Ichiriki Ryo | Player Profile | PlayGo.gg

Japan's first world major champion in 19+ years

Biography

Ichiriki Ryo (born June 10, 1997, in Sendai) is a Japanese 9-dan widely regarded as Japan's strongest active player. He has held multiple Japanese domestic titles, including the Honinbo, Tengen, Judan, Gosei, and Kisei.

In September 2024 he ended one of the longest droughts in international Go: he won the 10th Ing Cup, sweeping China's Xie Ke 3-0 in the final to become Japan's first world major champion in 19 years (the previous Japanese winner was Cho U at the 9th LG Cup in 2005) and the 9th Japanese player ever to lift a world major. The Ing Cup is held only once every four years and is sometimes called the "Olympic Games of Go."

vs. Xie Ke, 10th Ing Cup Final

2024

Ichiriki swept Xie Ke 3–0 to become Japan's first world major champion in over 19 years and the 9th Japanese player to ever win a world major.

Ichiriki was all but lost, 6% after 199 moves, when he played B11 on the left side on move 199. Xie Ke answered H18 at the top on move 200, and Ichiriki's chances leapt to 42%. J15 would have kept Xie's lead, and only 8% of 9-dan players find it. Ichiriki went on to win by resignation.