Lee Sedol

Lee Sedol
Medal record
Representing South Korea
Asian Games

Lee Sedol
Lee Sedol
	Lee Sedol in 2016
Hangul	이세돌
Hanja	李世乭
Revised Romanization	I Sedol
McCune–Reischauer	Ri Sedol
Born	2 March 1983 (age 41); Sinan County, South Jeolla Province, South Korea
Residence	South Korea
Teacher	Kweon Kab-yong
Turned pro	1995
Rank	9 dan
Affiliation	Hanguk Kiwon

Lee Sedol (Korean: 이세돌; born 2 March 1983), or Lee Se-dol, is a former South Korean professional Go player of 9 dan rank.^[1] As of February 2016, he ranked second in international titles (18), behind only Lee Chang-ho (21). His nickname is "The Strong Stone" ("Ssen-dol"). In March 2016, he played a notable series of matches against the program AlphaGo that ended in Lee losing 1–4.^[2]

On 19 November 2019, Lee announced his retirement from professional play, stating that he could never be the top overall player of Go due to the increasing dominance of AI. Lee referred to them as being "an entity that cannot be defeated".^[3] In a 2024 New York Times article, Lee said, "losing to AI, in a sense, meant my entire world was collapsing." He also offered additional insight behind why he retired, "I could no longer enjoy the game. So I retired."^[4]

Biography

Lee was born in South Korea in 1983. He is known as 'Bigeumdo Boy' because he was born and grew up on Bigeumdo Island.^[5] He studied at the Korea Baduk Association. He is the fifth-youngest (12 years 4 months) to become a professional Go player in South Korean history behind Cho Hun-hyun (9 years 7 months), Lee Chang-ho (11 years 1 months), Cho Hye-yeon (11 years 10 months) and Choi Cheol-han (12 years 2 months).

He ranks second in international titles (18), behind only Lee Chang-ho (21). Despite this, he describes his opening play as "very weak".^[6] In February 2013, Lee announced that he planned to retire within three years and move to the U.S. to promote Go.^[7] He plays on Tygem as "gjopok".^[8]

He is married to Kim Hyun-jin, and he has a daughter, Lee Hye-rim.^[9] His older brother Lee Sang-hoon [ko] is also a 9 dan professional go player.^[10]

Lee's Broken Ladder Game

This game was played between Lee Sedol and Hong Chang-sik during the 2003 KAT cup, on 23 April 2003. The game is notable for Lee's use of a broken ladder formation.

Normally playing out a broken ladder is a mistake, associated with beginner play, because the chasing stones are left weak. Between experts it should be decisive, leading to a lost game. Lee, playing black, defied the conventional wisdom, using the broken ladder to capture a large group of Hong's stones in the lower-right side of the board. This brought black's stones in the corner which were previously considered dead back to life. White ultimately resigned.^[11]

Moves 67 to 97 (Black: Lee Sedol; White: Hong Chang-sik).
Black wins when White resigns at move 211.

Match against AlphaGo

Starting March 9, 2016, Lee played a five-game match, broadcast live, against the computer program AlphaGo, developed by a London-based artificial intelligence firm Google DeepMind, for a $1 million match prize.^[12]^[13]^[14] He said “I have heard that Google DeepMind’s AI is surprisingly strong and getting stronger, but I am confident that I can win at least this time”.^[15] In an interview with Sohn Suk-hee of JTBC Newsroom on February 22, 2016,^[16] he showed confidence in his chances again, while saying that even beating AlphaGo by 4–1 may allow the Google DeepMind team to claim its de facto victory and the defeat of him, or even humanity. In this interview he pointed out the time rule in this match, which seems well-balanced so that both he and the AI would fairly undergo time pressure. In another interview at Yonhap News, Lee Se-dol said that he was confident of beating AlphaGo by a score of 5–0, at least 4–1 and accepted the challenge in only five minutes. He also stated "Of course, there would have been many updates in the last four or five months, but that isn’t enough time to challenge me".^[17]

On March 9, Lee played black and lost the first game by resignation.^[18] On March 10, he played white and lost the second game by resignation.^[19] On March 12, he played black and lost the third game as well.^[20] On March 13, he played white and won the fourth game, following an unexpected move at White 78 described as "a brilliant tesuji", and by Gu Li 9 dan as a "divine move" and completely unforeseen by him. GoGameGuru commented that this game was "a masterpiece for Lee Sedol and will almost certainly become a famous game in the history of Go".^[21] Lee commented after the victory that he considered AlphaGo was strongest when playing white (second). For this reason, and because he thought winning a second time with black would be more valuable than winning with white, he requested that he play black in the final fifth game, which is considered more risky when following Chinese Go rules.^[22] On March 15, he played black and lost the fifth game, to lose the Go series 1–4.^[23]

Game 4, Lee Sedol (white) v. AlphaGo (black).
First 78 moves

After his fourth-match victory, Lee was overjoyed: "I don't think I've ever felt so good after winning just one match. I remember when I said I will win all or lose just one game in the beginning. If this had really happened ― I won 3 rounds and lost this round ― it would have had a great bearing on my reputation. However, since I won after losing 3 games in a row, I am so happy. I will never exchange this win for anything in the world."^[24] He added: "I, Lee Se-dol, lost, but mankind did not."^[22] After the last match, however, Lee was saddened: "I failed. I feel sorry that the match is over and it ended like this. I wanted it to end well." He also confessed that "As a professional Go player, I never want to play this kind of match again. I endured the match because I accepted it."^[25]

Retirement from professional play

On 19 November 2019, Lee Sedol announced his retirement from professional play, stating that "Even if I become the number one, there is an entity that cannot be defeated."^[3]

However, in December he agreed to play a three-game match against the HanDol AI system, developed by Korean NHN Entertainment Corporation. Playing with a two-stone handicap (advantage) for the first and third games of the match and no handicap for the second game, Lee Sedol defeated the machine in the first game.^[26] HanDol subsequently won the remaining two games of the match, with a final score of two-to-one, winning the overall contest.^[27]

Promotion record

Lee Sedol turned pro in 1995 as 1 dan, and reached 9 dan in 2003.^[28]

Rank	Date	Notes
1 dan	2 July 1995	Promoted to professional dan rank after passing qualifying test.
2 dan	1 January 1998
3 dan	1 January 2000
6 dan	28 March 2003	Won the 7th LG Cup against Lee Changho (4 dan and 5 dan were skipped over due to the Hanguk Kiwon promotion rules).
7 dan	6 May 2003	Runner up in the KT Cup against Yoo Changhyuk.
9 dan	7 July 2003	Won 16th Fujitsu Cup against Song Taekon (8 dan was skipped over due to the Hanguk Kiwon promotion rules).

Career record

As of 2 May 2019^[29]^[30]

Year	Won	Lost	Win %
1997	0	1	0.0%
1998	0	1	0.0%
1999	0	0
2000	30	12	71.4%
2001	31	17	64.6%
2002	48	25	65.8%
2003	33	18	64.7%
2004	40	18	69.0%
2005	44	21	67.7%
2006	78	28	73.6%
2007	81	23	77.9%
2008	74	26	74.0%
2009	26	15	63.4%
2010	74	14	84.1%
2011	54	21	72.0%
2012	61	25	70.9%
2013	54	39	58.1%
2014	59	25	70.2%
2015	53	27	66.2%
2016	48	27	64.0%
2017	29	13	69.0%
2018	53	36	59.6%
2019	10	5	66.7%
Total	980	437	69.2%

Titles and runners-up

As of 1 January 2019

Ranks #3 in total number of titles in Korea and #2 in international titles.

Domestic
Title	Wins	Runners-up
Baedalwang	1 (2000)
Paedal Cup	1 (2000)
Chunwon	1 (2000)	2 (2006, 2008)
Wangwi		2 (2002, 2004)
BC Card Cup	1 (2002)
KTF Cup	1 (2002)
New Pro King	1 (2002)
SK Gas Cup	1 (2002)	1 (2000)
KT Cup		1 (2003)
Guksu	2 (2007, 2009)	1 (2014)
Prices Information Cup	3 (2006–2007, 2010)	1 (2008)
Siptan	1 (2011)
Olleh KT Cup	2 (2010–11)
GS Caltex Cup	3 (2002, 2006, 2012)	3 (2007, 2013, 2018)
Myungin	4 (2007–2008, 2012, 2016)	1 (2013)
Maxim Cup	5 (2005–2007, 2014, 2016)	1 (2013)
KBS Cup	3 (2006, 2014, 2016)	4 (2001, 2004, 2009, 2015)
Total	30	17
Continental
Title	Wins	Runners-up
China–Korea New Pro Wang	1 (2002)
China–Korea Tengen		1 (2001)
World Meijin	1 (2018)
Total	2	1
International
Title	Wins	Runners-up
Fujitsu Cup	3 (2002–2003, 2005)	1 (2010)
LG Cup	2 (2003, 2008)	2 (2001, 2009)
Samsung Cup	4 (2004, 2007–2008, 2012)	1 (2013)
World Oza	2 (2004, 2006)
Zhonghuan Cup		1 (2005)
Asian TV Cup	4 (2007, 2008, 2014, 2015)	2 (2009, 2017)
BC Card Cup	2 (2010–2011)
Chunlan Cup	1 (2011)	1 (2013)
Mlily Cup (梦百合杯)		1 (2016)
Total	18	9
Career total
Total	50	27^[31]

Korean Baduk League

Season	Team	Place	Record
2007	Team No.1 Fire Insurance (Captain)	4th place	9–5^[32]
2008	Team No. 1 Fire Insurance (Captain)	4th place	13–3^[33]
2010	Team Shinan Chunil Salt (Captain)	Champion	16–2^[34]
2011	Team Shinan Chunil Salt (Captain)	7th place	1–2^[35]

Chinese A League

Season	Team	Place	Record
2007	Team Guizhou (Captain)	2nd place	9–3^[36]
2008	Team Guizhou (Captain)	2nd place	8–0^[37]
2009	Team Guizhou (Captain)	8th place	6–4^[38]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Lee SeDol. gobase.org. accessed 22 June 2010.
^ "Google vs. Go: can AI beat the ultimate board game?". The Verge. 8 March 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
^ ^a ^b "(Yonhap Interview) Go master Lee says he quits unable to win over AI Go players". Yonhap News Agency. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
^ Wakabayashi, Daisuke; Young, Jin Yu (10 July 2024). "Defeated by A.I., a Legend in the Board Game Go Warns: Get Ready for What's Next". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
^ "서울경제". economy.hankooki.com. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
^ Lee Sedol Interview. justplaygo.com, accessed 22 June 2010. Archived July 5, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
^ An Younggil. "Interview with Lee Sedol". Archived from the original on 5 March 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
^ King of Kings (Final): "gjopok" vs. "idontca1", game 3. gosensations.com, accessed 19 February 2012
^ An Younggil. "Biography of Lee Sedol". Archived from the original on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
^ "(2nd LD) Go master Lee Se-dol expects no answers at his secession talks". Yonhap News Agency. 20 May 2016.
^ Sensei's Library: Lee Sedol – Hong Chang Sik – ladder game
^ "Google to Livestream 'Go' Battle Between World Champ, AI Tech". PCMAG. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
^ Elizabeth Gibney (27 January 2016). "Go players react to computer defeat". Nature. doi:10.1038/nature.2016.19255.
^ "Computer Says Go". The Economist. 30 January 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
^ "YouTube will livestream Google's AI playing Go superstar Lee Sedol in March". VentureBeat. 5 February 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
^ "[인터뷰] 이세돌 "5대 0으로 이기지 않으면 의미 없다고 생각해"". JTBC (in Korean). 22 February 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
^ "S. Korean Go player confident of beating Google's AI". YonhapNews.co.kr. Yonhap News Agency. 23 February 2016. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
^ "AlphaGo defeats Lee Sedol in first game of historic man vs machine match". Archived from the original on 3 May 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
^ Metz, Cade. "Google's AI Wins Pivotal Game Two In Match With Go Grandmaster". Wired.
^ Borowiec, Steven (12 March 2016). "AlphaGo beats Lee Sedol in third consecutive Go game". The Guardian.
^ Ormerod, David (13 March 2016). "Lee Sedol defeats AlphaGo in masterful comeback – Game 4". GoGameGuru.com. Archived from the original on 16 November 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
^ ^a ^b Lee Se-dol shows AlphaGo beatable, Korea Times
^ "Google's AlphaGo AI beats Lee Se-dol again to win Go series 4–1". 15 March 2016.
^ [Q&As] 'I'll never exchange this win for anything in the world', Korea Times
^ "한국 바둑계 '감'으로 나섰다가 '아뿔싸'" [Korea Baduk Association ventured into "without thought" and "Yow"] (in Korean). The Hankyoreh. 16 March 2016.
^ "Human vs. AI: Board Game Champ, Who Surrendered to Google, Beats AI in Surprise Game". Observer. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
^ "Lee Sedol Surrenders to AI Go Player – Again". WIRED Korea (in Korean). 23 December 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
^ "Lee Sedol" (in Korean). Korea Baduk Association. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
^ Username *. "Lee Sedol | Search by Player". Go4Go. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
^ "Win–loss Ranking – Go to Everyone!". K2ss.info. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
^ Lee Sedol 9p Archived 2011-05-24 at the Wayback Machine gogameworld.com, accessed 22 June 2010
^ "2007 Korean Baduk League". igokisen.web.fc2.com. Retrieved 13 June 2011.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "2008 Korean Baduk League". igokisen.web.fc2.com. Retrieved 13 June 2011.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "2010 Korean Baduk League". igokisen.web.fc2.com. Retrieved 13 June 2011.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "2011 Korean Baduk League". igokisen.web.fc2.com. Retrieved 13 June 2011.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "2007 Chinese A League". igokisen.web.fc2.com. Retrieved 13 June 2011.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "2008 Chinese A League". igokisen.web.fc2.com. Retrieved 13 June 2011.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "2009 Chinese A League". igokisen.web.fc2.com. Retrieved 13 June 2011.^{[permanent dead link]}

External links

Lee Sedol on Facebook
Yi Se-Tol on Sensei's Library
Korea Baduk Association profile (in Korean)

On YouTube

[gobase-1] Lee SeDol. gobase.org. accessed 22 June 2010.

[2] "Google vs. Go: can AI beat the ultimate board game?". The Verge. 8 March 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.

[verge1-3] "(Yonhap Interview) Go master Lee says he quits unable to win over AI Go players". Yonhap News Agency. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2023.

[4] Wakabayashi, Daisuke; Young, Jin Yu (10 July 2024). "Defeated by A.I., a Legend in the Board Game Go Warns: Get Ready for What's Next". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 13 July 2024.

[5] "서울경제". economy.hankooki.com. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.

[6] Lee Sedol Interview. justplaygo.com, accessed 22 June 2010. Archived July 5, 2010, at the Wayback Machine

[7] An Younggil. "Interview with Lee Sedol". Archived from the original on 5 March 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2013.

[blog-8] King of Kings (Final): "gjopok" vs. "idontca1", game 3. gosensations.com, accessed 19 February 2012

[9] An Younggil. "Biography of Lee Sedol". Archived from the original on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2013.

[10] "(2nd LD) Go master Lee Se-dol expects no answers at his secession talks". Yonhap News Agency. 20 May 2016.

[11] Sensei's Library: Lee Sedol – Hong Chang Sik – ladder game

[12] "Google to Livestream 'Go' Battle Between World Champ, AI Tech". PCMAG. Retrieved 8 February 2016.

[13] Elizabeth Gibney (27 January 2016). "Go players react to computer defeat". Nature. doi:10.1038/nature.2016.19255.

[14] "Computer Says Go". The Economist. 30 January 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.

[15] "YouTube will livestream Google's AI playing Go superstar Lee Sedol in March". VentureBeat. 5 February 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2016.

[16] "[인터뷰] 이세돌 "5대 0으로 이기지 않으면 의미 없다고 생각해"". JTBC (in Korean). 22 February 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2016.

[17] "S. Korean Go player confident of beating Google's AI". YonhapNews.co.kr. Yonhap News Agency. 23 February 2016. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2017.

[18] "AlphaGo defeats Lee Sedol in first game of historic man vs machine match". Archived from the original on 3 May 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.

[19] Metz, Cade. "Google's AI Wins Pivotal Game Two In Match With Go Grandmaster". Wired.

[20] Borowiec, Steven (12 March 2016). "AlphaGo beats Lee Sedol in third consecutive Go game". The Guardian.

[ggg4-21] Ormerod, David (13 March 2016). "Lee Sedol defeats AlphaGo in masterful comeback – Game 4". GoGameGuru.com. Archived from the original on 16 November 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2017.

[kt-22] Lee Se-dol shows AlphaGo beatable, Korea Times

[23] "Google's AlphaGo AI beats Lee Se-dol again to win Go series 4–1". 15 March 2016.

[24] [Q&As] 'I'll never exchange this win for anything in the world', Korea Times

[25] "한국 바둑계 '감'으로 나섰다가 '아뿔싸'" [Korea Baduk Association ventured into "without thought" and "Yow"] (in Korean). The Hankyoreh. 16 March 2016.

[26] "Human vs. AI: Board Game Champ, Who Surrendered to Google, Beats AI in Surprise Game". Observer. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2021.

[27] "Lee Sedol Surrenders to AI Go Player – Again". WIRED Korea (in Korean). 23 December 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2021.

[28] "Lee Sedol" (in Korean). Korea Baduk Association. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2018.

[Go4Go-29] Username *. "Lee Sedol | Search by Player". Go4Go. Retrieved 10 December 2017.

[k2ss-30] "Win–loss Ranking – Go to Everyone!". K2ss.info. Retrieved 10 December 2017.

[gogameworld-31] Lee Sedol 9p Archived 2011-05-24 at the Wayback Machine gogameworld.com, accessed 22 June 2010

[32] "2007 Korean Baduk League". igokisen.web.fc2.com. Retrieved 13 June 2011.^{[permanent dead link]}

[33] "2008 Korean Baduk League". igokisen.web.fc2.com. Retrieved 13 June 2011.^{[permanent dead link]}

[34] "2010 Korean Baduk League". igokisen.web.fc2.com. Retrieved 13 June 2011.^{[permanent dead link]}

[35] "2011 Korean Baduk League". igokisen.web.fc2.com. Retrieved 13 June 2011.^{[permanent dead link]}

[36] "2007 Chinese A League". igokisen.web.fc2.com. Retrieved 13 June 2011.^{[permanent dead link]}

[37] "2008 Chinese A League". igokisen.web.fc2.com. Retrieved 13 June 2011.^{[permanent dead link]}

[38] "2009 Chinese A League". igokisen.web.fc2.com. Retrieved 13 June 2011.^{[permanent dead link]}

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Lee Sedol

Biography

Lee's Broken Ladder Game

Match against AlphaGo

Retirement from professional play

Promotion record

Career record

Titles and runners-up

Korean Baduk League

Chinese A League

References

External links

On YouTube

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