American Go E-Journal

Thirteen-year-old Ki Jie 2p and his compatriot, ten-year-old Liao Yuanpei have conquered the World Youth Go Championships, shutting out 11 other nations who sent representatives to Bucharest, Romania, to compete.  The semi finals, held this morning, August 17th, saw Ke take down Chen Cheng-Hsung 7d of Chinese Taipei in a pay-back match.  Chen was the only player to beat Jie in the previous rounds, but couldn’t do it a second time.  Meanwhile, Korea’s Song Sang-Hun knocked out Japan’s Koyama Kuya, setting the stage for the final showdown this afternoon.  Song (at left above), was overwhelmed by Jie (at right), and forced to resign in just 102 moves.  In the Junior Division US champ Aaron Ye 4d did his best against China’s Liao Yuanpei 5d, but had to resign when the situation became hopeless. Chinese Taipei’s Chen Chi-Jui 6d rose to the occasion to defeat Korea’s Lee Ye-Chan 4d, and then went on to face Liao again in the finals.  Chen drew black and opened with the Low Chinese, fitting in a game with two Chinese boys under 4.5 feet tall, and seemed to be getting everything he wanted.  Liao seemed perfectly happy to crawl on the second line in his own moyo, perhaps planning on demolishing Chen’s third line stones even then, ultimately forcing him to resign.  SGF game records of all of these matches are available on EuroGoTV.  With all the fighting on the go board,  the kid’s all got a chance to have some fun on yesterday’s sightseeing tour.  Everyone was delighted with Peles and Bran Castles, and the kids found time to blow of some steam playing soccer as well .  New friends have been made all across the globe now, and international barriers seem small when kids like this can come together from all over the world.  No one seemed happier than Yang Yu-Chia of the Ing Foundation himself, who jumped right in to play soccer with the kids even after a long day of sightseeing.  The Ing Foundation has sponsored the WYGC for the past 28 years, and has made it possible for strong children to compete live internationally.  Winners Report: Junior Division: 1st: Liao Yuanpei (China), 2nd: Chen Chi-Jui (Chinese Taipei), 3rd: Lee Ye-Chan (Korea), 4th: Aaron Ye (US); Senior Division: 1st: Ke Jie (China), 2nd: Song Sang-Hun (Korea), 3rd: Chen Cheng-Hsun (Chinese Taipei), 4th: Koyama Kuya (Japan).   Story and photos by E-J Youth Editor Paul Barchilon, who is covering the event from Romania.  Photos: Top: Song Sang-Hun 4d, Korea (l) vs. Ke Jie 2P, China (r); bottom:  Liao Yuanpei 5d, China, waves to the camera while visiting Bran Castle on the day off.