By Byoung-Ju Lee, representing Ireland
Early this September I had the honour of representing Ireland at the World Amateur Go Championship (WAGC) in Mungyeong, South Korea. It was a week of Go, K-food, new friends, and a few painful lessons on the board. Here’s how it went, day by day.
Day 1 (Sunday, 6th September): Arrival
The journey started with a long flight from Dublin, landing at Incheon airport late on Sunday night. Most players stayed at a hotel nearby to rest before the real journey began the next morning.
Day 2 (Monday, 7th September): To Mungyeong, a Legend, and an Opening Ceremony
The bus transfer to Mungyeong took about three hours, with a break along the way. Travelling with us were a number of translators and helpers in blue t-shirts, covering English, Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish, and generally helping with everything from meals to sightseeing questions for the whole week. Honestly, five stars for them — the tournament would have been a much harder experience without their support.
We arrived at the accommodation later than planned, well into the afternoon, since the buses left Incheon a bit late that morning — with three busloads of people, a few had overslept, which was no great surprise. Because of this we couldn’t collect our room keys before lunch as scheduled, so we went straight to lunch and then on to the tournament venue, where a friendly match with local players was waiting for us that afternoon.
That first meal is worth a mention. It looked simple, almost plain, but the ingredients were clearly excellent — better, I thought, than plenty of “nicer looking” restaurant meals I’ve had.
After a few friendly games with the local players, it was time for the moment I had been waiting for all along: meeting Lee Chang-ho 9p. I got his autograph and a photo with him — the most memorable moment of my Go life so far, shaking hands with the man they call the God of Go.
The day finished with the opening ceremony, official and a little overwhelming, with players from all over the world (53 countries) in one hall.
Day 3 (Tuesday, 8th September): Round 1, Round 2
The tournament proper began. No surprises here — I lost both games, to strong players from Spain and Italy. Still, I enjoyed every minute of simply taking part in such a prestigious event. Before each game, win or lose, I made sure to take a photo with my opponent — a small ritual I kept up for the whole week.
It was also on the morning of this day that I had an unexpected encounter that later turned into a magazine interview — more on that below.
Day 4 (Wednesday, 9th September): Round 3, Round 4, and a City Tour
Things turned around a little. I won both games this day, against 1d and 3d players from Kazakhstan and Australia. I won’t pretend I played brilliantly — if anything, my opponents made a couple more mistakes than I did — but a win is a win, and two of them in one day felt very good.
In the evening we had a city tour, a welcome change of pace after two rounds of serious concentration.
Day 5 (Thursday, 10th September): Round 5, Round 6, and a Painful Lesson
Round 5, against a Hungarian 2d player, was the most painful game of the whole tournament. I was ahead by roughly 25 points at the midpoint — a comfortable lead by any measure — and then the game turned completely upside down after a few big mistakes on my side. It hurt to lose that one. But it was also one of the most valuable lessons of the week: by the end, I could see exactly where it went wrong and what should have been played instead. An expensive lecture, but a useful one.
In the evening there was a game review session led by a professional player, which was a great chance to have some of our games looked at properly.
Day 6 (Friday, 11th September): Round 7, Round 8, and the Award Ceremony
I couldn’t manage a win in any of the remaining rounds. But by this point the result on the scoreboard mattered less to me than everything around it — the atmosphere, the cultural events, the sightseeing, the wonderful K-food, and the constant, thoughtful support from the staff, translators, and organisers throughout the week. Looking back, I’d almost hesitate to call it a “tournament” at all — it felt much more like a festival, with Go simply at the centre of it.
The tournament closed with the award ceremony. I didn’t come home with a ranking prize, but I did come home with something I didn’t expect — more on that below too.
Day 7 (Saturday, 12th September): Sightseeing in Mungyeong
With all the games finally over, the next day was set aside for a full day of sightseeing around Mungyeong. The weather was wonderfully clear and sunny, perfect for photos, and it was exactly what I needed to shake off four days’ worth of battles.
More Than the Scoreboard
It was a very special trip for me: an honour to represent Ireland, and a chance to make a good number of new Go friends from all over the world. After the WAGC finished, I also spent some good time with my parents on Jeju Island, which made the whole trip even more meaningful.
If anyone is even slightly curious about the WAGC, or the Korea Prime Minister’s Cup (KPMC), I can’t recommend it highly enough — not just for the Go, but for the whole experience around it. I’ll certainly be trying to earn the spot to represent Ireland again in the near future.
A Surprise Interview — and a Surprise Award
One more thing happened during the tournament that I didn’t expect. On the morning of Round 1, still not quite over my jet lag, I woke up early and decided to climb a nearby mountain before the day’s games. As I stepped out of the accommodation, I noticed someone else coming out at the same time, clearly heading the same way, so I greeted him first. He said he was going up the mountain too, so we ended up walking together and chatting along the way. It was only partway through the walk that he mentioned he worked at Wolgan Baduk — a Korean magazine dedicated to Go — and asked if he could write up our conversation as an interview. That casual chat on a mountain path turned into a short interview that later appeared in the magazine. Here it is, translated:
Interview: Player from Ireland, Byoung-Ju Lee
On the morning of September 8, when the tournament officially began, I happened to run into Byoung-Ju Lee (50), who was competing as a representative of Ireland, on his way to the Bongmyeong Mountain suspension bridge near his accommodation at the Seoul National University Hospital Residence Hall. I joined him for the walk.
— I hear you live in Ireland? “I happened to spend some time in the UK in my twenties, and that’s when I first thought I’d like to live in Europe. After returning to Korea for a while, I got a job opportunity in Ireland and settled there. These days I work in IT and live in Dublin with my family.”
— The official tournament record lists you as 3k. Is that right? “When I started, I barely knew the rules. I began learning seriously during COVID. Since there aren’t many Go players in Ireland, I found an instructor through a Korean app called ‘Soomgo’ and studied through video lessons — I’d send my game records and the instructor would review them with me.”
— What led to you representing Ireland at this tournament? “There’s someone in our club who’s much stronger than me, but he’s set to compete in the Prime Minister’s Cup in Incheon this November. Since playing in back-to-back tournaments would be tough for him, the opportunity happily came my way instead.”
— Reaching 3k in just a few years can’t have been easy — you must have worked incredibly hard. Now that the tournament kicks off today, what’s your goal? “I wouldn’t call it a goal exactly — honestly, my main hope is just not to finish last. I’ve played in European congresses and regional tournaments before, but this is my first time competing at a world tournament full of strong players, so I do feel some pressure. I’m going to give my all for at least one win.”
Though perhaps a smaller achievement than a spot on the rankings, Byoung-Ju Lee received a special award after the tournament — given to the player who best displayed good manners and sportsmanship throughout the event.
Reading it back now, I can laugh at how modest my pre-tournament goal was (“just not to finish last”). In the end I didn’t finish top of the table, but the sportsmanship award meant more to me than I expected — a nice reminder that a world championship is about more than just the score.
Thank you to the Irish Go Association for the opportunity to represent Ireland, and to everyone in Mungyeong who made this such an unforgettable week.
If you’d like to see more photos and videos from the trip including Jeju Island, feel free to check out my channels below:
- Instagram: instagram.com/DublinAjae
- YouTube: youtube.com/@DublinAjae
- Save story above in Korean: https://brunch.co.kr/@DublinAjae/14