He turned professional in 1986 at the young age of 11. By the early 1990s, he started winning titles that his teacher, Cho, had won. By 1992 Lee had already won his first international title, which was the 3rd Tong Yang Cup. Lee has won all of the international Go tournaments at least twice, excluding the World Oza and Ing Cup, which are held every two and four years respectively. He is only the second player to record a "Grand Slam". The first was Cho Hunhyun. In 2006, Lee won the Wangwi title for the eleventh straight year. His teacher, Cho Hunhyun, holds the record for the most successive domestic titles with sixteen consecutive Paewang titles. Ma Xiaochun has the second-most successive domestic titles with thirteen Mingren titles.
Style
"Stone Buddha" is one of Lee's many nicknames. It derives from the fact that he always keeps a straight face and never smiles or frowns during a match. The nickname reflects his playing style as well. His reading ability is among the best in the world. If he said "I'm going to win by 1.5 point", then he did so. It gave him an honorable nickname, "God of calculation." He does not attack much and never plays "wild Go". He often wins by making his opponents think they are winning, only to gradually defeat them in the later stages of the game. He rarely kills large groups or makes a single move that decides the match. His endgame skill is one of the strongest in history.
Go career
Over the years, Lee's style of play has been broken down. Even Cho Chikun said that Lee Sedol would eventually pass Chang-ho because Chang-ho's style is no longer guaranteed due to the new generation of players. He has had to resort to abandoning his old style and improvising play against these new players. When asked if Lee's era was over, his teacher Cho Hunhyun simply replied, "No". He continued, saying that Lee Sedol is just someone who has finally fit the description of a rival for Chang-ho. He also said that both will battle many times and in the coming years the "smoke will settle" and one of them will come outon top. After losing the 10th Samsung Cup to Luo Xihe, Lee came back and took the newly made Sibdan Cup against Park Young-Hoon. This was payback to Park, who had beat Lee in the 1stPrices Information Cup. Lee also won the 49th edition of Korea's oldest title, the Guksu. Unusually for him, Lee lost three times in 2006 representing Korea in international tournaments. First in the Nongshim Cup, then in the newly created Kangwon-Land Cup, and finally in the Asian TV Cup. This is a change for Lee, considering he has won 17 international tournaments over the past14 years. In the final match of the 11th Samsung Cup, Lee lost 0-2 to Chang Hao of China. This was the second year in a row Lee lost the Samsung Cup. In March 2007 the barely 19-year-old Yun Junsang beat title holder Lee Chang-ho 3-1 for the 50th Guksu title, but Lee got his revenge in July, beating Yun 3-2 to retain his Wangwi title. Although not having had a successful year internationally, he was the highest earner in South Korea for 2006.
Personal life
Lee married the former amateur Go player Lee Do-yoon on 28 October 2010. Their daughter was born on 8 March 2012.
