In 2006, he won the 10th LG Cup[1] and became the youngest Chinese player to ever win a major international title; as a result, he was also promoted to 9 dan.

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;[2] the greatest factors in this turnaround was his improvement in the endgame, and territory skills, which many people had previously considered his biggest weaknesses.

[3] 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.

This refers to Gu's incredible ability at playing really strong moves that require sharp instinct as well as immaculate reading.