Ma Xiaochun

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Ma Xiaochun
Full name	Ma Xiaochun
Chinese	Trad. 馬暁春 Simp. 马晓春
Pinyin	Mǎ Xiǎochūn
Date of birth	August 26, 1964 (1964-08-26) (age 43)
Place of birth	Zhejiang, China
Residence	China
Turned pro	1985 (full time)
Rank	9 dan
Affiliation	Zhongguo Qiyuan

Ma Xiaochun (Traditional: 馬暁春; Simplified: 马晓春; Pinyin: Mǎ Xiǎochūn; born August 26, 1964) is a Chinese professional Go player.

Contents 1 Biography 2 His style 3 Titles 4 Trivia

[edit] Biography

Ma Xiaochun was born in Zhejiang, China. He is a professional Go player from China. He was promoted to 9 dan in 1985 when he was only 19 years old. This was before new promotion rules were made under reforms of new presidents, so an achievement of this calibre is certainly exquisite. In 1995, he became the first Chinese player to win international titles: the Tong Yang Cup from Korea, and the Fujitsu Cup from Japan. During that time, Ma Xiaochun and Lee Chang-ho were the top two players in the world constantly ranking #1 and #2 in the international go scene. It was said that Ma Xiaochun retired out of frustration in falling 2nd place consecutively to his South Korean rival. He is currently the head coach of the Chinese Go squad.

[edit] His style

Ma Xiaochun has a unique style in the world of professional go. Fujisawa Shuko praised Ma Xiaochun's and Takemiya Masaki's innovative styles for elevating the beauty of go at the professional scene. Ma Xiaochun's style consists of light play and tennuki plays. In the end, he often makes these light plays work together to create his edge during a game.

[edit] Titles

Ranks #1 in total amount of titles in China.

Title	Years Held
Current	29
Mingren	1989 - 2001
Tianyuan	1987, 1994 - 1996
CCTV Cup	1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 2002
Ahan Tongshan Cup	1999
National Go Individual	1982, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1991
Defunct	4
New Sports Cup	1984, 1985
Qiwang	1996 - 1999
Continental	3
China-Japan Tengen	1994 - 1996
International	2
Fujitsu Cup	1995
Tong Yang Cup	1995

Title	Years Lost
Current	7
Mingren	2002
Tianyuan	1992
CCTV Cup	1993, 1998, 2001
Ahan Tongshan Cup	2001
National Go Individual	1980, 1981
Defunct	4
Qiwang	2000
Qisheng	1999
Lebaishi Cup	2000
New Sports Cup	1986
Continental	1
China-Japan Agon Cup	2000
International	6
LG Cup	1999
Samsung Cup	1998
Fujitsu Cup	1996, 1999
Chunlan Cup	2000
Tong Yang Cup	1996

[edit] Trivia

• Ma is the author of the book The Thirty-six Stratagems Applied to Go, published by Yutopian.
• He is the Head Coach of the Chinese Go squad.