Which one will prove to be number one of these two giants of the game?
On November 24th, the opening of the 'Mlily Match of the Century' was held in Beijing. This 10-game match between go superstars Gu Li of China and Lee Sedol of Korea is organised by the Chinese Go Association and the Mlily Group. Mlily is a home deco company whose CEO, Ni Zhanggen is a big fan of go, they are also the organizers of the MlilyCup. It's the first time that two top players from different countries play a 10-game match and also it's the 10-game match with the highest prize in history. This is going to be a big game with a lot of attention in 2014. The head of the Chinese Go Association, Liu Siming, and the head of the board of the Mlily group, Ni Zhanggen, attended the opening along with other celebrities.
On May 16th and 17th the first round of the 68th Honinbo Final took place in Oda, Japan, the birthplace of the Go Saint Honinbo Dosaku. Challenger Takao Shinji won seven games in the qualifiers to challenge for the title. The game, which can be found here with comments by Kono Rin 9p, started out with a new joseki after Iyama's attack on the bottom. After giving up some territory on the bottom to take sente, Takao managed to take the initiative and things looked tough for the title defender. Iyama unleashed a do-or-die move to try and change the outcome of the game and it succeeded!
Kim Jisuk, taking white in the second game, forced Lee Sedol to resign.
On the 22nd of April, 2013, the 23-year-old Kim Jisuk won the best-of-five final of the 18th GS Caltex Cup by defeating the legendary Lee Sedol with a staggering 3-0! Even though Kim Jisuk had not attained the rank of 9p before the match, most observers agreed that his power could rival that of the top players of the day. However, going up against Lee Sedol who is known as possibly the strongest fighter in the world he was surely destined to have a very tough challenge facing him. Unexpectedly he forcefully decided the final by winning three games in a row, not backing down one inch when Lee Sedol was putting him to the test in very difficult fighting.
Zhou Ruiyang proudly holding up his champion prize. This is the second time for Zhou Ruiyang to win a national tournament.
On April 13, the 13th Liguang Cup Go Tournament was finished in the Sheraton Hotel in Haikou, China. The final result is Zhou Ruiyang, playing black, beat Tang Weixing after 167 moves and received the title of the Liguang Cup champion for the first time. The prize money was set at 250,000 RMB. Tang Weixing got 100,000 RMB for his second place. This is the second time for Zhou Ruiyang to win a champion title in a national tournament. See the final game with comments by Chang Hao 9p, here!
On April 13, the 13th