In the last list of the top Chess players we published, we ranked the best Luxembourger Chess players. Now in this article, we’re ranking the best South Korean Chess players from South Korea, starting with the number ten spot in FIDE. All of the players in this list are Grandmasters with an Elo rating over 2500. For more information on ratings, see the guide on how to get a FIDE rating.
10. Saebyeok Kim
Full Name: Saebyeok Kim
Title: Candidate Master
Born: January 1, 1984
Federation: South Korea
Ratings
World ranking: 25943
Rapid: 1887
Blitz: N/A
Classical: 1985
Profiles
Saebyeok Kim was accredited with the title of Candidate’s Master. From 2014 to 2018, Saebyeok Kim has played 26 games; with 10 wins, 4 draws, and 12 losses accumulating to an average winning score of 46.15 percent. He has since played in various tournaments, including; 43rd Olympiad 2018, the 42nd Olympiad 2016, and the 41st Olympiad Open 2014.
9. Georgiy Li
Full Name: Georgiy Li
Title: None
Born: January 1, 1953
Federation: South Korea
Ratings
World ranking: 24986
Rapid: 1972
Blitz: N/A
Classical: 1994
Profiles
Georgiy Li is yet to be accorded either of the FIDE titles. From 2001 to 2012, Georgiy Li played a total of 31 games; with 10 wins, 3 draws, and 18 losses accumulating to an average winning score of 37.1 percent. He has since played in various tournaments, including; the 6th Agzamov Memorial 2012, 5th Agzamov Mem 2011, 3rd Georgi Agzamov Mem 2009, and Agzamov mem 2007.
8. Kyungseok Lee
Full Name: Kyungseok Lee
Title: None
Born: January 1, 1992
Federation: South Korea
Ratings
World ranking: 20396
Rapid: 1989
Blitz: 2029
Classical: 2038
Profiles
Kyungseok Lee hasn’t been presented with the FIDE titles. From 2015 to 2021, Kyungseok Lee played 28 games; with 9 wins, 8 draws, and 11 losses accumulating to an average score of 36.21 percent. some of the tournaments he played include; the 9th CSC London Chess Classic: 2017 FIDE Open in London, and the 5th HDBank cup international open chess tournament in 2015.
7. Yunseo Kim
Full Name: Yunseo Kim
Title: None
Born: January 1, 2003
Federation: South Korea
Ratings
World ranking: 15305
Rapid: 1747
Blitz: N/A
Classical: 2096
Profiles
Yunseo Kim has played a couple of games from 2018 to 2019 totaling 14 games; 2 wins, 6 draws, and 6 losses accounting for a winning score of 35.71 percent. The tournaments he last played include; the 30th Czech Open A 2019 and World Youth Open U16 2018.
6. Jinsoo Kim
Full Name: Jinsoo Kim
Title: Candidate Master
Born: January 1, 1991
Federation: South Korea
Ratings
World ranking: 8014
Rapid: 1951
Blitz: 1968
Classical: 2205
Profiles
Jinsoo Kim was crowned the title of Candidate Master in 2020. In the 34 games, he has played from 2017 to 2019, he has won 5, 17 draws, and 12 losses, thus earning a winning score of 39.71 percent. Some of the last tournaments he played include; Orbis 4 IM 2019 in Serbia, Orbis 3 IM 2019 in Serbia, 30th Czech Open 2019 in the Czech Republic, and 9th HD Bank Cup 2019 in Vietnam.
5. Sung Ho Yim
Full Name: Sung Ho Yim
Title: None
Born: January 1, 1999
Federation: South Korea
Ratings
World ranking: 7881
Rapid: 2215
Blitz: 2262
Classical: 2207
Profiles
Sung Ho Yim is yet to be accorded the FIDE titles. From 2016 to 2019, he played a total of 43 games; 9 wins, 15 draws, and 19 losses equaling an average winning score of 38.37 percent. He competed in several notable tournaments like, 85th Southwest Open 2019, Pan-Am Intercollegiate2018, UT Dallas Fall Open 2018, and 84th Southwest Open 2018 all being played in the United States.
4. Sehyun Kwon
Full Name: Sehyun Kwon
Title: Candidate Master
Born: January 1, 1998
Federation: South Korea
Ratings
World ranking: 7062
Rapid: 1948
Blitz: 1778
Classical: 2225
Profiles
Sehyun Kwon was granted the title of FIDE Master in 2005. From 2016 to 2019. Sehyun Kwon has played a total of 48 tournaments; with 12 wins, 6 draws, and 30 losses accumulating to an average winning score of 31.25 percent. He has competed in some notable tournaments such as; the 9th HD Bank Cup 2019 in Viet Nam, the 43rd Olympiad 2018 in Georgia, 57th World Juniors 2018 in Turkey, and the 8th HD Bank Cup 2018 in Viet Nam.
3. Hongjin Ahn
Full Name: Hongjin Ahn
Title: International Master
Born: January 1, 1999
Federation: South Korea
Rating
World ranking: 4216
Rapid: 1930
Blitz: 1873
Classical: 2303
Profiles
Hongjin Ahn was accorded the International Master title in 2018. Hongjin Ahn has played a total of 9 tournaments; for which he achieved 5 wins, 1 draw, and 3 losses accumulating an average winning score of 61.11 percent. Notable tournaments he has competed in during that period include; the 30th Czech Open A 2019 in the Czech Republic. Hongjin Ahn Repertoire played with White pieces and performed in various openings which include; King’s Indian, Makagonov system- 2 games, English opening -1 game, English, symmetrical variation-1 game, and English, symmetrical variation- 1 game. He played Repertoire with Black pieces and performed well. The games include; Reti opening-1 game, Queen’s pawn- game, Sicilian defense- 1 game, and Scandinavian defense-1 game.
2. Jun Hyeok Lee
Full Name: Jun Hyeok Lee
Title: International Master
Born: January 1, 1999
Federation: South Korea
Ratings
World ranking: 2129
Rapid: 2089
Blitz: 1937
Classical: 2390
Profiles
Jun Hyeok Lee was accorded the title of FIDE Master title in 2014, and the International Master title in 2014. He played a total of 126 tournaments from 2014 to 2019, performing averagely by winning 48, drawing 43, and losing 35 in those games thus averaging a winning score of 55.16 percent. Jun competed in notable tournaments including; Orbis 4 GM 2019 in Serbia, Orbis 3 GM 2019 in Serbia, 26th Abu Dhabi Master 2019 in the United Arab Emirates, and 52nd Biel Master Open 2019 in Switzerland.
1. Alexey Kim
Full Name: Alexey Kim
Title: Grandmaster
Born: April 5, 1986
Federation: South Korea
Ratings
World ranking: 1010
Rapid: 2391
Blitz: 2517
Classical: 2465
Profiles
Alexey Kim was accorded the title of Grandmaster in 2004, the International Master title in 2001, and the title of FIDE Master in 2000. He has a FIDE rating of 2465 as of July 2022 and a Peak rating of 2488 as of June 2013. Alexey Kim represented his country in the Chess Olympiads in 2008 after shifting nationality. He has competed in a total of 410 games from 1997 to 2022.
In those tournaments, he has emerged victorious in 137, drawn 153, and Lost 120 equivalent to a winning score of 52.07 percent. recent tournaments he competed in include TCh-RUS HL 2022, World Blitz 2019, World Rapid 2019, and TCh-RUS HL 2019; with all the tournaments being played in the Russian Federation. Kim frequently plays the following chess openings; Four Knights, Scotch, and the Nimzovich-Rossolimo attack.
That concludes the list of the best South Korean Chess players. If you like list posts like this, you may also be interested in seeing the ten best Kazakh Chess players or the best Mongolian Chess players.
Sources
- “Ethnic Korean Chess Grandmaster Comes Home”. The Chosun Ilbo. 2008-11-28. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
- Jump up to:a b Di Felice, Gino (2017-11-22). Chess International Titleholders, 1950-2016. McFarland. p. 161. ISBN 9781476671321.
- Alexey Kim team record at Olimpbase.org
- “Seven players share first place in Vienna Chess Open”. Chessdom. 2013-08-27. Retrieved 2019-02-18.
- Hosted by Yoo Jae-suk (11 May 2013). “Episode 329: Idol Special”. Infinity Challenge. 2:10 minutes in. MBC. Chronicled on “So-hyun, Sunggyu, and Bang Yong Guk impress with their academic accomplishments on ‘Infinity Challenge'”. allkpop.com. Allkpop. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- 4Minute’s Kwon So-hyun enrolls in Dongguk University
- (SAIC), School of the Art Institute of Chicago. “Jin Soo Kim – School of the Art Institute of Chicago”. www.saic.edu. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
- ArtFacts.net. “Jin Soo Kim”. ArtFacts.net. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
- Jean-Pierre Thiollet, 88 notes pour piano solo, Neva Editions, 2015, p.131. ISBN 978-2-3505-5192-0
- “NPR From the Top TV Series Season 1: Episo 4”.
- “George Li On Martha Stewart Show – World News”. Wn.com. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
- “Cooper International Piano Competition: reflections and the final round at Severance Hall”. The ClevelandClassical.com Blog. Archived from the original on 2017-12-25. Retrieved 2011-06-18.