American Go E-Journal » World

Xie He wins the Quzhou-Lanke Cup. On September 30, Xie He 7P (r in photo) defeated Jiang Weijie 5P by resignation to become the new Quzhou-Lanke Cup Champion. The tournament, which started in 2006, is held in alternating years, with total prize money at one million Yuan. The winner receives 500,000 Yuan (approximately $75,000) and the runner-up 150,000 ($23,000). In 2006 and 2008, the Quzhou-Lanke Cup champions were Yu Bin 9P and Gu Li 9P, respectively.  In the semifinals, held on September 28, Xie defeated Zhou Ruiyang 5P by resignation, while Jiang had a 2.5 point victory over Yang Dingxin 2P. Lee Changho stays alive in Myeongin. In the Myeongin semifinals, Lee Changho 9P evened the series at 1-1 by defeating Park Yeonghun 9P by resignation on September 30.  The first game of the match was won by Park by resignation on September 28.  The final game to decide who will play Won Sungjin 9P for the Myeongin title will be played on October 5.
- JustPlayGo; edited by Jake Edge

Quzhou-Lanke Cup Semifinalists. Xie He 8P, Zhou Ruiyang 5P, Jiang Weijie 5P, and Yang Dingxin 2P each won their respective 3rd round matches in in the 3rd Quzhou-Lanke Cup and now advance to the semifinals, which will be played on September 28th. Iyama Yuta 3-0 in Meijin. Iyama Yuta 9P defeated Takao Shinji 9P by resignation in the third round of the 35th Meijin. Yuta has won all of the first three matches in the best of seven series. The next round will be played on October 6th and 7th.
- JustPlayGo; edited by Jake Edge

Park vs. Hei in Bingshen Cup finals. In the 1st Binshen Cup (AKA the Qionglong Cup), Park Jieun 9P (r) of Korea and Hei Jiajia 1P representing Oceania (Australia) both won their semifinal matches and will face each other in the title match September 14th. Park defeated China’s Tang Yi 2P by 7.5 points, and Hei defeated China’s Zheng Yan 2P by resignation. One of the more notable first-round matches was between Rui Naiwei 9P and Tang Yi, with Rui losing to Tang by 5.5 points. The Qionglong Cup is a women only international tournament. (game records)  Samsung Cup down to 16 players. The final sixteen players for the 15th Samsung Cup (tournament bracket) were decided on September 10. Korea’s Choi Cheolhan 9P, Park Jiyeon 2P, Lee Changho 9P, and Park Yeonghun 9P all won their respective games, giving Korea a total of 10 players in the main tournament. China’s Gu Li 9P, Zhou Ruiyang 5P, Wang Tao 3P, and Kong Jie 9P all won their respective games, giving China a total of 5 players. Yamashita Keigo 9P clinched his spot in the main tournament on September 9th, and is the only Japanese representative in this year’s final tournament. Keigo incidentally was the only Japanese player in last year’s final tournament as well. Of the eight remaining block-tournament matches, several are worth noting. Park Jiyeon, the only female player to advance to the main tournament, defeated Tuo Jiaxi 3P by resignation. Lee Changho was able to redeem himself against Tan Xiao 5P, after losing to him in the first round, and defeated Xiao by resignation. Xiao lost his second-round match against Han Sanghoon 5P, which then put him back into the losers bracket to face Changho. Despite his loss, Xiao played very well in this game. And finally, Gu Li defeated Korean amateur Min Sangyoun by resignation after 133 moves. (game records and more game records)
- JustPlayGo; edited by Jake Edge

Myeongin Semifinals in Place. Lee Changho 9P defeated An Kukhyun 2P by 1.5 points in the 38th Myeongin League A playoff match. He now advances to a three-round semifinal match against Park Yeonghun 9P. In League B, Won Sungjin 9P defeated Kim Kiyoung 5P by resignation in their playoff match. Sungjin also advances to a three-round semifinal match against Kang Dongyun 9P. The winners of each semifinal best-of-three series will face one another for the Myeongin title. Yamashita Keigo Advances to NEC Cup Semifinals. Yamashita Keigo 9P defeated Yuki Satoshi 9P by a convincing 11.5 points in the second round of the 30th NEC Cup to advance to a semifinal matchup with O Meien 9P.  The remaining second-round match will be played on September 6 between the current NEC Cup title holder Kono Rin 9P and challenger So Yokoku 8P. The winner of that game will advance to the semifinals to play Cho U 9P. Lee Sedol Defeats Lee Changho in First Round of Price Information Cup. Lee Sedol 9P (l in photo) takes a 1-0 lead in the Price Information Cup by beating Lee Changho 9P (r) by resignation.  The second round in the best-of-three series will be held September 15. Iyama Yuta takes 1-0 lead in Meijin. Defending Meijin title holder Iyama Yuta 9P defeated Takao Shinji 9P by 6.5 points in the first round of the 35th Meijin title match. Takao held the title in 2006, after defeating Cho U 4-2. The second round will be played on September 16-17. Tuo Jiaxi Upsets Kong Jie in Qiwang Second Round. In the 6th Qiwang, Tuo Jiaxi 3P defeated current title holder Kong Jie 9P by resignation. In other second-round matches: Li Zhe 6P defeated Piao Wenyao 5P; Wu Guangya 6P defeated Tan Xiao 5P; Peng Liyao 5P defeated Nie Weiping 9P; Gu Lingyi 5P defeated Chang Hao 9P; Xie He 7P defeated Shi Yue 5P; Zhang Li 5P defeated Ding Wei 9P; Qui Jun 8P defeated Chen Yaoye 9P. Kim Jiseok Advances to Caltex Semifinals. In the third round of the 15th GS Caltex Cup challenger tournament, Kim Jiseok 7P defeated Choi Cheolhan 9P by resignation to advance to the semifinals.  That round will have Kim against Won Sungjin 9P on September 29th and Park Yeonghun 9P against Lee Younggu 8P on September 15th. Jiang Weijie vs. Gu Li in Mingren. Jiang Weijie 5P defeated Li Zhe 6P by resignation in the third and final match to decide the challenger for the 23rd Mingren title. Jiang will face Gu Li 9P for the title.
- JustPlayGo; edited by Jake Edge

Serious study of go causes actual physical changes in the brain. That’s the stunning finding of a Korean group of neuroscientists who studied the difference between “long-term trained players” and“inexperienced controls.”  In their paper, which appears in the August 2010 issue of Neuroimage, Lee et al. report that they found “larger regions of white matter . . . that are related to attentional control, working memory, executive regulation, and problem-solving.” Their findings also suggest that “experts tend to develop a task-specific template for the game, as compared to controls . . . [and] were less likely than were controls to use structures related to load-dependent memory capacity.” In other words, experts don’t think harder, look at more variations or read farther than the rest of us; they use “spatial processes” – pattern recognition – to see better moves than the rest of us immediately. The researchers used a special type of fMRI –voxel-based diffusion-tensor imaging — to compile their data. This is a fairly well-established method: last year British researchers used the same process to show that “motor learning” – in this case, juggling – produced similar changes. The findings that strong players use something like “intuition” to see better moves tends to confirm previous research such as Chase and Simon’s classic 1973 study, where it was discovered that master chess players see more meaningful “chunks” when briefly glancing at a position than “woodpushers.” “Chunk theory” is now a widely accepted way of understanding how trained brains work. Reitman’s 1976 paper furthered our understanding of expert processes by studying an “expert” go player (Jim Kerwin, who went on to become the first Western pro) and then-beginner Bruce Wilcox (later the author of NEMESIS, the first computer go program) and confirming the basic tenets of “chunk theory.” Other research has examined whether go playing brains may have different — and hopefully more desirable — general qualities than non-playing brains.  The Deoksoo Study is one of several suggesting that serious go students may acquire more sophisticated cognitive abilities in other areas. In 2003, Chen et al. showed that go players use many different areas of the brain; similar chess studies have shown more localized activation. Lee et al.’s study takes our understanding one giant step further – high-level cognitive training has a physical impact on the brain, just as hitting the gym does for the body. This finding has enormous implications for the eternal “nature-nurture” debate. The current conventional wisdom is, “We are what we’re born with,” not “We are shaped by our experiences.” The brain’s ability to think clearly, manage emotions and perform the other work that makes us human is seen largely as biological, inborn, brain-based. “Big pharm” ads tell us over and over that the way to fix our depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, ED, etc. is to tweak our brain chemistry with a pill.  Teachers and parents often label struggling students, then begin the quest for the perfect pill that will fix the ADHD, bipolar disorder or whatever. But what if the pills don’t work? If it’s an inborn biological problem, what’s the solution? Fortunately, we now know that certain kinds of experience can actually improve the physical brain.  As the authors say, “long-term Baduk training appears to cause structural brain changes associated with . . . higher-order cognitive capacities, such as learning, abstract reasoning, and self-control, which can facilitate education and cognitive therapies.” Other questions now arise. Are some activities more growth-promoting than others? Probably. Does the brain change more in players who begin at a younger age? Does the increased white matter in go players’ brains just help them to play well, or is the increased “throughput” capacity useful in other areas as well?  One would think so, but there’s no evidence – yet.  To learn more, check out “Go and Cognition” by Peter Shotwell, in the Bob High Memorial Library.
– by Roy Laird; additional reporting by Hajin Lee 3P

Han Zenki and Tsuruyama Atsushi advance in Daiwa Cup: Surprising second round results from the Daiwa Cup have two of Japan’s top professionals being defeated by less well-known 7 dans.  The first was Han Zenki 7P who defeated current Daiwa Cup title holder Kono Rin 9P by resignation. The second was Tsuruyama Atsushi 7P who defeated O Rissei 9P by resignation.  Han became a pro 1996 at age 19, while Tsuruyama turned pro in 1999 at the age of 18. Mukai Chiaki to challenge Xie Yimin for Female Honinbo: In the final challenger-decision match for the 29th Female Honinbo, Mukai Chiaki 4P defeated Umezawa Yukari 5P by resignation, giving her the nod to challenge Xie Yimin 5P for the title. Mukai Chiaki is 23 years old, became a professional in 2004, and was promoted to 4 dan just this year. She is a student of Honda Sachiko. Her two sisters, Mukai Kozue 1P and Mukai Kaori 2P, are professionals in the Nihon Ki-in as well. The first round of the title match will be played on October 6th. Olleh KT down to eight as Yun Junsang 8P defeats Kim Jiseok 7P: In their sixth round game, Yun won by resignation over Kim in the inaugural edition of the Olleh KT Cup, which is a Korean professional tournament sponsored by the telecommunications company Olleh KT. This is their first sponsored tournament with total prize money of 700 million won.
- JustPlayGo; edited by Jake Edge

In a true Cinderella story, Sakai Hideyuki 7P has become the new Gosei by defeating Cho U 9P by 2.5 points in the fifth and final round of the 35th Gosei, winning the series 3-2. This is Sakai’s first major title win, which also ended Cho’s four consecutive years of holding the Gosei title. Sakai’s only title win prior to this was the Kansai Ki-in Championship in 2003.  For a long time, he was the strongest amateur go player in Japan, and by winning his first major title at 37, he has defied those that say that only youth can accomplish such things.  When he won the World Amateur Go Championship in 2000, he was awarded professional 5 dan by the Kansai Ki-in (after defeating two 5D and two 7D players). He was also the first player in Japan to be awarded a special amateur 8 dan diploma.
- JustPlayGo.com