Byun Sang-il

Byun Sang-il (변상일; born 14 January 1997) is a South Korean professional Go player.

Byun Sang-il was born in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province. He studied Go with local 9-dan professional Moon Myeong-geun, before moving to Seoul in 2007 to further pursue Go. There, he first went to Lee Sedol's baduk dojang, and later Golden Bell Baduk Dojang. He earned professional 1 dan rank in January 2012, when he was 15 years old.

In 2018, he led his team Posco Chemtech to win the Korean Baduk League, and was named league MVP. His record was 10 wins and 4 losses in his regular league games and 2 postseason wins.

He won the Guksu Mountains International Baduk Championship in 2021, defeating Shin Jinseo in the final round. He also won the Crown Haitai Cup in 2022, a tournament for players under 25.

He won a major international championship in the Chunlan Cup in July 2023, with a 2–0 victory over Chinese player Li Xuanhao in the finals. Later that same month, he won Korea's GS Caltex Cup for the first time, after having been the runner-up the previous two years.

His highest ranking has been number two in the Korea Baduk Association's official rankings of Korean players, which he first reached in 2022. He is currently number three among Korean players.