On May 19, the 29th “LG Cup World Go Championship” opening ceremony was held at the Kuncheokyon Resort in Gwangju City, Gyeonggi-do. Twenty-four top Go players gathered to compete for the championship. Taiwan’s top Go player, Hsu Hao-Hung, faced off against South Korea’s Choi Hyeon-Jae in the first round, while the top Go players from South Korea and China, Shin Jin-seo and Ke Jie, were seeded and received a bye in the first round.
This tournament featured a total of 24 players, with South Korea dominating with 13 participants due to their sweep of the championship and runner-up positions in the previous edition. Chinese players accounted for 6 spots, while Japan and Taiwan secured 3 and 2 spots respectively.
Notably, the Asian Games Go individual champion, Taiwanese player Hsu Hao-Hung, received a wild card entry after unexpectedly failing to qualify in the selection tournament in Taiwan. This marked the first time in four years that Taiwan had two players competing in the LG Cup, aiming to showcase exciting games for Go enthusiasts worldwide.
The tournament also included 8 seeded players: Shin Jin-seo, Park Ting-hwan, Byun Sang-il, Shin Min-chol from South Korea, Shibano Kiyomaru from Japan, and Ke Jie, Ding Hao, Mi Yuting from China. Seeded players automatically advanced to the round of 16, with the remaining 16 players battling it out to secure the 8 remaining spots.
The competition is planned to proceed in three stages:
First Stage: May 20th and 22nd, round of 24 and round of 16 matches;
Second Stage: September 30th and October 2nd, quarterfinals and semifinals;
Third Stage: January 20th, 22nd, and 23rd, best-of-three final matches.
In the first round draw:
– Kang Dong-Woon (KOR) vs Lai Chun-Fu (TWN)
– Choi Hyeon-Jae (KOR) vs Hsu Hao-Hung (TWN)
– Kim Myung-Hoon (KOR) vs Kim Jin-Ki (KOR)
– Park Geon-Ho (KOR) vs Hsu Jia-Yuan (JPN)
– Han Sang-Chao (KOR) vs Ita Atsushi (JPN)
– Lee Ji-Hyun (KOR) vs Fan Ting-Yu (CHN)
– Lee Chang-Sik (KOR) vs Gu Tzu-Hao (CHN)
– Won Seung-Jin (KOR) vs Xie Er-Hao (CHN)
Taiwan’s top Go player, Hsu Hao-Hung, will face Choi Hyeon-Jae, currently ranked 72nd among South Korean players. Choi, 31, transitioned from an amateur to a professional player and won the 34th World Amateur Go Championship in 2013. He secured a spot in the LG Cup after defeating amateur players Yun Ruiyuan, Jang Su-Young, Park Min-Kyoo, Kim Seung-Jae, and Ahn Jung-Gi in the South Korean selection tournament. Although this is their first meeting, Hsu Hao-Hung is expected to have an advantage based on skill. The first round match will commence on May 20th.
In past LG Cup competitions, South Korean players have won 13 times, Chinese players 12 times, while Japanese and Taiwanese players have won twice and once respectively.
The “LG Cup World Go Championship” is organized by the “Chosun Ilbo” and the Korea Baduk Association, sponsored by the LG Group. The tournament follows the rules of the Korea Baduk Association, with Black giving a 6.5-point komi, each player having a basic time of 3 hours with 40 seconds of byo-yomi 5 times. The champion of the tournament will receive a cash prize of 300 million Korean Won (approximately 222,000 USD), while the runner-up will receive 100 million Korean Won (approximately 74,000 USD).