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LIVE FROM JEONJU: Yuan Zhou on the 4th Annual Korea Prime Minister Cup

By Yuan Zhou 7d The matches at the just-concluded Korea Prime Minister Cup (KPMC) World Go Championship – the 4th annual -- were very exciting, with representatives from 68 nations fighting hard for their countries. I was pleased to finish fifth, the best result yet for the United States in this tournament. Held in Jeonju, Korea, the hometown of famous world champion Lee Changho 9P, the event -- which ran October 23-27 -- is well organized by the Korean Baduk Association and a special bonus was that Lee Changho himself attended. My only losses were to the Korean representative (on right in photo), who won the championship this year, and the Chinese Taipei representative, a 1-dan professional who was allowed to play because he doesn’t officially become a pro until 2010. The match with the Korean representative was a very complicated game, and we were both down to our last byo-yomi period and one time we only had a couple seconds left on our clock.  None of my games were easy, and the Europeans I played were all strong and played well. The New Zealand player I defeated in the last round would have placed 4th place if he had won; Canada’s Gangsheng Shi – this year’s Redmond Cup winner -- did also did well, finishing in 8th place. 2009 KPMC World Go Championship official final result (top 16 finishers): 1. Korea; 2. China; 3. Chinese Hong Kong; 4. Japan; 5. USA; 6. Singapore; 7. Chinese Taipei; 8. Canada; 9. South Africa; 10. Thailand; 11. Ukraine; 12. New Zealand; 13. Slovenia; 14. Serbia; 15. France; 16. Netherlands. Click here for complete results. Photo: Yuan Zhou, US (left) and Song Hong-suk, Korea; group photo with Lee Changho 9p (center)