Yi Se-tol

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Lee Sedol

Lee Sedol (Hangul: 이세돌 RR?: I Se-dol, M-R: Yi Se-tol, born March 2, 1983) is a Korean 9-dan professional.

He is regarded by many as the best player in the world as of 2008, besting the former undisputed number 1, Yi Ch'ang-ho. Check out the [ext] Professional Go Rating information.

In June 2009, Lee Sedol announced that he will take a break from professional Go for one and a half years, with his return set for January 2011.

Table of contents

Major titles

Other Titles

Fourth spot in the number of international titles as of May 2005. (After Yi Ch'ang-ho, Cho Hun-hyeon and Yu Ch'ang-hyeok.)


Fan page and game archive: [ext] http://leesedol.go4go.net/
His page at Hanguk Kiwon: [ext] http://www.baduk.or.kr/information/info_player_profile_9dan.asp?gno=1119&ntn=1&gdiv=2
Interview: [ext] http://gogame.info/samples/1/index.html

Promotion History

  • 1995 Shodan
  • 1998 2nd dan
  • 1999 3rd dan
  • 2003 6th dan (March), for winning the 7th LG Cup
  • 2003 7th dan (May), for runner up in the KT Masters Cup
  • 2003 9th dan (July), for winning the 16th Fujitsu Cup and making him the youngest Korean 9d ever at this time

Samsung Cup 2004

Since he beat Lee Changho for the LG Cup in the early 2003, this was his first major win, domestic or international, and it is his 4th major international title. What is striking is his control of pace in the final match against Wang Xi 5d of China whose style is similar to that of Lee Changho. Instead of the usual aggressive style of slugging out from the very beginning, he demonstrates patience and balance waiting for a chance to crush the opponent in the mid game -- and he does. The second game was fun to watch. His fans will love his razor sharp attack into the mid game. Also, the semi-final match between Gu Li 7d of China and him is highly entertaining. After winning the first game, they play the second game like blitz (the first game was played quite quickly, as well), and Gu Li won before lunch break! Then, Lee turns deliberate and methodically defeats Gu Li in the decisive game.

Ascending the throne

Lee SeDol has been widely considered as a forerunner of the new Korean players who can challenge and even surpass Yi ChangHo. In 2003, he has proven it by winning two world competitions, the LG Cup and Fujitsu Cup. Perhaps more significant than just winning the titles, he defeated Yi ChangHo by 3-1 in the final of LG Cup. Considering that Yi ChangHo has been almost unbeatable in the finals, especially in a 5 game series, many consider it as a beginning of a new era of Korean Badook (Go), the truth of which we will have to wait and see.

2009-2010 Hiatus

In the first days of june, several korean sources claimed that Lee would take a 1.5 years period break. This information has since been confirmed by Sedol. The break is also partially the result of some disputes between Sedol and the Hanguk Kiwon. Sedol will start playing again in January 2011. [ext] See also here

Playing style

Lee is thought to be as talented as Cho HunHyun (known to be the most talented player of at least his generation). Lee is as intuitive. He is as quick and deep in reading. He is as lethal in battles. He is as masterful at creating and handling chaotic warfare.

However, the most interesting aspect of his game lies in his risk loving tendency. Most top ranking Go players would not jump into a showdown battle of uncertainty unless absolutely necessary. In that sense, they are risk averse.

For instance, Yi Chang Ho is the very definition of risk aversion. He is a master of defense. He is a master of transforming a chaos into a simple, orderly universe.

Yoo ChangHyuk has been considered as a most offensive minded player. However, his attacks are brought about only when he has a positional superiority (thickness). At the same time, his attacks are not designed to create decisive battles. He sticks to an old saying: "chase enemies leaving an escape route." Desperate enemies without an escape route present do or die struggles, and Yoo does not want the situation. In other words, Yoo's battles, by design, are a way to accumulate advantages, rarely a way to deliver a knock out blow. He is risk averse contrary to a popular belief.

Cho HunHyun has a style of Sugar Ray Leonard. He has dazzling footwork (soft wind -- fast movement both in the opening and in the mid-game development) and penetrating jabs followed by a knock out blow (a quick spear -- a ruthless thrust into the enemy's tinest weakness). As he suffered worst defeats by Yi Chang Ho, his own pupil, Cho's style has become even grittier earning a nickname of "God of War" (in order to deliver a fatal thrust in the mid-game and thus minimize the importance of the endgame at which Yi has no peer). Nevertheless, Cho's style still reflects that battles are "resultant of" positional struggles in the opening or in the mid-game. He has also said that he would seek a best move even if he were ahead, and the move added additional uncertainties and therefore risk. He is risk neutral.

Lee SeDol? is somewhat similar to Cho in style, which prompted some Korean critics to nickname him as "Little Cho." Lee does have an ability to deliver a quick, brilliant thrust of Cho's. At the same time, Lee and Cho have an uncanny resemblance in the ability to "shake" ("shaking," literally translated from a Korean expression, means waging chaotic all out battles at the end in an attempt to turn the tide of the war).

However, a critical difference between the two is that while Cho is more orthodox and conventional in his view of the mid-game such that battles are a consequence of positional struggles, Lee emphasizes battles such that positional struggles are simply a prelude of a decisive battle and can even be forsaken. It can often be observed that Lee engages in battles shortly after the opening without ensuring positional superiority nor out of necessity to make up for an inferior position. More often than one may suspect, positions are determined by the battles in Lee's games. At the same time, unlike Yoo (or Cho to some extent), Lee's vicious attacks are designed to be decisive instead of to be a way to maintain or shift positional superiority without engaging in do or die showdowns.

In other words, Lee is a risk lover. And that means exciting games for fans.

One interesting tidbit is that Lee's aggressive, risk taking style reflects a stereotype of Korean Go tradition which has been thought to be amateurish and inferior to all encompassing, well rounded, mostly risk averse modern styles (e.g., those of the Korean players mentioned above).

Weaknesses

Lee's weaknesses have also been exposed. First of all, his judgement of position is not of top notch -- again relatively speaking, that is. Perhaps because of this, he has chosen to live and die with showdown battles. Or, his aggressive disposition/preference and hence the style have prevented him from studying this particular aspect of the game. Whichever is true, it seems that the relative deficiency in perhaps the most important aspect of the game may prove to be his biggest obstacle to win consistently against top rated players.

Secondly, he appears to turn overly pessimistic when things do not go as he planned. Combined with the deficiency discussed above, this once led him to resign in 106 moves, and he was thought to be still ahead in the game even by his opponent. In other words, he can be emotional and displays the lack of objectivity from time to time. This tendency may prove to be another obstacle for him to win consistently.

Lastly, he is not as studious and relies too heavily upon his talent. This will hinder his growth as a Go player and may not help him to accommodate changes necessary to stay afloat in the long run. Yi ChangHo has been able to survive on the top over a decade mainly because his constant study of Go has deepened and broadened his game. Can Lee enjoy such longevity relying on talent alone? Considering that Cho HunHyun, a natural, had to redefine himself (and still is outclassed by Yi ChangHo) in order to survive the onslaught of the 90's in the Korean Go scene, Lee SeDol will have to further his game and possibly reinvent himself in the future.

At any rate, there is no doubt that Lee Se Dol is the most exciting player in Korea right now. He is explosive, creative, daring, powerful, and flamboyant. His game is strong enough to even psychologically affect YiChang Ho. His brilliance is radiant enough to beat Cho HunHyun eight times in a row. His palettes are diverse enough to have already won three world competitions and many fans (some of whom are so conservative that they would normally chide and defy a kid like Lee who lacks modesty and humility in a traditional sense).

Recommended games

  • [ext] The semi-final match of the 16th Fujitsu Cup between Lee and Yoda Norimoto. It is by no means a well played game by either player. Nevertheless, it is luminary of Lee's style and tendencies, good and bad. Shortly after the opening and some rudimentary development of sides, Lee starts complicating a situation. Yoda makes a mistake (or lets a big battle occur while taking material advantages). Lee splits Yoda's group and goes for the neck. Then, facing Yoda's skillful dodges, Lee turns pessimistic and settles for the lesser group of Yoda's (Lee could have ended the game by capturing the bigger group but somehow missed not so difficult capturing moves), which puts Lee into a deep trouble materially. Then, Lee engages in a rather complicated "shaking," and Yoda under time pressure makes a mistake. The game ends in favor of Lee by a half house (point).
  • Yi is known as one of the most creative players. See the highlights of his "weird" [ext] blitz game against Hong Chang-sik, which was also shown in the AGA newsletter with the title [ext] "Don't Try This at Home!". See Lee Sedol - Hong Chang Sik - ladder game.

This is a copy of the living page "Yi Se-tol" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2009 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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