Go World News

Major World Title tally update

With Ding Hao clinching the Samsung Cup for China recently, the tally of the Major World Titles for Go has been updated.

There have been a total of 133 titles so far, and the ranking in terms of country is as follows:

  1. Korea – 70
  2. China – 50
  3. Japan – 12
  4. Taiwan – 1

In terms of Individuals, below are the top 5 which has not been updated in 4 years:

  1. Lee Changho – 17
  2. Lee Sedol – 14
  3. Cho Hunhyun – 9
  4. Gu Li – 8
  5. Ke Jie – 8

Gu Li and Ke Jie are tied at 8 titles. The current World No. 1 Shin Jinseo is ranked 6th with 7 titles so far.

Source:

P.S. Does anyone know where I can find a comprehensive database of all the world titles and the winners? I know sensei’s library has the information, but it’s either by players or by tournaments. I can’t easily generate a full list of titles and the players and count the numbers. If it doesn’t exist, I’m thinking of creating one, but would anyone else be interested in seeing this information?

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If you ask me, that’s not what interest me most (performance rated by countries) so do as you like (and hold enough energy for it!)
I love better to follow the news and anecdotal facts.
But let’s see others tastes.

I’ve seen a more loosely take of international tournaments list

It’s close to 192 titles for various types of tournaments involving top players at the time period.

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I also made charts based on the wider list. They show the fall of Japanese strength, the rise of Korea in the Lee Changho era, and then the rise of Chinese pros in numbers, and the effect of Covid to world tournaments

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Go population in Japan drops to 1.2 million

A game of Kisei title match between Kisei Ichiriki Ryo (left) and Oza Iyama Yuta (right)

According to the “Leisure White Paper 2024” (edited and published by Japan Productivity Center) released on October 31, the Shogi population in 2023 remained unchanged from the previous year’s 4.6 million. Meanwhile, the Go population slightly decreased from 1.3 million to 1.2 million, showing no signs of stopping its declining trend.

While the Shogi world has seen its player population stabilize due to increased media exposure following Fujii Sota’s achievement of holding eight major titles last autumn, Go might fall below the milestone of 1 million players if this trend continues.

This represents a decrease to nearly one-fourth of the Go population of 4.6 million from 25 years ago when the Go manga “Hikaru no Go” began serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump and triggered a Go boom, indicating an extremely severe situation.

Has the Shogi world recovered from the impact of the “COVID-19 pandemic”?

In recent years, the Shogi world has seen an increase in “watching fans” (those who enjoy watching games and following favorite players but are not counted in official statistics) thanks to the achievements of Fujii Sota (22), who holds seven titles (Ryuo, Meijin, Oi, Oza, Kiou, Osho, and Kisei). If these new fans can be encouraged to start playing themselves, we can expect to see growth in the player base.

Additionally, while the Shogi population had been declining due to reduced opportunities for face-to-face matches since the beginning of the “COVID-19 pandemic” in early December 2019, the recent relocation and completion of new Shogi halls in both east and west Japan are positive developments. With increased focus on promotional activities, it may not be impossible to aim for a return to the previous milestone of 10 million players in the long term.

Go world urgently needs fundamental reforms

In contrast, it’s unfortunate that the Go world, despite having more than twice the number of highly skilled professionals (professional from 1-dan) at about 450 compared to the Shogi world (professional from 4-dan), hasn’t been able to leverage this abundant talent for promotion.

For example, in the golf world, which the author enjoys as a hobby, there are charismatic teaching professionals (with a separate qualification system from tour professionals) who make their living teaching amateurs, contributing to maintaining the golf population.

For the past decade or so, the author has been teaching Go, Shogi, and Backgammon in university lectures on “Intellectual Gaming Practice,” and has found that students engage enthusiastically with all these games, confirming that Go is no less engaging as an intellectual pursuit than Shogi (or Backgammon).

There are some bright spots for the Japanese Go world. In September this year, Ichiriki Ryo (27), who holds four titles (Kisei, Meijin, Tengen, and Honinbo), won his first championship at the 10th Ing Cup World Championship, held every four years, reaching the world’s pinnacle. The emergence of stars often leads to increased participation in sports.

Additionally, at the Nihon Ki-in (Japan Go Association), the Go headquarters, Takemiya Yoko 6-dan (47) was elected as the new chairman this year and has started structural reforms under the new administration. In the Kansai region, the Kansai Ki-in is leading efforts to promote Go at the grassroots level, such as dispatching professional players to all municipal kindergartens and nurseries in Takarazuka City, Hyogo Prefecture, to introduce “Go play.”

While it may take some time for these reform efforts to translate into increased player numbers, as a Go fan myself, I hope this will serve as a stepping stone for Go’s revival in popularity.

Source:

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Ueno Asami wins the 7th Wu Qingyuan Cup, helping Japan get the trophy for the first time

In the finals of the 7th Wu Qingyuan Cup between Ueno Asami and Tang Jiawen Ueno Asami won by 2-1. This allowed her to obtain the title for the first time and this is also her 2nd Female International Tournament Title after winning Senko Cup in 2022. This is also the 2nd international title obtained this year by Japan after Ichiriki Ryo won in the Ing Cup.

Game 1: Ueno Asami wins against Tang Jiawen

Game 2: Tang Jiawen wins against Ueno Asami

Game 3: Ueno Asami wins against Tang Jiawen

Game 3

Ueno Asami’s performance in this tournament was top-notch, beating the strongest Chinese players Li He and Yu Zhiying to get into the finals. Known as the “Hammer”, she appeared very confident in her games while throwing her “Hammer Punches”. Even in the finals, other than Game 2, she had a perfect win in both Game 1 and Game 3 while following her style of play. Interestingly, the black player won all three games in the finals, which shows that both players are stronger with the black stones. In fact, Ueno Asami took black for all the games that she won, even winning by 0.5 points for 2 games! She usually prefers white, but this shows the Hammer is constantly evolving.

Congratulations to Ueno Asami and congratulations to Japan!

More pictures:

Hangame

Cartoonized Ueno Asami

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Iyama Yuta defends the Oza Title and breaks the record for the most number of titles won

Go player Iyama Yuta defends Oza Title and achieves 4 consecutive wins, sets record for most titles won

In the 72nd Oza Title match (sponsored by Nikkei), the 4th game was played on December 6th in Hadano City, Kanagawa Prefecture. Iyama Yuta (35), the current Oza title holder, secured a win with black stones in move 193 against challenger Shibano Toramaru 9-dan (25), achieving his fourth consecutive defense with 3 wins and 1 loss. His total number of titles won has reached 77 (including 62 major titles), surpassing the record of the 25th Honinbo Chikun (Cho Chikun 9-dan) to become the sole record holder in history. Additionally, he has now won the Oza title 10 times, qualifying him for an honorary title, while maintaining his triple crown with Gosei and Judan titles. This was Shibano’s third unsuccessful attempt to win the title.

In today’s game, Iyama took the lead in the middle game, but the endgame turned into a complex ko fight with unclear prospects. However, Shibano made a mistake at the end, allowing Iyama to narrowly secure the victory. After the game, Iyama said, “My loss in the opening game was poor, and I made some mistakes in the latter half of this game too. While there are many points to reflect on, I’m happy with the result.”

Regarding becoming the all-time record holder for total number of titles won, he commented, “Cho-sensei’s record was so great that I never thought I could reach it. While the number of tournaments and titles has fluctuated over time making direct comparisons difficult, I’m happy to have at least reached this point in terms of the record.”

The seven major titles are now shared between two players: Iyama with three titles and Ichiriki Ryo Honinbo (27) with four titles (Kisei, Meijin, and Tengen)

◇ Comments from Cho Chikun 9-dan:

Every time Iyama breaks one of my records, I’m asked to write about it. I feel angry, my chest about to burst with fury. I’ll channel this anger into the squares of my manuscript paper! After three days and nights of meditation, strangely, I find only gratitude instead of anger. To have Iyama match me, catch up to me, and now see his back ahead of me – this is the ultimate fulfillment of my life as a Go player. Iyama-san, please continue to be beautiful, strong, and brilliant, giving us Go players inspiration and amazement. As all my records have now been broken, this will be my final words. Thank you to Iyama Yuta’s back, which has gone far beyond my reach.

@discobot quote

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:left_speech_bubble: People are so constituted that everybody would rather undertake what they see others do, whether they have an aptitude for it or not. — Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

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Good bot

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New Go Manga after 21 Years!

A new Go manga series will begin serialization after a 21-year hiatus. It was announced at the “Uchikazome-shiki” (New Year’s Go Ceremony) held on January 5th at the Nihon Ki-in (Japan Go Association) in Ichigaya, Tokyo. The manga, titled “Go to Go” (伍と碁) (written by Hasuo Toto and illustrated by Nakazato Haruna), will be featured in the upcoming issue of Young Magazine, set to be released on the 27th of this month.

The story follows Akiyama Kosei, a protagonist who excelled in various fields such as baseball, soccer, and academics, but experienced a setback in the world of Go. As a high school student, he returns to the game, vowing to take revenge on the five young prodigies who once defeated him.

According to the Nihon Ki-in, this marks the first Go-themed manga series since “Hikaru no Go,” which ended 21 years ago. The association is fully cooperating with the production, with Iyama Yuta (current Oza, Gosei and Judan Title Holder), a recipient of the People’s Honor Award, and Terayama Rei 6P overseeing the project.

Terayama, who attended the ceremony, expressed his enthusiasm for the manga, stating, “I am a fan of the work myself. The characters are charming, and I believe it will appeal to both those familiar with Go and those who are not.”

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Seems like Lee Sedol is going to join Devil’s Plan 2. I wonder how he will do compared to Pro Yeonwoo who joined in S1.

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LG Cup Finals to start on 20th Jan

The first World Champion for 2025 will be decided soon!

Byun Sangil 9P (Korea No. 3) will meet Ke Jie (China No. 5) in a best-of-3 match starting on January 20th, 2025, to decide the champion for the 29th LG Cup. On gratings, they are currently ranked 11th (Byun) and 3rd (Ke Jie).

Byun Sangil was the previous runner-up for the LG Cup and lost by 0-2 to Shin Jinseo. He has won the Chun Lan Cup before and will be fighting for his second Major World Title. On the other hand, Ke Jie has 8 World Titles under his belt (fourth most currently) and hopes to add one more. Their current head-to-head score is 6 – 0 with Byun losing to Ke Jie continuously.

Game 1 will be played on 20th January and Game 2 will be played on 22nd January. If needed, the final game will be played on 23rd January. The prize money for the LG Cup is 300 million won for the champion and 100 million won for the runner-up. The time control is 3 hours main time and 40 seconds byoyomi 5 times.

Will Byun be able to overcome Ke Jie and finally prove his name? Stay tuned to find out.

@discobot roll 2d6

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discobot is inactive so I’ll replace it.
300 million won = 200000 €.

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300,000,000 South Korean Won = 76.1018 Oz. of Gold

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I was curious what happened to Shin Jinseo in the tournament so I searched for it and stumbled upon this namu wiki page. And I was so confused for a second when I saw that reimbursement date won against meeting in the Round of 16. Until I realized that the page was autotranslated. Then I realized that a possible translation of “Byun Sangil” is “reimbursement date” :smile:

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Lol “meeting” I can still guess but I would never know who “reimbursement date” is.

Shin Jinseo lost to fellow Korean player Han Sangcho in the first round. Han Sangcho lost to Ke Jie later. There’s also a curse in the LG cup where no players have ever won the title twice in a row so I think he also fell into the curse.

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€12,000 awarded across all ranks! We Have a Sponsor for the Weekend Tournament at EGC 2025! - EGC 2025

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LG Cup Finals Game 1 Results

Ke Jie (B) VS Byun Sangil

The main highlight of Game 1 was probably the teddy bear blanket. It became a contest to see which blanket could give the player more warmth, enough to win the game.

LG Cup Finals Game 1 Results:

Ke Jie wins against Byun Sangil by 2.5 points

Summary:

The game started with a flying knife joseki that filled a quarter of the board but no new variations were played. In the first crucial moment, Byun played AI moves continuously and gained an advantage after a huge ko that ended up with the flying knife corner dying. However, after that Byun played too safe and Ke Jie’s win rate suddenly jumped to more than 90%.

Byun fought by creating another ko, and Ke Jie made some mistakes in playing the ko, allowing the game to go back to even. However, eventually, Byun won the ko, but Ke Jie played a better endgame than Byun, allowing him to win the game by 2.5 points. Ke Jie has won against Byun seven games continuously now.

Besides Shin Jinseo, it’s rare to see such a one-sided score between two elite players, so maybe there could be some psychological element at play. Either that or Ke Jie has found the perfect strategy against Byun. Whichever it is, Byun has to win the next game now.

Game 2 will be played on 22nd January at 10am KST. If Byun wins the second game, the final game will be played on 23rd January same time. The prize money for the LG Cup is 300 million won for the champion and 100 million won for the runner-up. The time control is 3 hours main time and 40 seconds byoyomi 5 times.

Will Ke Jie continue his win against Byun Sangil or will Byun fight back? Stay tuned to find out.

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Ke Jie lost the second game in the 29th LG Cup final, due to the violation of KBA rules of not placing the captive stones in the right place (in a lid) twice. The first time the game continued with a penalty of 2 points, and the second time it became a violation of rules and lost.

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The official announcement from the LG cup and the referee Yoo Jaeseong

http://baduk.lg.co.kr/kor/news_view.asp?gdiv=0&gul_no=531402

This is the first time I have ever seen an announcement of game results with screen captures of game rules. And this is the second announcement just minutes after the first announcement. They clearly want to state that this is definitely not their fault, and it is the Chinese team not reading the fine print. I don’t think the drama has ended but just begun, with the second announcement in their face, I suspect the Chinese Weiqi Association will have to make their own announcement very soon.

Also to anyone who wants to read the updated new Korean Baduk competition rules, here is the link

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