Cho Chikun

Quick Facts

Full Name	Cho Chikun
Occupation	Go Professional
Date Of Birth	Jun 20, 1956(1956-06-20)
Age	68
Birthplace	Busan
Country	South Korea
Horoscope	Gemini

Cho Chikun Biography

Cho Chikun is one of the most popular and richest Go Professional who was born on June 20, 1956 in Busan, South Korea. Cho ended the year with a record of 25 victories and just 17 loss. which was tied for the 24th spot in Japan.

Cho was able to break through to shodan after he defeated Michihiko Azuma in the month of May in 1968. Cho was one of the youngest professional ever in the history of modern sports at the age of 11 and 8 months old. The same year, he was elevated to 2 dan , and appeared to be looking extremely promising. In just two-year period, he had risen to 4 Dan after winning nearly every Oteai game that was possible. He was 5 dan by 1971, just 15 years old.

Cho won the 5th Shin-Ei after beating Yasumasa Hane, who was an 8 dan at the time. Second prize was awarded to him after scoring an 83.75% winning percentage in the 5+ dan Oteai. He then took tenth place in the 11th Asahi Pro Best Ten tournament. He was also promoted to 6 dan in 1973 with a good record of 30 wins and 11 losses.

His most significant accomplishment of 1974 was qualifying for the 22nd Nihon Ki-in Championship, especially since this came after being beaten out of the Honinbo preliminaries by Takaho Kojima. He beat Kazuo Sometani, Masao Kato, Yoshio Ishida, and Rin Kaiho. His win against Ishida was something strange, as it came a week after Ishida achieved Meijin-Honinbo. He didn’t make it past the second game in the 18th Prime Minister Cup, which again went to Kobayashi. He then took revenge on Kobayashi by beating him in the 6th Shin-Ei. He was awarded a Special Merit Prize by Kido magazine after his most impressive record thus far of 33 wins and 9 losses.

His father was the one who taught him Go as he was a child. After spotting the talent of Cho his father, he sent Cho to Japan in the year 1962. The rise of Cho to become one of the best Go players started when he enrolled in Minoru Kitani’s Go academy. He was joined by the uncle of his parents Cho Namchul as well as Cho Shoen, his brother as he traveled for his destination at the Haneda Airport in Japan in the month of August 1962. He was just six years old young in the year 1962. In the airport, he met Minoru Kitani, his wife, a fellow student Kobayashi Chizu, as well as the master’s daughter Reiko Kitani (who was later married to Cho’s future opponent Koichi Kobayashi). After arriving in Japan Cho defeated Rin Kaiho, a handicap five stone game during a celebration by Kitani School. Kitani School to mark the total Dan ranks of Kitani students achieving a total of 100. A large number of people watched the match with great interest as if it was professional sports.

Cho Chikun Net Worth

Cho Chikun is one of the richest Go Professional from South Korea. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Cho Chikun 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

He ended the year with only one trophy that was his own NEC Cup. A record of an average that included 29 victories and 29 defeats. It was odd that Cho began the year without a major title which resulted in him receiving to be the 25th Honinbo. He was close to being the challenger in all three major titles of the year. He won his title in the NEC Cup and won the 34th Hayago Championship along with the Oza. An exhausting year for Cho and he ended the year with a total of 20 loss.

Cho Chikun Cho Chikun’s 25th Honinbo Cho Chikun 25th Honinbo Honorary Meijin (Korean: jocihun ; born on June 20th 1956, in Busan, South Korea) is a professional Go player as well as the nephew to Cho Namchul. The total of his titles of 75 awards is largest ever recorded in all the time of the Japanese Nihon Ki-in. Cho is the first player to hold the top three titles–Kisei, Meijin, and Honinbo–simultaneously which he did for three years in a row. Cho is the first player in history to win all the “Top 7” titles in Japan (Kisei, Meijin, Honinbo, Judan, Tengen, Oza, and Gosei) that he was able to achieve through getting the Oza in 1994. Cho U in 2011 and Iyama Yuta in 2013 could accomplish the same feat with the Kisei. Cho U is also among the “Six Supers” Japanese players who were famous in the latter half of the 20th century, alongside Rin Kaiho Otake Hideo Takemiya Masaki, Kato Masao and his arch-rival and classmate Kobayashi Koichi.

In 1972, the Go Review and Kido Yearbook released information on Cho Chihun. His name was well known before he was even allowed to drive. Although he had a great record of thirty wins and only six losses in this year, he lost twice to his rival Koichi Kobayashi in big tournaments—first the 4th Shin-Ei, which was even televised, and in the final of the 16th Prime Minister Cup. After a rocky start, Cho gained momentum, beating three top players, until he lost to Rin Kaiho, who was Meijin at the time, in the 9th Asahi Pro Best Ten tournament.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

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Who is Cho Chikun Dating?

According to our records, Cho Chikun is possibily single & has not been previously engaged. As of December 1, 2023, Cho Chikun’s is not dating anyone.

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He might have lost his newly won Gosei title, but he won what he was after: the Meijin title. Coincidentally, he won the title from Hideo Otake, who had taken Cho’s Gosei the same year. There are rumors that said that Cho vowed that after moving to Japan, he wouldn’t return to South Korea until the Meijin title was his. He made his first trip home on the New Year holiday in 1980 at the age of 24. He was a national hero in Korea now. He even played two games with Korean champion Cho Hunhyun. One was a quick Go game, while the other spanned an almost 18 hours over two days. Cho Chikun won both games. After losing both games, Cho Hunhyun vowed that he’d never lose to Cho Chikun again. From 1981 to 2003, Cho Hunhyun never lost to Chikun in all the games they played.

Facts & Trivia

Cho Ranked on the list of most popular Go Professional. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in South Korea. Cho Chikun celebrates birthday on June 20 of every year.

The Kisei title was defended by Cho in 1985. It went all the way, through all 7 games. There was a dramatic final where Takemiya Masaki had a huge moyo that was 120 points big. Cho was lucky, as his corners and side territory led him to a 1.5 point win. At the same time he had happiness, there was sadness as Kobayashi took the Meijin title which Cho had held for 5 years.