Go Commentary: Lee Sedol vs Choi Cheolhan – 41st Myeongin

This is the 5th and last game of the 41st Myeongin (Korean Meijin) final, played between Lee Sedol 9p and Choi Cheolhan 9p on December 15, 2013.

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Choi Cheolhan 9 dan (left) and Lee Sedol 9 dan play in the final of the 41st Myeongin.

Lee won the first game of the final, but Choi won next two games to lead the series 2-1. Lee fought back with a win in game 4, and this was the deciding game of the 41st Myeongin title match.

The head to head record between these two players is 31-19 in Lee’s favor. Up until this game, there had been four finals matches between these two, and Lee had won them all.

The Myeongin

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Choi Cheolhan and Lee Sedol with former Myeongin title holder, Seo Bongsu (center).

The Myeongin is domestic Korean Go title which started in 1968. It’s the Korean equivalent of the Japanese Meijin and Chinese Mingren titles.

The winner’s prize in the Myeongin is 80 million Won (about $75,000 USD at the time of writing) and the runner up receives 25 million Won (about $23,000).

The final is played as a best of five match and the time limit for the games is 2 hours and 3 x 1 minute byo-yomi for each player.

Let’s have a look at the game!