American Go E-Journal » World

Gu Li 9P (l) has taken the final spot in the quarterfinals of the BC Card Cup, defeating Cho Hanseung 9P (r) in the round of 16. The quarterfinals are scheduled to start on March 31 2011.

The other quarterfinalists include Lee Sedol 9P, Park Junghwan 9P, Heo Yeongho 8P and Kim Jiseok 7p of Korea and Chen Yaoye 9P, Zhou Ruiyang 5P and Zhong Wenjing 5P of China.

- Jingning; adapted from her original report on Go Game Guru (which includes the game record) For all 8 of the third-round match game records, go to JustPlayGo

“I survived the earthquake!” Michael Redmond 9P told the E-Journal on Friday from Japan. We’ve also heard from our colleague at Ranka, editor Ivan Vigano, who says “Everything is OK here (in Nagoya), just a very long shake,” though he adds that he’s very concerned about the rapidly-developing situation at Fukushima’s nuclear power station. Popular EJ columnist Kaz Furuyama say’s “In Tokyo we are not out of power fortunately… at least so far.” And on the day of the earthquake (March 11), Cho U 9P was able to capture his second Kisei title in a row against Iyama Yuta 9P, winning the series 4-2; see Cho U Wins the 35th Kisei in today’s World Go News section for the complete report. We’ll continue to post updates here and on Twitter about how the go community in Japan is managing post-quake; please email us your news at journal@usgo.org

Park Junghwan Defeats Choi Cheolhan in Siptan. In a relatively short match, Park Junghwan 9P defeated Choi Cheolhan 9P by resignation after 133 moves in the quarterfinals of the 6th Siptan on March 12. Park now advances to the semifinals to face Kang Yootaek 3P. Park is the defending Siptan champion after he defeated Lee Changho in last year’s title match, two games to one.  Cho U Wins the 35th Kisei. On the day of Japan’s strongest recorded earthquake (March 11), Cho U 9P (r in photo) was able to capture his second Kisei title in a row against Iyama Yuta 9P (l), winning the series 4-2. It was a close match with Cho defeating Iyama by only a point and a half. The match was played in the town of Izu in the Shizuoka Prefecture, which is south of Tokyo and a little over 500 kilometers from Sendai, the city closest to the epicenter and one of the worst hit areas.  Rui Naiwei Wins Female Kuksu. Rui Naiwei 9P defended her title on March 8 by defeating Kim Yunyoung 3P by resignation in the 16th Female Kuksu. Rui swept the series 2-0. This is the third year in a row that Rui has won the title, which brings her career total to nine Female Kuksu titles.
- JustPlayGo; edited by Jake Edge

Guo Juan’s Internet Go School is currently accepting enrollment for Group Classes for the 2011 second term, which begins April 9/10. The group class participants will also receive a 20% discount on annual membership for her  Audio lectures. The teaching faculty includes Guo Juan 5P, Jennie Shen 2P and Mingjiu Jiang 7P. For details visit the Group Class website.

Lee Sedol Advances to Siptan Semifinals: In the 6th Siptan quarterfinals on March 6, Lee Sedol 9P defeated Jen Youngkyu 5P by resignation. The Siptan is Korea’s equivalent to Japan’s Judan and is sponsored by the Wonik Group. Cho U Wins NEC Cup: Cho U 9P defeated Yamashita Keigo 9P by resignation in the 30th NEC Cup final on March 5. This is the third NEC Cup title for Cho. His first was in 2005 and the second in 2007. In addition to the NEC Cup, Cho currently holds three other titles, the Oza, Judan, and Kisei. Yamashita, only one title short of Cho, holds the Honinbo, Agon Cup, and Ryusei. Li He Wins Female Mingren: Li He 3P (r in photo) defeated Chen Yiming 1P (l) in the 2nd Female Mingren final, which was held March 2. This is the first Mingren title for Li as last year’s title winner was Zheng Yan 2P. Li currently holds the Female Xinren Wang title, which she will defend against Li Xiaoxi 1P sometime in March. Cho U Takes Game 1 in Judan: On March 3, defending Judan champion Cho U 9P defeated Iyama Yuta 9P by resignation in the first round of 49th Judan title match. Cho has held the title for the past two years and this is Iyama’s first Judan title match. The Judan is a best of five-game series and the second round will be played on March 24th. Mukai Chiaki Wins First Round in Female Meijin: In the first round of the 23rd Female Meijin title match, which was held March 2, Mukai Chiaki 4P defeated defending Female Meijin champion Xie Yimin 5P by resignation. Mukai and Xie faced each other in last year’s title match, with Xie winning the series 2-0. Xie has held the title for the last three years and is arguably the strongest female professional in Japan. The second round will be played on March 11th.
- JustPlayGo; edited by Jake Edge