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WORLD GO NEWS ROUND-UP January 25-31: BC Card Cup begins; Choi Cheolhan wins the Chunwon; Xie Yimin

BC Card Cup main tournament begins. The 3rd BC Card Cup main tournament began January 31 with 64 participants from Korea, China, Japan, and Taiwan all competing to make it through the first round. Several first-round matches resulted in upsets for top contenders. Kong Jie 9P lost to Tan Xiao 5P, Cho Chikun 9P lost to Yan Huan 5P, Kim Hyunseob 2P lost to Korean amateur Hong Moojin and, while not an upset per se, last year’s BC Card Cup runner-up Chang Hao 9P lost to Lee Younggu 8P. Round two will begin on February 17th.
 Choi Cheolhan wins the Chunwon. Choi Cheolhan 9P (l in photo) won his first national title of the year on January 27, the Chunwon (Tengen). Choi defeated Lee Taehyun 3P (r) by resignation in the the third round of the 15th Chunwon, sweeping the five-game series, 3-0. With his recent international win in the Nongshim Cup, his 2-1 lead over Lee Changho 9P in the Kuksu final, and his strong showing in other ongoing tournaments, 2011 is shaping up very well for Choi.
 Xie Yimin wins game 1 in Female Kisei. On January 27, defending champion Xie Yimin 5P defeated Umezawa Yukari 5P by 9.5 points in the first round of the 14th Female Kisei title match. This year’s match up between Xie and Umezawa is a repeat of last year’s title match when Xie swept the series - two games to none. With Xie’s first-round win, Umezawa must now win the remaining two rounds if she hopes to take the title away from Xie.
 Cho U evens the score in Kisei. In the second round of the 35th Kisei, Cho U 9P evened the series to 1-1 by defeating Iyama Yuta 9P by resignation on January 26-27. The third round will be played on February 2-3.
 Choi Cheolhan wins game 3 in Kuksu. Choi Cheolhan 9P is only one game away from becoming the new Kuksu. He defeated Lee Changho 9P by resignation in the third round of the 54th Kuksu on January 25, and leads the series 2-1. Choi is no newcomer to the Kuksu title. He has won the Kuksu twice before, in 2004 and 2005, and participated in the title match four times including this year. Lee, on the other hand, has won the Kuksu 10 times and participated in the title match 18 times including this year. The fourth round will be played on February 14th. - JustPlayGo; edited by Jake Edge