The 29th LG Cup World Baduk Championship, held from 2024 to 2025, was marked by several interruptions during the final three-game match due to the implementation of new Korean Go rules.
The organizers subsequently announced that Byun Sang-il had defeated Ke Jie 2-1 to win the championship,[1] sparking widespread controversy.
[6] The final of the 29th LG Cup World Go Championship featured China's Ke Jie, 9-dan, against South Korea's Byun Sang-il, 9-dan.
Byun Sang-il was deep in thought, as an inappropriate move could result in the loss of a major group (referred to as the "big dragon").
Ke Jie argued that the referee's decision to pause the game during Byun Sang-il's turn unfairly extended his opponent's thinking time.
He requested that the game resume and be paused only after Byun Sang-il made his move, but the referee, Sun Genqi, rejected the suggestion.
At this point, Ke Jie signaled to the referee that he did not object to the penalty but asked for the game to resume immediately and be paused after Byun Sang-il's move.
The Korean side argued that Ke Jie had violated the rules by lifting stones twice during moves 155 and 157 but chose to penalize him only once, deducting 2 points and allowing the game to continue.
Combined with the referee's retroactive penalties for Ke Jie's violations in the second and third games, this "double standard" behavior led some Go fans to question the fairness of the tournament organizers.
This made Byun Sang-il the first Go world champion in history to win without defeating his opponent on the board, relying solely on the referee's decisions.
Chinese Go player Ding Hao, 9-dan, remarked that the incident signaled a departure from Go's noble cultural attributes, reducing it to a purely competitive sport and deviating from its original intent as a "gentleman's game.
Chinese player Lian Xiao, 9-dan, expressed strong sympathy for Ke Jie and criticized Byun Sang-il's reporting behavior during the second game, calling it "deeply shocking" and damaging to the image of Go's predecessors.
[13] At the award ceremony, Byun Sang-il stated that he fully understood Ke Jie's position and expressed regret over the match's unfortunate conclusion.
[14] In a later interview, he admitted that his concentration was disrupted when the referee pointed out Ke Jie's failure to place a dead stone on the lid of the Go bowl.
In response, Tang Weixing sarcastically remarked, "Even if you feel uncomfortable, it won't stop you from raising your hand to report it.
"[15] On the evening of January 23, after the competition ended, Ke Jie changed his Sina Weibo profile to "World Go Nine-time Champion.
"[16] In his first live broadcast after the game on January 26, Ke Jie emotionally recounted the match, describing the mental trauma it caused him.
Ke Jie concluded by bowing deeply toward the camera, saying, "You gave me the courage to know that I had not lost, that in fact, he had not won a single game."
After learning about the incident, Ni Zhanggen, chairman of the Menglily Group, stated that Byun Sang-il would be banned from participating in the MLily Cup.