19th LG Cup gets serious – Round of 32

Seo Bongsu 19th LG Cup t 300x292 picture

Former world champion, Seo Bongsu 9 dan, declares the 19th LG Cup officially open.

The main draw of the 19th LG Cup kicked off on June 9, 2014 at the Lakai Sandpine Resort in Korea.

A new wave?

A few years ago, we wrote about China’s ‘Tiger Cub’ generation, who were born in the 90s and, by now, have well and truly made their mark on the Go scene.

If anything, the remarkable results of 2013 could be summarized as ‘the year of the Chinese Tiger Cubs’.

This year, Li Weiqing 1p broke through to the preliminaries, to rub shoulders with the big guns in the main draw.

Like us, this next fact will probably make most readers feel their age; Li was born in the year 2000 and only turned pro last year!

14 year old Li Weixing 1 dan fought his way through to the round of 32. He was born in the year 2000.

Note that this isn’t even the first appearance of a pro born after 2000 at an international tournament. That honor went to Korea’s Shin Jinseo 2p and China’s Li Ke 1p, also both born in 2000, at the 2nd Bailing Cup earlier this year.

During his pre-match interview, Li, who had been paired against former wunderkind, Park Junghwan 9p, didn’t think his chances were particularly good, but looked forward to learning from the stronger Park.

Park certainly wasted no time securing himself a spot in the next round, in 146 moves.

Park Junghwan Seo Bongsu Li Weiqing 19th LG Cup 550x368 picture

Li Weiqing (right) had a good run. Unfortunately for him, Park Junghwan 9 dan put a stop to it in the round of 32, as Seo Bongsu watched on.

Where’s Gu Li?

Gu Li 9p was a notable absence in this year’s main draw. Unfortunately for Gu’s fans, he was defeated by An Kukhyun 4p in the final round of this year’s preliminary tournament.

Gu has played in 10 consecutive LG Cups since 2004, a record only surpassed by Lee Sedol 9p (15 consecutive appearances with 17 appearances in total), Lee Changho 9p (13 consecutive appearances) and Choi Cheolhan 9p (11 consecutive appearances).

Full results

Xie Erhao 2p (China) defeated An Kukhyun 4p (Korea)
Tang Weixing 9p (China) defeated Yuki Satoshi 9p (Japan)
Byun Sangil 3p (Korea) defeated Liao Xingwen 5p (China)
An Dongxu 5p (China) defeated Yamashita Keigo 9p (Japan)
Li Zhe 6p (China) defeated Sun Li 5p (China)
Ding Shixiong 1p (China) defeated Lin Zhihan 9p (Taiwan)
Tuo Jiaxi 9p (China) defeated Ida Atsushi 8p (Japan)
Xie He 9p (China) defeated Cho U 9p (Japan)
Park Younghun 9p (Korea) defeated Piao Wenyao 9p (China)
Kang Dongyun 9p (Korea) defeated Li Xuanhao 5p (China)
Chen Yaoye 9p (China) defeated An Hyoungjun 4p (Korea)
Kim Jiseok 9p (Korea) defeated Zhou Ruiyang 9p (China
Fan Tingyu 9p (China) defeated Lee Sedol 9p (Korea)
Park Junghwan 9p (Korea) defeated Li Weiqing 1p (China)
Shi Yue 9p (China) defeated Kim Dongho 4p (Korea)
Choi Cheolhan (Korea) defeated Mi Yuting 9p (China)

Competitors at the 19th LG Cup.

Coming up: The round of 16

The players will have one day to enjoy the facilities Lakai Sandpine Resort, before play resumes on June 11. Stay tuned for updates on the results. The pairings for the next round are:

Fan Tingyu vs Kang Dongyun
Tang Weixing vs Park Junghwan
Xie Erhao vs Ding Shixiong
An Dongxu vs Park Younghun
Tuo Jiaxi vs Byun Sangil
Shi Yue vs Chen Yaoye
Li Zhe vs Kim Jiseok

The LG Cup

The LG Cup is a major international Go tournament. It started in 1996 and the prize money is currently 300 million Won. The runner up receives 100 million Won.

The main draw of 32 players is part invitational, comprising of 5 Korean players, 5 Chinese players, 4 Japanese players, 1 Taiwanese player and including the previous year’s winner and runner up.

The rest of the main draw is determined through a preliminary tournament. The format is single knockout, with the final played as a best of 3 games.

The tournament is sponsored by LG Electronics, a multinational consumer electronics company whose headquarters are in South Korea.

The time limit is 3 hours and 5 x 40 sec byo-yomi for each player.
each player.