Go Commentary: Shi Yue vs Park Younghun – 2015 Samsung Cup

This game is from the 2015 Samsung Cup, round of 32, group stage.
It was played by Shi Yue 9p and Park Younghun 9p on September 8, 2015, in Beijing, China.

Shi-Yue 9 dan (left) and Park Younghun 9 dan at the 2015 Samsung Cup.

Shi Yue

Shi Yue had been ranked #1 in China for more than a year, but Ke Jie 9p has been very powerful, and Shi Yue’s rank was down to #2 in September, 2015.

Shi Yue 9 dan at the 2015 Samsung Cup.

His style of play is basically thick and solid, but he’s very tough and bold at fighting.

He doesn’t play aggressively when he is ahead, but when he is behind or a battle begins, he changes himself into a fighting mode to becomes a strong warrior.

Shi Yue isn’t only good at fighting, but also good second half of the game.

At an interview in 2013, Lee Sedol said “Shi Yue is the toughest player to play against, because it’s hard to find his weaknesses”.

He won the 17th LG Cup, by defeating Won Seongjin 9p in the final, in February 2013, and he’s still one of the most powerful players in the world today.

In early November, he defeated Tang Weixing 9p in the semifinals of this Samsung Cup to proceed to the final.

Park Younghun

Park Younghun 9p is ranked #3 in Korea.

Park won the 17th Fujitsu Cup in 2004 by defeating Yoda Norimoto 9p, and that was his first international title.

With the victory, he became the youngest 9p in history in Korea.

He also won the 1st Zhonghuan Cup by defeating O Rissei 9p in 2005, and he won the 20th Fujitsu Cup again by defeating Lee Changho 9p in 2007.

After winning the Fujitsu Cup, he’s added quite a few of domestic titles, but his results in the international tournaments haven’t been impressive.

His style of play is light and peaceful. He doesn’t rush, but tries to maintain the balance of the game.

Park is very specialized at endgame and counting, so his general strategy is to maintain the balance of territory and power until the end of middle game.

And then he can consolidate his winning games or try to reverse losing games in the endgame stage.

He’s been struggling against fighting oriented style players for a while, but he’s been playing quite well in the middle game lately, and his rank has been going up to #3 in Korea just after Park Junghwan 9p and Lee Sedol 9p.

Very recently, he proceeded to the final of the 20th LG Cup by defeating Tuo Jiaxi 9p.

Anyway, their style of play is completely different, and let’s have a look at their game.

Reviewing just after the game.

Commented game record

Shi Yue vs Park Younghun

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