Korean go players aim for second consecutive win

“The Huang Longshi Cup is ours.”

Five Korean female baduk (go) players aim at a cup again this year following last year’s victory. Korean baduk players were defeated by Chinese players in individual tournaments last year, but won in all four games in men’s team tournaments and had two wins and one defeat in women’s team tournaments.

To continue the winning streak, five Korean professional baduk players have begun customized training. The team players who will play at the Huang Longshi Cup, an international women’s group tournament are Park Ji-eun (9 dan), Choi Jeong (4 dan), Lee Min-jin (7 dan), Kim Hae-min (7 dan), and Lee Seul-ah (3 dan). Five players from each country among Korea, China, and Japan compete in a successive manner. The first round of the Cup, which marks the fourth anniversary this year, will take place in Jiangyan, Jiangsu Province from Feb. 16 through 22. The second round of tournament will occur in early April. The Cup was created to honor Huang Longshi, a go genius of the Qing Dynasty by Jiangyan City. Jiangyan is the birth place of Huang Longshi. The winning prize is 450,000 Chinese yuan or 73,970 U.S. dollars. China won in the first and second Cup and Korea claimed victory last year.

This is a snapshot of the Korean team. Park Ji-eun, who has won in many international competitions, is likely to lead the team. Park is preparing for the tournament by conducting joint research and a league game with some 10 players including Park Young-hoon, Song Tae-gon, Kim Seung-jae, Park Jie-yeon, and Kim Mi-ri at her office in Hongik University.

Choi Jeong goes to the Korea Baduk Association almost every day. She plays in the young talent league and the entire league, and participates in young talent research gathering for practice in the run-up to the upcoming competition. Choi, who won three wins in a row and concluded victory in last year’s Cup, said, “I’ll do my best to win this year.” She sometimes solves go problems or plays online baduk at home and learn jazz dance for her stamina. She has two woman’s master titles, Kisung (Kisei) and Myeongin,.

Kim Hye-min earned Guksu, a women’s master title, last year. Lee Min-jin and Lee Seul-ah won a gold medal in Asian women’s team tournaments in Guangzhou in 2010. Lee Seul-ah also claimed two victories in pair games.

Chinese counterparts are lead by Wang Chen Xing (5 dan) and Yu Zhi Ying (5 dan). Yu claimed victory in the last tournament of the second event and made six consecutive wins in the third event. Wang set a new record of winning eight tournaments consecutively in the second event. The Chinese team also includes Song Rong Hui (5 dan), an ethnic Korean in China, Cao You Yin (3 dan), and Lu Jia (2 dan).

The Japanese team is lead by Xie Yi Min, Japan’s top go player from Taiwan. The team is a mix of old and new, including Yoshida Mika (7 dan), 44, Osawa Narumi (4 dan), 38, Okuda Aya (3 dan), 26, and Fujisawa Rina (2 dan), 16. Xie has two female master titles, Myeongin and Guksu, and is the top in Japan with 17 wins. Fujisawa is the granddaughter of Fujisawa Shuko, an honorary Kisei.

Mok Jin-seok, the head of the Korean team, said, “We’ll prepare with the records of baduk of the Chinese team. We’ll also pay attention to the players’ meals and physical conditions.”