Huang Yunsong wins 2nd GLOBIS Cup

Huang Yunsong 4p won the 2nd GLOBIS Cup World Go U-20, defeating Na Hyun 6p, on May 10, 2015.

This international tournament, for players who are 20 or younger, took place from May 8-10, 2015, at the Graduate School of Management, GLOBIS University, Tokyo, Japan.

Li Qincheng 2p defeated Lee Donghun 5p in the playoff for third place.

Na Hyun 6 dan (left) and Huang Yunsong 4 dan in the final of the 2nd GLOBIS Cup.

Huang Yunsong

Huang Yunsong was relatively unknown before this tournament, because his results in past international matches weren’t especially impressive.

However, we should expect to see his name more often now that he’s won this international youth tournament.

Huang was born in 1997, and became a pro in 2010.

Huang Yunsong 4 dan (left) at the 2nd GLOBIS Cup.

In 2012, he reached the final of the 19th Xinren Wang (Rookies’ Cup), but lost to Fan Tingyu 9p.

He was also in the final of the 7th Xinxiu (another tournament for rookies), but was defeated by Li Qincheng in 2013.

However, he won the 8th Xinxiu in 2014, defeating Ma Yichao 2p, and that was his first career title.

He’s currently ranked #33 in China, and is one of their top prospects.

The group stage

16 players were invited to this tournament and, after they played together in the group stage, 8 players progressed through to the knockout phase.

Group stage of the 2nd GLOBIS Cup.

Ichiriki Ryo 7p, who was won the 1st GLOBIS Cup, was eliminated in the group stage. He defeated Lin Junyan 6p, but lost to Huang Yunsong 4p and Yo Seiki 7p.

Pavol Lisy 1p, who became a pro in 2014 and represented Europe in this tournament, played two tough games against Yang Dingxin 3p and Fujimura Yosuke 2p.

Unfortunately for Pavol, both of his games ended in his resignation.

Knockout stage

In the quarter finals, Huang Yunsong 4p defeated Shin Jinseo 3p.

Na Hyun 6p defeated Yang Dingxin 3p, who was the favorite to win this tournament, and progressed to the semifinals.

Both Yu Seiki 7p and Sada Atsushi 2p lost to Lee Donghun 5p and Li Qincheng 2p, and the Japanese players were all eliminated by the end of the quarter finals.

In the semifinals, Huang Yunsong showed his power and strength in a massive fight with Lee Donghun. Huang won and proceeded to the final.

Meanwhile, Na Hyun retired Li Qincheng with his typical relaxed style of play.

The final

Ironically, the game played in the final wasn’t that exciting. Both Huang Yunsong and Na Hyun played easy going moves, and it became a territorial game without any serious battles.

Live commentary of the final by O Meien 9p.

Huang took the lead with his nice reduction on the right side, and Na tried to attack White’s center group to catch up.

However, White 92 and 94 formed a nice counter, and White 112 was the vital point of the shape.

All of a sudden, Na resigned, and the game was finished by move 112, without any significant fighting.

At the 1st GLOBIS Cup, Ichiriki Ryo 7p won the title, and Kyo Kagen 2p took 2nd place. Both those players represented Japan, and it was very encouraging news for Japanese Go.

However, the young Japanese players didn’t proceed that far this time, and I hope they’ll be able to do better again next year.

2nd GLOBIS Cup Participants

This year, the participants were as follows:

Japan: Ichiriki Ryo 7p, Yu Seiki 7p (aka Yo Zhengqi), Motoki Katsuya 3p, Koyama Kuya 2p, Fujimura Yosuke 2p and Sada Atsushi 2p.

China: Huang Yunsong 4p, Yang Dingxin 3p and Li Qincheng 2p.

Korea: Na Hyun 6p, Lee Donghun 5p and Shin Jinseo 3p.

Taiwan: Lin Junyen 6p.

Europe: Pavol Lisy 1p.

North America: Lionel Zhang 7d.

Thailand: Krit Jamkachornkiat 4d.

All the participants at the 2nd GLOBIS Cup.

The GLOBIS Cup

The GLOBIS Cup World Go U-20 is an international lightning tournament for 16 players aged 20 years and younger.

The players initially go through a group stage, similar to the Samsung Cup, or the FIFA World Cup. It uses a double elimination format, with 2 players progressing through each group.

The remaining 8 players compete in a simple knockout tournament (single elimination) to decide the winner.

The winner takes home 3 million Yen (about $25,000 USD at the time of writing) and the runner up receives 500,000 Yen.

The tournament is sponsored by GLOBIS University.

Game records

Na Hyun vs Huang Yunsong (Final)

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