Go News

2005-02-19  48th Korean Kuksu: The final result centainly surprised many of the Go fans -- Choi Cheolhan 9p defended his Kuksu title by beating Lee Changho 3:0. In game 3, Lee had to resign after being forced into a complex fight and later found that his big dragon had nowhere to run. 

2005-02-17  29th Japanese Kisei, title match #4: Game 4 was played at Nagasaki on February 16th and 17th. The referee was Otake Hideo 9p. During the first day, the game was much more peaceful than the previous three games. However, when Hane Naoki Kisei cut at move 69, Yuki Satoshi 9p found an exceptionally strong answer (move 76), which separated one of Hane's group. The game ended early at the 124th move, with Hane's dragon in sudden death. Yuki 9p once again caught up in the total score.  

2005-02-06  19th Chinese Tianyuan: In this year's Tianyuan tournament, Zhou Heyang 9p (currently No. 2 Chinese player) beat Kong Jie 7p (No. 3) and became the challenger. Zhou will challenge the No. 1 player Gu Li Tianyuan later this month. Worthy mentioning that Zhou historically has a 5:2 score against Gu and Zhou is in pretty good shape recently by winning 7 games in 11 days. Do expect to see some exciting competitions between these two in the title matches. 

2005-02-05  A brand-new China-Korea team competition has been organized by CCTV and Chinese Go Association with the help of Korean Baduk Association and Korean YTN TV. The sponsor is a Chinese enterprise -- Celestial NutriFoods Limited specialized in manufacturing soybean-based food products, with 'Sun-Moon-Star' its top brand name. This is a five-round event. Each team sends five players and each player has to play five games against all members from the opponent team. The first two rounds have been played in Beijing On Feb. 4th and 5th. Team China won 3:2 in the first round and Team Korea fought back in the second round with the same score. Round 3 will be played somewhere in Korea. 

2005-02-03  43rd Japanese Judan, challenger decision match: After being silent for quite a long time, Cho Chikun 9p once again held the spotlight. He just passed a milestone on January 27, achieving 1200 wins in his prefessional career. He beat Takao Shinji 8p and will challenge O Rissei Judan later this year. The game itself is very exciting too -- Cho has to give up a big group to secure his side and corner territories and only marginally won the game. 

2005-02-03  29th Japanese Kisei, title match #3: Game 3 was played in Hokkaido on February 2nd and 3rd. The referee was Ishida Yoshio 9p and the live commentator was Komatsu Hideki 9p. Like the first two games, this game was once again an exciting one. Yuki Satoshi 9p had a good first half, taking the lead from a big ko fight. However he played too loose in the second half and his move 159 was said to be the losing move. Hane Naoki Kisei finally caught up and won by 1.5 points. 

2005-01-27  29th Japanese Kisei, title match #2: In another short game, Yuki Satoshi 9p captured a big dragon of Hane Naoki Kisei. Game three is scheduled on February 2nd and 3rd. 

2005-01-24  16th Korean Kiseong: Park Yeonghun 9p beat Kim Seungjun 8p 2:0 in the challenger decision match. Park, the newly crowned Zhonghuan Cup world champion, will challenge Choi Cheolhan Kiseong later this year. 

2005-01-24  9th LG Cup, semi-final: Although Yu Bin 9p historically has very poor performance against Lee Changho 9p (1:11), he managed to beat Lee this time. Cho U 9p of Japan entered the final too, beating Cho Hanseung 7p of Korea. 

2005-01-22  10th Chinese NEC Cup, final: Chang Hao 9p beat Gu Li 7p in the final and for the third time won the NEC Cup. 

2005-01-20  3rd Jeongganjang Cup: Team China finally won the Jeongganjang Cup, but only with the help of its strong oversea force -- Rui Naiwei 9p. 

2005-01-17  3rd Jeongganjang Cup: Xu Ying 5p of China beat Kobayashi Izumi 6p in game 11 and completely wiped team Japan out of the competition. Xu is to face the challenge of Park Shiun tomorrow. 

2005-01-15  1st Zhonghuan Cup, final: Park Yeonghun 9p beat O Rissei 9p in the final and crowned himself a second world champion title following the Fujitsu Cup title. 

2005-01-13  29th Japanese Kisei, title match #1: Hane Naoki Kisei beat Yuki Satoshi in mid-game following a rare and dangous opening. Yuki 9p is the first ever Kisei challenger from Kansai-Kiin in 27 years. 

2005-01-13  1st Zhonghuan Cup, semi-final: O Rissei 9p scored his first ever victory against Lee Changho 9p, which secured him one position in the final. Another final round seat was taken by Park Yeonghun 9p. 

2005-01-12  18th Chinese Wanbao Cup: How strong top Chinese amateur is? In the pro-ama competition after the Wanbao Cup, the amateur team beat the professional team 6:0. All games are with 2 handicap stones.  

2005-01-11  18th Chinese Wanbao Cup: once again a blackhorse poped up in this top-level Chinese amateur event. 12-year-old Tang Weixing ama 6 dan surprisingly won the championship. The boy will represent China to play in this year's WAGC. 

2005-01-10  48th Korean Kuksu, title match #1: Choi Cheolhan had a good start, beating Lee Changho 9p in game 1. The next game is scheduled on Feb. 14. 

2005-01-08  2nd Toyota Cup, final 3: young but mature Lee Sedol 9p scored his 5th world champion titles after beating Chang Hao 9p in the last game of Toyota Cup. World championship title is after all a dream for Chang, who once again played too gentle in the vital game and missed many chances.  

2005-01-07  2nd Toyota Cup, final 2: just like in the earlier Ing Cup final, Chang Hao 9p fought back in the second game, beating Lee Sedol 9p in mid-game fighting. The decisive game 3 is scheduled on Jan. 8th.  

2005-01-05  2nd Toyota Cup, final 1: Lee Sedol took lead shortly after the opening and ran safely to the end. The second game is sheduled on Jan. 7th. 

2005-01-04  6th Korean Female Myeongin, title match: Rui Naiwei 9p beat Cho Hyeyeon 5p 2:0 to take back the title she lost last year. 

2005-01-02  2004 Korean League: Team One Game, led by Lee Sedol 9p, beat Team Park Land in the final of the Korean League. The competition was so intense that the winning team had to be decided by a pair-go game in which Lee Sedol 9p and Hong Minpyo 4p luckily beat Mok Jinseok 8p and Lee Yeongku 3p. 

2004-12-30  Kato Masao passed away: 57-year-old Kato Masao 9p, the Chief Director of the Nihon Kiin, one of the best players in modern Japanese Go history, passed away just before the new year. He won more than 1200 games and obtained 47 champions in his career.  

2004-12-28  5th Ing Cup, final 2: in game 2, Chang Hao 9p beat Choi Cheolhan 9p using very aggressive fighting strategy. Liu Xing 7p commented: 'Chang is attempting to change his gentle appearance'.    

2004-12-27  17th Chinese Mingren, title match #3: Gu Li 7p swept Qiu Jun 7p off the competition and easily took the Mingren title. Gu is now having 4 major Chinese titles. 

2004-12-26  5th Ing Cup, final 1: Choi Cheolhan 9p beat Chang Hao 9p in the first final game of Ing Cup, getting one step closer to his first world championship. Game 2 is scheduled on December 28th. 

2004-12-25  17th Chinese Mingren, title match: defending champion Qiu Jun Mingren is on the edge of a cliff after losing two games to challenger Gu Li 7p. He will have to fight back or give up the title on December 27 in game 3 of the best-of-5 series. 

2004-12-24  3rd Jeongganjang Cup: although Yun Yeongseon 4p (Korea) managed to stop Ye Gui's winning streak and win two games, she was defeated by Xu Ying 5p (China) on the Christmas Eve. Stage 3 will be hosted in Shanghai beginning January 17th 2005. 

2004-12-21  3rd Jeongganjang Cup: Ye Gui 5p of China is unbeatable. After winning two games in the first stage, she has defeated three more opponents in the second stage so far. Jeongganjang Cup is continuing. 

2004-12-20  48th Korean Kuksu, challenger decision match: Lee Changho 9p beat Yoo Changhyuk 9p by 2:1 and became the challenger. He will face Choi Cheolhan 9p again next year in the best-of-5 title match. 

2004-12-16  6th Chinese City League A: Shanghai team for the first time became the team champion of the Chinese City League, with a perfect 22-round unbeaten run. The players of Shanghai team this year are: Chang Hao 9p, Qiu Jun 7p, Hu Yaoyu 7p and Liu Shizhen 6p.  

2004-12-13  6th jp-cn Agon Cup: Zhou Heyang 9p (China) beat Hane Naoki 9p (Japan) in this year's competition. Japan is still having a 4:2 lead against China if counting all past terms. 

2004-12-10  48th Korean Kuksu, challenger decision match: Yoo Changhyuk 9p counter-attacked in game 2, beating Lee Changho 9p. The decisive game 3 is scheduled on December 20th. 

2004-12-09  2004 China-Japan-Korea New Star Competition: this year Taiwan Kiin players were invited to join. Round 1: Korea 7:1 Chinese Taipei; China 6:2 Japan. Round 2: China 6:2 Chinese Taipei; Korea 5:3 Japan. Round 3: Japan 6:2 Chinese Taipei; Korea 6:2 China. Korea won the team victory. 

2004-12-09  52nd Japanese Oza, title match #4: Cho U Oza beat challenger Yamashita Keigo 9p (B+5.5) and kept the Oza title. Cho is currently having 3 big titles: Meijin, Honinbo and Oza.  

2004-12-09  9th Samsung Cup, final 2: Lee Sedol 9p exhibited great ability in controlling complex situations, beating Wang Xi again in game 2. This is his 4th international title. 

2004-12-07  9th Samsung Cup, final 1: Lee Sedol 9p, the Korean 'unbeatable boy', defeated Wang Xi 5p of China in the first final game of Samsung Cup. The second game is on December 9th.   

2004-12-06  48th Korean Kuksu, challenger decision match: In game 1 of the best-of-3 series, Lee Changho 9p beat Yoo Changhyuk 9p by 6.5 points. Game 2 is on 10th December. 

2004-12-03  9th Korean Chunwon, final: In the 3rd game, Choi Cheolhan 9p beat An Dalhun 6p, winning the Chunwon title for the second time. (total score 3:0) 

2004-11-29  52nd Japanese Oza, title match #3: Yamashita Keigo 9p fought back against Cho U 9p, winning an exciting game full of capturing races and wonderful tesujis.  

2004-11-29  6th Nongshim Cup: Lee Changho 9p kept Korean team alive in Nongshim Cup by beating Luo Xihe 9p in game 10. He still have to face the challenge of 4 opponents in the third stage of Nongshim Cup, which will be held in Shanghai next February. 

2004-11-28  6th Nongshim Cup: In game 9, Luo Xihe 9p (China) defeated Cho Chikun 9p in mid-game fighting. Luo will face Lee Changho tomorrow. 

2004-11-27  6th Nongshim Cup: Cho Chikun 9p beat Choi Cheolhan 9p in game 8. Korean team is in great danger this year: to continue their unbeatable legend in this team event, Lee Changho has to conquer 5 strong opponents in a row. 

2004-11-26  30th Japanese Tengen, title match #3: Yamashita Keigo 9p beat Hane Naoki Tengen and took the title by a perfect score 3:0. 

2004-11-26  6th Nongshim Cup: Choi Cheolhan 9p (Korea) beat Peng Quan 5p in game 7. It is Japan's turn to challenge tomorrow. 

2004-11-25  6th Chinese City League A: an extremely exciting game involving a 'broken ladder' was played in the Chinese league (similar situation occured two years ago in this Lee Sedol game). 

2004-11-25  6th Nongshim Cup: Peng Quan 5p (China) stopped the momentum of Takao Shinji 8p (Japan) in game 6, luckily winning a losing game. Peng is expected to face Choi Cheolhan 9p (Korea) tomorrow. 

2004-11-24  6th Nongshim Cup: second stage started in Pusan, Korea. In game 5, Takao Shinji 8p of Japan beat Yoo Changhyuk 9p of Korea. Chinese team will send in a challenger tomorrow. 

2004-11-22  48th Korean Kuksu: Yoo Changhyuk 9p beat Yun Junsang 3p in the final of the loser's section. Yoo will be againt Lee Changho 9p in the best-of-3 challenger decisition match. 

2004-11-19  9th Korean Chunwon, final 2: Choi Cheolhan 9p beat An Dalhun 6p (B+R). Choi leads by 2:0. Game #3 scheduled on Dec. 3rd.  

2004-11-19  9th Samsung Cup semifinal: Lee Sedol 9p 2:1 Gu Li 7p; Wang Xi 5p 2:0 Zhou Heyang 9p. Wang Xi promoted to 8 dan. Best-of-3 final on Dec. 7, 9 and 10. 

2004-11-18  43rd Japanese Judan: Cho Chikun 9p achieved four consecutive wins in the winner section of the main tournament and entered the challenger decision match. 

2004-11-18  52nd Japanese Oza title match #2: Cho U Oza beat Yamashita Keigo 9p (B+3.5). Cho leads by 2:0. Game #3 scheduled on Nov. 29th. 

2004-11-18  2nd Chinese Jianqiao Cup (Female) final: Zhang Xuan 8p 2:1 Zheng Yan 2p. Zhang won the title two years in a row. 'Jianqiao' is a private university funded by a successful entrepreneur local in Shanghai. 

2004-11-17  In the title match of the 45th Japanese Okan tournament, Hane Naoki beat Yamashiro Hiroshi for the 3 years in a row kept this title. Okan is a local tournament only participated by the Central Japan branch of the Nihon Ki-in players.  

2004-11-12  The first stage of the 3rd Jeongganjang Cup (female) tournament was held in Beijing in November 9-12. From this term the tournament adopted the same format as the Nonshim Cup -- 5 players each from Japan, Korea and China compete for a team victory. Another major change was that players were asked to represent their country of origin. As a result, Rui Naiwei 9p is a member of Chinese team this time. After the first stage, team China is in the leading position.    

2004-11-04  Youngest Meijin-Honinbo: in the 6th title match game of the 29th Japanese Meijin tournament, Cho U beat Yoda Norimoto by 1.5 points and thus took the Meijin title by 4:2. With this victory, Cho U became the fifth and the youngest (24-year old) Meijin-Honinbo in modern Japanese Go history.  

2004-11-01  Highlight of November: 9th Samsung Cup, semifinal; 6th Nongshim Cup, 2nd stage (6 games); 3rd Jeongganjang Cup, 1st stage (this tournament has been redesigned to simulate the format of Nongshim Cup); 29th Japanese Meijin, title match between Yoda Norimoto and Cho U continues; 30th Japanese Tengen, title match between Hane Naoki and Yamashita Keigo; 52nd Japanese Oza, title match between Yamashita Keigo and Cho U continues; 23rd Japanese Female Honinbo, title match between Chinen Kaori and Kobayashi Izumi continues; 9th Korean (domestic) LG Cup, final between Lee Changho and Park Yeonghun continues; 9th Korean Chunwon, final between An Dalhun and Choi Cheolhan; 23rd Korean KBS Cup, final between between Lee Changho and Cho Hanseung continues. 

2004-10-30  In the final game of the 6th Chinese Agon-Kiriyama Cup, Zhou Heyang 9p beat Shao Weigang 9p by resignation and for the second time took this title. He was the champion of the 2nd term in year 2000 and happened to beat Shao too in the final at that time. Earlier this month in Japan, Hane Naoki 9p beat Kobayashi Koichi 9p and took the champion of the 11th Japanese Agon Cup. Zhou and Hane will clash later this year in the bilateral competition.   

2004-10-29  Park Cheongsang's first title: Park Cheongsang 4p beat An Yeongkil 5p by 2:1 in the best-of-3 final match of the 8th Korean SK Gas Cup (New Star Best 10) tournament. This is the 20-year-old young player's first professional title. 

2004-10-29  Rui Naiwei beat Lee Changho again: while Lee Changho is almost unstoppable recently, easily defeating almost all strong opponents (such as Lee Sedol, Cho Hanseung and Park Yeonghun) in Korean domestic events and international tournaments, he lost his direction again when facing Rui Naiwei. In the first round of the 16th Korean Kiseong tournament, Lee surrendered at only the 109th move. In total Rui has a 6:2 lead against Lee. 

2004-10-26  In the quarter-final round of the 9th LG Cup, Yu Bin 9p, Cho Hanseung 7p, Lee Changho 9p and Cho U 9p defeated their opponents and advanced to the next round. The semi-final will be hosted by Korea on Jan. 24, 2005. 

2004-10-25  New Chinese Event: Changqi Cup, a new tournament sponsored by the Ing foundation, started in Beijing. The tournament name Changqi, which literally means 'promoting Go', happens to pronounce the same way as 'Chang-Ki', the first name of the Taiwanese millionaire who sponsors the Ing Cup world championship. With a winning award of 400,000 RMB (about $48,000), it becomes the largest tournament in China. The tournament is opening to all Chinese professionals and the earlier stages were hosted on the Internet. There is no surprise that Ing rule is used.   

2004-10-22  In the 5th game of the 29th Japanese Meijin title match, Cho U 9p beat Yoda Norimoto Meijin by 4.5 points. He is leading the best-of-7 series at 3:2 and is only one victory away from winning the title. It is unfortunate for Yoda, the titleholder for the past 4 years, that he would lose the chance to become a 'Honorary Meijin' if he loses one more game. 

2004-10-17  Astonishing opening: Yoda Norimoto 9p played a double 4-6 opening in a second round game of the 52nd Japanese NHK Cup. He finally beat his opponent Cho Riyu 6p in mid-game and moved forward to the third round. 

2004-10-15  In the first stage of the 6th Nongshim Cup, Chinese and Japanese players performed well, winning two games each. The second stage will start on November 24th in South Korea. 

2004-10-07  Chinese stormed the quarter-final of the 9th Samsung Cup by winning 3 out of 4 games against strong Korean opponents. Gu Li, Wang Xi and Zheng Heyang beat Choi Cheolhan, Song Taekon and Park Yeonghun, respectively. Korean's only hope is on Lee Sedol 9p, who beat Wang Lei 8p. The semifinal will start on Nov. 16.  

2004-10-01  Highlight of October: 9th Samsung Cup, round 3; 6th Nongshim Cup, first stage; 29th Japanese Meijin tiltle match to continue; 11th Japanese Agon Cup, final; 29th Japanese Shinjin O final to continue; 23rd Japanese Female Honinbo title match to continue; 9th international LG Cup, round 3; 9th Korean LG Cup, final; 8th Korean Fresh Best 10, final. 

2004-09-23  The 6th Nongshim Cup will start on October 12th in Beijing. All participants have been determined. They are: Lee Changho, Yoo Changhyuk, Choi Cheolhan, An Dalhun, Han Chongjin (representing Korea); Cho Chikun, Kato Masao, O Meien, Mimura Tomoyasu, Takao Shinji (representing Japan); Zhou Heyang, Luo Xihe, Wang Lei, Peng Quan and Wang Xi (representing China). 

2004-09-21  Gu Li to conquer all Chinese titles: In the challenger decision stage of the 17th Chinese Mingren tournament, Gu Li 7p beat Nie Weiping 9p. This victory gives him the opportunity to achieve a grand slam in the Chinese professional arena. In the mean time, he only ranked No. 2 in the most recent Chinese official rating list due to his relatively weak international performance. Kong Jie 7p took his No. 1 place in the rating list. 

2004-09-18  Chinese City League to resume: It has been reported that the Chinese Weiqi Association has successfully secured financial supports from a new sponsor to continue the City League. The league will restart on October 9th. It was suspended earlier this year due to the old sponsor's financial trouble. 

2004-09-18  After two rounds of elimination four players entered the semifinal stage of the 1st Zhonghuan Cup. They are: Lee Changho 9p, Park Yeonghun 9p, Yamashita Keigo 9p and O Rissei 9p. The semifinal and final will be held this December. Taiwan's local player Lin Zhihan 5p had impressive performance by beating Song Taekon 7p in the first round and giving Yamashita a lot of troubles in the second round. 

2004-09-16  New international tournament to start: Zhonghuan Cup, sponsored by JP-Morgan and Taiwan Kiin, is scheduled to start on 16th, September. It is unfortunately cannot be considered as a world championship title as China has decided not to send players to participate and there is no reserved place for European and American players. Sixteen players will compete for four rounds to decide the champion. 

2004-09-10  Chang Hao 9p and Choi Cheolhan 8p advanced to the final of the 5th Ing Cup, both beating their opponents by 2:1 in semifinal round. The final, scheduled in early next year, will be Choi Cheolhan's first bid for world championship. Chang Hao for the second time in a row entered the final of Ing Cup. Will he catch the chance this time?   

2004-09-06  After the first round of the best-of-3 Ing Cup semifinal, Korean players were one step closer to dominate the event again. Both Song Taekon and Choi Cheolhan beat their Chinese opponents in mid-games. One Sept. 8th, the Korean will try to secure their 5th consecutive Ing championship titles while the Chinese will try to survive at least to the final round. 

2004-09-03  Korean and Chinese players evenly split the eight tickets for the next round of the 9th Samsung Cup while all Japanese were once again blocked outside the top eight. The winners are: Choi Cheolhan, Gu Li, Park Yeonghun, Lee Sedol, Zhou Heyang, Wang Lei, Wang Xi and Song Taekon. The 3rd round is scheduled on October 6. 

2004-09-01  In the first round of the 9th Samsung Cup, 9 Chinese, 6 Korean and 1 Japanese managed to advance to the second round. Hu Yaoyu 7p continued his good performance in this event by eliminating Lee Changho 9p. The second round will continue on Sept. 3.   

2004-09-01  Highlight of September: 9th Samsung Cup, round 1 and 2; 5th Ing Cup, semifinal, Peng Quan vs. Choi Cheolhan and Chang Hao vs. Song Taekon; 1st JP-Morgan Cup (a new tournament); 29th Japanese Shinjin O, final, Sakai Hideyuki vs. Mizokami Tomochika.