Li Weiqing was inspected before the game. Photo: Hua Xueming
Beijing News (chief reporter Sun Haiguang) The first stage of the 23rd Nongshim Cup Three Kingdoms Go Tournament continued on October 13, and the Chinese team pioneer Li Weiqing Jiudan Zhibai 253 lost to the Japanese deputy pioneer Xu Jiayuan Jiudan, and failed to defend the ring.
Born in 2000, Li Weiqing is the first post-00 player in China to play in the Nongshim Cup, and won the first game yesterday against South Korean pioneer Won Sung-jin. According to the Schedule of the Nongshim Cup, Li Weiqing defended the ring today to accept the challenge of Japanese deputy pioneer Xu Jiayuan. Born in 1997, Xu Jiayuan is a first-class Japanese Go player who defeated Shibano Tiger Maru 3-2 in the Japanese Ten Dan Battle this year.
Due to technical reasons for the network, the game was postponed by 8 minutes. Previously, Li Weiqing had never fought with Xu Jiayuan, and they did not know each other well. Throughout the chess game, the two played relatively normally. In the middle stage, Li Weiqing's white chess piece went to the top right to score, and the two abandonments were also very exciting, but Xu Jiayuan responded correctly. In the final stage, Li Weiqing played a slow move one after another, and finally could only admit defeat.
Li Weiqing in the game. Photo: Hua Xueming
At this point, after the first three race days of the first stage, the Chinese, Japanese and Korean pioneers folded one person each and returned to the same running line. According to the schedule, Japanese chess player Heo Jiayuan will defend the ring tomorrow to meet the challenge of South Korean chess player Park Tinghuan Jiudan.
The Nongshim Cup is the highest level of Go team competition in the world, held annually since 1999, with five players each from China, South Korea and Japan. The tournament is played in the ring, with three players taking turns.
The prize money for the 23rd Nongshim Cup winner is 500 million won, and from the beginning of three consecutive individual wins, chess players can receive 10 million won in winning streaks per game. In the previous 22 competitions, South Korea won the championship 13 times, China won 8 championships, and Japan won only once in 2006.
Beijing News reporter Sun Haiguang
Edited by Wang Chunqiu Proofreader Li Lijun