On November 23, 2011, Lee Changho (9p) of Korea delighted his fans by defeating China’s Xie He (7p), for a chance to win his 5th LG Cup.
Xie He (7 dan, left) plays Lee Changho (9 dan) in the 16th LG Cup semi finals.
Lee, while undisputedly one of the strongest players on the Go circuit, has not won a major international title since the now discontinued Zhonghuan Cup in 2007.
In recent years, there has been a resurgence in Lee’s performance and perhaps this will be the start of his return to top form?
Lee Changho gives a post game interview.
Xie He, another near miss.
Jiang Weijie (5p) of China repeated his recent Fujitsu Cup win over Korea’s Kim Jiseok (7p), storming his way into the final.
After only 117 moves, Jiang sealed Kim’s fate by killing a large dragon, which at one point seemed like it might escape.
Jiang Weijie (5 dan) fights his way to his first international final.
This is Jiang’s first appearance in an international final so it will be most interesting to see how this young gun performs against the veteran, Lee.
The final will be played in February 2012. We’ll have to wait until then to see what happens…
Kim Jiseok (7 dan), knocking on the door of the top players.
Who do you think will win the 16th LG Cup?
Will Lee Changho add another title to his collection or is this going to be Jiang Weijie’s big breakthrough? Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below!
About Jing
I would put my money for Ch’ang-Ho. I don’t see Weijie as aggressive enough to make a dent in the Stone Buddha
Ruben
Jiang did a pretty good job of killing that Kim’s group in that second game though
. It will be a very interesting final.
All my money on Lee chang ho, like a french expression in poker “tapis”.
That’s a new word for me Frederic, thanks!
I have so much to learn. When Changho played 127, I don’t see at any level why w’s responce at 128 is reasonable. Put the ljl fortune on Changho.
I’m not sure either. Maybe Younggil or David will know.
After 121, it looks like one of black’s aims is to play F9. He starts off threatening the corner and then offers a trade with F14. If white connects at G15, I think black would play F9 next. 128 is an attempt to start preparing a defense against F9 in sente.
If you remember that white was trying to attack black’s center dragon before that, you can see that black has traded his way out of a passive (defensive) situation, in sente. Both players were mainly thinking about whether black’s center group would become safe or not and white gets some profit on the left side as compensation.
That’s my interpretation, I hope it helps. Let me know if it still doesn’t make sense.
It not only makes sense, it makes 121 the focal point of a marvelous combination. Forcing 126 to make life in what was an endgame sequence before, then sacrifice the side so that there is no endgame anymore and make central thickness in sente instead, is one of the most powerful sequences I’ve ever seen (or rather understood), thanks to your analysis.
i think lee changho will win the lg cup
I want Lee Changho to win because of a generational thing… People of my generation grew up reading about the exploits of this expressionless wunderkind. When he started declining, some of us felt a little bit like our time was passing us by as well.
Jiang could certainly win. He might be a newbie compared to Lee Changho, but even Lee Changho was a fresh-faced youngster before his first international win. The top players these days seem to be separated by thinner gaps than they were in the past and who knows if Jiang will turn out to be the next Gu Li.
Thanks Byung Soo. Lee’s teacher Cho Hyunhun won the Samsung Cup when he was in his 40s, so who knows what might happen!
Friendly correction: Cho Hunhyeon was almost 50 when he won. Cho Chikun was also 47 when he won. I hope that Lee can last as long as the two of them did.
im rotting for Jiang Weijie, he’s beaten a lot of strong players to reach to the finals. it’s about time the chinese youngsters start showing their power!
I think you meant rooting, or are you going to send him a pile of compost
I agree hijoeputa – the Korean youngsters are breaking through so it’s exciting to watch as the Chinese ones come through too
Whoa… I didn’t realize that Jiang had won the Mingren by beating Gu Li. I see on Igokisen that he has won the first two games of the title defense against Kong Jie. He must be a comparable in strength to those two. He will not be intimidated by Lee Changho.
This will be quite interesting.