LG Cup World Baduk Championship (Korean: LG배 세계기왕전, Hanja: LG杯 世界棋王戰) is a Go competition.
Outline The LG Cup is organized by the Chosun Ilbo newspaper and sponsored by the LG Group of Korea. The LG Cup was created after the Kiwang (기왕; 棋王) title from Korea was abolished. There are 16 players who compete in a preliminary, and another 16 players are invited. The latest edition had 256 competitors in the preliminary, the biggest in history. The players are invited from the following Weiqi/Go/Baduk associations.
2 from the holder and runner-up of the previous year. 6 from South Korea 3 from Japan 3 from China 1 from Chinese Taipei 1 wildcard
The final is a best-of-three match. The komi is 6.5 points, and each player has 3 hours main time and five 40-second byoyomi periods. The winner's purse is 300,000,000 won and the total prize pool is 1.3 billion won.
Winners & runners-up Edition Years Winner Score Runner-up 1st 1996–1997 Lee Changho 3–0 Yoo Changhyuk 2nd 1997–1998 O Rissei 3–2 Yoo Changhyuk 3rd 1998–1999 Lee Changho 3–0 Ma Xiaochun 4th 1999–2000 Yu Bin 3–1 Yoo Changhyuk 5th 2000–2001 Lee Changho 3–2 Lee Sedol 6th 2001–2002 Yoo Changhyuk 3–2 Cho Hunhyun 7th 2002–2003 Lee Sedol 3–1 Lee Changho 8th 2003–2004 Lee Changho 3–1 Mok Jinseok 9th 2004–2005 Cho U 3–1 Yu Bin 10th 2005–2006 Gu Li 3–2 Chen Yaoye 11th 2006–2007 Chou Chun-hsun 2–1 Hu Yaoyu 12th 2007–2008 Lee Sedol 2–1 Han Sang-hoon 13th 2008–2009 Gu Li 2–0 Lee Sedol 14th 2009–2010 Kong Jie 2–0 Lee Changho 15th 2010–2011 Piao Wenyao 2–0 Kong Jie 16th 2011–2012 Jiang Weijie 2–0 Lee Changho 17th 2012–2013 Shi Yue 2–0 Won Seongjin 18th 2013–2014 Tuo Jiaxi 2–1 Zhou Ruiyang 19th 2014–2015 Park Junghwan 2–1 Kim Jiseok 20th 2015–2016 Kang Dong-yun 2–1 Park Yeonghun 21st 2016–2017 Dang Yifei 2–0 Zhou Ruiyang 22nd 2017–2018 Xie Erhao 2–1 Iyama Yuta 23rd 2018–2019 Yang Dingxin 2–1 Shi Yue 24th 2019–2020 Shin Jin-seo 2–0 Park Junghwan 25th 2020–2021 Shin Min-jun 2–1 Ke Jie 26th 2021–2022 Shin Jin-seo 2–0 Yang Dingxin 27th 2022–2023 Ding Hao 2–0 Yang Dingxin 28th 2023–2024 Shin Jin-seo 2–0 Byun Sang-il 29th 2024–2025 Byun Sang-il 2–1 Ke Jie 30th 2025–2026 Shin Min-jun 2–1 Ichiriki Ryo 31st 2026–2027 Wang Xinghao 2–1 Shin Min-jun
By nation Nation Winners Runners-up 15 17 13 12 2 2 1 0
29th LG Cup (2024–2025) In the 29th LG Cup, Byun Sang-il won the best-of-three final after his opponent Ke Jie was disqualified in game 2 for rule violations and forfeited in game 3 after a dispute over another similar rule violation. Both the losses by penalty and forfeit were unprecedented in Go world championship finals. The rule, adopted by the Korea Baduk Association in November 2024, required players to place captured stones on the bowl lid, to keep track of them as an aid to counting the score. Reflecting differences in scoring systems, there is no such rule in China, where players may be accustomed to setting captured stones aside anywhere near the board or putting the stones back into their opponent's bowl.
During the second game of the LG Cup final, Ke Jie violated the rule twice. The first violation resulted in a two-point penalty and a warning. Later in the game, Ke Jie again did not place a captured stone on the bowl lid, prompting an objection from Byun Sang-il. By rule, Ke Jie was penalized for the second violation with an immediate loss.
In the third game the next day, Ke Jie once again failed to place two captured stones on the bowl lid after capturing them. Ke Jie and the Chinese side objected to timing of the referee's intervention, because the referee paused the game several moves later, during Byun's turn, without requiring him to decide his next move before the pause. Ke Jie considered it unfair to resume the game after the pause had given Byun extra thinking time. Rather than resuming the game with a two-point penalty, Ke Jie asked for a rematch. No agreement was reached after two hours, and Ke Jie left the venue, resulting in a loss by default. The Chinese Weiqi Association released a statement saying that they did not accept the outcome of the third game. Byun Sang-il said he felt uncomfortable with the result and understood Ke Jie's position. The Korea Baduk Association issued an apology for the incident.
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