Hunhyun - Go with the flow: how the great master of Go trained his mind

Go with the Flow

How the Great Master of Go Trained His Mind

Cho Hunhyun

As the most respected Go master in Korea, Japan, and China, he has rewritten the modern history of Go by winning the largest number of victories. Becoming a professional go player at the age of nine, he went to Japan to be taught by Kensaku Segoe, one of the best Go masters in Japan for nine years.

Starting with the first championship of the Ing Cup in 1989, which is dubbed the Go Olympics he has achieved a grand slam for the first time in Go history by sweeping up championship trophies of all three major tournaments (the Ing Cup, the Fujistu Cup World Go Championship, the Tongyang Securities Cup) for five years afterward. He became the oldest winner of an international competition at the age of 50, which is the age that most professional Go players consider retirement. His strict self-discipline enabled him to make such a remarkable achievement that still remains as an unbroken record.

As a member of the National Assembly, he has taken the lead of non-governmental diplomacy between Korea and China and also been active in various fields such as lecture and writing. More than a hundred thousand copies of his book, Go with the Flow , were sold right after publication, ascending to the bestseller spot in Korea and being translated and published in Japan and China as well.

This is an important addition to body of books in English about Go. We in the West now have many books and teachers that can instruct us in how to play the game, but few that tell us what it is like to be a top Go player.

Cho Hunhyun 9P does this with great openness, telling us his emotions, his feelings and perceptions, as he goes through the very taxing life necessary to have a chance to be a champion. He recounts trading an ordinary childhood for a childhood devoted to the game, trading life at home for life with a teacher in a foreign country, Japan, pursuing a career where ones merit is measured anew with each move, surviving the inevitable descent from the summit as he lost one title then another, some to his own student.

Perhaps most notable is Chos recounting of the story of his relationship with his teacher. Segoe Kensaku 9P was one of the more important teachers in 20th Century Go in Japan, based primarily on the reputations of his three pupils, Cho, Utaro Hashimoto 9P, and Go Seigen 9P. Chos story of the seemingly cold but deep bond he had with Segoe, the lessons he learned, and the circumstances of Segoes life and death, are something well worth reading, and not material that I have seen anywhere else. Cho goes on to describe his relationship with his only student, successor Korean champion Lee Changho 9P, which shared much with the student-teacher connection Cho had with Segoe.

What emerges is the portrait of a remarkable man, who has had a rich, full life and wide-ranging interests, but all concentrated in a sense by the lens of Go. It was a joy to read.

Andrew Okun, President, America Go Association

Cho Hunhyun studied Go in Japan as a child prodigy, after which he returned to Korea to become one of the greatest players in Go history. Chos unique life experience makes him the perfect person to introduce us to the Go scene in Korea and Japan.

In Go with the Flow , Cho writes of his struggles to become a better Go player. There are many episodes about players who earned Chos respect, giving us a fascinating collection of stories about the best Go players of the 20th century. Cho talks of his friend Jimmy Cha, who was a prominent player when he lived in America. This book can be enjoyed by anyone who has an interest in Go or Asian culture.

Michael Redmond, Professional Go Player

Go with the Flow is a collection of anecdotes from the life of one of the games great masters. With each story, Mr. Cho relates the lessons he learned in his career as a professional player patience, poise, humility, how to cope with loss to his philosophy on life outside the Go board. The strength to think, writes Cho, is the only beacon that helps one get through life. Along the journey, we learn more about ourselves Anyone interested in the modern history of the game will find something to love from Chos insightful memoir.

Will Lockhart, Film Director, The Surrounding Game

Its thrilling to read Cho Hunhyun recount the stories of some of his most famous victories, but I was most touched by how much he dealt with the sadness, frustration, and loss he experienced in his career. Chos life story brings together some of the most important and vivid figures in 20th Century Go, from his formative years training in Japan as a teenager to his return to Korea and rediscovery of the disregard for supposedly ideal shape that would came to define Korean go. He writes touchingly of his relationships with his austere but generous teacher, Segoe Kensaku, with monster Fujisawa Shuko who was madly in love with life, and with his remote and exacting student, Lee Changho, who would rise to defeat him in a series of maddening half-point victories. Cho is candid about how miserable it is for pros to review a game theyve lost, despite the calm composure they maintain on the outside: Go players review games because its vital, not because it ever becomes easy. Chos thoughts on the importance of physical exercise, a persistent and optimistic drive to find the best solutions possible, and making time for solitude are relevant to all of us.

Nate Eagle, Co-Director, 2018 U.S. Go Congress

Mr. Cho Hunhyun 9P, became professional at the age of nine (the youngest player to become a professional). After winning his first title in 1975 he dominated not just the Korean Go scene until 1990.

Winning the first Ing Cup, gave the Korean Go scene a lot of prestige worldwide. This book gives you many nice stories and memories of Mr. Cho.

Best are the stories where he gives the reader inside information about professional go, and how to become and get stronger as professional go player.

Antonius Claasen, Repoter, European Go Federation

Introduction

Learning from Go

I dont know anything else but Go. I was only five when I took my first steps over the threshold of a Go club. My father took my hands in his and brought me down to that place in my hometown of Mokpo. Ever since then and now- I am way over 60- it has all been about Go and nothing else.

I never received formal education nor had a corporate job. My acquaintances are limited to those in the Go community. I did not get to live the expected, predictable yet colorful experiences that most people have. Preparing for college admission, competing for jobs, agonizing about making the right career move, being overwhelmed by the feeling electricity when falling in love, and dealing with the stress of corporate lifeI have missed out on these spectacular events of an ordinary life.

However, it doesnt mean I dont know about life. Within my universe of Go, I believe I have had my fair share of passion and indifference, love and hatred, hope and despair, success and failure, loyalty and dishonesty. My life may have appeared too monotonous and simple to the eyes of others, but to me, it was an equally, if not the most, vibrant and eventful life I could have lived.

I gave up my childhood to learn Go. I lived away from home when kids my age lived with their parents and got to be kids. From the age of eleven to eighteen, I lived in Japan to train for Go. My parents did not follow me. At an early age, I had already swept medals in Go championships in Korea, and the winning streak took me all the way to win titles in world championships. But, at only forty-three, I had to confront my student and lose every single one of my title to him. It was bitter because I was defeated, but sweet because I was proud of my student.