Choi Jung 5p defeated Yu Zhiying 5p in game 12 of the 5th Huang Longshi Cup on April 10, 2015.

With this victory, Team Korea takes the title back home.

Yu Zhiying 5 dan (left) and Choi Jung 5 dan, reviewing the game with other players.

Round 1 – O Junga

Round 1 of the 5th Huang Longshi Cup was played from March 1 to 7, 2015, in Jiangyin, Jiangsu, China.

Wang Chenxing 5 dan (left) and O Junga 2 dan at the 5th Huang Longshi Cup.

O Junga 2p, who was Team Korea’s first player, got off to a really good start in this women’s team tournament.

O defeated Okuda Aya 3p, Li He 5p, Kibe Natsuki 1p, Wang Chenxing 5p and Fujisawa Rina 2p, to become the heroine of the 1st round with five consecutive wins.

However, Song Ronghui 5p was Team China’s savior. She defeated O Junga and Hoshiai Shiho 1p to finish up round 1.

Round 2 – Song Ronghui

Round 2 was played on April 5 to 10, 2015, also in Jiangyin.

Song Ronghui 5 dan (left) and Choi Jung 5 dan at the 5th Huang Longshi Cup.

Song Ronghui continued her winning streak, defeating O Yujin 2p, Xie Yimin 6p and Kim Chaeyoung 2p, meaning she also won five games in this tournament (including her games from round 1).

Unfortunately, Team Japan didn’t do well in this tournament and they couldn’t win any games.

Fujisawa Rina and Xie Yimin were Japan’s two top prospects in this event, but their games in this tournament were a bit disappointing.

Since Song won five games, the situation was reversed, leaving Team China with three players while Korea had two.

Choi Jung

Choi Jung 5 dan (left) and Cao Youyin 3 dan, reviewing with other players.

However, Team Korea still had Choi Jung in reserve. Choi is currently the strongest woman (ranked #1) amongst Korean professional Go players.

Choi defeated Song Ronghui and routed Cao Youyin 3p.

Yu Zhiying, the anchorwoman for Team China, is currently ranked #1 amongst women in China, and she’s very strong against Choi Jung.

The head to head record between Choi and Yu before the game was 6-1 in Yu’s favor, but Choi didn’t seem to be worried about that.

Choi played an excellent game, and Yu resigned after 159 moves. Yu seemed to be under significant pressure as the last player, and she didn’t show her strength in this game.

Team Korea. Kim Chaeyoung 2 dan, Choi Jung 5 dan, Kim Hyemin 7 dan and O Yujin 2 dan (from left)

Kim Hyemin 7p, the anchorwoman for Team Korea, didn’t have to play because Choi finished the tournament.

Congratulations to Team Korea, and I hope Team Japan will do better next year, so that the tournament will become more exciting for everyone.

The Huang Longshi Cup

The Huang Longshi Cup is an international women’s win and continue team tournament between China, Japan and Korea.

The tournament, which started in 2011, should not to be confused with the Huang Longshi Women’s Mingren (Chinese Meijin) tournament.

Team China won the 1st, 2nd and 4th editions of the tournament, and Team Korea won 3rd and the 5th (this year).

The tournament is named after Huang Longshi – a famous Chinese Go genius from the Qing dynasty.

Brief game commentary

Song Ronghui vs O Yujin – Game 8

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The opening up to Black 53 was even.

Black 99 and 101 were strong moves, and Black (Song) took the lead up to 117.

White 124 was sharp, and O caught up through to 132.

However, White 136 was a mistake, and Black solidified her lead up to 143.

White created a big ko in the top right, and captured the left side group in compensation. However, it wasn’t good enough to reverse the game, and Song maintained her lead until the end.

Xie Yimin vs Song Ronghui – Game 9

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The variation in the bottom right was the same as in game 8, but Song played White in this game.

Black 39 was questionable, and White (Song) took an early lead with 42 and 52.

Cutting at White 76 was severe, and the fighting up to 94 was better for White.

Black 105 and 107 were a good combination, but White 134 was another severe move to threaten Black’s lower side group.

Black 143 and 153 comprised a nice counter by Xie, and the game became very tense.

However, White 162 to 170 was an excellent sequence to make a ko.

Eventually, White won the ko by one ko threat, and the game was decided in White’s favor.

Kim Chaeyoung vs Song Ronghui – Game 10

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The opening up to White 50 was well balanced.

Black’s reduction with 69 was a bit too deep, and White (Song) took the lead with a gentle attack up to 96.

White 108, 114 and 132 were big, and Song maintained her lead.

Kim tried to catch up in the endgame, but Song’s endgame was excellent, and she didn’t give Black any chances to do so.

Song Ronghui vs Choi Jung – Game 11

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Black 41 and 51 were questionable, and White (Choi) took the lead up to 70.

Black 81 and 85 were nice tesuji, but White was still in the lead.

Black tried to resist with 103 and 105, but White 110, 112 and 120 were good, and Black was in trouble.

Even though Black captured White’s bottom left group with 123, White’s territory was bigger after 124.

Black tried to start a capturing race with White’s left side group, but she was one liberty short.

Choi Jung vs Cao Youyin – Game 12

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Black 39 and 41 were questionable, and White (Cao) was happy to live up to 54.

Black 63 was a nice move, but White 72 was a good reduction, and White was still in the lead.

White 78 was a mistake, and the game was reversed with Black 79.

White 106 and 108 were overplays, and the game was decided up to Black 123.

Choi Jung vs Yu Zhiying – Game 13

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The opening was well balanced up to White 46, and the first fight began with Black 47.

White 56 was questionable, and Black (Choi) got a satisfactory result with 57, 63 and 69.

White 80 through to 84 was a good combination, but White 100, 104 and 106 were questionable, and Black built a big territory at the top with 107.

White started a ko with 118 and 120, but it was premature, and Black 143 and 145 were strong counters, and the game was practically over up to Black 155.

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This is game 7 of the 39th Kisei title match.

The game was played between Iyama Yuta 9p and Yamashita Keigo 9p on March 19 and 20, 2015, in Niigata, Japan.

Iyama Yuta 9 dan (left) and Yamashita Keigo 9 dan at the 39th Kisei final.

39th Kisei title match

Iyama got off to a good start in this match. He won the first three games, so the score was 3-0. Everyone probably thought that the Kisei wouldn’t be much fun this year.

However, the situation changed dramatically when Yamashita started to catch up. Yamashita won game 4, and that was the turning point in terms of regaining his confidence against Iyama.

He won games 5 and 6 as well, and eventually the match was tied at 3-3.

In general, we’d expect Yamashita to have the advantage in a title deciding game like this, because he was already on a winning streak.

Iyama Yuta

Iyama Yuta with the sealed move, at the end of the first day.

Iyama Yuta is indisputably the strongest Go player in Japan at the moment, and he held four major titles, including the Kisei, when this match was played.

He used to hold six of the seven major titles, but he lost the Tengen to Takao Shinji 9p and he also lost the Oza to Murakawa Daisuke 8p in 2014.

Iyama showed his strength at the 16th Nongshim Cup, in early 2015, against top Chinese and Korean players.

He defeated Park Junghwan 9p, who is currently #1 in Korea, and also defeated Mi Yiting 9p, who was the winner of the 1st MLily Cup.

Iyama proved that Japanese players can still be competitive in those games.

Yamashita Keigo

Yamashita Keigo, just before the game.

On the other hand, Yamashita Keigo was playing to win his 6th Kisei title.

He used to be the #1 in Japan in the early and mid-2000s, and he’s still competitive today.

His last title was the 22nd Ryusei in 2013, and his last major title was the 37th Meijin in 2012.

This was a great opportunity for him to grasp one more major title. In addition, the Kisei is the biggest title in Japan, and the Kisei is generally regarded to be the top player in Japan, in terms of the traditional Japanese ranking system.

Yamashita showed his power and skill in games 4 to 6, and many of his fans were longing for him to win in a reverse sweep.

Echoes of history for Yamashita

There was a very similar situation in 2011. In the 66th Honinbo final, Yamashita won the first three games against Hane Naoki 9p, who was the challenger, but Hane won the next three games to make it a tie at 3-3.

However, Yamashita won the title deciding game, and he defended the Honinbo with that victory.

Let’s have a look at the game and see what was happened this time.

The conclusion of game 7 of the 39th Kisei title match.

Commented game record

Iyama Yuta vs Yamashita Keigo

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