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Jiang Weijie & Li Zhe Advance to Mingren tournament finals. Jiang Weije and Li Zhe will battle it out in the 23rd Mingren challenger decision match for the right to face Gu Li 9P.  Jiang Weijie 5P defeated Zhong Wenjing 5P by resignation and Li Zhe 6P defeated Chang Hao 9P by resignation.  Of the 32 players in the tournament, only five were 9-dan pros, with only Hao surviving to the semifinals. (more info and game records) Cho U Defeats Hane Naoki in NEC Cup Second Round. Cho U 9P defeated Hane Naoki 9P by 4.5 points in the second round of the 30th NEC Cup tournament. Cho U will face the winner of the second round match between So Yokoku 8P and Kono Rin 9P, the defending NEC Cup title holder. The remaining second round matches are between Iyama Yuta 9P and O Meien 9P (scheduled for August 19th) and Yuki Satoshi 9P and Yamashita Keigo 9P.  An Kukhyun Forces Playoff in Myeongin. By virtue of defeating Kang Dongyun 9P in the Myeongin A league, An Kukhyun 2P has put himself into position for a playoff against the winner of the August 19 match between Lee Changho 9P and Lee Sedol 9P.  Changho and Sedol are both 2-2, so Kukhyun’s 3-2 record forces the playoff to continue into the main tournament. Kukhyun is a relatively new 18 year-old Korean pro and defeating either Changho or Sedol would be a major boost for his standings.
– reports/photo from JustPlayGo

Iyama Yuta 9P, the young turk among Japanese pros, is doing well in his first year as Meijin. He is about to start his first defense of that title against Takao Shinji 9P and has played in every Japanese tournament this year, except for those restricted to women and members of other branches of the Nihon Ki-in. Here’s his record this year in the top seven Japanese titles: in the Kisei League B, he is the only player with two victories; in the Honinbo he lost the challenger decision match to Yamashita Keigo; he’s in the semi-finals of the Judan, lost in the semi-finals of the Oza to Yamada Kimio 9P, lost in the second round of the Tengen to Cho U 9P, and lost in the final of the Gosei to challenger Sakai Hideyuki 7P. In lesser tournaments, he lost in the first round of the Agon Cup, lost in the final preliminary game of the Ryusei, is seeded into the second round of the NHK Cup, is in the second round of the NEC Cup, in the third round of the Daiwa Cup, and lost in the semifinals of the Daiwa Cup Grand Champion to Takao Shinji. Given this track record, it seems likely that he will become an ever bigger threat to Cho U’s current dominance of the Japanese scene.
– Bill Cobb

Ilya Shikshin 7d (l) of Russia is this year’s European Go Champion, winning the main tournament at the recently-concluded European Go Congress in Tampere, Finland. Click here for complete results in all EGC tourneys, including the Weekend, Rapid, Pair Go and more. Six Congress Bulletins with reports on the EGC were published and are available online as well. Click here for Congress photo albums and news. There are also some reports on EuroGoTV. photo of Shikshin by Judith van Dam, EuroGoTV

Lee Sedol vs. Lee Changho in Price Information Cup: Lee Sedol 9P defeated Won Sungjin 9P by resignation in their semifinal match on August 8 to advance to the finals of the Price Information Cup. The title match is a best-of-three series that will begin on September 1. The winner will challenge current title holder Kim Jiseok for the 2010 Price Information Cup title.  More information and the game record can be found at JustPlayGo.com. Surprising Advances at the Samsung Cup Qualifier: Two players who were not expected to advance have played their way into the main Samsung Cup.  The qualifier tournament finished on August 6 with Min Sanhgyun, a Korean amateur, defeating several professional opponents to advance.  In addition, the only Japanese player to advance was Murakawa Daisuke 5P.  He is not a high profile Japanese pro, but is the second youngest Japanese pro in the modern era, just one month older than Cho Chikun was when he qualified.  Click below for more information and game records.
– JustPlayGo.com