Who are the eight masters of go in the world today? This is a matter of great concern to chess fans, and it is also a matter of benevolence and wisdom.
The author believes that a convincing selection criterion must be determined first, otherwise it is impossible to talk about it. Personally, I think the entry criteria are: 1. The first and second place in the World Series within two years (from March 2020). 2. In the past year, the ranking ranking has long ranked in the top five in China, the top three in South Korea, and the first in Japan. Candidates are put forward according to the above two criteria, plus the activity in the past one or two years, and then appropriately refer to the results of the civil war, and after comprehensive evaluation, the top eight candidates are determined.
According to the above criteria, china's candidates include: Ke Jie, Yang Dingxin, Koo Zihao, Ding Hao, Mi Yuting, Xie Ke, and Tang Weixing; South Korea has four candidates: Shin Jin-chan, Park Ting-hwan, Bian Sang-yi, and Shin Min-woon; Japan has only one Person, Yutai Izuyama; and Taiwan obviously has no suitable candidates.
In the first place, it is not Shen Zhenchen. Since March 2020, he has won two championships in seven World Series (the 13th Chunlan Cup in 2021, the 26th LG Cup in 2022, and the LG Cup in February 2020), two runners-up, and one final (the 9th Ying Cup) to be played, which means that shen Zhenchen has reached the final five times in seven major competitions, which is far more than others. In addition, he won five consecutive wins in last year's Nongshim Cup to win the cup for The Korean team. He ranks first in the world rankings (proposed by a Korean professor, not recognized by the world, you can refer to it) and the Korean rankings. In the Korean Civil War, Shin Jin-chan also reached six crowns last year. In China's League Of Champions League, he also has a highlight performance. Obviously, Shen Zhenchen attacked in an all-round way, and none of them were left behind. At present, it seems that Shen Zhenchen has the potential to ride the dust of the world chess world.
Shin Jin-hyun and Park Young-hwan
In second place is Ke Jie. In two years, he won the World Series and won the first place, second only to Shin Jin-chan. In the Chinese Go rankings, Ke Jie is now firmly in the first place, but the pursuit of soldiers has arrived, and I don't know if he can still sit in the big position this year. This year, there are five or six world competitions, if Ke Jie can reach the top, then he is still a figure on the spire, otherwise the waves will be sandy, he will gradually annihilate.
South Korea's Park Young-hwan is roughly in third place. In the world series performance, Park Tinghuan only won the Samsung Cup once in two years, and the other six competitions did not reach the final, but he still performed well in the Chinese Weijia League, and the ranking score also ranked second in South Korea. Park is 29 years old this year, and he is expected to gradually decline in the future. Given the tenacity and focus of the Korean, his decline should be slower, unlike some of our domestic straight-down chess players.
China's Qi Yuting ranked fourth. He won the fourth Dream Lily Cup and reached the final four of the 26th LG Cup. The rating has remained within the top five for a long time. At the age of 26, he has graduated from college, and he does not know how long he will be able to stay in a high position.
Shen Min was in fifth place. This is controversial because he only won the 25th LG Cup, won nothing else, and ranked in the top five of South Korea. However, the selection of the eight masters is mainly based on the results of the World Series, and he was the world's first person ke Jie in the final, which made him add a lot of points. If you look at his performance and development trend after winning the world championship, he will soon be eliminated from this list.
The above five are all world champion winners in the past two years, although a few people have a slight debate, but in terms of consequential heroes, which chess player can surpass them?
In sixth place is Bian Xiangyi. He won the 7th National Hand Mountain Cup, an international second-tier event, which has a lower gold content than world competitions such as the Samsung Cup and the LG Cup. Bian Sang-yi has been ranked third in the Korean rating rankings for a long time, and has also had the experience of beating Yang Dingxin in the final of the online competition. Although Gu Zihao, Ding Hao, Yang Dingxin and others were not very convinced of his ranking, they did not have a strong basis for excluding him.
Yang Dingxin can be ranked seventh. He won a runner-up and a final four at the World Series, and was a long-time finalist in the top four.
In eighth place is Sheko. He has a resume of two World Series finals, including the fourth Dream Lily Cup lost to Mi Yuting, and the ninth Ying Cup final has not yet started, but his opponent is the powerful Shin Jin-jin. Sheko's rank score is not high, just outside the 10th place, which is his weakness.
Shen Zhenchen, Shen Min
The order of the above eight top masters is mainly arranged according to the results of the World Series. If ranked according to the latest strength and rank, Ding Hao and Gu Zihao will replace Shin Min and Xie Ke to enter the top eight; Japan's Yuta Iyama may be able to squeeze into the top ten. As for Tang Weixing, one of the candidates I listed earlier, because of his age, his recent achievements have seriously declined, and he has gradually drifted away.
The media in the Go world now generally believe that the first level in the world chess world is Shin Jin-chan, Park Ting-hwan and Ke Jie. Gu Zihao, Yang Dingxin, Ding Hao, Bian Xiangyi, Mi Yuting, Shen Minyuan, Jingshan Yutai and others were roughly in the second level.
Personally, I think that the current situation is that Shin Jin-chan is thriving and is on top; Park Ting-huan and Ke Jie are temporarily in the second level, and whether they can maintain this position depends on their creation; Ding Hao, Gu Zihao, Bian Xiangyi, Yang Dingxin, Mi Yuting, Shen Minzuo, Jing Shan Yutai and other major generals follow close behind and belong to the third class; Xie Ke, Wang Xinghao, Li Dongxun, Li Weiqing and others may replace some of the players above, but the specific performance depends on the future performance.