Icons of Change and Innovation The 30th Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance World Baduk Masters Jeju Island finals
Nov 04, 2025
The icon of change and innovation, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, celebrated its 30th anniversary this year.
Let's follow in the footsteps of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, which has firmly established itself as a major world competition representing Korea with 29 wins and a total of 19 winners over 30 years.
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, which was first launched in 1996, became a sensation in the Go world by adopting the world's first integrated professional and amateur open qualifying round. At that time, it was a taboo time for professionals and amateurs to play on one stage. That wasn't the only thing. It was first introduced by the 'complete prize money system' without any participation fees. In other international competitions, foreign drivers, who were almost brought in by paying all costs, had to participate in the integrated preliminary round at their own expense to participate in the Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance. Instead, the winning prize money was by far the best, considering that the winning prize money was $400,000, and the same prize money was held every four years. Top rankers from Japan, China and Taiwan came to Seoul, overshadowing the skepticism that top-class knights would come.
In the 10th competition, a new women's group was established to develop the world's women's go, and in the 14th, it opened a full-fledged global competition beyond Korea, China, and Japan. Representative athletes from 10 countries, including Singapore, France, and Germany, were invited, and the tournament was renamed 'World Baduk Masters' accordingly. For the first time in the international finals, the introduction of the 'Double Illimination' method in which the loser is given one more chance has become a hot topic.
Many stars have been produced to match the nickname of the "Stars' Festival". From the 2nd to the 4th competitions, Lee Chang-ho 9th dan won three consecutive games and stood as the world's best knight. Cho Hoon-hyun 9 dan, Lee Se-dol 9 dan, Ke Jie 9 dan, and defending champion Dinghao 9 dan won their second consecutive title, but the record of three consecutive losses has not been broken so far. In 2008, Lee Se-dol won the 12th competition, marking the opening of the 'Lee Se-dol Era', and Kim Ji-seok won a surprise victory in the 19th competition, becoming the first world champion. In the 27th inning, women's No. 1 Choi Jeong 9 dan reached the final and held the first men's and women's vocal match at the world competition with Shin Jin-seo 9 dan.
In terms of the number of wins by country, Korea is one step ahead with 14 wins in Korea, 13 in China, and 2 in Japan, but China has won eight times in the past decade, showing strength. In the 29th of last year, Dinghao 9 dan won, achieving consecutive losses following the 28th.
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, which will mark its 30th anniversary, is seeking changes this year by establishing a new U-20 article to discover new articles and randomly changing the method of drawing the finals based on the match by country.
The 2025 Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance World Baduk Masters finals, which will end with a total of 32 matches, including 10 from South Korea, 18 from China, two from Japan, and one from Taiwan and Vietnam, will begin on November 9 at Phoenix Island on Jeju Island.
Sponsored by Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd. and hosted by JoongAng Ilbo, the prize money for the 2025 Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance World Baduk Masters is 300 million won and the runner-up prize money is 100 million won. The time limit is 1 minute and 5 times of countdown in 2 hours each.
Let's follow in the footsteps of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, which has firmly established itself as a major world competition representing Korea with 29 wins and a total of 19 winners over 30 years.
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, which was first launched in 1996, became a sensation in the Go world by adopting the world's first integrated professional and amateur open qualifying round. At that time, it was a taboo time for professionals and amateurs to play on one stage. That wasn't the only thing. It was first introduced by the 'complete prize money system' without any participation fees. In other international competitions, foreign drivers, who were almost brought in by paying all costs, had to participate in the integrated preliminary round at their own expense to participate in the Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance. Instead, the winning prize money was by far the best, considering that the winning prize money was $400,000, and the same prize money was held every four years. Top rankers from Japan, China and Taiwan came to Seoul, overshadowing the skepticism that top-class knights would come.
In the 10th competition, a new women's group was established to develop the world's women's go, and in the 14th, it opened a full-fledged global competition beyond Korea, China, and Japan. Representative athletes from 10 countries, including Singapore, France, and Germany, were invited, and the tournament was renamed 'World Baduk Masters' accordingly. For the first time in the international finals, the introduction of the 'Double Illimination' method in which the loser is given one more chance has become a hot topic.
Many stars have been produced to match the nickname of the "Stars' Festival". From the 2nd to the 4th competitions, Lee Chang-ho 9th dan won three consecutive games and stood as the world's best knight. Cho Hoon-hyun 9 dan, Lee Se-dol 9 dan, Ke Jie 9 dan, and defending champion Dinghao 9 dan won their second consecutive title, but the record of three consecutive losses has not been broken so far. In 2008, Lee Se-dol won the 12th competition, marking the opening of the 'Lee Se-dol Era', and Kim Ji-seok won a surprise victory in the 19th competition, becoming the first world champion. In the 27th inning, women's No. 1 Choi Jeong 9 dan reached the final and held the first men's and women's vocal match at the world competition with Shin Jin-seo 9 dan.
In terms of the number of wins by country, Korea is one step ahead with 14 wins in Korea, 13 in China, and 2 in Japan, but China has won eight times in the past decade, showing strength. In the 29th of last year, Dinghao 9 dan won, achieving consecutive losses following the 28th.
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, which will mark its 30th anniversary, is seeking changes this year by establishing a new U-20 article to discover new articles and randomly changing the method of drawing the finals based on the match by country.
The 2025 Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance World Baduk Masters finals, which will end with a total of 32 matches, including 10 from South Korea, 18 from China, two from Japan, and one from Taiwan and Vietnam, will begin on November 9 at Phoenix Island on Jeju Island.
Sponsored by Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd. and hosted by JoongAng Ilbo, the prize money for the 2025 Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance World Baduk Masters is 300 million won and the runner-up prize money is 100 million won. The time limit is 1 minute and 5 times of countdown in 2 hours each.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
