China’s defending champion Tang Weixing 9p faced off against Korea’s secret weapon Kim Jiseok 9p (left) at the 2014 Samsung Cup finals on December 9 and 10 in Xi’an. Though Tang had a previous win and the home field advantage, Kim’s individual performance this year in international tournaments has been almost flawless with 15 wins and only 1 defeat. The result? Kim delighted Korean fans by defeating Tang 2-0 and giving Korea its first major international title since Lee Sedol 9p won the Samsung Cup in 2012. For more information about this year’s tournament including photos, game records, and preliminary commentary by An Younggil 8d, please visit Go Game Guru.
–Younggil An, from a longer article on Go Game Guru; photo courtesy Go Game Guru. Edited by Annalia Linnan.
American Go E-Journal » Events/Tournaments
Kim Jiseok Shines at 2014 Samsung Cup, Wins First International Title
Saturday December 13, 2014
EuroGoTV Update: Russia, Romania, Lithuania
Saturday December 13, 2014
Russia: The Championship of Karelia finished on December 7 in Petrozavodsk with Vladimir Shvecov 3d in first, Dimitrij Kornev 4d in second, and Dmitrij Konovalov 2d in third. Romania: Mircea Nitu 11k (left) took the 2nd VolGo Cup on December 6 in Voluntary. Behind him were Sebastian State 11k in second and George Gigoi 14k in third. Lithuania: Also on December 7, Giedrius Tumelis 2d bested Andrius Petrauskas 3d at the Lithuanian Go Championship in Vilnius while Ernestas Romeika 1d came in third.
– Annalia Linnan, based on reports from EuroGoTV, which include complete result tables and all the latest European go news; photo courtesy of EuroGoTV
Ranka’s SportAccord World Mind Games Update: An Epic Encounter and a Historic Victory
Friday December 12, 2014
by James Davies, Ranka Online
The first round of go competition at the 4th SportAccord World Mind Games on December 11 featured an epic encounter between the Korean and Japanese men’s teams, and a historic victory for a Russian woman. The Japan-Korea men’s match was close on all three boards. Yuki Satoshi (right) of Japan defeated Korea’s Park Younghun in a prolonged struggle on board one. In the battle between two young players on board two, Japan’s Ida Atsushi, 20, overplayed his advantage against Na Hyun, 19, by starting an unnecessary ko fight, in the course of which Na was able to revive his dead group and evened the score in the match at 1-1. All now depended on the outcome of the game between Seto Taiki of Japan and Korea’s Kang Dongyoon on board three, and the people following the action on the monitor screens in the adjoining room were held in suspense down to practically the last move, but after a grueling five and a half hours, Kang came up the winner by 4.5 points.
Meanwhile, the Chinese team of Shi Yue, Mi Yuting, and Tuo Jiaxi was dealing unmercifully with the European team of Fan Hui, Aleksandr Dinershteyn, and Ilya Shikshin. European stones died en masse on all three boards. The team from Chinese Taipei also blanked the North American team 3-0, although the game between Chen Shih-Iuan and Jiang Mingjiu on board one was quite close. Russia’s Natalia Kovaleva defeated Chinese Taipei’s Cathy Chang in the women’s individual competition.
– adapted from a longer report on Ranka Online; photo by Ivan Vigano
2014 SportAccord World Mind Games Launch in Beijing
Thursday December 11, 2014
The fourth SportAccord World Mind Games officially opened at an evening ceremony held on December 10 in the banquet hall of the V-Continent Beijing Parkview Wuzhou hotel near the Beijing International Conference Center, which is the competition venue. Thirty go players representing the best of China, Chinese Taipei, Europe, North America, Japan, and Korea will compete with each other December 11-17, rubbing shoulders with some of the world’s best bridge, chess, draughts, and xiangqi players. Counting all five disciplines, there are 150 contestants, drawn from nearly forty countries and territories on six continents. Click here for Ranka Online’s reports on the SAWMG’s Opening ceremony and draw and Players Converge on Beijing for the 4th SportAccord WorldMind Games.
Michael Redmond 9P’s gives a commentary (right) on the Round 1 game between France’s Fan Hui 2P and China’s Shi Yue 9P. “Shi Yue showed powerful fighting, starting with a center-oriented opening that developed into a big fight,” says Redmond. “Two early mistakes on Fan Hui’s part made this fight difficult for him.” Redmond also noted that “In the 1st round for women, Europe played well, got only one win out of it.”
Click on another insightful Redmond commentary, Dinershteyn-MiYuting_annotated.sgf, for an incredible game, in which Black opens with a 5-7 point play in each corner for his 1st four moves!
Click below for other first-round games:
DainelKo-ChangCheHao.sgf
IlyaS-Tuo.sgf
LinLi-Huiren.sgf
Mingjiu-ChenShihIuan.sgf
NaHyun-Ida.sgf
Seto-KangDongYoon.sgf
Yuki-Park.sgf
DinaB-KimChaeYoung.sgf
NataliaK-ChangKaiHsin.sgf
Okuda-SvetlanaShikshina.sgf
photo: EGF President Martin Stiassny (above right) drawing for the European team
– based on reporting by James Davies on Ranka Online; edited by Chris Garlock with technical assistance by Myron Souris
4th SportAccord World Mind Games Kick Off Next Week
Sunday December 7, 2014
The 4th SportAccord World Mind Games (SAWMG) will be held in Beijing December 11-17. Contestants will compete for gold, silver, and bronze medals in five areas: go, chess, contract bridge, draughts and xiangqi (Chinese chess). The go competition will follow the same format as last year: 18 men representing China, Chinese Taipei, Europe, Japan, Korea, and North America will compete in a three-man team round-robin; 12 women from the same areas will compete in an individual double knockout; and 16 of these contestants will also compete in a single knockout mixed pair tournament.
The Chinese team this year is comprised of 5 professionals, four 9 dans and a 5 dan. The players participating in this year’s SAWMG are older than last year’s, with only 3 teenagers divided between the Chinese, Japanese, and North American teams, including the granddaughter of Fujisawa Shuko, who is returning for her second SAWMG.
The European and North American teams are fielding mixed pro-amateur teams. The North American team is comprised of three veteran players and one young Canadian woman, Ming Jiu Jiang 7P, Huiren Yang 1P, Daniel Daehyuk Ko 7D and Irene Sha 6D. The European team is primarily Russian, but also includes a professional 2 dan from France.
Coverage of the SAWMG will begin on the 11th, with daily reports and commentaries posted on the RANKA website. Click here for the schedule.
– Amy Su, based on reports on Ranka.
Correction: updated to reflect that it’s the granddaughter of Fujisawa Shuko (not the daughter) who will be playing
EuroGoTV Update: Ukraine, Turkey, Russia
Friday December 5, 2014
Ukraine: Yevhen Kolodin 4k took the Vitalii Trost Memorial on November 30 in Odesa. Serhii Stupachenko 9k placed second and Oleksandr Viter 7k was third. Turkey: Also on November 30, the Turkish Go Championship finished in Istanbul with Ozgur Degirmenci 3d in first, Kerem Karaerkek 2d in second, and Hayri Kilic 1d in third. Russia: Anton Zantonskikh 6d bested Andrej Arkharov 2d at the Championship of Khabarovsk District on November 23. Sergej Kastorin 4d came in third.
– Annalia Linnan, based on reports from EuroGoTV, which include complete result tables and all the latest European go news
China, Japan, and Korea All Contenders in 16th Nongshim Cup Finals
Thursday December 4, 2014
Players met from November 28 to December 3 in Busan, Korea for the 2nd round of the Nongshim Cup. China’s performance was especially stunning with Wang Xi 9p winning four games in a row before he was defeated by Korea’s top player Park Junghwan 9p. Pressure was on Japan in game ten when Park faced Japan’s top player Iyama Yuta 9p (right). However, Iyama came through and secured a place for Japan in the Nongshim Cup Finals for the first time since the 12th Nongshim Cup in 2010-2011.
Shanghai will host the final round of the 16th Nongshim Cup in March 2015. Kim Jiseok 9p will represent Korea while China has Shi Yue 9p, Mi Yuting 9p, and Lian Xiao 7p on its roster. Historically, the Nongshim Cup has been dominated by Korean players (11 wins) while Japan has only won once. For more information on this year’s Nongshim Cup including photos, game records, and commentary, please visit Go Game Guru.
–Annalia Linnan, based on a longer article by Go Game Guru
AGA City League Off to a Good Start
Tuesday December 2, 2014
Most of the games for the first round of the 2014-2015 AGA City League have been played already “and they were spectacular,” says TD Steve Colburn. “With many of the strong AGA and CGA players playing we have seen some exciting games.”
Results:
A League:
Boston def Canwa Vancouver 1 (2-1), Greater Washington def San Francisco 1 (2-1), Los Angeles def Seattle 1 (3-0)
B League:
Bay Area def Washington DC 2 (2-1), Princeton def Canwa Vancouver 2 (2-1)
Still ongoing: NC Raleigh vs Katy TX 1 (1-1), last game to be played Dec 18 9:30ET
C League:
DC Team 3 def Boston 2 (3-0), SF Bay Area/Berkley def Atlanta 2 (2-1)
Still ongoing: Atlanta 1 vs New Orleans, times TBA
EuroGoTV Update: Sweden, Romania, Finland
Saturday November 29, 2014
Sweden: The Gothenburg Open finished on November 23 with Charlie Aakerblom 4d in first, John Karlsson 4d in second, and Erik Ouchterlony 4d in third. Romania: Also on November 23, Ionel Santa 2d took the Romanian Cup Semifinal in Bucuresti. Pierre Boulestreau 1d came in second and George Chirila 1d was third. Finland: Jaakko Virtanen 2d (left) bested Jesse Savo 4d at the Turku Championship on November 23 while Tuukka Muroke 2d placed third.
– Annalia Linnan, based on reports from EuroGoTV, which include complete result tables and all the latest European go news; photo courtesy of EuroGoTV
Korea Shuts Out China at the 19th LG Cup
Thursday November 20, 2014
Four of China and Korea’s best faced off at the 19th LG Cup quarter and semifinals on November 17 through November 19 in Gangwon, Korea. Though they performed poorly last year, team Korea (left) dominated this year’s tournament with each player knocking out their Chinese counterpart including Kim Jiseok 9p’s win against defending champion Tuo Jiaxi 9p. Kim will play good friend Park Junghwan 9p in the finals from February 9 through February 12 at Seoul National University. For more information about the 19th LG Cup including photos, game records, and commentary by An Younggil 8p, please visit Go Game Guru.
–Annalia Linnan, based on a longer article by Go Game Guru; photo courtesy of Go Game Guru