There were some in the Chinese camp who had been casting doubt on Kong Jie’s form earlier in the week. However, those doubts have been put to rest after Kong Jie 9p emphatically defended his Asian TV Cup this week, winning both his games by resignation in well under 200 moves.
Kong Jie (9 dan) wins his 3rd consecutive Asian TV Cup
As the defending champion, Kong was seeded into the semi final. On June 8, 2011 he played Yamada Kimio 9p of Japan, winning with white in 140 moves.
Kong Jie wins the final in style
Today’s game (June 10) was equally impressive. Kong knocked out Baek Hongseok 8p of Korea in just 162 moves, again playing white. This is the third successive year in which Kong has won the Asian TV Cup.
If he keeps this up, he may equal Takemiya Masaki’s record of four consecutive wins in this tournament.
Earlier in the week, Kong was grilled by Wang Yi at the opening of the 23rd Asian TV Cup. It seems like Wang will have to eat his words tonight, though he will certainly be happy to see a fellow countryman win the title.
Here are Kong’s games:
About Jing
I certainly thought the comments made by Wang Yi were more than a little acerbic. It’s nice to see Kong Jie prove him totally wrong.
I think Wang Yi was like that with everyone, but I agree. Well done Kong Jie.
It seems like Baek Hongseok spent many moves just thinking about how to go about making a living group.
Also Yamada Kimio playing C3 seems somewhat unusual. My impression was that C6 was considered orthodox in this era. The result in the bottom area was certainly a catastrophe for black, and he was forced to resign.
Don’t discount Kong’s skill in not allowing his opponents to settle their groups. There’s a real art to the slow attack.
About c3, it doesn’t seem to be in fashion, maybe because it loses sente? It still seems like a reasonable move to me.