Iyama Yuta 9p came back to Tengen by defeating Takao Shinji 9p with a 3-0 score.

The 41st Tengen final, game 3 was played on November 25, 2015 in Fukuoka, Japan, and Iyama Yuta won by resignation at 147 moves.

Takao Shinji 9 dan (left) and Iyama Yuta 9 dan at the 41st Tengen final.

Return match of Tengen

In 2014, Takao Shinji challenged for the 40th Tengen, and he defeated Iyama Yuta with a 3-2 score to become a new Tengen.

However, Takao didn’t succeed to defend Tengen title against Iyama.

This year, Iyama Yuta defeated Yuki Satoshi 9p at the challenger deciding match, and he became a challenger.

Game one of the final, Iyama built a big moyo over the center for Black, and White invaded. Black attacked White’s invading stones fiercely, and there was a serious capturing race in the center.

Iyama Yuta 9 dan, reviewing the game just after finishing game 3.

Unfortunately for White, Black had one more liberty to win the race, and the game was over at the same time.

In game two, the opening was relatively peaceful, but Iyama started to play aggressively after he failed fighting at the top.

Takao (Black) was clearly ahead up to 81, and Black maintained his lead until the end of middle game.

However, Black 149 was a crucial mistake, and White caught up through to 180. The game was still very close, but Iyama showed his special technique, and he won the game by half a point.

In game three, Takao seemed to lose his fighting spirit after losing his won game in game two. Iyama showed his power through the game, and he captured White’s huge group to finish the series.

Iyama had held Tengen for three years from 2011 to 2013, so this was his forth Tengen title.

Another return match of Oza

Iyama Yuta 9 dan (left) and Murakawa Daisuke 8 dan, reviewing game 2 from the 63rd Oza final.

Meanwhile, there was another title match played between Iyama Yuta 9p and Murakawa Daisuke 8p.

Murakawa challenged for 62nd Oza last year, and he defeated Iyama to become a new Oza.

That was very surprising and sensational, because it was the first time that Iyama lost to a younger player than him in the final match.

This year, Iyama defeated Yo Seiki (Taiwanese name Yu Zhengqi) 7p at the challenger deciding match, and he became a challenger for another return match of 63rd Oza.

Game one of the final was very exciting with a whole board fighting. Murakawa (White) took the lead at the fighting on the left side, and he was leading in the middle game.

However, White 140 was careless, and Black 141 to 145 were exquisite sequence to help his left side group, and his left side group lived in sente up to White 150.

Black’s sequence from Black 151 to 165 was bold and severe, and Black caught up through a big trade up to White 172.

Iyama Yuta 9 dan, reviewing game 3 from the 63rd Oza final.

The game was very close, but Iyama managed to win by half a point, and that was a painful defeat for Murakawa.

After losing game one, Murakawa appeared to be too disappointed, and he didn’t show his strength next two games.

Iyama won game two and three relatively easily, and he returned to Oza with a 3-0 score on November 19, 2015.

He had held the Oza in 2012 and 2013, so this was his third Oza title.

Iyama Yuta’s ambitions

Iyama’s been holding Kisei, Meijin, Honinbo, Gosei, and he’s just returned to Tengen and Oza, so he’s holding six out of seven major titles in Japan.

Judan is the only title which is out of reach from Iyama Yuta, and Ida Atsushi 8p defeated Takao Shinji 9p to become a new Judan in April, 2015.

So far, he is proceeded to the semifinals of the 54th Judan, and is going to play against Imamura Toshiya 9p next.

It will be interesting to see if or not Iyama’s dreams of achieving the gland slam of Japanese Go, by claiming all seven major titles simultaneously will come true in 2016.

Game records of 41st Tengen

Iyama Yuta vs Takao Shinji – Game 1

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Takao Shinji vs Iyama Yuta – Game 2

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Iyama Yuta vs Takao Shinji – Game 3

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Game records of 63rd Oza

Iyama Yuta vs Murakawa Daisuke – Game 1

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Murakawa Daisuke vs Iyama Yuta – Game 2

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Iyama Yuta vs Murakawa Daisuke – Game 3

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• Iyama Yuta wins 40th Gosei, 3rd victory against Yamashita Keigo in 2015
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Lee Sedol 9p to face Ke Jie 9p in the final of the 2nd MLily Cup.

The semifinals of the 2nd MLily Cup were played on November 22 to 25, 2015, in Hefei, China.

Lee Sedol 9p was faced to Ahn Seongjun 6p, and Ke Jie 9p was played against Park Younghun 9p.

Ke Jie vs Park Younghun

Park Younghun 9 dan (left) and Ke Jie 9 dan at the semifinals from the 2nd MLily Cup.

Ke Jie and Park Younghun’s semifinals was one of the most interesting matches in 2015.

Ke Jie is ranked #1 in China, and he proceeded to the final of the 2015 Samsung Cup in early November by defeating Lee Sedol.

He is officially undefeated as White in 2015, and that’s really unbelievable.

Ke lost to Kang Dongyun at the semifinals of the LG Cup about a week ago, and that was his first defeat in international tournaments in this year. He defeated Wang Zejin 3p and Rong Yi 4p respectively to proceed to the semifinals.

Meanwhile, Park Younghun is in his second heyday in 2015. He’s ranked #3 in Korea, and he proceeded to the final of 20th LG Cup by defeating Tuo Jiaxi 9p about only a week ago.

In this Mlily Cup, he defeated Chang Hao 9p and Zhou Ruiyang 9p before this semifinals.

In game 1, Ke Jie took White and he played smoothly and thickly. The game was peaceful and territorial, which was Park’s pace, but Ke’s thickness built a huge territory in the center at the end.

In game 2, Park played smoothly in the opening, and he didn’t avoid fighting after Ke made an overplay at the bottom. Park managed the game neatly, and Ke didn’t gain any chances afterwards.

In game 3, the game started with a peaceful opening again, which is Park’s favorite. However, Ke’s reduction in the center was exquisite and his endgame was excellent again. There was nowhere for Park to show his special technique in the endgame.

Lee Sedol vs Ahn Seongjun

Ahn Seongjun 6 dan (left) and Lee Sedol 9 dan at the semifinals from the 2nd MLily Cup.

Lee Sedol is currently ranked #2 in Korea, and Ahn Seongjun is ranked #7.

Lee defeated Ding Hao 2p and Tang Weixing 9p to the semifinals, and Ahn won against Tuo Jiaxi 9p and Xie Ke 1p to face Lee.

Lee Sedol has been in bad form lately. He lost to Ke Jie at the semifinals of the 2015 Samsung Cup by 2-0 in early November, and he’s lost several domestic games too.

However, Lee was still too superior for Ahn Seongjun to overcome, and Lee won the series pretty easily with a 2-0 score.

Lee showed his power and strength in two games, and his moves were strong and sharp as he did when he was unbeatable.

Lee Sedol vs Ke Jie – Final

Lee Sedol 9 dan at the 2nd MLily Cup.

The final of the 2nd Mlily Cup will be started from December 30, 2015.

Lee and Ke have only played two games so far (at the semifinals of the 2015 Samsung Cup), and Ke won both.

At an interview after the MLily Gu vs Lee Jubango in 2014, Lee said “I’ll try my best to win another international title in 2015”, and this final will be a great chance for him to do so.

He won the Asian TV Cup in 2014 and 2015, and he’s still very powerful and destructive when he is in good form.

Ke Jie 9 dan at the 2nd MLily Cup.

Ke Jie won the 2nd Bailing Cup at the beginning of this year, and he is in the final of 2015 Samsung Cup and this MLily Cup.

If he wins one of these or both, he will soon become the most powerful player in the world after Lee Sedol and Gu Li.

Let’s look forward to the final between Lee Sedol and Ke jie!

MLily Cup

The MLily Cup is a biennial international Go tournament, which started in 2013 and is sponsored by MLily Meng Baihe – a mattress and bedding company.

It’s intended that it will alternate with the (also biennial) Bailing Cup, every other year.

The draw consists of 16 seeded players from China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan and 48 players from preliminary rounds, including 4 women and 4 amateurs.

Each player receives 2 hours thinking time and 5 x 1 minute byo-yomi. The main time is increased to 3 hours each for the final. The semifinals are played as best of three matches and the final is a best of five match.

The winner receives 1.8 million RMB (about $290,000 USD at the time of writing) and the runner up receives 600,000 RMB. This puts the tournament in the same league as the Bailing Cup and Samsung Cup, in terms of prize money.

The official name, ‘MLily Meng Baihe Cup World Go Open Tournament’ (try saying that 10 times) uses the sponsor’s double barrel English and Chinese names.

The Chinese name, 梦百合 Meng (=dream) Baihe (=lilies), translates literally to ‘dream of lilies’. A looser, but more natural translation would be something like ‘sweet dreams’. This explains the somewhat cryptic ‘MLily’ moniker.

Game records

Park Younghun vs Ke Jie  – Game 1

Black 15 was interesting, but Black 27 would have been better at M17.

White 30 was big, and the game up to White 42 was smooth for White.

White 46 to 56 was a sophisticated sequence to make his group stronger.

White 70 was bold, and Black 81 wasn’t big enough for a ko threat. Black should have played C7, White 82, B6, D6, B4.

White consolidated his lead up to 94, and his sequence from 112 to 122 was exquisite.

When White built a huge territory in the center, the game was decided.

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Ahn Seongjun vs Lee Sedol – Game 1

Black 39 was slack, and White took the early lead with a sharp combination at 42 to 44.

White 68 was big, and 72 to 76 was a good decision to develop the upper side.

Black tried to reduce White’s top, but White’s responses from 80 to 96 was accurate.

Black started to attack from 99, but White’s sacrifice strategy was excellent up to Black 117, and White maintained his lead with 118.

Black 149 was a brilliant tesuji, but it was too hard to change the flow of the game.

White 160 was correct, and the game was over up to White 166.

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Ke Jie vs Park Younghun – Game 2

Black 17 was an interesting probe, and the opening up to White 22 was even.

White 30 was a well timed invasion, and the result up to White 44 was still playable for both.

White 50 and 52 were Park’s style of play, and Black 53 wasn’t as good as it looks.

Black 57 was an overplay, and White 58 to 60 formed a strong counter.

Black started to attack White’s left side group, but White’s sabaki up to 76 was flawless.

White 88 and 96 were strong, and White took the solid lead up to 102.

White 108 and 110 were a safe way, and there was nowhere for Black to catch up afterwards.

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Lee Sedol vs Ahn Seongjun – Game 2

The opening up to Black 17 was the same as the 2015 Samsung Cup semifinals game 1. (Lee Sedol played White at the time)

Black 23 was sharp, and Black took the control of the game through to 35.

Black 41 and 47 were vital points to attack White, and White was in trouble up to Black 57.

White won the ko in top right corner with 72, but Black was satisfied with 73.

Black 87 and 93 were accurate responses, and White didn’t gain anything up to Black 111.

Black 117 was strong attack, and 123 was the vital point.

The game was practically finished with 135.

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Ke Jie vs Park Younghun – Game 3

The opening up to White 26 was well balanced.

Black 43 showed a good sense, and White 44 was to take sente.

White 46 was thick, but slow. Invading at N17 would have been better.

Black 51 was a nice attachment, and Black 55 to 57 were brilliant followups.

White 58 was well timed probe, but the game became favorable for Black up to 81.

Black 87 to 93 were bold and subtle, and Black was still ahead up to 103.

Black 107 and 117 were sharp, and it wasn’t easy for Park to catch up in the endgame.

Ke Jie’s endgame was excellent, so that Park Younghun couldn’t catch up.

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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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• Go Commentary: Lee Sedol vs Chen Yaoye – 2013 Samsung Cup

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Park Younghun 9 dan (left) and Kang Dongyun 9 dan at an interview after their semifinals.

Shi Yue

Shi Yue 9 dan (left) and Kin Jiseok 9 dan, reviewing the game from the quarter finals.

Shi Yue is ranked #2 in China, handing over the #. 1 position to Ke Jie 9p a couple of months ago.

Recently, he defeated Tang Weixing 9p in the semifinal of the 2015 Samsung Cup by 2-1 to proceeded to the final.

His opponent in the final is none other than Ke Jie, so the match will determine the first player who has won international Go tournaments more than once after Gu Li 9p.

In Korea, he is widely known as an enthusiastic reader of Chinese classical books. In contrast, his style of play is very fierce, making him one of the most aggressive players in the world.

He defeated Kim Jiseok 9p in the quarter finals, but he lost to Kang Dongyun in the semifinals.

Kang Dongyun

Kang Dongyun 9 dan (left) and Ke Jie 9 dan in the quarter finals.

Kang Dongyun 9p is ranked #4 in Korea, and he defeated the Chinese #1 player Ke Jie at the quarter finals.

As mentioned in the previous article, Ke Jie has been undefeated as white in his official games this year.

However, in the game against Kang Dongyun, he chose to play Black although he had the right to select his preferred color.

Despite complicated battles throughout the game, Kang managed to maintain his lead by a small margin until Ke resigned.

Kang Dongyun’s victory was meaningful in that he checked Ke’s unstoppable pace in the international Go scene.

Park Younghun

Park Younghun 9 dan (left) and Yo Seiki 7 dan at the quarter finals.

Park Younghun is ranked #3 in Korea overtaking players like Kim Jiseok 9p and Kang Dongyun 9p.

He has performed very well in recent international tournaments.

He defeated Chang Hao 9p and Zhou Ruiyang 9p to proceed to the semifinals of the 2nd MLily Cup in early September.

At his young age, he quited playing as an Insei, and participated in amateur tournaments with a number of victories.

His rank is the highest among the ‘baby cow trio’ which refers to Park Younghun, Won Seongjin, and Choi Cheolhan 9p, all of whom were born in 1985; the year of cow in zodiac.

Park has been known as the endgame master after Lee Changho 9p.

Tuo Jiaxi

Won Seongjin 9 dan (left) and Tuo Jiaxi 9 dan at the quarter finals.

Tuo Jiaxi is ranked #6 in China and the winner of the 18th LG Cup in 2014.

He also won several domestic tournaments in China.

He seems to prefer unsettled fighting games and he is strong at close combat rather than peaceful game.

He showed his power at fighting against Won Seongjin 9p in the quarter finals.

However, there weren’t any good places for him to show his strength against Park Younghun in territorial game in the semifinals.

Results of the quarter finals

The quarterfinal matches had a lot of interesting viewpoints.

First, it represents current trends in the international Go scene well.

Three pairs of Korean and Chinese players ran into each other, and it shows that the competition between the two countries is even.

Yo Seiki (Taiwanese name – Yu Zhengqi) 7p was the only Japanese player, but he wasn’t able to overcome Park Younghun.

All of the three games drew a lot of attention of Go fans as they are all top players in their countries.

Kang Dongyun, Shi Yue and Tuo Jiaxi defeated Ke Jie, Kim Jiseok and Won Seongjin respectively.

LG Cup

Game records

Kang Dongyun vs Shi Yue – Semifinals

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Kang Dongyun 9 dan (left) and Shi Yue 9 dan at the semifinals from the 20th LG Cup.

Park Younghun vs Tuo Jiaxi – Semifinals

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Park Younghun 9 dan (left) and Tuo Jiaxi 9 dan at the semifinals from the 20th LG Cup.

Ke Jie vs Kang Dongyun – Quarter Finals

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Shi Yue vs Kim Jiseok – Quarter Finals

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Tuo Jiaxi vs Won Seongjin – Quarter Finals

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Yo Seiki vs Park Younghun – Quarter Finals

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The Semifinals of the 2015 Samsung Cup took place on November 3 to 5, 2015. The venue was the Samsung Global Research and Development Center in Gyeonggi, Korea.

Lee Sedol 9p was faced to Ke Jie 9p, and Shi Yue 9p was played against Tang Weixing 9p in the semifinals.

Ke Jie 9 dan (left) and Shi Yue 9 dan proceeded to the final of the 2015 Samsung Cup.

Players of the Semifinals

Lee Sedol 9 dan (left) and Ke Jie 9 dan at the 2015 Samsung Cup.

Ke Jie became the new #1 in China two months ago, and he’s ranked #2 in the world according to Dr Bai Taeil’s rating system, which is used by the Korean Baduk Association.

He won the 2nd Bailing Cup in January this year, and he is regarded as the post Gu Li in China.

Unbelievably he’s undefeated as White in official games in 2015, and he is the most powerful player in the world at the moment.

Lee Sedol is ranked #2 in Korea, and he’s ranked #3 in the world.

He won the 27th Asian TV Cup in August this year, and he’s been in good form this year.

Tang Weixing 9 dan (left) and Shi Yue 9 dan at the 2015 Samsung Cup.

On the other hand, Shi Yue is #2 in China. He’s held #1 for more than a year, but he went down two months ago.

He won the 17th LG Cup in 2013, and he is still one of the most powerful players in the world.

Tang Weixing is ranked #10 in China, but he’s done very well in this Samsung Cup last two years.

He won the 2013 Samsung Cup defeating Lee Sedol, and he was the runner up last year. He proceeded to the semifinals this year as well.

Ke Jie’s excellent performance

Ke Jie 9 dan at the 2015 Samsung Cup.

Lee Sedol and Ke Jie’s semifinal is regarded as the most spectacular match in 2015 by many Go fans.

They have never played each other, and that’s one of the reason why this match was highly regarded.

However, unfortunately, it wasn’t that interesting as anticipated.

Ke Jie showed his ingenious potential in the semifinals, and he defeated Lee Sedol smoothly.

In game 1, Ke (White) overwhelmed Lee from the opening, and he managed his weak group from the right side with excellent technique.

Lee invaded White’s the top area, but Ke’s moves were accurate and bold, and the game was decided.

I couldn’t find any of Ke Jie’s mistakes in that game, and his play was flawless.

In game 2, Lee made a big mistake on the right side, and Black took the early lead by Black 37.

White 42 was slack, and Black’s sequence at the top was natural and efficient.

Black 57 was a sharp invasion, and Ke took the clear lead.

Once Ke was ahead, he played solidly and safely, and he didn’t give Lee any chances to catch up until the end.

Many of his fans were disappointed that he didn’t show his typical dynamic and powerful moves in those games.

Throughout the semifinals, Ke showed his special power and strength, and the most impressive thing is that he didn’t play any clear mistakes in those games against Lee Sedol.

Lee Sedol is very talented at provoking his opponent’s mistakes by his tricky moves based on his powerful and accurate reading, but it didn’t work against Ke Jie.

Hopefully, Lee will soon come back with his typical style of play.

Shi Yue showed his power

Shi Yue 9 dan at the 2015 Samsung Cup.

On the other hand, Tang Weixing had a nice start with his victory of first game of the best three match.

In game 1, there was a huge ko at the top, and Tang took the lead with the big trade up to Black 105.

Complicated fighting was continued after that, and eventually Tang captured White’s big dragon in the center, and the game was decided.

However, Shi quickly changed the mood in game 2. Tang invaded Black’s formation at White 18, and Shi started to capture that stone immediately.

The game became very tense and complex with a huge real life and death problem at the bottom.

Tang made a ko with White 70 with his skillful moves, but Shi didn’t retreat, but kept on going to kill White’s bottom group.

Black eliminated the ko, and White started to capture Black’s bottom group from White 88, but Black’s sequence from Black 89 to Black 109 was exquisite, and the game was finished at the same time.

In game 3, the game was very difficult with fierce fighting from the beginning. White started fighting from White 40, and the following fighting was endless.

Tang tried to capture Black’s center group severely from White 122 and the center group became in great danger.

However, White missed to exchange G6 for Black G5, and Black 163 to Black 167 formed a brilliant counter and the game was suddenly decided up to Black 173.

The Samsung Cup

The Samsung Cup first started in 1996 and uses a rather convoluted draw. Though, arguably, it is fairer than a straight knockout format.
The 32 players in the main draw are split into 8 groups of 4. Players must win two games in order to proceed from the first stage; two players from each group will advance to the knockout stage.
In some ways it’s similar to the group stage of the FIFA World Cup, except that only two wins are necessary to continue.
The round of 16 and the quarter finals are played as a straight knockout.
The semifinals and the final are played as best of three matches.
The time limit for games is 2 hours and 5 x 1 minute byo-yomi.
Samsung is a well known Korean conglomerate.

Game records

Lee Sedol vs Ke Jie – Game 1

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Tang Weixing vs Shi Yue – Game 1

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Ke Jie vs Lee Sedol – Game 2

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Shi Yue vs Tang Weixing – Game 2

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Shi Yue vs Tang Weixing – Game 3

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Related Articles

• Ichiriki Ryo wins first three games at 17th Nongshim Cup
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The first round of the 17th Nongshim Cup was played from October 20 to 23, 2015, in Chongqing, China.

Ichiriki Ryo 7p, the first player from team Japan, won three games in the first round.

Ichiriki Ryo

Ichiriki Ryo 7p, the hero of the first round of the 17th Nongshim Cup.

Ichiriki Ryo defeated Baek Chanhee 1p, Fan Yunruo 4p and Min Sangyoun 4p consecutively, and it was impressive and hopeful news for team Japan.

Even though Ichiriki lost to Wu Guangya 6p in the fourth game, he’s already done very well for Japan.

Ichiriki was also the first player to step up to the plate at the 16th Nongshim Cup in 2014, where he defeated Byun Sangil 4p and lost to Tuo Jiaxi 9p.

Over the last decade or so, Team Japan sometimes struggled in the Nongshim Cup. However, they’re off to an excellent start this year, due to Ichiriki’s excellent performance.

An interview with Lee Sedol 9 dan, Gu Li 9 dan and Kono Rin 9 dan, at the opening ceremony.

17th Nongshim Cup Teams

Team China

Gu Li 9p (1oth Chunlan Cup) and Ke Jie 9p (2nd Bailing Cup) were selected as current world champions, and Lian Xiao 7p was also selected as the last man standing in last year’s Nongshim Cup.

Wu Guangya 6p and Fan Yunruo 4p are making their debut on China’s Nongshim Cup team, along with Ke Jie.

Team Japan

Iyama Yuta 9p, Kono Rin 9p, Ida Atsushi 8p, Murakawa Daisuke 7p and Ichiriki Ryo 7p are representing Japan.

The team is exactly the same as the last year, when they survived until the final round.

In 2014, Ichiriki Ryo won one game, and Iyama Yuta won two games as the anchorman for Japan, but they’ve already notched up three wins this year.

Team Korea

Park Junghwan 9p was selected for Team Korea as the current #1 (based on domestic ratings), and Lee Sedol 9p was selected as a wildcard.

Choi Cheolhan 9p, Min Sangyoun 4p and Baek Chanhee 1p qualified through the preliminaries, but many Korean fans are worried that the two younger players (Min and Baek) aren’t strong enough to compete with the top players from the other teams.

Because of this, there’s currently a debate in Korea about changing the domestic qualification system for the Nongshim Cup (within Korea).

As you can see, Team Japan has selected their strongest players, which is more strategic, and Korean fans were disappointed when Baek and Min were knocked out.

Game records

Baek Chanhee vs Ichiriki Ryo – Game 1

Black 43 was questionable, and White 44 was painful for Black.

Black 49 was the result of a misread, and White took the early lead up to 58.

White 68 was an overplay, and the game became complicated up to Black 95.

Black 109 was slack, and the position became better for White again with 110.

White 126 and 128 were a brilliant combination, and White’s continuation up to 144 was flawless.

White was winning up to 154, and the game was decided by White 162.

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Baek Chanhee 1 dan (left) and Ichiriki Ryo 7 dan, reviewing just after the game.

Ichiriki Ryo vs Fan Yunruo – Game 2

White 24 was questionable, and Black 25 was a sharp jab.

The result up to Black 39 was slightly favorable for Black.

Black 55 to 57 were a nice tesuji combination to connect underneath, and the game was still playable for Black up to 67.

Black 69 to 77 were skillful followups, and Black 79 was appropriate reduction.

Black 91 was too greedy; it should have been at Black 117.

White 96 to 100 were sharp, and White 104 to 124 were also severe and powerful.

However, Black 143 to 147 were a good decision, and Black 157 was the winning move.

Black 171 hit White’s vital point, and Black’s responses afterwards were perfect.

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Ichiriki Ryo 7 dan (left) and Fan Yunruo 4 dan with Kono Rin 9 dan (middle right).

Ichiriki Ryo vs Min Sangyoun – Game 3

White 32 and 34 were a well timed invasion, and defending with White 36 and 38 was a good decision.

Black 39 was slack, and White was happy to settle comfortably from 40 to 46.

White 50 was too gentle, and it would have been better at Q17.

White 80 was a gentle attack, and the game up to White 94 was slightly better for White.

White 128 was a mistake, and playing at White 130 would have been preferable.

After Black 129, White 130 and Black 131 became miai, and White was in trouble.

Black 133 to 147 comprised an excellent technique for escaping, and the game was reversed up to Black 157.

White 190 was the last losing move. White should have attacked at Black 191 instead.

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Min Sangyoun 4 dan (left) and Ichiriki Ryo 7 dan from the 17th Nongshim Cup.

Ichiriki Ryo vs Wu Guangya – Game 4

White 30 and Black 31 showed fighting spirit.

Black 33 was questionable, and White 34 was a strong counter.

White Black 47 to Black 51 were a tesuji combination, and the game became more exciting.

White 76 was slack, and Black 77 was a strong response.

White 88 was safe but passive, and the result up to Black 89 was satisfactory for Black.

White 118 and 120 formed a light sabaki sequence, but Black 123 resisted strongly.

Black 125 was the losing move. Black F9, White E10 and Black G11 would have been correct.

White’s sequence from 130 to 142 was exquisite and, all of a sudden, Black resigned.

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Wu Guangya 6 dan (left) and Ichiriki Ryo 7 dan, last game of the first round.

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• Korean pros dominate 2nd MLily Cup – Round of 16 and quarter final wrap up

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Yu Zhiying 5p defeated Park Jieun 9p in the final of the 6th Bingsheng Cup, on October 21, 2015.

The final was played in Suzhou, China, and Yu won by 2.5 points after 260 moves.

Yu Zhiying 5 dan (left) and Park Jieun 9 dan at the final of the 6th Bingsheng Cup.

Overcoming a rival

Yu Zhiying is currently ranked number one in China in women’s Go, and she’s in fine form.

It was very sensational that she defeated Mok Jinseok 9p and Choi Cheolhan 9p at the group stage of 2015 Samsung Cup.

Defeating Choi by half a point was very particularly impressive!

Choi Jung 6 dan (left) and Yu Zhiying 5 dan at the semifinals of the 6th Bingsheng Cup.

Yu earned her spot in the semifinal by defeating Zhang Zhengping 3p (Taiwan) in the round of 16 and Wang Jing Yi 2p (Japan) in the quarter final.

She faced Choi Jung 6p in the semifinal match.

Choi is the defending champion and currently ranked number one in Korea in women’s Go.

Yu and Choi are rivals and currently two of the strongest players in the women’s Go. Their head to head record before this match was 6-5 for Yu’s favor.

Yu defeated Choi in six consecutive games from the middle of 2013 to the end of 2014.

However, it seems like Choi found Yu’s weak spot and narrowed Yu’s lead by winning their next four encounters in 2015.

The game between Yu and Choi was an interesting contrast between Black’s (Yu) thickness and White’s territory.

The game maintained its balance after early fighting and the score became very close.

In the end, Black’s thickness prevailed in the endgame, and Yu went on to face Park Jieun 9p in the final.

Park Jieun’s come back

Li He 5 dan (left) and Park Jieun 9 dan, at the 6th Bingsheng Cup.

Park Jieun used to dominate women’s Go in Korea along with Rui Naiwei 9p but her results haven’t been as impressive in recent years.

She’s won four international tournaments in her career including the 1st and 2nd Bingsheng Cup in 2010 and 2011.

She defeated Rui by 1.5 point in the round of 16, and ousted Wang Chenxing 5p, the winner of the 4th Bingsheng Cup, in the quarter finals.

Park faced another former Bingsheng Cup champion, Li He 5p, in the semifinal.

The game was full of tough and fierce fighting and Park was just able to save half a point to proceed to the final.

Final

The final against Park was another challenge for Yu. The head to head record between Yu and Park before this game was tied at 2-2.

Yu Zhiying 5 dan (left) and Park Jieun 9 dan, at the end of the final game.

The final started with calm and peaceful opening, which suited Yu’s style of play.

Black (Park) started a tentative attack on White’s center stones, but her strategy wasn’t clear enough, and White successfully settled her weak groups with skillful sabaki.

The game was still very close as it entered endgame, but White’s position was thicker than it appeared. Yu maintained her lead until the end with her excellent endgame technique.

It was Yu Zhiying’s first international title! Congratulations!

The Bingsheng Cup

The Bingsheng Cup was first played in 2010 and is held annually at Qionglong Mountain, Suzhou, China.

The original name of the tournament is the Qionglong Mountain Bingsheng Cup, and it’s sometimes referred to as the Qionglong Cup (in English) because of this.

Currently the only women’s individual international Go tournament, it uses a knockout format for the top 16 players from China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Europe, North America and Oceania.

Amateurs are allowed to take part if they win the right to represent their region.

The time limit for games is 2 hours main time and 5 x 1 minute byo-yomi.

The first prize is 250,000 RMB and the runner up receives 100,000 RMB.

Qionglong Mountain is where Sun Zi (aka Sun Tzu) wrote The Art of War (孫子兵法), and is called the mountain of the wisdom.

Bingsheng (兵圣) literally means ‘soldier saint’ – named in honor of Sun Zi. The second character also appears in the names of the Qisheng and Kisei (Go saint) tournaments.

6th Bingsheng Cup photos

6th Bingsheng Cup full results

Round of 16

Yu Zhiying 5p (China) defeated Zhang Zhengping 3p (Taiwan)

Park Jieun 9p (Korea) defeated Rui Naiwei 9p (China)

Wang Chenxing 5p (China) defeated O Yujin 2p (Korea)

Li He 5p (China) defeated Mukai Chiaki 5p (Japan)

Choi Jung 6p (Korea) defeated Joanne Missingham 7p (Oceania)

Nyu Eiko 1p  (Japan) defeated Song Ronghui 5p (China)

Wang Jing Yi 2p (Japan) defeated Wang Yinli 6d (North America)

Chen Yiming 2p (China) defeated Rita Pocsai 5d (Europe)

Quarter finals

Yu Zhiying 5p defeated Wang Jing Yi 2p

Park Jieun 9p defeated Wang Chenxing 5p

Choi Jung 6p defeated Chen Yiming 2p

Li He 5p defeated Nyu Eiko 1p

Semifinals

Yu Zhiying 5p defeated Choi Jung 6p

Park Jieun 9p Li He 5p

Final

Yu Zhiying 5p defeated Park Jieun 9p

Game records

Park Jieun vs Yu Zhiying – Final

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Yu Zhiying vs Choi Jung – Semifinals

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Li He vs Park Jieun – Semifinals

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Park Jieun vs Rui Naiwei – Round of 16

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Choi Jung vs Joanne Missingham – Round of 16

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Rita Pocsai vs Chen Yiming – Round of 16

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The 2nd Codecentric Go Challenge began on October 3, 2015, with the computer Go program Zen challenging 11 time German Go champion Franz-Josef Dickhut (aka FJ) in the first game of a best of five match.

The Codecentric Go Challenge

The Codecentric Go Challenge is an annual best of five match between a top computer Go program and a top amateur Go player.

The Codecentric logo.

The first iteration of the tournament was held in 2014 and the event is sponsored by Codecentric – an IT consulting company based in Germany.

In 2014, Dickhut defeated CrazyStone (another top Go AI) with a 3-1 score, after losing the first game.

This year, he’s facing CrazyStone’s rival, Zen.

Team DeepZen

Zen is the brainchild of two people – Yoji Ojima and Hideki Kato – who together form Team DeepZen, based in Japan.

For this match, Zen19 is using a parallelized implementation of its code, developed by Hideki. This means that it can efficiently carry out many calculations simultaneously (in parallel) when it has access to a computer cluster (multiple computers at once). This version of Zen is stronger than the commercial version when clustered.

Hardware

Zen is running on a four PC cluster consisting of:

• a dual 12-core Xeon E5-2690 v3 at 2.6 GHz, with 32 GB RAM,
• a dual 10-core Xeon E5-2690 v2 at 3 GHz, with 32 GB RAM,
• a dual 6-core Xeon X5680 at 3.5 GHz, with 8 GB RAM, and
• an 8-core Core i7 5960X at 3 GHz, with 16 GB RAM.

And Dickhut is running on a human brain

Read an interview with both teams

For more information about the match and to read an interview with both teams, please visit the Codecentric website.

Game 2 schedule

The next game will be played this weekend, on Saturday October 17, at 2:00 PM German time. That’s Saturday, 17 October at:

• 5:00 AM US Pacific Daylight Time
• 8:00 AM US Eastern Daylight Time
• 12:00 PM UTC
• 2:00 PM Central European Summer Time
• 9:00 PM Japanese Standard Time, and
• 11:00 PM Australian Eastern Daylight Time.

You can watch the game on the KGS Go Server (look for the game between fj and Zen19S).

More information about the match schedule is available here.

Let’s have a look at the game!

Commented game record

Zen vs Franz-Josef Dickhut

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The round of 16 and the quarter finals of the 2015 Samsung Cup took place on October 6 and 8, 2015. The venue was the very impressive Samsung Global Research and Development Center in Gyeonggi, Korea.

Samsung Global Research and Development Center, Gyeonggi, Korea

Lunch each day was freshly cooked to order!

Lunch is served at the 2015 Samsung Cup

It was a showdown between China and Korea, with Japanese, Taiwanese and American players eliminated in the group stage.

Round of 16

Shi Yue 9p and Kim Jiseok 9p were facing each other, and that was the most interesting match in the round of 16.

Kim has been in a long slump, and his haengma hasn’t been as sharp as before. Shi showed his strength, and he won the game relatively easily.

Yu Zhiying 5p was the only female player in the round of 16, but she was no match for Lee Sedol 9p.

Yu Zhiying 5 dan (left) and Lee Sedol 9 dan at the 2015 Samsung Cup

Park Junghwan 9p, Ke Jie 9p and Byun Sangil 4p had little trouble defeating Zhou Hexi 5p, Na Hyun 6p and Gan Siyang 4p.

Zhang Tao 4p overcame Park Younghun 9p, which was most the unexpected result from the round of 16. Park’s been doing really well lately, but he lost in the endgame, which was very uncharacteristic of him.

Park Younghun 9 dan (left) lost unexpectedly to Zhang Tao 4 dan at the 2015 Samsung Cup.

Tang Weixing 9p conquered Lee Changho 9p and that was a meaningful win for him. Lee Changho was winning until the quite late in the endgame, where a few mistakes cost him the game. This would have never happened back when he was unbeatable.

The score became tied with China and Korea both entering the quarter finals with four players each.

Quarter finalists of the 2015 Samsung Cup, from left: Kim Dongho 4 dan, Shi Yue 9 dan, Ke Jie 9 dan, Byun Sangil 4 dan, Zhang Tao 4 dan, Lee Sedol 9 dan, Tang Weixing 9 dan and Park Junghwan 9 dan

Quarter finals

After a rest day, it was back to the Go board! Although not before some taking part in a yoga session to stretch out those tense muscles from the first day.

The best way to prepare for a Go match is…yoga?

Kim Dongho 4 dan limbers up before his quarter final appearance at the 2015 Samsung Cup

Kim Dongho 4p didn’t seem convinced this is a good way to prepare for his quarter final appearance against Shi Yue 9p which unfortunately, proved to be correct for Kim.

Zhang Tao 4p couldn’t manage to produce another upset which saw Lee Sedol 9p through to the semifinals.

Tang Weixing 9p and Ke Jie 9p snapped up the other two spots in the semifinals by defeating Park Junghwan 9p and Byun Sangil 4p, respectively.

Semifinal

When play resumes again in November, 2015, all of Korea’s hopes will be on Lee Sedol 9p who will face Ke Jie 9p.

The other semifinal will be an all-China affair with Tang Weixing 9p and Shi Yue 9p hoping to make it through to the final.

2015 Samsung Cup semifinalists, from left: Lee Sedol 9 dan, Ke Jie 9 dan, Tang Weixing 9 dan and Shi Yue 9 dan

Game records

Tang Weixing (black) vs Lee Changho

Black 19 to 31 were lively, but White 40 and 42 were well balanced moves.

White 68 was the vital point, but the game was still even up to Black 81.

Black 91 was wrong timed probe, and White took the lead with 92.

White 118 to 122 were sophisticated, and White solidified his lead up to 146.

Black 157 to 161 were a good move order to catch up.

White 166 and 186 were small, and the game was getting closer.

White 214 was the losing move, and that should be at Black 231.

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Shi Yue (black) vs Kim Jiseok

Black 27 and 29 were practical.

White 32 was wrong direction, and the opening up to Black 37 was slightly better for Black.

Black 43 to 45 were light haengma, and the result up to Black 59 was favorable for Black.

Black 85 and 87 were brilliant, and White was in trouble.

White saved his group up to 110, but Black’s got strong everywhere, and it was good enough for Black.

Black 113 to 119 were gorgeous, and Black crystallized his lead.

White didn’t grasp any chances to catch up afterwards.

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Lee Sedol (black) vs Yu Zhiying

White 16 was warlike, and Black’s responses were cool up to 23.

Black 31 was premature, but White 32 to 36 were a bit heavy.

Black 45 to 49 were big, and White started to attack Black’s left side group from 50.

Black 57 and 59 were practical, and the result up to Black 69 was satisfactory for Black.

Black 73 to 83 were nice and strong, and Black was still in the lead.

Black 99 to 109 were magnificent, and Black’s moves afterwards were perfect to finish the game.

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Ke Jie (black) vs Byun Sangil

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Park Junghwan (black) vs Tang Weixing

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Iyama Yuta 9p successfully defended his Meijin title on October 6, 2015, defeating Takao Shinji 9p with a perfect 4-0 score in the 40th Meijin title match.

Game 4 of the final was played on October 5 and 6 in Mie Prefecture, Japan and Iyama Yuta won by resignation after 227 moves.

Takao Shinji 9 dan (left) and Iyama Yuta 9 dan at the 40th Meijin final.

Iyama still holds four Japanese titles

Iyama Yuta 9 dan at the 40th Meijin final.

Having successfully defended the Meijin title again, Iyama currently holds four of the seven Japanese “majors”, including the Kisei, Honinbo and Gosei.

Earlier this year, he also successfully defended three other titles, defeating Yamashita Keigo 9p in the 39th Kisei, 70th Honinbo, and the 40th Gosei title matches.

Yamashita won three games in the Kisei title deciding match, but only managed one win each in the Honinbo and Gosei finals.

Iyama in Meijin title matches

This is the 5th Meijin title in Iyama’s career.

Iyama first challenged Cho U 9p in the 33rd Meijin in 2008 but was defeated 4-3.

However, Iyama got a second chance the following year in the 34th Meijin and won his first Meijin title with a 4-1 score.

In 2010, Iyama defeated Takao Shinji 4-0 to successfully defend his title.

However, his hold was short-lived and he lost to Yamashita Keigo 9p in 2011.

In 2013, Iyama challenged Yamashita Keigo for the title back, and he won his third Meijin title with a 4-1 score.

In 2014, Kono Rin 9p challenged, but Iyama defeated him 4-2 to defend the title.

Takao Shinji’s defeat

Takao Shinji 9 dan with the sealed move, at the end of the first day from game 4.

At the end of 2014, Takao defeated Iyama to win the 40th Tengen with a 3-2 score.

He was behind the final 2-1, but won the last two games to win the title.

Takao’s style is calm but lively, and he favors tesuji and flexible haengma.

Yamashita Keigo was soundly defeated by Iyama earlier this year, so some thought Takao’s style of play might be more effective against Iyama’s powerful and creative style of play.

However, Takao didn’t manage to win a single game in the final so we can assume that it’s even harder for Takao to fight against Iyama.

Rising stars up to the challenge

There are a few young talented Japanese players rising rapidly through the ranks such as Murakawa Daisuke 8p, Ida Atsushi 8p and Ichiriki Ryo 7p.

Murakawa has already managed to win one title from Iyama with the 62nd Oza in 2014 and Ida is the youngest Judan holder.

So the professional circuit in Japan is about to get a lot more interesting!

Takao Shinji 9 dan (left) and Iyama Yuta 9 dan, at the beginning of game 4.

The 40th Meijin Series

Game 1

The opening up to White 54 was even.

White 58 to 60 were good probes, and White 66 and 68 were practical.

Black 87 was premature, and White took the lead up to White 96.

White 106 and 112 were nice moves to make eyeshape.

White 142 and 146 were sharp, and decided the game.

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Game 2

White 22 to 26 were nice, and the result up to White 32 was slightly more favorable for White.

Black 35 to 37, Black 47 to 49 were full of fighting spirit.

Black 73 to 77 were strong, and Black 89 and 103 were good tesuji.

The big trade up to Black 123 was good for Black, and Black took the lead.

White 170 was sharp, and White 182 was a nice way to reverse the game.

White 200 was the losing move, and the game was reversed again up to Black 211.

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Game 3

White 22 to 28 were creative moves by Iyama.

Black 37 was questionable, and White 46 to 56 were sophisticated.

White 82 was a nice counter-move, and the result up to White 92 was satisfactory for White.

Black 97 to 103 were bold, but Iyama’s sabaki up to White 128 was excellent.

Black went all out with 129, but White 140 and 142 were accurate, and Black’s center group was captured.

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Game 4

White 22 and 24 were questionable, and Black had a nice start up to 31.

Black 39 and 41 were a good combination, and Black 49 was a good tesuji as well.

White 74 was slack, and Black solidified his lead with 77.

Black 81 to 85 were creative, and Black 89 was practical. Black was still in the lead up to 123.

Black 143 to 149 were severe, and Black 167 to 175 were strong and powerful.

White 210 was tricky, but Black 211 and 213 were accurate, and simplified the game.

Black 215 and 217 were played in precisely the right order, and the game was over.

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• Iyama Yuta wins 40th Gosei, 3rd victory against Yamashita Keigo in 2015
• Iyama Yuta wins 70th Honinbo, holds title for 4th consecutive year
• Go Commentary: Iyama Yuta vs Takao Shinji – 40th Tengen Final
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