On December 6, 2013, the 1st MLily Cup saw the crowning of a new world Champion and China’s newest 9 dan, Mi Yuting 9p.

Winning a world championship is hard work!

Winners are grinners: Mi Yuting won the 1st MLily Cup and was promoted straight to 9 dan.

Mi certainly had his work cut out for him on his journey towards this breakthrough win.

He defeated Lee Sedol 9p, Kang Dongyun 9p, Kong Jie 9p, Dang Yifei 4p and Wang Xi 9p (2-1 in the semifinal) to earn his place in the final.

The end of Gu’s runner-up streak?

Since Gu’s astonishing run of seven wins out of seven appearances in international finals, which ended with the Samsung Cup in 2010, Gu has finished as runner-up three times.

Gu won the first game, of this best of five final, at the end of November.

Gu Li 9 dan in the final of the 1st MLily Cup.

This gave Gu’s fans hope – perhaps Gu could finally put an end to his string of second place finishes?

Mi cool, calm and lethal

Unfazed, Mi won the next three matches on December 2, 4 and 6, 2013 to quash Gu’s hopes.

Mi Yuting ponders his next move: Game 4 of the 1st MLily Cup final.

Fortunately for fans of Gu, the first match of the MLily Gu vs Lee Jubango is just over a month away.

Records remain safe

And for the Go record buffs out there, at 17 years and 11 months, Mi didn’t break any records with this win.

Lee Changho is still the youngest player to have won an international title and Fan Tingyu is the youngest to have been promoted to 9p.

But what a way to start your 18th birthday celebrations! Mi also took home a cool 1.8 million RMB (approximately $300,000 USD at the time of writing) for his troubles.

Congratulations Mi!

Mi Yuting and Gu Li receive their oversized prize money. On the far left is Ni Zhanggen, the president of MLily and a big Go fan!

Commentary on a game of your choice

An Younggil has kindly agreed comment a game of our readers’ choice!

To let us know which game from the final you’d like to see commented, just leave a comment below.

The 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 14 seeded players from China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan and 50 players from preliminary rounds, including 4 women and 4 amateurs.

This tournament is quite slow by international standards, with time settings of 3 hours main time and 5 x 1 minute byo-yomi. 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 $300,000 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 quickly 10 ten 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.

1st MLily Cup photos

Game records

Gu Li vs Mi Yuting – Game 1

[Embedded SGF File]

Mi Yuting vs Gu Li – Game 2

[Embedded SGF File]

Gu Li vs Mi Yuting – Game 3

[Embedded SGF File]

Mi Yuting vs Gu Li – Game 4

[Embedded SGF File]

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Here are the weekly Go problems for week 109.

Black plays first in all problems and all solutions are labeled ‘correct’. Have fun!

Easy Go problem

Black only has three liberties, which means you can’t allow white to have more than two.

[Embedded SGF File]

Intermediate Go problem

This position sometimes appears in real games. If black can survive the crisis, the result will be good for him, but beware of wishful thinking.

[Embedded SGF File]

Hard Go problem

Sometimes, in a game, you might need to make life in this sort of position. Don’t rush unless you need to.

[Embedded SGF File]

Still want more Go problems?

You can find Go books packed full of life and death problems, tesuji problems and other valuable Go knowledge at the Go Game Shop.

Discuss other possible moves

If you have any questions or want to discuss any of these problems, please leave a comment below at any time. You can use the coordinates on the problem images to discuss a move or sequence of moves.

You can also download the solutions as a PDF or SGF file by clicking the links below each problem.

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This is game 3 of the 39th Tengen final, which was played on November 28, in Nagahama, Saga prefecture, Japan.

When the game finished at 7:44pm, after 176 moves, Iyama Yuta had defeated Akiyama Jiro 9p by resignation.

Iyama Yuta’s second Tengen defense

Iyama Yuta 9 dan (left) plays Akiyama Jiro 9 dan in the final of the 39th Tengen title match.

Iyama successfully defended his Tengen title for the second time, chalking up three straight wins to take the title match.

Iyama first won the Tengen title in 2011, after he challenged and defeated Yuki Satoshi 9p 3-0 in the final.

In the following year, Yuki Satoshi became the challenger, and fought to regain the title, but Iyama defeated Yuki 3-0 again.

That makes 2013 Iyama’s third consecutive 3-0 win in the Tengen title match.

As his 9-0 title match record in the Tengen suggests, Iyama’s currently unbeatable in Japan.

Challenger Akiyama Jiro

Akiyama Jiro plays his first move against Iyama Yuta.

Akiyama Jiro, the challenger, defeated Yamashita Keigo 9p in the challenger decider match, and proceeded through to a major title match for the first time in his career.

Unfortunately for Akiyama, he wasn’t able to win a game against Iyama, but it was still impressive to see him in the final.

Akiyama was born in 1977 and became a pro in 1992. He studied Go under Kikuchi Yashuro (a top Japanese amateur player) and Yamashita Keigo also studied at the dojo at that time.

I once played a game with Akiyama at a China, Japan and Korea friendship match, and it’s nice to see him again in this title match.

He won the 18th NEC Shun-Ei Cup in 2003, defeating Han Zenki 8p (Pan Shanqi) in the final, and it was his first title.

Iyama still chasing the grand slam

After this Tengen victory, Iyama still holds six of the seven major titles in Japan.

Iyama cleared another hurdle on his quest to hold all seven when he defended his Oza title, 3-1 against Cho U 9p, on December 2.

Iyama Yuta 9 dan: Will he be the first player to achieve the ‘grand slam’ of Japanese Go?

The only title Iyama Yuta doesn’t currently hold is the Judan, which he lost to Yuki Satoshi in April 2013. However, Iyama is on track to become the challenger in 2014, having progressed to the semfinals of the Judan league.

The 38th Kisei final will start in January 2014, and the challenger will be Yamashita Keigo.

If Iyama can defend his Kisei title against Yamashita, and become the challenger for the Judan title next year, he’ll be able to challenge Yuki for the Judan and aim to complete the Japanese grand slam of Go.

Up until now, nobody has ever achieved this in the history of Go in Japan.

39th Tengen photos

Commented game record

Akiyama Jiro vs Iyama Yuta

[Embedded SGF File]

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Here are the weekly Go problems for week 108.

Black plays first in all problems and all solutions are labeled ‘correct’. Have fun!

Easy Go problem

This is a shape which will come up again and again in your games. Black’s first move is crucial.

[Embedded SGF File]

Intermediate Go problem

Don’t try to win every fight. Focus on the ones that matter instead.

[Embedded SGF File]

Hard Go problem

You don’t always have to win the capturing race to succeed. Try to keep an open mind and be flexible.

[Embedded SGF File]

Still want more Go problems?

You can find Go books packed full of life and death problems, tesuji problems and other valuable Go knowledge at the Go Game Shop.

Discuss other possible moves

If you have any questions or want to discuss any of these problems, please leave a comment below at any time. You can use the coordinates on the problem images to discuss a move or sequence of moves.

You can also download the solutions as a PDF or SGF file by clicking the links below each problem.

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The dates for the much anticipated jubango between Lee Sedol 9p and Gu Li 9p have been announced, and the match will start in January 2014.

The MLily Gu vs Lee Jubango will be sponsored by MLily. The official launch of the match was held on November 24, 2013, at the Conrad Hotel in Beijing, China.

Lee Sedol 9 dan (left) and Gu Li at the launch of their jubango.

What the … is a jubango?

A jubango (十番碁 in Japanese – literally ‘ten boards of Go’) is a 10 game match between two noteworthy players, which has traditionally been used to determine who the stronger player is.

Jubango rose to prominence in Edo period Japan as a way of resolving disputes between top Go players and their houses and have been a popular format for sponsored matches between top players in the modern era.

The most famous jubango in recent times have been those played by Go Seigen, against various top Japanese players, in the first half of the 20th century.

A statement from the Chinese Weiqi Association

Liu Siming, the president of the Chinese Weiqi Association, said:

“The jubango between Gu Li and Lee Sedol is finally going to start in 2014 and many Go fans have been looking forward to it. Each of the 10 games will be played in a different city.”

“I think these two players are the best choice for a jubango, and the games will be very exciting. There hasn’t been a jubango like this in the last 70 years, but we’ve pushed ahead to make this one happen.”

“Gu Li and Lee Sedol both were both born in 1983, and Lee is just one game ahead in their head to head record.” (currently 18-1-17 in Lee’s favor – with one draw because of a quadruple ko)

“There are many rising stars today, but Lee and Gu are still the best, since they’ve won 14 and 7 international titles respectively.”

“It’s a very special event with a lot of prize money, and I hope that both players can create great games, which they can be proud of.”

Note: We believe Mr Liu’s “70 years” comment refers to the famous jubango between Go Seigen and Kitani Minoru, played between 1939 and 1940.

From left: Liu Siming, Lee Sedol, Gu Li and Ni Zhanggen.

Comment from MLily

Ni Zhanggen, the president of MLily said, “I hope that many people will follow this match, and I hope that both players will play their best, regardless of the prize money.”

MLily, the sponsor, is a mattress and bedding company which also sponsors the new MLily Cup.

The match schedule

Lee Sedol stands in front of a commemorative banner with his name (李世石) written in calligraphy.

The games will be played on the last Sunday of each month, with the first game scheduled for January 26, 2014, in Beijing. See the Pro Go Calendar for other dates.

The players will take a break in June, when the 2014 FIFA World Cup is held in Brazil. (Go players like to stay up late and watch the football too! )

The time limit for each game is 4 hours for each player and the first player to win 6 games will win the match.

The winner will receive the entirety of the prize money – 5 million RMB (approximately $820,000 USD at the time of writing).

There’s no official prize for the loser, but there’s a consolation prize of 200,000 RMB (about $33,000 USD).

If the score is tied at 5-5, the prize will be split 50/50, with no tie breaker planned.

An interview with Lee Sedol and Gu Li

Gu Li stands with a commemorative banner of his name (古力) in calligraphy.

Lee: I’ve lost some important games against 90s generation players over the last two years. Some of them are already playing at the top level, but it’s hard to answer your question. I’m more experienced so, if I play with them at the moment, I think it’s 50/50.

Gu: The 90s generation players are already very strong. I sometimes feel they’re stronger than me. I can’t agree that the 80s generation still rules the Go world. There are many top players today, but I still feel confident when I play against one of them in the final of a tournament.

The time limit for this match is 4 hours each, which is quite unusual these days. What do you think about this? And most of the games will be played in China, does that put Lee Sedol at a disadvantage?

Gu: This will be my first time playing a game with this much thinking time. I normally play faster than Lee Sedol does, so it’s not good for me. However, I want to show my potential in this series, in 2014.

Lee: It’s reasonable to have more thinking time for such an important match. I’ll be able to play better with more time to think. I’m already used to playing in China, so that won’t be a problem.

How will you prepare for the jubango?

Gu: I’ve been studying by myself to prepare for the match. This match will be a very important part of my career and my life.

Recently, you’ve reclaimed the #1 rank in Korea. Is that related to this match in any way?

Lee: No, I don’t think so. There were many lightning games in the first half of 2013, and I lost many of them. However, there have been more games with longer time limits in the second half of the year, and I’ve been able to achieve better results in those games. That’s all there is to it.

Follow the Gu vs Lee jubango in 2014

Go Game Guru will follow the jubango between Gu Li and Lee Sedol game by game in 2014, and you can follow it with us!

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More photos

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The semifinals of the 18th LG Cup were played on November 13, 2013, at the Paradise Hotel in Incheon, Korea.

Zhou Ruiyang 9p defeated Chen Yaoye 9p by 4.5 points, after 251 moves, and Tuo Jiaxi 3p defeated Li Zhe 6p by resignation, in 239 moves.

Zhou Ruiyang: 1st Bailing Cup Winner

Zhou Ruiyang 9 dan.

En route to the final, Zhou Ruiyang defeated Choi Cheolhan 9p and Ahn Joyoung 9p, in the round of 32  and the round of 16 respectively.

Zhou also defeated Li Qincheng 2p in the quarter finals – which were played on November 11.

Zhou Ruiyang won the 1st Bailing Cup in January this year, defeating Chen Yaoye 3-0 in the final.

The result was sensational at the time, because the majority of Go fans expected Chen to win, due to his excellent form.

Zhou was ranked #1 in China at the end of 2010, and he maintained the top ranking for a year.

Back then, many people thought there was something wrong with the ranking system, because Zhou’s results in international matches had been relatively average.

However, his results improved throughout 2012, and now he’s on track to win his 2nd international title!

His recent results have been amazing. He’s already won three titles this year; the 1st Bailing Cup, the 13th Ricoh Cup and the 1st Qisheng (the newly established Chinese Kisei tournament).

Tuo Jiaxi: First international final

Tuo Jiaxi 3 dan defeated Li Zhe 6 dan.

Tuo Jiaxi navigated his way to the final in impressive style – defeating Lee Changho 9p and Lee Sedol 9p in the rounds of 32 and 16 respectively.

His game against Lee Sedol was very impressive.

Tuo took the lead in the early stages of the middle game, and he maintained it until the end without significant trouble.

Lee Sedol couldn’t find any good chances to reverse the game, and many Go fans were astonished by Tuo’s powerful style of play.

Tuo defeated Takao Shinji 9p in the quarter finals, on November 11, and defeated Li Zhe in the semifinals.

Tuo was ranked #1 in China from April~May 2013. He also didn’t do very well in international tournaments at the time, but his results in domestic matches were remarkable.

Many people also questioned Tuo’s #1 rank, but he’s proved himself at this LG Cup.

The LG Cup Final

Tuo Jiaxi 3 dan (left) and Zhou Ruiyang 9 dan.

Zhou Ruiyang and Tuo Jiaxi already played in the final of the 1st Luoyang Longmen Qisheng (Chinese Kisei) earlier this year.

It was a brand new tournament, with the largest prize money of the domestic Chinese titles (600,000 RMB).

In the best of five final of the Qisheng, Tuo won the first two games, but Zhou won the next three games to take the title in a reverse sweep.

It must have been a painful moment for Tuo, but this final is a good chance for him to take his revenge.

Tuo Jiaxi is currently ranked #5 in China, and Zhou Ruiyang is #7. They were both born in 1991, and they’re good rivals.

Both of them are in very good form these days, so it’s hard to predict who will have the advantage in the final.

The finals will be played on February 10, 12 and 13, 2014, and the venue is yet to be decided.

The Quarter Finals

18th LG Cup semifinalists, from left: Li Zhe 6 dan, Tuo Jiaxi 3 dan, Zhou Ruiyang 9 dan and Chen Yaoye 9 dan.

The quarter finals were played on November 11.

There were six players from China and two from Japan. None of the Korean players survived the round of 16.

The two Japanese were Iyama Yuta 9p and Takao Shinji 9p.

Their study group, named ‘Go 碁 Japan’, was established by top Japanese players just before the main tournament of this year’s LG Cup, and their improved results in the round of 32 and the round of 16 were noticeable.

Iyama Yuta meets Chen Yaoye

In the quarter finals, Iyama Yuta and Chen Yaoye’s game was the most exciting match. Iyama currently holds six of the seven major titles in Japan, and Chen is currently ranked #2 in China.

The opening of the game was interesting. The players created a brand new pattern in the bottom right corner, and the result was favorable for black (Chen).

White 82 was a mistake, and Chen’s 87 and 89 were a very good combination. Iyama was in trouble, and he chose to make a big trade, but the result was good for black and Iyama couldn’t catch up again after that.

In the end, black won by resignation after 209 moves. Chen showed his solid and powerful style throughout the game.

Meanwhile, Takao Shinji was defeated by Tuo Jiaxi, who won by 4.5 points after 275 moves.

Even if they didn’t proceed further this time, their results are good enough to motivate Japanese players to perform better on the international Go scene in the future.

In another game, Li Zhe 6p defeated Xia Chenkun 2p by resignation, in 286 moves.

Quarter Final Results

Here are the full results from the quarter finals:

• Chen Yaoye 9p defeated Iyama Yuta 9p
• Tuo Jiaxi 3p defeated Takao Shinji 9p
• Li Zhe 6p defeated Xia Chenkun 2p
• and Zhou Ruiyang 9p defeated Li Qincheng 2p.

The LG Cup

The LG Cup is a major international Go tournament. It started in 1996 and the prize money is currently 250 million Won (approx $235,000 USD at the time of writing).

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.

18th LG Cup photos

Game records

Zhou Ruiyang vs Chen Yaoye

[Embedded SGF File]

Tuo Jiaxi vs Li Zhe

[Embedded SGF File]

Chen Yaoye vs Iyama Yuta

[Embedded SGF File]

Tuo Jiaxi vs Takao Shinji

[Embedded SGF File]

Download all 18th LG Cup games from the quarter finals and semifinals

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Here are the weekly Go problems for week 107.

Black plays first in all problems and all solutions are labeled ‘correct’. Have fun!

Easy Go problem

It’s important to be able to see which stones are important and which stones aren’t.

[Embedded SGF File]

Intermediate Go problem

When you find yourself in a tight position, you should look for forcing moves which can help you to get out of trouble.

[Embedded SGF File]

Hard Go problem

When playing to kill, start reading by trying to narrow a group’s eyespace. If that doesn’t work, look for the vital point.

[Embedded SGF File]

Still want more Go problems?

You can find Go books packed full of life and death problems, tesuji problems and other valuable Go knowledge at the Go Game Shop.

Discuss other possible moves

If you have any questions or want to discuss any of these problems, please leave a comment below at any time. You can use the coordinates on the problem images to discuss a move or sequence of moves.

You can also download the solutions as a PDF or SGF file by clicking the links below each problem.

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The semifinals of the 2013 Samsung Cup were played on November 4, 6, and 7, at the Samsung Training Institute, in Daejeon, Korea.

Lee Sedol 9p defeated Wu Guangya 6p by resignation, after 152 moves, and proceeded to the final after winning 2-1.

Meanwhile, Tang Weixing 3p defeated Shi Yue 9p by 2.5 points, after a grueling 368 moves. He also progressed to the final with a 2-1 result.

Defending Champion: Lee Sedol

Lee Sedol 9p at the 2013 Samsung Cup.

Lee Sedol lost his first game, in the best of three match, and many of his fans were worried about that.

Lee misread in the opening, and he couldn’t find any chances to catch up again.

However, he won next two games without any significant trouble and made it to the final.

In the second game, Lee built a huge territory at the top, and won the game smoothly.

In the deciding game, the opening was good for Wu Guangya, but Lee caught up in the middle game. Once he captured a big black group in the center, the game was over.

Lee won the 2012 Samsung Cup, after defeating Gu Li 9p 2-1 in the final, so he’s going to play in the final as defending champion.

Rising Star: Tang Weixing

Tang Weixing defeated Shi Yue to reach the final.

Most Go fans expected that Shi would proceed to the final, but Tang showed his skill and won the semifinal match.

Shi Yue 9 dan (left) and Tang Weixing 3 dan.

Shi won the first game, but Tang made it tie in the second game. Tang was behind, but he didn’t give up, trying very hard to catch up.

Shi made a small mistake in the middle game and Tang didn’t miss it. He grasped the opportunity and captured Shi’s big group on the right side.

In the final game, the opening was good for Tang, but Shi reversed the game and took the lead during the middle game.

There could have been a draw, with a potential triple ko in the center and in the lower left corner, but Shi avoided it because he was in the lead anyway.

However, the second half of Tang’s game was excellent, and he was able to catch up.

After endless ko fights, Tang eventually reversed the game near the end, and proceeded through to the final for the first time.

Don’t miss the 2013 Samsung Cup Final

Tang Weixing 3 dan (left) and Lee Sedol 9 dan.

Lee Sedol has won the Samsung Cup four times, but he still wants to win it again.

Chinese players have won all the major international tournaments this year, and this Samsung Cup is the last big tournament in 2013.

Korean Baduk fans really want Lee to win this final and take the title to back to Korea.

On the other hand, it’s a very good opportunity for Tang Weixing to win an international tournament.

Tang made it to the semifinals of the 1st Bailing Cup in 2012, but he was defeated by Chen Yaoye 9p. Therefore, this Tang’s debut in an international final.

Earlier this year, Tang won the men’s individual division of the 4th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games, and he’s quickly become one of the strongest players in the world.

Lee and Tang have never played one other, so the final is going to be very interesting.

The final will be played from December 9-12, 2013, in Suzhou, China – and will be broadcast live on Baduk TV. See the Professional Go Calendar for more details.

Interviews with the players

There were interviews with the players after the semifinals finished.

Lee Sedol

Lee Sedol 9 dan at the interview.

How was the final game?

The opening was bad for me, but the game went smoothly in the middle game. It seems like Wu was nervous.

What do you think of Wu Guangya’s style of play?

Wu’s style is similar to Gu Li’s. He plays solidly, and fights afterwards.

What do you think about the final against Tang Weixing?

It’s going to be our first game together. I shouldn’t misread again, like I did in the first game against Shi Yue.

Korean players haven’t done so well lately, but I’ll try to do my best to win the final for Korea.

Tang Weixing

Tang Weixing 3 dan at the interview.

How do you feel right now?

I feel great to have reached the final. Actually, I’d been losing my confidence against Shi Yue, but I was able to defeat him dramatically and I’m so happy now.

How do you feel about this Samsung Cup?

I’m so lucky to be here. Every game was difficult, but I was very lucky and managed to defeat strong players.

How would you describe your own style of play?

Maybe well balanced…

What are your thoughts about the final against Lee Sedol?

It’s going to be a tough series. Lee’s a veteran, who’s won many international titles.

I’ve admired Lee’s style of play since I was young, and I’ll do my best prepare for the final.

There’s not much else I can do at this stage, except study his games.

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 a 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.

2013 Samsung Cup photos

Game records

Wu Guangya vs Lee Sedol

[Embedded SGF File]

Tang Weixing vs Shi Yue

[Embedded SGF File]

Download all six games from the 2013 Samsung Cup Semifinals

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The 24th International Amateur Pair Go Championship was held in Tokyo, Japan from November 2-3, 2013.

Team Korea wins

Kim Sooyang (left) and Jeon Junhak – 24th International Amateur Pair Go Champions.

Kim Sooyang and Jeon Junhak, representing Korea, won the tournament with five straight wins – after a close final round game with Oda Ayako and Nagayo Kazumori from Japan.

Kim and Jeon were crowned the International Amateur Pair Go Champions.

Lin Hungping and Lo Shengchieh, from Taiwan, were the runners up, with four wins and one loss. They came in second on points.

The runners up: Lin Hungping (left) and Lo Shengchieh, from Taiwan, in their ‘national costumes’. Note that players were given little choice about wearing these

Japan’s Oda and Nagayo (mentioned above) finished in 3rd place, also with four wins and one loss. They were crowned the Japanese Amateur Pair Go Champions.

The highest finishing team from outside of Asia were Natalia Kovaleva and Dmitry Surin, from Russia, who finished 4th. Kovaleva and Surin only lost one game – to one of the 11 Japanese pairs in the tournament.

Dmitry Surin (left) and Natalia Kovaleva, from Russia, finished 4th.

Olga Silber and Benjamin Teuber, representing Germany, and Irina Davis (née Suciu) and Lucretiu Calota, from Romania, also finished strongly – in 9th and 11th place respectively.

Olga Silber (left) and Benjamin Teuber, from Germany, came in 9th.

Lucretiu Calota and Irina Davis, from Romania, finished in 11th place.

Please visit the International Amateur Pair Go page for full results.

The deciding game

The Korean pair and the Japanese pair (Oda & Nagayo) were the only two teams with four wins, going into the final round.

Oda and Nagayo had defeated the pair from Taiwan in the previous round.

Michael Redmond 9p gave a live commentary during the deciding game between Japan and Korea. It was also broadcast live on Pandanet.

According to Redmond, Korea (black) was doing well throughout the game, but Japan took the lead after taking several big points in the early endgame.

However, Japan lost 4 points later on because of an endgame mistake and team Korea were able to win.

Friendship matches and costumes

On the first day of the tournament, participants were required to dress in embarrassing national costumes.

While I suspect that most pairs felt ridiculous wearing their costumes, Jing and I, who represented Australia at the tournament, managed to choose the most ridiculous costumes in attendance.

David Ormerod (me, left) and Jingning Xue dressed as a kangaroo and a koala for our national costumes. Looking at the photos now, I’m not sure what we were thinking… Actually, I remember what we were thinking, ‘Australia doesn’t have a national costume’ .

Unbeknown to us, the organizers wished for us to remain in costume not only during the friendship games with other players, but also throughout dinner! We were very hot, but at least people were amused.

Els Buntsma and Merijn de Jong, from the Netherlands, won the prize for the best dressed pair.

Els Buntsma and Merjin de Jong, from the Netherlands, won a prize as the best dressed pair and got to wear their costumes again at the closing ceremony the following night .

The International Amateur Pair Go Championship

The International Amateur Pair Go Championship (IAPGC) is a pair Go tournament between 32 teams (64 players), which started in 1990.

It includes 21 teams from around the world and 11 teams selected from regions within Japan.

The tournament doubles as the Japanese Pair Go Championship, with the highest finishing Japanese pair becoming Japanese amateur champions.

Games are played with 45 minutes sudden death (no byo-yomi) for each pair, and ladies play first.

IAPGC Photos

Apologies

We apologize that we weren’t able to update Go Game Guru while we were in Japan for this event. There were many more official events and people to meet than we anticipated.

Now that we’ve finished spreading koalas, we’ll return to promoting Go, and Go Game Guru will return to normal

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Iyama Yuta 9p, the strongest Go player in Japan, completed his trifecta of the big three Japanese titles by winning the 38th Meijin on October 17, 2013.

Game 5 of the 38th Meijin final was played on October 16 and 17 in Gofu city, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan.

When the game finished at 8:03pm, after 258 moves, Iyama Yuta had defeated Yamashita Keigo 9p by 4.5 points.

Iyama Yuta’s Meijin comeback

Iyama Yuta 9 dan (pictured) defeated Yamashita Keigo 9 dan to win the 38th Meijin title and to achieve an historic ‘triple crown’.

Iyama lost the first game of the series, but he came back strong and won four games in a row to take the title.

This is Iyama’s third Meijin title.

Iyama already holds the Honinbo and Kisei titles, so he achieved the Japanese ‘triple crown’ with this victory.

The triple crown

The triple crown (Daisankan in Japanese) is the term Go players use to describe the feat of holding three biggest Japanese titles at the same time.

Up until now, in the history of Go, only Cho Chikun 9p had achieved this feat (twice) in 1983 and 1997.

Iyama now holds six of Japan’s seven major titles once again. He lost the Judan to Yuki Satoshi 9p in April 2013, delaying any ambitions he (or his fans) might have of him attaining the Japanese grand slam of Go (all seven titles).

Games 1-4 of the title match

Iyama and Yamashita traded blows for the first two games, with Yamashita winning game 1 convincingly and Iyama countering in game 2.

In game 3, Yamashita had the advantage, but he made a tragic mistake at move 196 – reducing his own liberties when making a ko threat – and Iyama was able to take a 2-1 lead.

Iyama Yuta (left) and Yamashita Keigo play game 4 of the 38th Meijin title match. Otake Hideo 9 dan (center) was the referee for the match.

Yamashita’s famous attacking skills failed to best Iyama’s shinogi (the skill of managing weak groups) in game 4 and Yamashita had to resign when he couldn’t capture white’s huge dragon.

See the recent Power Report for more details.

Yamashita’s defeat

Yamashita Keigo 9 dan receives the sealed move from Yoda Norimoto 9 dan – Game 5 of the 38th Meijin.

Yamashita Keigo won the Meijin by defeating Iyama Yuta two years ago and defended it against Hane Naoki 9p last year.

However, he wasn’t able to repeat his victory over Iyama this time and, as of now, he doesn’t hold any titles.

The final game

I haven’t had time to analyze this game carefully yet, but in the meantime, here are some brief comments from a Japanese commentator:

• Black 13 and 15 were fresh and interesting.
• Black 35 was calm and nice, and it was the last move of the first day.
• The opening up to 35 was favorable for black.
• Black 79 was a good choice, and the game was still good for black.
• However, black 101 was a mistake, and the game became even.
• White 152 was a mistake. If white had blocked at H15 instead, the game would have still been playable for white.
• After black 153, it wasn’t easy for white to win.

Live commentary of game 5.

Iyama Yuta’s comments

Iyama gave a short interview after the game, where he said “it was a difficult series, but I tried to do my best.”

“I have a deep respect Cho Chikun 9p, and I’m very honored to achieve the triple crown, as he did.”

38th Meijin photos

Game records

Download all five games from the 38th Meijin title match

Iyama Yuta vs Yamashita Keigo – Game 5

[Embedded SGF File]

Yamashita Keigo vs Iyama Yuta – Game 4

[Embedded SGF File]

Iyama Yuta vs Yamashita Keigo – Game 3

[Embedded SGF File]

Yamashita Keigo vs Iyama Yuta – Game 2

[Embedded SGF File]

Iyama Yuta vs Yamashita Keigo – Game 1

[Embedded SGF File]

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