The 2012 Samsung Cup is going to a third and final game to determine this year’s title holder. Lee Sedol won the first game on Monday by a half-point, and Gu Li won the second round Tuesday by resignation (see below for reports). The final round will be broadcast tonight — starting at 9p (EST), with Myung-wan Kim commenting the game on Tygem’s World server (NOT the Korea 1 server, as previously reported) as he has for the previous rounds. Kim’s live English-language commentary will be on the Tygem go server the first 15 minutes of every hour on Tygem’s ”Korea 1″ server. The game, which could last four or five hours, is set to start at 6p West Coast time (9p EST), on Dec. 12.
Round 1: In a particularly hard-fought and close match, Lee Sedol 9p of Korea came from behind to win Game 1 of the Samsung Cup final against Gu Li 9p of China by a half point. “Gu Li played very well in the opening and had many chances to secure the win in the endgame,” said Myung-wan Kim 9P, who did a live English-language commentary of the game on Tygem. American players were glued to the game. “It felt like riding a roller coaster without seat belts,” said Southern California’s Curtis Tang 7d. “The easiest might have been to play move 229 at 232, a nothing-to-lose ko threat that would have resulted in a 1.5-point win. The last losing move seems to be 257.”
Round 2: Gu Li 9p avenged his half point loss to Lee Sedol 9p in round one of the Samsung Cup by taking round two with a thumping win. “He showed outstanding reading power over Lee Sedol today,” said Myung-wan Kim 9p, who covered the game in a live commentary on Tygem. “It was a perfect win. Lee missed an attack in the beginning then never had a chance. I was amazed to see how Gu Li finished the game. Gu Li didn’t just win. He crushed Lee.” Added Kim, “Tonight’s game will be the most exciting game in 2012.”
The next world championship English-language live commentary will be the Ing Cup final between 17-year-old Fan Ting-yu 3p and 19-year-old Park Jung-hwan 9p, which Kim said “might be the first match of a long rivalry like Lee Chang-ho 9p and Chang Hao 9p 10 years ago.” Kim plans on doing commentary on every world championship final in the coming year.
