[Nanyang Cup Finals] Shin Jinseo got a good start by beating Wang Xinghao in Game 1
Shin Jinseo wins the first game as white
Wang Xinghao had some good chances but couldn’t hold onto it and lost
Shin Jinseo (white) wins against Wang Xinghao (black)
In the 1st Nanyang Cup Finals Game 1, Shin Jinseo won against Wang Xinghao by resign. It was a complicated game befitting of the World No. 1 and 2. Shin didn’t gain a lead in the opening and gave Wang a good start in the middle game. Wang played some good moves when attacking, but eventually, Shin managed to make his group alive through accurate reading. Wang turned the attack to the bottom, but Shin managed to escape after minimizing the damage while leaving some aji in the corner. Thinking that he was behind, Wang gave a last fight to try to kill the black group, but the top black group got cut and killed instead.
Black 2 ignoring white’s 1 was a good move. However, black’s 4 was a bit loose and should have played strongly at A instead. This looseness allowed white to make this group alive easily later.
Black turned the attack to the bottom side but white made use of black’s weakness in the centre to make this group escape easily while leaving some aji in the corner at the same time.
Black started desperate attempts by playing 1 and 3. The game was still long if black had played at A, but Wang probably thought black was behind by a lot or didn’t have confidence in his endgame.
In the actual game, even though black managed to connect his group back and cut white, white also cut the top black group which is not alive yet. Black played a good sequence and could’ve lived, but white will also be leading after making the bottom group alive. In the end black purposely made a big mistake and resigned.
With that, the current score in the Finals is 1-0 with Shin Jinseo winning one game. Game 2 will be played on 28th February and Game 3 on 1st March if needed. The games will start at 12pm GMT+8 and should be broadcast on most Asian Go servers. It would also be streamed on channels such as BadukTV. If Shin Jinseo wins, it will be his 8th Major World Title and he will be lined up with Gu Li and Ke Jie in terms of the number of World Titles attained.
This is the first major world tournament using Fischer time control. Each player’s main time is 2 hours, and an additional 15 seconds are added for each move. Chinese rules are used, with black giving a komi of 7.5 points. The champion’s prize money for this competition is 250,000 Singapore dollars and the runner-up’s prize money is 100,000 Singapore dollars.
If you happen to be in Singapore, many events are lined up such as live commentary and post-game analysis. Check it out!
