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After meeting several Korean friends in Toulouse, I planned a journey, and now it has started. I left Hamburg on the 11th of November, and arrived in Seoul the following day. KBA Board of Directors Mr. Chaiwoo Choi, had organised my stay within Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance campus, where I found myself a room that would not have looked out of place in a 5 Star Hotel.
It was a surprise to me that the viewers could decide which games are shown live on TV.
In each room where games were played, there was a metal-detector at the door through which all all players had to pass. In order to avoid any cheating, no telephones, or any metal objects were allowed.
Visitors could not enter the rooms where games are played, except during the first 15 minutes when the press and a few selected guests were able to take pictures of the players at the board. This way nigiri and the first few moves could be documented.
The place at the table where the black and white player sits is fixed and after nigiri it is possible players have to change their seat, so the arrangements for reviewing and TV were fixed.
Including the seeds of the semifinalists of the previous year's competition and the national seeds of each country, 5 people from Korea, 5 people from China, 2 people from Japan, and 1 person from Taiwan advanced directly to the finals without the integrated preliminaries, and 18 people who passed the integrated preliminaries (13 in the general group) It will be a 32 player knock-out tournament, including 2 people from the senior group, 2 people from the women's group, and 1 person from the world group) and one sponsor wild card.
This tournament was played at the Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Global Campus in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do. The opening ceremony and the draw for the first round was held on November 11th, and then the finals were scheduled to begin on the 12th of November. All matches in the finals begin at 12:00 PM ( KST ). A draw is made for each round just until the semi-finals.
The pairing for the first round was structured in such a way so that no Chinese players were paired against each other. Thus it was, with 16 chinese players qualified, that on all 16 boards there would be 1 Chinese player. In a top-tournament like this I would have liked to see a different kind of pairing, where the country is not a deciding factor in the pairing.
Round 1: the top 32 players start their games in this knock-out tournament, this round is played over 2 days, where on each day 8 games are played and 2 games are broadcast live.
On the 12th of November the following games were played:
1. Fan In 8p – Sornarra Pongsakarn 6d
2. Xu Jia Yang 9p – Hsu Hao hung 9p
3. Wang Xing hao 9p – Shin Jin Seo 9p
4. Xie Erhao 9p – Kim Eun Ji 9p
5. Li Yuan hao 9p – Choi Myung hoon 9p
6. Chen Zheng xun 8p – An Jung ki 8p
7. Gu Zi hao 9p – Choi Jeong 9p
8. Xie Ke 9p – Yoo Chang hyuk 9p
Then on the 13th of November we saw these games:
1. Han Yi zhou 8p – Shin Min jun 9p
2. Jin Yu cheng 8p – Seol Hyun joon 9p
3. Ding Hao 9p – Kang Dong yun 9p
4. Chen Xian 8p – Kim Myeong hoon 9p
5. Tan Xiao 9p – Shibano Toramaru 9p
6. Ke Jie 9p – Byun Sangil 9p
7. Lian Xiao 9p – Ichiriki Ryo 9p
8. Dang Yi fei 9p – Park Junghwan 9p
In the match between Shin Jin-seo and Wang Xing-hao, Shin Jin-seo had a large advantage in the bottom left and in the middle, and missed the opportunity to take a clear advantage in the center, but the game became more subtle and a compromise was made after some clashes and the advantage Shin Jin-seo had, was regained on the right side. After beating Wang Xinghao, just as he did last year, he advanced to the second round.
Choi Jeong and Jeong Jeong-gi also made it to the second round.
Choi Jeong played a close game against Gu Zihao, when he fell more behind in the game, Gu Zihao made a decisive error on the right side and she gained the upper hand. In the end, she succeeded in winning the game, becoming the first Korean female player to record 800 wins in total. Jeong-gi Jeong held a large lead against Chun Jeong-shin until the middle of the game, but he stumbled in the second half and allowed his opponent a comeback to chase him for the win, creating a difficult situation. However, after a back-and-forth battle, he eventually won.
Kim Eun-ji defeated last years runner-up Xie Erhao to qualify for the second round. In the middle game, Kim Eun-ji gained a large advantage, and as the game continued, and there was a big fight, but she showed her superiority in every stage of the game until the end and finally won.
Both the female participants who played in this tournament, Choi Jeong and Kim Eun-ji, won their game in the first round, setting a record of becoming the first two female players to advance to the second round of a major world championship. Unfortunately, both players made it no further.
On the other hand, Choi Myung-hoon and Yoo Chang-hyuk, who advanced to the finals in the senior group, were soundly defeated by (respectively) Li Xuanhao and Xie Ke. Thailand's Sornarra Pongsakarn, who reached the finals via the world group, lost to Fan In, and Xu Hao-hong, the only Taiwanese player, was eliminated after losing to Xu Jiayang.
Shin Min-jun had the upper hand against Xu Jia yang from the beginning, and at one point in the middle, he faced a crisis due to an illusion, but Han Yizhou was unable to accurately punish him, so he escaped the crisis, and after gaining the upper hand again, he showed flawless counter-management. and won the game.
At one point in the middle of the game, Seol Hyun-jun came close to catching Jin Yu-cheong's big group, but unfortunately he could not create a decisive blow. However, he still had a slight advantage, but suffered a lot of losses after the fight, resulting in a disappointing defeat.
In the match between Byeon Sang-il and Ke Jie, fought hard and Ke Jie however was able to win and so Byeon Sang-il lost all 6 matches he played against Ke Jie.
Park Jung-hwan, perhaps too pessimistic in a close game, over-exerted himself and ended up being dealt a blow by Dang Yifei, who had a significant lead against him with 7 wins and 1 loss before this match. Kang Dong-yoon lost to Ding Hao, and Kim Myung-hoon lost to Chen Xian.
The two Japanese Japanes who participated in this tournament, Ryo Ichiriki and Toramaru Shibano, competed side by side on the second day of the first round. Toramaru Shibano advanced to the round of 16 with a complete victory over Tan Xiao. On the other hand, Ng Cup winner Ryo Ichiriki suffered an upset loss to Lian Xiao and was eliminated in the round of 32.
Round 2 took place over the 14th and 15th of November, with 4 games on each day:
1. Ding Hao – Choi Jeong
2. Xie Ke – Kim Eun Ji
3. Dang Yi fei – An Jung ki
4. Jin Yu cheng – Shibano Toramaru
5. Xu Jia yang – Shin Min jun
6. Li Xuan hao – Fan In
7. Ke Jie – Shin Jin seo
8. Lian Xiao . Chen Xian
After the first round, 10 Chinese, 5 Korean, and 1 Japanese players survived. This meant that two matches would be all Chinese affairs.
As in the round of 32, the draw for the match is made starting with the country who has the most players, and so 8 Chinese players are assigned odd numbers, and Korea, Japan, and 2 Chinese players who selected the 'Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance' scroll draw are drawn with even numbers.
Choi Jeong, who was fighting evenly until the middle of the game, after making a mistake in the middle the control of game was completely handed to Ding Hao. Once Ding Hao gained the upper hand, he gradually widened the gap, winning the game and advanced to the quarter-finals.
Kim Eun-ji caught some black stones, which were key in the early stages of the game, but suffered a complete set back as the game continued and so she lost her game.
In a tense game, Jeong Jeong-gi was prepared to take home a loss and launched an attack to catch a group, but he failed and Dang Yifei's group was able to escape, giving him the Victory. Jeong Jeong-gi lost to Dang Yifei, and on the first day of the round of 16, was followed by 3 more losses on the second day between Korea and China and so 4 from 5 Korean players were eliminated after round 2.
China's Jin Yu-cheong, who had been attracting attention with a 19-game winning streak in the Gapjo League, had an edge over Japan's Toramaru Shibano during their game, but there was a situation where things got a little tighter, and he later showed his strengths and struck the decisive blow to win the game, reaching the quarter-finals? With this result, all Japanese players were eliminated from this tournament.
Shin Jin-seo achieved a dramatic comeback victory over Ke Jie and advanced to the quarter-finals. In the beginning of the game, while Ke Jie came up with an extreme practical strategy, Shin Jin-seo's steps were messed up in the upper right corner, and the position in the game was in Ke Jie's favor. However, as the situation began to narrow in the upper center, it became a fight, and later it became a delicate game. In a delicate match, Ke Jie handled the center with perfect procedures even in byoyomi, and Shin Jin-seo continued to play strong without being pushed back, and the two players played with fierce concentration. It was an unknown half-point match until the end. There was a slight error in direction, and the game slowly began to tilt towards Shin Jin-seo. As a result, Black won with 7 points on the board, with komi being 6,5 points, this was Shin Jin-seo's great comeback drama. With this win, Shin Jin-seo has won nine consecutive games against Ke Jie.
Shin Minjun suffered a disappointing defeat to Xu Ziyang. The game was played with a very large advantage until the early and middle stages, but a tactical mistake was made in the process of playing on the lower side, making the game complicated, and later on, the game was overturned on the left side. In the end, the result of going to the game was 53 points for black and 41 points for white. So black won the game with12 points on the board, so even though he was given a 6,5 komi Xu Ziyang won with 5,5 points.
Lian Xiao and Li Xuanhao achieved upset wins over Chen Xian and Fan In, respectively, and advanced to the quarterfinals. As a result, Korea advanced to the quarterfinals with only one player remaining, Shin Jin-seo, and China with seven players remaining.
The quarter-finals took place on the 16th and 17th of November:
1. Jin Yu Cheng – Xu Jia yang
2. Dang Yi fei- Li Xuan hao
3. Shin Jeo seo – Ding Hao
4. Lian Xiao – Xie Ke
Jin Yucheng achieved a major victory against Xu Ziyang. The game started with Xu Ziyang having the upper hand from the bottom right in the beginning, but Xu Ziyang made a mistake and the match began to narrow after move 151, and in the end, the game was overturned. Jin Yucheng, who had won a huge upset in the quarter-finals following his match against Seol Hyeonjun in the round of 32, continued his momentum by reaching the semifinals.
For Dang Yifei and Li Xuanhao, who had recently played against each other in the final of the Mengbai Combined Cup last May, it was a fierce match that contained many changes. Dang Yifei made a mistake in the center and the situation changed, but he prevailed again. In a situation where he was caught, Dang Yifei's victory was secured as he played more accurate moves. Li Xuanhao, who had been defeated, tried to hold on to the game, but the gap widened and he eventually surrendered. And Dang Yifei, who defeated Li Xuanhao, advanced to the semifinals.
Shin Jin-seo fell prey to Ding Hao's trick and ended up being caught. It was Shin Jin-seo who started at a disadvantage and had difficulties, but chasing fiercely for a victory. However, Shin Jin-seo, who was caught up in byoyomi, chose to stay in the fighting instead of taking the opportunity to rap up thegame, and was caught by Ding Hao's crazy plan that no one expected. Before the situation in question, in the black stone shape on the left side that seemed to have been caught, Ding Hao created some aji and planted a bomb with an empty triangle retaliatory strike that even the artificial intelligence could not see. As the game progressed, the difference between territory in the artificial intelligence graph was predicted to be a close match. At that moment, Ding Hao found the move that was game deciding. Even in byoyomi, he executed the target move perfectly without a single mistake, making a big move on the left and center, and the white stones were involved, in a battle for a life or death situation. Ding Hao, who was caught up in byoyomi, played his moves with a delicious aim and precision, and so Shin Jin-seo ended up losing the game.
Lian Xiao advanced to the semifinals with a victory over Xie Ke. The game started with Lian Xiao creating an advantage in the beginning of the game and maintaining the upper hand from the start to the end. Xie Ke chased after group to turn the tables, but in the end, Lian Xiao was able to protect his group. With this result, Lian Xiao advanced to the semifinals of the competion.
The Korean ace, Shin Jeo seo, in this tournament was forced to play 3 finals in a row playing against the top players from China. In the third game he played, he was not able to reverse the game as he was able to do against Ke Jie and so the Top 4 this year was contested only between Chinese players.
All games of The 29th Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance World Baduk Masters tournament!
The semifinals were played on the 18th and 19th of November:
1. Ding Hao – Jin Yu Cheng
2. Lian Xiao – Dang Yifei
The match between Ding Hao, who is trying to win the Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Company's second consecutive title, and Jin Yu-cheng, who advanced to the semifinals in his first participation, ended with Ding Hao showing perfect management and a complete victory. Ding Hao began to gain the upper hand from the upper right and left sides, and also gained the upper hand on the lower side. Ding Hao maintained his superiority throughout and continued to control the game. Jin Yu-cheng finally bet on the hunt of a group on the right side, but Ding Hao handled this attack perfectly. Successfully defending against the attack started by Jin Yu-cheng. In the end, Ding Hao advanced to the finals with a complete victory by demonstrating his cool-headedness and precision, which are his strengths, along with the momentum of defeating Shin Jin-seo the day before.
In the semifinal match between Dang Yifei and Lian Xiao, who are known to be close friends, Dang Yifei won after a long match of 5 hours and 15 minutes. Looking at the flow of the game, it was a complete victory in which Dang Yifei maintained the upper hand until the very end. However, Lian Xiao, conscious of the power, kept to holding on, and continued to fight fiercely, showing a desperate hold on, prolonging the game. Even in the fierce battle between left and right, in the end, Dang Yifei's superior position remained the same, and in the end, Lian Xiao replaced collecting stones by temporarily stopping the timer had to resign. Dang Yifei once again advanced to the finals of the a tournament following the 5th Mengbai Happiness Cup and faced Ding Hao in best of three final of this tournament.
The finals are a best of 3 match first match starting on the 20th of November:
1. Ding Hao (W) – Dang Yi fei (B) 0-1
2. Ding Hao (B) – Dang Yi fei (W) 1-1
3. Ding Hao (W) – Dang Yi fei (B) 2-1
game1
In the first game of the final, Dang Yifei overturned the early disadvantage in the game and achieved a huge victory, taking the lead in this match. Due to Dang Yifei's weaknesses the center, the right side opened up, and the game continued with the game tilting heavily in favour of Ding Hao. From then on, Ding Hao continued to dominate, but Dang Yifei chasing him, and since Ding Hao, who was in byo-yomi, the game gradually turned around. From then on, Dang Yifei maintained the upper hand until the end and forced Ding Hao to resign, achieving a comeback victory through patience and perseverance.
Game 2
The second game of the finals ended with Ding Hao winning by time, and the essence of the game of was that Ding Hao won by catching Dang Yifei's big horse, so it was a game of baduk that could actually be seen as a failure to win. As in the first dragon, Ding Hao had the upper hand from the beginning and the game. As Dang Yifei held on, the game became more subtle in the middle of the game and the game became more balanced. However, due to Dang Yifei's first line moves on the left side, the game was lost to Ding Hao again. Ding Hao was able to catch Dang Yifei's group. The reason for the time victory was that Dang Yifei continued to proceed in the last minute of byo-yomi, but he pressed the timer button to late, resulting in timeout and Dang Yifei's loss by time. Ding Hao brought the game back to square one, and the winner was going to be determined in the final game of this match.
game 3
In the third and final three game of this match, Ding Hao took the lead by scoring profit in the bottom left and top left corners, but suffered a reversal from the right and in the middle. However, after Ding Hao regained the upper hand in the game, he showed solid performance and stable play to take the win. With a solidified lead of 4,5 points, Dang Yifei decided that there was nothing left to do and decided to resign. Ding Hao recovered well after losing in the first game and showed solid play in the second and third games, winning the Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Championship and thus defending his title by achieving his second consecutive win at Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance World Baduk Masters.
My wish at the end of a great tournament, with many exiting games and me meeting many new friends from both Korea and China, is that it would be great if this tournament could be held in Europe in the near future.
And last but not least, I need to thank KBA Board of Directors Mr. Choi and Mr. Kim Dong-gi from the KBA for their help during my visit at the the Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Campus during the whole tournament.
I had a great time during this tournament being able to feel and smell the atmosphere of high level games. And I could see the differences between an amateur tournament and a professional tournament.
