| Cho U | |
|---|---|
| Full name | U Chō |
| Chinese | Trad. 張栩Simp. 张栩 |
| Pinyin | Zhāng Xǔ |
| Born | (1980-01-20)20 January 1980 (age 45) Taipei,Taiwan |
| Residence | Tokyo,Japan |
| Teacher | Rin Kaiho |
| Turned pro | 1994 |
| Rank | 9 dan |
| Affiliation | Nihon Ki-in; Tokyo branch |
| Cho U | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 張栩 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 张栩 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Japanese name | |||||||||||
| Kanji | 張栩 | ||||||||||
| Kana | ちょう う | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Cho U (simplified Chinese:张栩;traditional Chinese:張栩;pinyin:Zhāng Xǔ;Wade–Giles:Chang Hsu; born on 20 January 1980) is a Taiwanese professionalGo player. He currently ranks 6th in the most titles won by a Japanese professional; hisNEC Cup win in 2011 put him past his teacherRin Kaiho andNorimoto Yoda. Cho is the first player in history to have held five of the top seven major titles simultaneously withIyama Yuta being the second. Cho U,Naoki Hane,Keigo Yamashita andShinji Takao make up the group of players in Japan called the "Four Heavenly Kings". His wife is one of Japan's best female go professionals,Izumi Kobayashi, thegreat Kitani's granddaughter and daughter ofKobayashi Koichi.[1]
Cho U was born inTaipei, Taiwan. He began playingpoker andbridge as a young child. Cho's father Chang Yuen-hsi taught him to play Go, and he began beating family members by the age of three.[2] He creditsShen Chun-shan as one of his early Go teachers; he first played against Shen at age seven. Shen was impressed by the young Cho's skill and introduced his family toRin Kaiho.[3]
He earned a spot in the 13thFujitsu Cup in 2000 through the qualifying tournament. In his first game, Cho defeated Dutch amateur 7 dan Rob van Zeijst. In the second round, Cho defeated former number one Chinese representativeMa Xiaochun. Cho lost toMok Jin-seok in the quarter-finals.[4] In May 2000, Cho won a place in the25th Kisei, the first edition to feature a league system. Cho was the youngest player in the league at 20 years.[5] He finished the league with a record of three wins and three losses.[6] Later in the year, Cho qualified for the 56thHoninbo league. He missed out on qualifying for the 26thMeijin league when he lost toHideki Komatsu in the last qualifying round.[7] Cho finished the year with the second best record behindKeigo Yamashita with 53 wins, 12 losses and one jigo.[8] He also won the Kido award for the best winning percentage (81.1%).[9] Cho was promoted to 7 dan on 16 April 2001.[10]
Cho finished the 56th Honinbo league with a record of five wins and two losses. In an interview after his last match, Cho said "It feels strange to become the challenger after losing my game. I was really happy when I won five games in a row, but losing successive games leaves me with regrets. I'm very fortunate to be able to appear on the important stage of a best-of-seven title match."[11] Cho won the first match, but title holderO Meien won the seventh and final game of the series.[12] Cho collected ¥26,985,000 in prize money in 2001.[13] In February 2002, Cho won one of Japan's seven non-seeded spots in the 1stWorld Oza.[14] His first title came the following month when he won the 49thNHK Cup. Cho broke the record for youngest winner of the title. After winning the title, Go journalist John Power commented, "Cho U is surely going to develop into one of the dominant players on the Japanese go scene. He is calm, has excellent concentration and reads very well -- in fact, he seems to relish reading out difficult fights. Perhaps his greatest weapon may be his outstanding positional judgement: he is already reputed to be one of the fastest and most accurate players at summing up a position."[15]
Cho was a member of the Japanese team in the 4thNongshim Cup.[16] In October 2002, Cho qualified for his first Meijin league.[17] At the close of the 2002 season, Cho set a record with 70 wins in a year.[18] He was awarded the Shusai Prize for his record-breaking year.[19] After unsuccessfully challenging for the Honinbo title the previous year, Cho won his first major title on 11 July 2003 by defeatingKato Masao in six games for the 58th Honinbo. Cho set three records with his win: third youngest major title winner, second youngest Honinbo and youngest Japanese 9 dan.[20] Cho metMasao Kato, the player he defeated for the Honinbo, twice more in 2003 when they faced off in theAgon Cup final and theOza challenger final. Cho lost the Agon Cup final, but earned the right to faceO Meien in the Oza final.[21][22] Cho won the title in four games, making the Oza his second major title.[23]
Cho would go on to win each major at least once: theMeijin in 2004, theGosei in 2006, theTengen in 2008, theJudan in 2009 and theKisei in 2010.[24] In 2004, Cho became the third player in history to earn over ¥100 million in a year, afterCho Chikun andKoichi Kobayashi.[25] After defeatingYu Bin in the final of the9th LG Cup, Cho U won his first international title and the first Japanese international win since Cho Chikun'sSamsung Cup title in 2003.[26] Cho lead the top prize winners list in 2010 with ¥90,499,000 ($1,120,250.25 as of 28 June 2011).[27] In May 2011, Cho donated ¥15,000,000 from his Kisei prize money to victims of the2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.[28]
| Rank | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 dan | 1994 | |
| 2 dan | 1994 | |
| 3 dan | 1995 | |
| 4 dan | 1996 | |
| 5 dan | 1997 | |
| 6 dan | 1999 | |
| 7 dan | 2001 | DefeatedSo Yokoku in anOteai game.[10] |
| 8 dan | 2003 | Promoted from 7 dan to 8 dan for reaching theHoninbo finals.[29] |
| 9 dan | 2003 | Promoted from 8 dan to 9 dan for winning the 58th Honinbo.[20] |
Ranks 7th intotal number of titles won in Japan.
| Domestic | ||
|---|---|---|
| Title | Wins | Runners-up |
| Kisei | 3 (2010–2012) | 1 (2013) |
| Meijin | 5 (2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2018) | 3 (2006, 2009, 2019) |
| Honinbo | 2 (2003, 2004) | 2 (2001, 2005) |
| Tengen | 1 (2008) | 1 (2009) |
| Oza | 7 (2003–2005, 2008–2011) | 3 (2006, 2012, 2013) |
| Judan | 2 (2009, 2010) | 3 (2004, 2011, 2012) |
| Gosei | 4 (2006–2009) | 1 (2010) |
| Agon Cup | 4 (2006–2008, 2012, 2019) | 3 (2002, 2003, 2009) |
| Ryusei | 2 (2006, 2007) | 4 (2001, 2005, 2008, 2009) |
| NHK Cup | 4 (2002, 2005, 2008, 2016) | |
| Shinjin-O | 1 (2002) | |
| NEC Cup | 3 (2005, 2007, 2011) | 1 (2009) |
| Daiwa Cup | 2 (2006, 2010) | |
| Daiwa Cup Grand Champion | 2 (2008, 2011) | |
| JAL Super Hayago Championship | 1 (2003) | |
| Total | 38 | 27 |
| Continental | ||
| China-Japan Agon Cup | 1 (2019) | 4 (2006–2008, 2012) |
| Total | 1 | 4 |
| International | ||
| Asian TV Cup | 1 (2005) | |
| LG Cup | 1 (2005) | |
| World Oza | 1 (2006) | |
| Total | 2 | 1 |
| Career total | ||
| Total | 41 | 32 |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
