# Gu Li (Go player)

Gu Li (Chinese: 古力; pinyin: Gǔ Lì; born February 3, 1983) is a Chinese professional Go player.

## Biography

Gu Li is a Chinese go player. He became a pro in 1995 when he was only 12. In 2006, he won the 10th LG Cup and became the youngest Chinese player to ever win a major international title; as a result, he was also promoted to 9 dan. In March 2007, he defeated Chang Hao 2-0 to win the Chunlan Cup. In mid-2007, Gu Li experienced a playing slump, even losing many matches against lower dan players. However, he soon came back stronger than ever, winning many major titles both domestic and international, including the 2007 Changqi Cup and the 2008 Fujitsu Cup; the greatest factors in this turnaround was his improvement in the endgame, and territory skills, which many people had previously considered his biggest weaknesses. In 2009 Gu defeated Lee Sedol to win the 13th LG Cup.
In July 2010, Gu Li became the "Meijin of Meijins" by defeating Lee Changho and Iyama Yuta in a special tournament which pitted the domestic title-holders from China, Korea and Japan against each other.
In October 2010, Gu Li defeated Han Sanghoon and Lee Sedol in the round of sixteen and quarter-finals respectively to reach the semi-finals of the 15th Samsung Cup, whilst the defending Champion Kong Jie was knocked out by Kim Jiseok. Gu won the 2010 Samsung Cup, defeating Heo Youngho of Korea, and moves on towards the 2012 Ing Cup to become the second player to win all major international titles (Although Lee Chang-ho is the first and so far only person to win all titles, including the defunct World Oza and Zhonghuan Cup, as well as the Tong Yang Cup).
In 2014, Gu Li was defeated in a jubango against Lee Sedol (+2-6). The games took place on each last Sunday of the month.

## Style

His given name Li, literally meaning strength, is also a Go term roughly meaning the ability of reading. Li also encompasses the meaning of the ability to discover strong moves and the ability to fight. Gu has a nickname "Gu Da Li". Da literally means large, big or huge. This refers to Gu's incredible ability at playing really strong moves that require sharp instinct as well as immaculate reading. One of his main weaknesses is his inaccurate endgame.

## Promotion record

| Rank | Year | Notes |
| 1 dan | 1995 | Promoted to professional dan rank for performance in the Chinese professional qualification tournament. |
| 2 dan | 1996 | Promoted for performance in the Chinese professional promotion tournament. |
| 3 dan | 1997 | Promoted for performance in the Chinese professional promotion tournament. |
| 4 dan | 1998 | Promoted for performance in the Chinese professional promotion tournament. |
| 5 dan | 2000 | Promoted for performance in the Chinese professional promotion tournament. |
| 6 dan | 2002 | Skipped due to the Chinese Weiqi Association promotion rules. |
| 7 dan | 2002 | Won the 4th China-Korea New Pro Wang against Cho Hanseung. |
| 8 dan | 2006 | Skipped due to the Chinese Weiqi Association promotion rules. |
| 9 dan | 2006 | Won the 10th LG Cup against Chen Yaoye. |

## Career record

    As of 1 July 2018
| Year | Won | Lost | Win % |
| 1995 | 1 | 0 | 100% |
| 1996 | 1 | 1 | 50.0% |
| 1997 | 4 | 3 | 57.1% |
| 1998 | 4 | 5 | 44.4% |
| 1999 | 13 | 11 | 54.2% |
| 2000 | 27 | 15 | 64.3% |
| 2001 | 47 | 16 | 74.6% |
| 2002 | 38 | 22 | 63.3% |
| 2003 | 54 | 15 | 78.3% |
| 2004 | 56 | 21 | 72.7% |
| 2005 | 49 | 29 | 62.8% |
| 2006 | 58 | 25 | 69.9% |
| 2007 | 42 | 26 | 61.8% |
| 2008 | 67 | 22 | 75.3% |
| 2009 | 55 | 30 | 64.7% |
| 2010 | 55 | 41 | 57.3% |
| 2011 | 56 | 30 | 65.1% |
| 2012 | 39 | 29 | 57.4% |
| 2013 | 52 | 30 | 63.4% |
| 2014 | 36 | 23 | 61.0% |
| 2015 | 28 | 27 | 50.9% |
| 2016 | 28 | 25 | 52.8% |
| 2017 | 21 | 25 | 45.7% |
| 2018 | 6 | 14 | 30.0% |
| Total | 837 | 485 | 63.3% |
* Note: 2012 and 2013 also include one game with no result.

## Titles and runners-up

    As of 1 July 2018
Ranks #2 in total number of titles in China and #5 in total number of international titles.
Domestic :
| Title | Wins | Runners-up |
| Liguang Cup | 1 (2001) | 1 (2008) |
| Xinan Wang | 1 (2003) | 3 (2004, 2009, 2013) |
| CCTV Cup | 1 (2004) | 1 (2005) |
| Xinren Wang | 2 (2001, 2005) | |
| Quzhou-Lanke Cup | 1 (2008) | 1 (2006) |
| Tianyuan | 6 (2003–2008) | 2 (2009–2010) |
| NEC Cup (China) | 4 (2004, 2006, 2008–2009) | 1 (2005) |
| Mingren | 6 (2004–2009) | 1 (2010) |
| National Sports Mass Meeting | 2 (2002, 2010) | |
| Changqi Cup | 2 (2007, 2011) | 1 (2006) |
| Ahan Tongshan Cup | 4 (2003, 2005, 2008, 2012) | |
| Longxing | 1 (2008, 2014) | |
| Total | 31 | 11 |
| Continental |||
| Title | Wins | Runners-up |
| China-Korea New Pro Wang | 2 (2001, 2005) | |
| China-Korea Tengen | 4 (2003–2005, 2007) | 2 (2006, 2008) |
| World Mingren | 1 (2010) | |
| China-Japan Longxing | 1 (2010) | |
| China-Japan Agon Cup | 4 (2004, 2006, 2009, 2013) | |
| Total | 12 | 2 |
| International |||
| Title | Wins | Runners-up |
| Fujitsu Cup | 1 (2008) | |
| World Oza | 1 (2008) | |
| LG Cup | 2 (2006, 2009) | |
| BC Card Cup | 1 (2009) | 1 (2011) |
| Samsung Cup | 1 (2010) | 2 (2011, 2012) |
| Mlily Cup | | 1 (2013) |
| Chunlan Cup | 2 (2007, 2015) | |
| Total | 8 | 4 |
| Career Total |||
| Total | 51 | 17 |

## Head-to-head record vs selected players

    As of 1 July 2018
Players who have won international Go titles in bold.
* Lee Sedol 24:24 +1 no result
* Kong Jie 26:18
* Hu Yaoyu 24:12
* Liu Xing 21:13
* Zhou Ruiyang 24:9
* Chang Hao 20:11
* Chen Yaoye 10:21 +1 no result
* Luo Xihe 16:12
* Qiu Jun 18:9
* Zhou Heyang 15:12
* Ding Wei 17:8
* Xie He 14:11
* Shi Yue 7:17
* Gu Lingyi 13:10
* Piao Wenyao 13:8
* Wang Xi 12:9
* Choi Cheolhan 12:8
* Li Zhe 12:7
* Peng Quan 11:7
* Lee Changho 8:9
* Huang Yizhong 9:6
* Wang Yao 12:3
* Jiang Weijie 7:7
* Wang Lei 11:3