Byun Sangil | Player Profile | PlayGo.gg

Two-time major champion

Biography

Byun Sangil (born January 14, 1997) is a Korean 9-dan and a long-time fixture in the world top 10. He turned pro in 2012 and has been a regular finalist and semifinalist in international majors and Korean domestic titles throughout the 2020s.

He won his first world major at the 14th Chunlan Cup (2023), defeating Li Xuanhao in the final.

His second came at the 29th LG Cup in January 2025, in the most controversial final in world Go history. His opponent Ke Jie was penalized in game 2 for failing to place captured stones on the bowl lid (a Korean rule newly enforced in November 2024, after the tournament had already begun in May). Ke received a 2-point penalty on the first violation, then was ruled an automatic loss on a second violation later in the same game. In game 3, Ke was again penalized for the same infraction, and after the referee's two-hour intervention sparked further dispute over its timing (the pause came during Byun's turn, effectively giving Byun extra thinking time), Ke walked out and forfeited. Byun was declared champion 2-1, the first player ever to win a world major final without winning a single complete game on the board. The Chinese Weiqi Association formally rejected the result of game 3, and the Korea Baduk Association later issued an apology and abolished the disqualification rule for international tournaments.

In 2022 he reached the semifinal of the 27th Samsung Cup, where he lost to Choi Jeong, the result that put a woman in a major final for the first time.

vs. Ke Jie, 29th LG Cup Final

January 2025

The most controversial final in world Go history. After Ke Jie's disqualification in game 2 and forfeit in game 3 over the new captured-stones rule, Byun lifted the LG Cup trophy without scoring a single on-board win, a first in world major history.

The record we have stops at move 82, so KataGo only sees the opening and early middle game, where Ke Jie was in front. Byun's J6 on move 71 drew the reply H5 on move 72, which nudged his winrate from 12% to 17%; F7 was the tighter answer, one about 43% of 9-dan players choose. The fight that decided the game came after the record ends.