Lee Sedol | |
---|---|
Hangul | 이세돌 |
Hanja | 李世乭 |
Revised Romanization | I Sedol |
McCune–Reischauer | Ri Sedol |
Born | [1] Sinan County, South Jeolla Province, South Korea | 2 March 1983
Residence | South Korea |
Teacher | Kweon Kab-yong[1] |
Turned pro | 1995 |
Rank | 9 dan[1] |
Affiliation | Hanguk Kiwon[1] |
Medal record | ||
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Representing South Korea | ||
Asian Games | ||
2010 Guangzhou | Men's Team |
Lee Sedol (Korean: 이세돌; born 2 March 1983), or Lee Se-dol, is a former South Korean professional Go player of 9 dan rank.[1] As of February 2016, he ranked second in international titles (18), behind only Lee Chang-ho (21). His nickname is "The Strong Stone" ("Ssen-dol"). In March 2016, he played a notable series of matches against the program AlphaGo that ended in Lee losing 1–4.[2]
On 19 November 2019, Lee announced his retirement from professional play, stating that he could never be the top overall player of Go due to the increasing dominance of AI. Lee referred to them as being "an entity that cannot be defeated".[3] In a 2024 New York Times article, Lee said, "losing to AI, in a sense, meant my entire world was collapsing." He also offered additional insight behind why he retired, "I could no longer enjoy the game. So I retired."[4]