Go in Korea
Go (known in Korea as Baduk) was transmitted to Korea before it came to Japan, but, unlike the latter, Korea did not establish a professional system until after World War II. The founding father of Korean Go is Cho Nam-chul 9-dan (born in 1923). Cho came to Japan in 1937 to become a disciple of Kitani Minoru and he returned home in 1943. Cho founded the Hanguk Kiwon (Korean Go Association) in September 1955. By the turn of the century, the number of professional players who were members had increased to around 170; they competed for prize money in around 15 tournaments sponsored by newspapers and other organizations.By the 1980s, Korean Go had caught up with Japanese Go, so this practice of studying in Japan became rarer. The top Korean player of the 80s was Cho Hun-hyun, who holds the Korean record for most titles won. In the 90s, he yielded the top place to his disciple, Yi Chang-ho, who is one of the greatest players in the history of Go. Korean Go really came into its own in the 90s, with the establishment of a number of international tournaments. Players such as Cho and Yi and also Yu Chang-hyeok began to dominate the international scene, with the result that Korea has taken the lion's share of international victories. Thanks to their successes, Go has become very popular in Korea, especially among children, and today it is estimated that one in four Koreans knows how to play the game, the highest degree of popularity in the world.
Go in China
The game of Go was invented in China where it is known as Wei Qi. At the beginning of the modern era (beginning of the 20th century), Go was at a low ebb in China because of the state of political disunity. However, the greatest player of the 20th century, Go Seigen, was born in China in 1914; he went to Japan in 1928 and in the middle of the century dominated Japanese Go.After the Communist revolution in 1949, the government promoted Go as an intellectual sport. In the 1960s, a series of Go exchanges with Japan began, with teams from each country touring the other in alternate years. The series was suspended during the Cultural Revolution, but was resumed in 1972. Chinese players improved rapidly and in the 1980s they won a majority of their games with Japanese players in Japan-China international matches, thus confirming that China had become established as one of the top three Go-playing countries. These days Go has become extremely popular in China, which probably has the biggest Go-playing population of any country, and many strong young players are emerging.
