2014 Jubango eight game	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	W+2.5	Final game of jubango: Lee 6-2	at SL
47	2015-06-13	17th Chinese City League A, round 7	Gu Li	Lee Se-dol	W+R
48	2015-10-28	17th Chinese City League A, round 18	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	B+R
49	2016-05-30	21st LG Cup, round 1	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	W+R
50	2018-07-16	20th Chinese League A, round 10	Lee Se-dol	Gu Li	B+5.5
51	2018-11-09	20th Chinese League A, round 23	Gu Li	Lee Se-dol	B+R

Statistics after 51 Games

• Gu/Lee Standings: 25-25 and 1 void game
• Gu/Lee takes Black: 29|22
• Wins with White/Black: 27|23
  • Gu wins with White: 12/22 or 54.5%
  • Gu wins with Black: 13/29 or 44.8%
  • Lee wins with White: 15/29 or 51.7%
  • Lee wins with Black: 10/22 or 45.5%
• Wins by Resignation/Half a point/Other gap: 39|5|6
  • Gu/Lee wins by no resignation: 1|10
  • White/Black wins by no resignation: 7|4

Notes

[1] Other international rivalries for the status of world's strongest have preceded this one, such as Yi Ch'ang-ho & Ma Xiaochun in the mid 1990s.

• Games kifu