American Go E-Journal » 2008 » November

Gu Li (right) 9P won Game 3 to hang on in his best-of-five-game defense of the Korean Mingren (J: Meijin). Gu lost the first two games to challenger Piao Wenyao 5P. Games 4 and 5 are scheduled for November 19th and 20th. Gu currently holds five Chinese titles and two international ones (Fujitsu and Chunlan), while Piao, who is just twenty, has only taken one, the CCTV Cup in 2007. – Photo by Picasa user BadukNews

Lee Sedol (left) 9P has won the first game in his best-of-five-game defense of the Korean Kuksu (National Champion) title against challenger Mok Jinseok9P. Lee won this title for the first time last year. Mok won a few titles in the late ’90s, but has not taken any lately, although he was number one in Korea in terms of number of games won last year, with 93 wins and 29 losses for a winning rate of 76%. Lee Sedol was in second place, but Mok won 12 more games than Lee. This year Lee is leading on that list, while Mok is tied for third. Lee Sedol currently holds four international titles and two national ones. The next game in the title match is scheduled for November 24th. – Photo by Picasa user BadukNews

Li-cheng Chien cemented Chinese Taipei’s status among the go superpowers with his win in the just-concluded 3rd Korean Prime Minister Cup, held November 8-11 in Goyang City, South Korea. Chien, the Chinese-Taipei representative, won the championship trophy by beating China and Japan, winning on tie-break despite losing to the Korean representative who in turn lost to China. Korea took 2nd, China 3rd, both with a 7-1 record; followed by Hong Kong and Ondrej Silt of Czechia, the highest-placing European. U.S. rep Thomas Hsiang (seated) placed 6th with a record of 6-2, losing by a single point in the first tie-breaker. Hsiang was followed by Australia, France, Singapore, and Macau – the other 6-2 winners. “The significance of Chinese-Taipei winning a first international amateur title was noted by all,” Hsiang tells the E-Journal, noting that Chien’s win follows Chou Chun-hsun’s capture of the LG Kiwon Championship. Japanese representative Kazumori Nagayo came in a surprising 11th with a 5-3 record. More details can be found on the tournament webpage. – Photo by Cuong

The Chinese team is favored to win the Jeongganjang Cup after teenager Song Ronghui (right) 1P swept all five opponents in the just-concluded first stage. The Jeongganjang is a win-and-continue tournament between five-member teams of women pros from China, Japan, and Korea. There are five games in each of three stages (the third stage can be less than five if more than one player remains on the winning team). Song, who won a gold metal in the individual women’s section of the recent World Minds Sports Games, defeated Lee Daehyeoi 3P and Lee Hajin 3P of Korea as well as Kato Keiko 6P and Mannami Kana 4P of Japan. Song will still be up at the start of the second stage in January in Seoul, Korea, with the other two teams now down to three players each. Korea still has Park Jieun 9P and Lee Minjin 5P, who are strong players with a lot of titles–Lee took the last five games last year to win the Cup for the Koreans. The Japanese also have experienced title holders yet to play. The Koreans have won this event four times and the Chinese twice. The best result for the Japanese second place in 2007.