Kang Dongyun 9P has taken his first world’s crown at the Fujitsu cup.

Kang 9P defeated Lee Changho 9P by 2.5 points at the final round of the 22nd Fujitsu Cup World Go Championship held in the Nihon Ki-in building in Tokyo, Japan on Monday, July 6.

It was intense, close game from the beginning and both sides illustrated amazing profound sequences throughout the game. The losing move was 149, which allowed white to keep all of his territory at the upper left corner. Black should have played at (w150) instead of B149. Then white cannot cut black as white’s big group at the center is not yet alive.

The new champion Kang Dongyun is a rising star, winning 5 consecutive games at the 10th Nongsim Cup, holding Chunwon title and taking the second place at Myoungin Cup.

Also he is ahead in the matches against Lee Changho by 9 to 5 so far.     

Kang Dongyun 9P

Lee Changho 9P

Photos from Cyberoro

The 14th Gahgrin Cup female Kuksu Title awarding ceremony held in Korea Economic Daily building, Seoul on Tuesday, April 14. 

Rui Naiwei 9P, who won her 6th female Kuksu title, arrived at the place earlier, and Lee Hajin 3P followed and sat beside her. The ceremony was compact and easeful with a few guests and journalists. Lee Kyemin the chief editor of Korea Economic Daily addressed “I congratulate Rui Naiwei 9P and Lee Hajin 3P on the good results. Also I’d like to express my gratitude to Dong-A Pharmaceutical for the sponsorship in this recession.” 

Rui 9P didn’t try to hide her happiness during the awarding ceremony, and Lee 3P also smiled and showed her brightness, chatting with Rui 9P.   

photos from Cyberoro

The scene of the baduk promotion activity in the infantrymen division 65 got opened to the public.
The 65th division has been running a baduk study curriculum under the support of KBA since March, 2009. Several female professional players agreed teaching the soldiers gladly with a relatively small payment for promoting baduk. The lecture is going to be held every Saturday until the end of this year.

The teachers in charge are Kim Minhee 2P, Kim Hyojung 2P, Bae Yoonjin 2P, and the lecturers are Lee Minjin, Kim Hyemin and Lee Dahye etc. The soldiers who participated in the first lecture showed a big interest in the game, saying “I am so grateful to these professional players. I have heard a little of the game and wanted to learn, but never had a chance before. I am seeing it as a good opportunity for me.”

Photos from Cyberoro

The 10th Maxim Coffee Cup 9 dan Championship awarding ceremony held in Maple Hall of the Plaza Hotel, Seoul on Tuesday, March 24.

The championship started in September 2008, and lasted 5 months creating lots of dynamic game records. All 48 Korean 9 dan players including Cho Hunhyun, Lee Changho and Park Jieun, the female player, participated in the tournament.

The winner Choi Chulhan, The second place Park Younghoon, the CEO of Dongsuh Foods (The company of Maxim Coffee) Lee Changwhan, the CEO of Baduk TV Sim Yongsub, the president of professional players’ union, Cho Daehyun and other celebrities gathered for the ceremony.

The CEO of Dongsuh Foods, Lee Changwhan said at the address “I am grateful to all of you for coming here despite the final game of WBC. I will keep trying to make this tournament sweeter.”

Before the ceremony, the beautiful magician Pan Jihyun presented ‘Graceful Magic Show’ and received big applause.    

Choi Chulhan awarded 25 million won (Korean currency) for the first place and 10 million won went to Park Younghoon, who took the second place.

Choi Chulhan 9P, CEO Lee Changwhan, Park Younghoon 9P (from left)

Cake Cutting

the view of Maple Hall, Plaza Hotel

Magician Pan Jihyun



Photos from Cyberoro

Kang Dongyun 9P wins the 13th Chunwon title, getting over ‘the Lee Sedol-wall’.

Kang took the lead of the best of five by winning the first match, but Lee Sedol, the strongest player in the world, was not an easy opponent. Lee won the following two games and reversed the score 2 to 1. At the time, many fans expected Lee to win the title as usual. However, Kang reversed the behind game at the 4th match and succeeded in changing the flow. 

The final match was played on February 6 in the SKY Baduk studio amid hot attention from many baduk players. Lee tried experimental style and Kang kept his typical moves. The crucial fight of the game was begun from the left side and expanded to the upper side and the center. At last, Kang made fair profit at the upper side and the center and it led to a golden victory. 

The winner, Kang Dongyun 9P is going to play at the Korea-China Chunwon title against Chinese Chunwon in August.  

No one can touch my territory!

Lee Sedol 9P beat Mok Jinsuk 9P 3 to 1 at the best of five final of the 52nd Kuk-su title by winning the 4th match on January 29.   

The commentator of this game, Yoon Hyunsuk 9P said "The opening was very difficult, but Lee 9P played well in the lower side and right side fight. Mok 9P lost because he played too easily at the crucial stage and the lower side damage was unrecoverable." 

It was the first success in defending Kuk-su title for Lee 9P, and he didn’t try to hide his happiness during the post game analysis. At the brief interview, Lee said his goal is to keep this title at least five years from now on.   

Lee Sedol 9P (left), Mok Jinsuk 9P (right)

Lee Hajin 3P defeated Lee Minjin 5P by a half point at the semi final of the 14th female Kuk-su title at the Korea Baduk Association building on January 22.

The game was in white’s favor from the beginning by capturing black’s two stones, but black took some points at the lower side using the ko finght at the upper right corner and it became very close. However, Lee Minjin (black) made a small mistake during endgame and it caused a half point difference.  

Lee 3P has reached the best of three final by only 1 point in total from the quarter round, winning by a half point twice in a row.

The other finalist is the winner between Rui Naiwei 9P and Kim Yunyoung 1P which will be played on February 2. The time limit of the female Kuk-su title is 3 hours each with 60 seconds 5 times countdown.





Lee Minjin (left), Lee Hajin (right)

The second round of the 7th Cheong-Kwan-Jang Cup World Baduk Championship has been successfully held at the Korea Baduk Association building, Seoul, from January 11 to 16.
In overall, there were 3 players who won at least 2 consecutive games in this stage, including Song Longhui 1P, who won all 4 games of the first round in Beijing.
 

An 18-year-old girl, Song Longhui from China has made a new record of Cheong-Kwan-Jang Cup, 6 wins in a row. Song is also a gold medalist of the 1st World Mind Sports Games. The one who stopped Song’s endless winning march was Park Jieun 9P of Korean team. Because Park is well known as one of the strongest players in the world, winning a few world female championships, Many Korean fans expected her to win more than at least 3 games. However Li He 1P, the same age as Song Longhui, showed bright talent, beating Park Jieun 9P and Umezawa Yukari 5P, the last player of Japanese team. As a result, Japanese team is completely eliminated and Korean team has only one player, Lee Minjin 5P while Chinese team has 4 players left. The last round of the 7th Cheong-Kwan-Jang Cup will be held in Guangzhou, China in March.    

Song Longhui 1P

Park Jieun 9P

Li He 1P

The biggest event of baduk society, The Anniversary Baduk Award of 2008 has been held in Orchid room of Grand Intercontinental Hotel, Seoul in January 8, 2009. The prizes are divided into two big parts, competition and records. Candidates of competition parts are selected by Korea Baduk Association and the committee members elected for the awardees. Also The election for the most popular players has been done by thousands of baduk players on Cyberoro the baduk site.

The Finest Player - Lee Sedol 9P

The Second Best Player - Lee Changho 9P

The Most Impressive Player - Mok Jinsuk 9P

The Best Female Player - Park Jieun 9P

The New Player - Kim Kiyong 4P (left)

Best Winning Percentage - Choi Chulhan 9P

The Finest Amateur Player - Ha Sungbong 7D

Orchid room, Grand Intercontinental Hotel, Seoul

Korea Baduk Association and Baduk journalists released top 10 baduk news of Korea in 2008, which selected by journalists’ closed-election on December 18.

1. Lee Sedol has kept the first place of Korea for 14 consecutive months!

Lee Sedol 9P’s performance was remarkable, with getting the 12th LG International Cup, the 12th Samsung Cup World Baduk Open and the 20th TV Asia Cup World Baduk Championship. Also he has reached the final of the 13th LG Cup, the 13th Samsung Cup as well as several domestic competitions such as the 36th Myoungin Title, the 52nd Kuksu Title and the 13th Chunwon Title, which are still in progress.

2.  Kang Dongyun becomes ‘blue chip’ from ‘neo generation promising player’!

Kang Dongyun 8P has made his best-ever year by winning a gold medal at the 1st World
Mind Sports Games, beating 5 top players of Japan and China in a raw at the 10th Nongshim Cup and matching against Lee Sedol 9P in the two different final stages, Myoungin and Chunwon.

3.   Park Jieun becomes first-ever 9 dan as a Korean female player!

Park Jieun has become the first Korean female 9 dan player as a result of winning the 1st Won-Yang real estate Cup World Female Professional Baduk Championship.

4. Lee Changho gets out of the slump!

Lee Changho 9P seems discovered completely from the long slump of last year. According to his side people, although he had a serious health problem last year, he has found himself healthier than ever by steady working out. Consequently Lee has reached the final of the 6th Ing Cup World Baduk Championship and the 7th Chunlan Cup International Baduk Championship.

5. Youngnam Daily has won Korea Baduk League 2 years in a raw!

Youngnam Daily has won 2008 Korea Baduk League by defeating Sinsung Construction 3-2 at the last stage of the best-three Play-off Championship. The members of Youngnam Daily team are followed; 

Director: Choi Gyu-Byoung 9P
Players: Kim Jisuk 4P, Yoon Junsang 7P, Kang Yutaek 2P, Cho Hyeyeon 8P, Heo Youngho 6P,                Kim Hyoungwoo 3P. 

6. Cho Hunhyun keeps making new records!

Cho Hunhyun 9P has changed the record of a number of matches, with total of 2517 official games so far from 1962.

7.  Hong Sungji gets his first title!

Hong Sungji 7P has gotten his very first title by beating Lee Sedol 9P at the final round of the 4th Korean Price Information Championship.

8. D.P.R Korean Baduk gets revealed!

D.P.R Korean Baduk surprised the world at the 1st World Mind Sports Games by winning a gold medal in the open division and beating Umezawa 5P of Japan and Park Jiyeon 1P from Korea.

9. Lee Minjin leads Korean team to win the 6th Jeongkwanjang Cup!

Lee Minjin 5P has defeated all 3 remained players of Japan and China and led the Korean team to win the Jeongkwanjang Cup 2 years in a raw.

10. Lee Sedol and Cho Hanseung’s beautiful donation!

The finalists of the 20th TV Asian Cup, Lee Sedol and Cho Hanseung decided to donate their all prize money of the first place and the second place to Sichuan, China for discovering from the earthquake, before playing the final match.

Lee Sedol 9P and Kong Jie 7P have succeeded going up to the final of the 13th Samsung Cup International Baduk Open by beating Hwang Yijung 7P and Zhou Ruiyang 5P respectively on December 17, in Busan, Korea.

The game between Lee and Hwang showed clearly two different styles, territory oriented and emphasizing thickness. In the middle stage, While Hwang made a slow, wrong direction move at the upper right corner,
Lee took the initiative of the game and led safely with aiming at black’s big baseless group. In the end, Hwang resigned after 174 moves. 

On the other hand, Kong was leading in the beginning as a result of the lower side which is good for white.
Afterward Zhou chased through out the middle stage and the game became quite close. However Kong’s endgame was more profound and Zhou failed to reverse the game.

The time limit of Samsung Cup is 2 hours each and 60 seconds 5 times countdown.
The best-three final of the 13th Samsung Cup International Baduk Open will be played on January 19,21,22 2009 in Seoul, Korea.     

Lee Sedol 9P (left), Hwang Yijung 7P (right)

Kong Jie 7P (left), Zhou Ruiyang 5P (right)

Lee Changho 9P defeated Kong Jie 7P at the semi final of the 7th Chunlan Cup World Baduk Championship, in Jiangxi, China on December 11. Lee 9P, who beat Gu Li at the quarter final by perfect endgame, showed irreproachable finalizing again through attacking white’s weaknesses. The commentator of Cyberoro Kim Youngsam 8P said, “Kong Jie played well, but Lee simply did better, his reading was profound and he didn’t give his opponent any chance to reverse the game after middle stage. I would say it was one sided winning.” Meantime, Chang Hao 9P beat Zhou Heyang 9P at the other side of semi final by resignation after only 144 moves. Lee Changho and Chang Hao have played over 30 games so far and it doesn’t seem they will stop clashing for a while. The date for the final round isn’t decided yet. 

Lee Changho

Chang Hao (left), Jhou Heyang (right)

Lee Changho 9P has reached the semi final of the 7^th Chunlan Cup World Baduk Championship by knocking down Gu Li 9P of China in Jiangxi, China on December 9. Because Lee Changho was the only one who is not Chinese, this game attracted huge attention from all over the world. As a result of choosing color, game begins with Lee’s black. Gu Li, the strongest player in China, is famous for his dynamic opening and powerful fighting capabilities. As though he planned to prove it, he made a good flow from the opening and led the situation in his favor until the endgame. However, with the start of the endgame, Lee’s accurate moves began to show up and the game is reversed under Gu Li’s small mistake. The winner Lee Changho 9P is going to face Kong Jie 7P of China on the way to the final at the same place on December 11. 

Lee Changho 9P

Lee Changho 9P (left), Gu Li 9P (right)

Park Younghun 9P has won The 13^th GS Caltex Cup for 2 consecutive years by defeating the challenger Won Sungjin 9P on December 9, making the total score 3-0 of the best-five final. Park 9P took the GS Cup from Lee Sedol dramatically by winning 3 games in a raw after losing first 2 games last year. He surprised the audiences by leading the game smoothly and not giving any chance to his opponent after once he took the initiative of the game at the lower side. On the other hand, Won Sungjin 9P, the same age as Park, had been expected to be equal to him due to his upward tendency. Yet he exposed lack of intestinal fortitude again and recorded his 7^th second place. The time limit of GS Cup is 3 hours each with 60 seconds 5 times countdown.

Park Younghun 9P

Won Sungjin 9P (left), Park Younghun 9P (right)