Park Junghwan: Mastery is the Endgame

Raw talent, molded into phenomenal skill by a tenacious training ethic, has allowed Park Junghwan (박정환) to carve out a place for himself at the top of the professional Go world alongside his rivals, with whom he remains locked in battle. Simultaneously, he finds himself peering down the towering mountain of talent, eager to welcome the challengers on their way up.

Early Life

Park Junghwan was born on January 11, 1993, in Seongnam, South Korea. He was introduced to Go by his father, who taught him the basics and kindled his interest in the game.

After a single year of playing, having shown extraordinary aptitude, Park enrolled in the Kwon Kapyong School, a top-tier Go academy that has produced tens of professional players since its inception in 1982, including top Pros such as Lee Sedol and Choi Chulhwan.

The academy played a central role in shaping the young Park’s Go skills and exposing him to the ruthlessness of competitive play. During his time at the academy, he stunned peers and teachers alike by defeating several visiting professionals including 9-dan Ing-Cup winner Seo Bong Soo, which led to academy founder and mentor Kwon Kapyong predicting great things for the young prodigy.

Meteoric Rise

In 2006, at the incredible age of 13, Park Junghwan was officially certified by the Korean Hanguk Kiwon Association as a professional 1-dan, one of the youngest players in the history of the game to achieve this feat.

But this was only the beginning.

Park blazed through professional ranks, reaching 5-dan by late 2009 and 8-dan by mid 2010. During this time he won the 2009 Baduk Grand Prize Rookie of the Year award, both the 4^th and 5^th editions of the Siptan Competition, and the 14^th edition of the Chunwon Competition. Winning the Korean Chunwon qualified Park to challenge the winner of the Chinese Tianyuan in the annual China-Korea Tianyuan-Chunwon Competition. The winner was 9-dan Chen Yaoye, whom he defeated.

Park’s meteoric rise in the professional Go world was consolidated in 2010 after winning a gold medal at the 16^th Asian Games against China, alongside veteran teammates Lee Sedol, Lee Changho, Choi Chulhwan, and Kang Dongyoon, which earned him the highest professional rank of 9-dan, making him the youngest player in history to attain this ranking and exempting him from his Korean military service obligation.

Crest of the Wave

Since 2011, Park has been riding the wave of top 5 players worldwide in terms of overall rating. He has won most of the major international Go competitions including the Fujitsu Cup, the LG Cup, the Samsung Cup, the Chunlan Cup, the Mlili Cup, the Maxim Cup (4 times), the KBS Cup (5 times), the Myeongin Title, and the World Go Championship (3 times), to name a few.

At the time of writing, Park Junghwan is the 3^rd highest-rated player in the world, behind Shin Jinseo and Wang Xinghao, maintaining a 70% overall winning rate.

A Balanced Style

Park is a well-rounded player who is adept at adapting his strategy on-the-go as the situation calls for it. He is known for his patient, draw-in-the-opponent style, superior situational judgment, and flawless end-game technique.

Although not quite as AI-oriented as the new-generation of Shin Jinseo-type players who were figuratively nursed in the digital cradle of Alpha-Go – The machine master whose style is characterised by precision-calculating and extreme tenuki (ignoring the opponent’s move to take the advantage for oneself) – Park has nevertheless managed to adapt extremely well to the new wave of AI strategy and assimilate it into his own play thanks to his extraordinary dedication to training and his superior reading skills.

This game played between Park (White) and fellow countryman 9-dan Kang Dongyun (Black) at the Korean League Tournament finals in 2020 is a perfect demonstration of Park’s next-level reading chops.

After Black secures its connection on the outside with move 87, White risks losing its entire middle group – and the game. Even the mighty KataGo v1.3 could not see it! (the updated version is able to find it)

Can you find it?

Raging Rivals

In a game of high skill that pits two opponents against one another, competition may become the very fuel that stokes their fires and drives the technical and personal development of both.

The game of Go has given rise to fierce rivals over the ages, not least among them Park Junghwan and Chinese 9-dan Ke Jie, who have been continually competing for the top ranks since at least 2015, often alternating as number one worldwide. Ke Jie’s aggressive, creative style against Park’s solid and calculated approach make for heated battles on the Go board.

In December 2018, Park Junghwan played Ke Jie in the semi-finals of the 12^th Chunlan Cup. In this titanic clash of styles Ke Jie grabs early territory and rushes to invade in true AI-fashion, while Park chooses a holistic, potential-building strategy and steadily expands his influence. After an impeccable endgame Park wins by half a point, securing a dramatic and hard-fought victory.

But Park Junghwan has another rival: AI-wunderkind Shin Jinseo, who took the Go world by storm in 2013 when, as a newly graduated 1-dan, he defeated long-time-world-champion “Stone-Buddha” 9-dan Lee Changho in a “Young players vs. Legends” exhibition match.

Between October and December of 2020, Shin Jinseo and Park Junghwan played a super match of seven games, each set in a different location around the picturesque island of Namhae, in the South Gyeongsang Province. The event was organized to promote the island of Namhae and its cultural landmarks by showcasing the skills of Korea’s top two Go players. A detailed analysis and commentary of the games is available in Gunnar Dickfeld’s book “Seven: The Go Super Match: Shin Jinseo vs. Park Junghwan.”

Ushering in the Next Generation

At 32-years old Park Junghwan can hardly be called an old Go player, and yet, as the newest generation of challengers arrives on the professional Go scene, he is determined to offer them a proper welcome into this brave new world.

In 2019, Park, who is known to avoid the public eye, graciously accepted to meet with then-10-year-old Japanese prodigy Nakamura Sumire after she revealed her admiration for him at a press conference, having grown up watching his games. During their meeting at the Hanguk Kiwon, Sumire mustered up the courage to ask Park how he became so strong: “Consistency is the key to improving at Go. Even when you try and it doesn’t work, even when you hit a wall. Consistency is what will get you through that moment.”

In 2024, at barely 15 years old, 3-dan Sumire had the chance to compete against her childhood idol and other top Korean players at the 5th Supreme Player Tournament as the wild-card entry. Although she lost to him in the tournament, her determination to reach the top remains steadfast. 

For Park Junghwan, whose journey in the world of professional Go continues to unfold, such encounters serve as a testament to his growing legacy, one that will undoubtedly continue to inspire the next generation of players as they follow in the footsteps of the Greats.