Choi Jeong (born 7 October 1996), or Choi Jung, is a South Korean professional Go player.
A student of Yoo Chang-hyuk, Choi Jeong became a professional Go player in 2010. Her first tournament championship was the Female Myungin in 2012,[1] a title which she held for five years up to end of the tournament in 2016.[2] Beginning in December 2013, she was the number one woman in the Korea Baduk Association's official ranking, a position which she maintained for 128 consecutive months until August 2024.[3]
She has won seven women's international titles: four times in the Bingsheng Cup (2014, 2017, 2018, 2019) and three times in the Wu Qingyuan Cup (2019, 2021, 2023).[4][5][6] In December 2019, she became the first woman to reach the top 20 in the official ranking of all Korea Baduk Association players.[7] In the 2022 Samsung Cup, she became the first woman to reach the finals of a major world tournament.[8]
Choi Jeong, who dominated women's Go in South Korea from 2014 to 2024, reaffirmed her strong position in the field by winning the 2024 Dr. G Women's Top Player Championship, maintaining her impressive record in this tournament. She was also widely regarded as the best female Go player in the world during her time.
Path to professional
Choi's father, an amateur 1-dan in baduk (Go), started teaching Choi Jeong baduk after hearing from an academy director that his daughter had talent for the game. When she was in third grade of elementary school, they moved to Seoul, and she began attending 'Yoo Chang-hyuk Baduk Academy' in Mapo-gu. Choi Jeong, who formed a teacher-student relationship with 9-dan Yoo Chang-hyuk, even moved to Bundang when Yoo Chang-hyuk's baduk academy relocated there. In May 2010, at the age of 14 while attending the second year of Chungam Middle School, she became a professional at the Korea Baduk Association. She inherited her teacher Yoo Chang-hyuk's style, being strong in reading and combative. She doesn't hunker down in one place but boldly jumps into enemy territory. It's commonly said that her style is to cut when attached and to push when pushed. In 2012, she dropped out of high school where she had enrolled as a baduk specialist. This was because it was difficult to balance baduk competitions and academics. In the same year, she won the 13th Female Myungin title for the first time.[9]
Professional career
2010: 4th Jiji Auction Cup Main Tournament (제4기 지지옥션배 본선)
2011: olleh Cup Main Tournament (olleh배 본선), 5th Jiji Auction Cup 8 consecutive wins (제5기 지지옥션배 8연승), 5th Women's Kisung Tournament Runner-up (제5기 여류기성전 준우승)
2012: 13th Women's Myungin Tournament Champion (제13기 여류명인전 우승), 6th Jiji Auction Cup Women's Team Victory (제6기 지지옥션배 여류팀 우승)
2013: 14th Women's Myungin Tournament Champion (제14기 여류명인전 우승), 3rd Hwangryongsa Twin Lamp Cup (제3회 황룡사 쌍등배), 4th Incheon Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games (제4회 인천 실내&무도 아시안게임), 4th Qingyun Mountain Bingsheng Cup (제4회 궁륭산 병성배)
2014: 2013 Rockstar League Women's Player Award (2013 락스타리그 여자기사상), 1st Globiz Cup World New Star Championship (제1회 글로비즈배 세계신예선수권), 15th Women's Myungin Tournament Champion (제15기 여류명인전 우승)
2016: 21st LG Cup World Baduk Championship (제21회 LG배 세계기왕전)
2017: 22nd LG Cup World Baduk Championship (제22회 LG배 세계기왕전)
2018: 23rd Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance World Baduk Masters (제23회 삼성화재배 월드바둑마스터즈)
2019: 24th LG Cup Chosun Ilbo Baduk King Tournament (제24회 LG배 조선일보 기왕전)
