On June 18, 2012, the main draw of the 17th LG Cup began in Korea.
The LG Cup
Na Hyun (2 dan) pulls number 10 in the draw and meets Dang Yifei (4 dan). Each player chooses and unfolds a fan to reveal their position in the draw.
The LG Cup is a major international Go tournament.
It started in 1996 and the prize money is currently 250 million Won.
The main draw of 32 players is part invitational, comprising of 5 Korean players, 5 Chinese players, 4 Japanese players, 1 Taiwanese player and including the previous year’s winner and runner up.
The rest of the main draw is determined through a preliminary tournament. The format is single knockout, with the final played as a best of 3 games.
The tournament is sponsored by LG Electronics, a multinational consumer electronics company whose headquarters are in South Korea.
An interesting line up
This year’s first round draw produced some exciting games, such as the battle between two favorites, China’s Kong Jie 9p and Korea’s Lee Sedol 9p.
Kong Jie (9 dan, left) plays Lee Sedol (9 dan). Who can name all the players in this photo? Bonus points for the people blocked by Kong Jie's head.
Dang Yifei (left) plays Na Hyun in the 17th LG Cup.
Another interesting match to watch was the one between two promising teenagers – Korea’s Na Hyun 2p and China’s recent BC Card Cup runner up, Dang Yifei 4p.
Japan
Unfortunately for Japan, all of their players were knocked out in the first round.
Two of Japan’s strongest players, Iyama Yuta 9p and Yamashita Keigo 9p are currently contesting the Honinbo title match in Japan. Game 4 of the Honinbo started today and the score is currently 2-1 in Iyama’s favor.
Hideyuki Sakai 9 dan from Japan, former medical student turned pro.
Taiwan
Taiwan’s sole representative, Xiao Zhenghao 7p, defeated China’s Zhou Heyang 9p to stop the tournament becoming yet another China versus Korea battle.
LG Cup round of 32 full results
- Won Seongjin 9p defeated Tan Xiao 7p
- Choi Kihoon 9p defeated Niu Yutian 7p
- Jiang Weijie 9p defeated Cho U 9p
- Na Hyun 2p defeated Dang Yifei 4p
- Lee Younggu 9p defeated Li Xuanhao 3p
- Kang Dongyun 9p defeated Meng Tailing 6p
- Peng Liyao 5p defeated Sakai Hideyuki 9p
- Park Junghwan 9p defeated Chun Guangya 6p
- Choi Cheolhan 9p defeated Xie He 9p
- Shi Yue 5p defeated Yuki Satoshi 9p
- Li Kang 6p defeated Yoda Norimoto 9p
- Xiao Zhenghao 7p defeated Zhou Heyang 9p
- Lian Xiao 4p defeated Piao Wenyao 9p
- Lee Changho 9p defeated Liu Xing 7p
- Gu Li 9p defeated Park Seonghwa 5p
Watch the LG Cup live
The round of 16 will be played in two days on June 20, 2012. Watch the games here at Go Game Guru on Baduk TV Live.
The official coverage starts at:
- 1:00pm Korean Standard Time, Wednesday June 20
- 6:00am Central European Summer Time, Wednesday June 20
- 4:00am Greenwich Mean Time, Wednesday June 20 (adjust for European Summer Time)
- 12:00am US Eastern Daylight Saving Time, Wednesday June 20.
See the Baduk TV Guide for more details.
About Jing
Jiang Weijie’s game was interesting to me because Cho U accepted (forced to take?) 3rd/2nd line territory while giving Jiang an iron wall across the entire board… How often do such extreme positions arise in high-level professional matches?
The guy at the back behind Kong Jie reminds me of Piao WenYao….
am I right?
i think you are right it does look like it
Andy, I think it’s Piao’s distinctive hairline.
He is Gu Li. You can see a wider image including him in “cyberoro” or “tygem”.
Hi Balakirev,
I think you’re right!
Very interesting games.
It seems like the winners often applied a very “pragmatic” approach, playing moves that make the obvious answers appear slow. This is something I would love to learn and improve in, because it is my original playing style. Thus, a pleasure to watch, especially Choi Cheolhan and his trade in the upper right.
Players on background are Yoda Norimoto, Park Junghwan and Park Jiyen(Game recorder).
First time I see Yoda without kimono or suit O_o His expression also changed a bit.