Stomping Grounds

When we think of South Korea's strongest Go player in modern times, Shin Jinseo inevitably comes to mind. In fact, when we consider the strongest player globally in recent years we also think of Shin Jinseo. He has become a power house in modern times due to his style resembling artificial intelligence to the point that players call him a machine.

Go players are often categorized based on their playing style. Some are aggressive, and others like to play for territory. However, Shin Jinseo is known for his calculative approach, maintaining composure and avoiding emotional influence to the best of his ability in his moves. His preference is to stay "thick" and strong on the board, always playing to maximize his position. While many players tend to simplify the game when they have a lead to secure a win, Shin Jinseo takes a different approach. In an interview, he once mentioned that he prefers to play moves he believes are correct, rather than retreating as most players might when they have an advantage. For him, he believes that playing the best move, even in a winning position, increases his chances of victory more than backing down and simply maintaining a lead. Which is honestly crazy to me since even at my level when I watch professional it's hard to tell when a player is playing a move based on aggression rather than just simply playing the best move.

In 2020, South Korea introduced a major new tournament called Korea's Strongest Title. a competition that almost seemed tailor-made for Shin Jinseo, given his dominance in the Go world. With a remarkable ELO of 3,858 according to goratings.org at the time of writing this article which is a lead over others by almost 200 points above the next player, Shin Jinseo has lived up to the tournament's name. He has won the title every year since its creation, and this year was no different. The 5th Korea's Strongest Title tournament recently concluded, where Shin Jinseo faced off against Park Junghwan.

You can view the games here:

• Game 1

• Game 2

• Game 3

Shin Jinseo convincingly won all three games, claiming the title for the fifth consecutive time. However we actually received some very interesting and exciting news at the end of 2023 letting us know that Shin Jinseo will no longer just be proving to us he is rightfully Korea's Strongest Title holder but also a chance to have the title as Worlds Strongest Titled player.

At the end of 2023 we received news that the tournament would evolve from Korea's Strongest Title tournament to a Biennial tournament. This global event will feature nine participants: four from Korea, two from China, one from Japan, one from Taiwan, and one wildcard.

You can read more details about the announcement here if you are interested in more details.

I hope you enjoyed the article! If you did, please let me know by giving it a heart at the bottom or leaving a comment.

I’m also considering adding commented SGFs in future articles. While I may not be at the professional level, I’d be happy to share my thoughts and insights in a downloadable SGF format. Would this be something you’d be interested in? Let me know in the comments!