Special correspondent GuCa reported that on April 26, the fifth and final round of the 27th LG Cup Chosun Ilbo Chess Championship Korea Qualifiers ended, and seven people, including Won Seung-joo, Cho Han-joo-joo- 9-dan and Kim Ji-seok, won the tickets to the tournament, plus the four national seeded and the previous champion Shin Jin-jin-chan 9-dan, South Korea has identified 12 candidates.
The new LG Cup starts at the end of May, and a total of 24 people participate in this competition, namely: 2 champions and runners-up in the previous year, 9 national seeds (4 from South Korea, 2 from China, 2 from Japan, 1 from Chinese Taipei), 12 (7 from South Korea, 4 from China, 1 from Japan), and 1 from Wild Card. Previously, South Korea's confirmed entrants were the previous champion Shin Jin-chan Nine Dan and national seeds Park Ting-hwan Nine Dan, Bian Sang-Il Nine Dan, Shin Min-min Nine Dan and Kim Myung-hoon Nine Dan.
The LG Cup Korea Selection Tournament was attended by 223 people in seven groups, with the first place in the group qualifying, with a pass rate of 32 to 1. In the previous four rounds of the group stage, the top players showed their strength and competed to advance to the final, and Kim Ji-seok 9-dan (5th), Won Seung-jin 9-dan (7th), Kang Dong-yun 9-dan (9th), Kwan-hyun-joon 7th Dan (14th), Park Ha-min 8th Dan (16th), Park Jian-ho 6th Dan (18th) and other powerful chess players competed for the right to qualify.
The only female chess player to participate in the group final, Choi Kyung-kudan, and 40-year-old Cho Han-sung Jiudan met again after a gap of three days, winning the last set in the playoffs of the South Korean Weijia League. This time they met again, and when they approached the official, Cui Jing played a big leak in the middle abdomen, easily sent a white seed, and cooperated with the black chess to surround the hollow, and Zhao Hancheng won a small victory.
Previously, in the 21st LG Cup qualifiers in 2016, the 22nd in 2017 and the 24th LG Cup in 2019, Cui Jingjun scored three times in several rounds of mixed men's and women's competitions, setting a new record at the World Series. In 2020, he failed to pass the selection and participated with a wild card; in 2021, he also failed to qualify, and this LG Cup selection competition has passed four levels such as Xu Yinghao's nine dan and Cui Zhehan's nine dan, and the last moment has failed, which is regrettable.
The results of the other six group finals were: Kim Ji-seok beat Lee Won-young nine dan in nine dan, Won Seung-hyun nine dan beat Lee Hyun-joon five dan, Park Ha-min eight dan beat Kang Dong-yun nine dan, Hyun Hyun-jun seven-dan win over Yoon Chan-hee nine-dan, Park Ji-ho six-dan beat Kim Hyun-woo nine-dan, and Park Jin-ho won nine-dan against Park Yong-hoon nine-dan.
In the previously concluded Chinese selection competition, Shi Yue jiudan, Ding Hao jiudan, Gu Zihao jiudan, Zhao Chenyu jiudan four people qualified, plus the last runner-up Yang Dingxin jiudan and national seed Ke Jie jiudan and Mi Yuting jiudan, the chinese team's seven-member lineup has also been determined.
In the Japan Selection Tournament, Sada Tokushi 7 dan, who eliminated Mi Yuting's nine dan in the Chunlan Cup at the end of March, advanced to the tournament, plus national seeds Shibano Tiger Maru 9 dan and Yu Zhengqi 8 dan to form a three-person lineup.
The Chinese Taipei player has been identified as Wang Yuanjun's nine-dan. In the list of 24 people in this LG Cup, only wild cards have not yet been announced.
This year's LG Cup is held online, with the first round of the draw ceremony being held on May 25, the first and second rounds of matches from May 29 to June 1, the quarterfinals and semi-finals from November 13 to 16, and the triple chess final starting on February 6, 2023. The prize money for the winner is 300 million won, the runner-up is 100 million won, the final four is 24 million won, the quarterfinals are 12 million won, the 16 rounds are 6 million won, and the top 24 are 4 million won. The duration of the match is 5 40-second second readings after 3 hours on each side.
(Image source hangame network)