In The Match’s ending, the teacher defeats the student in a masterful game, but is the point of “Go” to win? The Korean sports film The Match is based on the real-life story of Cho Hoon-Hyun and his prodigy student Lee Chang-Ho. The film begins with Cho becoming a champion in Singapore, defeating the world champion at the time, and returning to South Korea as the pride and joy of the country. 5 months after his return, Cho happens upon a young boy who is eager to play the game and defeat everyone he lays his eyes on. But Lee Chang-Ho is a young boy with attitude and plays a chaotic game. He’s simply dying to play the game, a passionate young man with no real direction, I suppose. When Cho meets Chang-Ho, the boy wants to keep playing the game. He doesn’t ask to be his apprentice, nor is he excited to be playing against the world champion; he simply wants to play the game with someone who can challenge him, and Cho poses a threat. When Cho gives Chang-Ho an assignment and tells him he’ll play with him if he solves it, Chang-Ho works hard to calculate a winning game and sends it to Cho. This is when Cho invites Chang-Ho to come over and becomes his “seonsengnim,” or teacher. This is where The Match begins.
Spoiler Alert
Why Does Cho Hate Chang-Ho’s Game?
Chang-Ho is really close to his grandfather, a man who encourages his grandson to play the game. When he leaves his hometown, his grandfather hands him a gold watch as a reminder of their bond. This is the last we see of Chang-Ho’s grandfather, which is quite the shame. Anyway, Chang-Ho moves into Cho’s house to learn the ways of the master. The master teaches him the basics of the game. Of course, if you don’t know the basics, you can never be a true champion. How many times can one win by fluke? The only problem here is that Chang-Ho doesn’t win by fluke; he’s just a different style of “Go” player, one that his teacher doesn’t appreciate. Sure, when he was younger, he learned to be disciplined, he learned to watch his attitude, and most importantly, Cho made sure that words like “prodigy” never got to Chang-Ho’s head, because the game isn’t about winning; it’s just about playing.
Pretty early, into the film, Chang-Ho’s grown up, and it’s already time for him to face his master in a championship. As a grown-up, Chang-Ho is almost an entirely different person. Sure, he’s probably still a teenager, so he’s lost all his confidence; he thinks he doesn’t have talent for the game he’s been practicing half his life, and he’s just dejected because he seems to always disappoint his teacher. However, it’s Nam Ki-Cheol, one of Cho’s rival champions, who advises Chang-Ho to try and win the game, rather than simply learn; this is the best way to actually learn. He says this is how he played his master all this time.
The real big deal here is that Chang-Ho needs to find his own “Go.” Sure, one can imitate patterns and style, but that will never give you a champion; it’ll give you a player. This is the hard part, but Chang-Ho does end up finding it, but not at the behest of his teacher, but himself. Chang-Ho’s game is one that drives him to defend, not to fight, unlike his teacher. Cho finally tells Chang-Ho that he’s found his own game, so he should take responsibility for his own game. Somehow, sooner rather than later, the two have to face each other in their first championship final. Everybody’s obvious expectation is that Cho will win; after all, he is the master, and this is the first time they’re playing a professional match against each other. But it’s Chang-Ho who wins. Now, this is something to rejoice for both parties. I mean, the student finally beat the teacher, but Chang-Ho’s upset because he beat his teacher in a “bad game,” i.e., using his defensive style, whereas Cho is just shocked by the outcome.
What Does the Velcro Mean?
For a time, Chang-Ho continues to defeat Cho every time they meet in the finals, but Chang-Ho never seems to be happy about it. He’s always sorry about his game to his master and to Cho’s wife, who basically became a mom to him. Of course, Cho also feels awful about that, because his student should be happy about winning. This is when Cho finally tells Chang-Ho to leave his house because they’re both feeling somewhat suffocated by the proximity. At this time, Chang-Ho is wearing Velcro shoes, something Cho notices. Chang-Ho has always struggled to tie his shoelaces, and before his first big competition, Cho had done it for him. His change of shoes implies that Chang-Ho is finally ready to be independent, but he hasn’t learned to be good at his master’s game; he’s learned to play it in his own way. Cho calls him a pro for switching out his shoes, not because he learned to tie his laces.
But Cho deteriorates when he lets Chang-Ho go. He doesn’t even show up to the game against Nam Ki-Cheol, nearly ruining his entire career. Then he gets drunk, and it is Ki-Cheol who brings him back from the dead (unfortunately, his wife’s words didn’t impact him at all). Cho quits smoking, returns to the game, and starts winning all the local tournaments, while Chang-Ho is doing the international ones. Interestingly, when Chang-Ho is in the military and he meets Cho, who is much improved at this point, he has learned to tie his laces. This is, in a way, a sign that they’re going to start playing each other’s games in the future, because they’ve each learned from the other. Chang-Ho doesn’t let Cho tie the laces for him this time, because he’s matured and he’s able to do both his own thing and his master’s thing.
Does Cho Win the Guksu Championship?
During The Match’s ending, Chang-Ho and Cho reunite at the 29th Paewang Championship finals. I suppose the easiest way to describe this is that Cho beats his pupil at his own game. But I think the most important thing here is that they both try to win, and they both succeed at playing the best game they know. This becomes Cho’s first win after 15 losses against Chang-Ho, and he’s finally worthy of the title Champion Cho, yet again. Though, if you ask me, once a champion, always a champion, eh? Korea welcomes back their king. In the end, Cho gives Chang-Ho his old “Go” board. On the way home, Chang-Ho is stressing out about why he lost, but he unpacks the board his teacher gave him. At the bottom, he reads a message from Cho, “Go Is A Fight Against Yourself,” written by Cho Hoon-Hyun in July 1964. Guess that hasn’t changed in over 30 years. This brings a smile to Chang-Ho’s face.
In 1998, Cho and Chang-Ho meet again at the Guksu championship, a title that has been Cho’s pride. Though Chang-Ho puts up the best fight he can, Cho takes back the title after 5 whole years. Lee Chang-Ho is known now as the best player in history, while Cho and he continue to play the game even to this day. I suppose this is the thing they should be most proud of.
