It has been almost a month since the closing of the semifinals of the 14th Chunlan Cup on December 21, 2022, and Chinese chess fans are relatively chilled during this period, because there is no official match to enjoy.
It seems that we can only dry stare? No, thankfully, we still have online Go tournaments to watch. However, online events do not enter the eyes of the formal media and the Chinese Go Association, and the online platforms themselves are not promoted enough, so that not many people who eat melons know about these online events.
In fact, the prize money of the online Go competition is not low, and it is in the middle of the table compared with the domestic official competition. For example, the Wild Fox Go Popularity Tournament, which has reached its eighth stage, is a traditional online event. In addition, registration is open for Japanese and Korean chess players and Taiwanese players, so it is a worldwide online competition.
The last champion Wang Xinghao
The total prize money of this edition of the competition is as high as 900,000 yuan, and the champion prize is 400,000 yuan. The prize amount of the championship is lower than that of the domestic chess holy war (800,000 yuan), but it is the same as the Tian Yuan Tournament and the Celebrity Battle.
However, the online competitions are all fast chess tournaments, and the semi-finals and finals of this tournament are three-way chess tournaments, and the others are knockout tournaments. The game takes 30 minutes for each side and counts 3 times in 30 seconds. The final lasted 1 hour for each side and counted 3 times in 40 seconds.
The tournament has been running since early December 2022, how far has it progressed? From January 2 to 10 this year, four matches were played in the fourth round of 16 to the round of 12, and the result was that Won Seung-kyun Kudan (WONFUN) defeated teammate Shin Min Jiudan (Sniperkill), Tong Mengcheng 8 dan (successfully passed) defeated Lian Xiao 9 dan (Sword Silent), Fan Tingyu 9 dan (YKPCX) Nick Ding Hao 9 dan (Wind Bone Shangren), Liu Yuhang 6 dan (Triathlon) eliminated Fan Yin 8 dan (single love song).
Ding Hao nine paragraphs
At 8 p.m. on January 15, the first match of the fifth round of 12 to the round of 8 began, and South Korea's nearly 40-year-old Won Seung-kyun Kudan (WONFUN) defeated Chinese Go zero-zero champion Liao Yuanhyuk Badan (seven kills) to advance to the quarterfinals first. Although Yuan Shengqin is the oldest chess player in this popularity competition, he is constantly fighting online and his diligence is no less than that of young people, ranking as high as sixth on the latest popularity list of wild foxes, second only to Dang Yifei 9 dan, Zhao Chenyu 9 dan, Wang Xinghao 7 dan, Fan Tingyu 9 dan, Bian Xiangyi 9 dan. As a post-80s generation, he once competed with the post-70s Changhao Jiudan and the post-80s Guli Jiudan in various competitions, and now he can compete with the post-95s and post-00s Chinese chess players in the first line of the competition, which is really valuable.
The second match of the fifth round of 12 to 8 began at 8 p.m. on January 16, and the result was that Fan Tingyu Kudan (YKPCX) defeated the runner-up of the previous popularity tournament Cho Chenyu Kudan (Star of Thought), and after South Korean sledgehammer Won Seung-kyun Kudan, the second "counterattack" junior opponent advanced to the quarterfinals. Fan Tingyu Jiudan and Zhao Chenyu Jiudan are both regulars of Wild Fox Go, and the two are ranked fifth and second respectively in the latest popularity of Wild Fox Go. In the latest ranking of Chinese chess players, Fan Tingyu ranked fourth and Zhao Chenyu ranked 18th.
The other two matches of 12 to 8 are Gu Zihao (the tyrant of Yincheng) against Tong Mengcheng (successfully passed), at 8 pm on January 24; Ke Jie (lurking) confronts Liu Yuhang (Triathlon), the date of the match is undecided. There is a suspense here, Ke Jie said in a live broadcast not long ago that he would stay away from Go for two or three months, and I don't know if he will abstain.
In this issue of the Wild Fox Go Popularity Tournament, four super popular players have pre-obtained eight places, they are Dang Yifei 9 dan (I want to be quiet), the previous champion Wang Xinghao 7 dan (Yudao Feng), Xie Ke 9 dan (bureau road), and South Korean tiger general Bian Xiang Yi 9 dan (miracle97).
Fan Tingyu nine paragraphs
Since the date of subsequent matches is undecided, it is still a question when the champion and runner-up will be produced. It is recommended that the tournament does not drag on too long like some world events, which will only upset the appetite of chess fans. The author often sees netizens complaining that the schedule of Go competitions is too long and annoying. The World Cup is only a month away from determining the champions, and some of our World Go tournaments can be postponed for two or three years, such as the 9th Ying's Cup since its opening on September 8, 2020.
It is expected that the eighth Wild Fox Go Popularity Tournament, a cross-year event, can have a result as soon as possible, instead of letting chess fans look through the autumn water.