This past Saturday morning (Friday evening in America) in Changde, Hunan Province, China the new Super Meijin tournament began. The grand-finals are already coming up next Tuesday morning with Gu Li, 9p versus Yi Ch’ang-ho, 9p.

The Super Meijin tournament was announced earlier this summer with the purpose of bringing together each countries respective Meijin title holders to compete for a Super Meijin title. Whether this will be a yearly or continuing event is still undecided. However, it has already received a lot of attention in its short amount of time. The tournament format is in what Asians call ‘reverse knockout.’ [Players draw straws to determine the first match-up and the remaining player receives a bye that will function as a loss. The loser of the first match will face the person with the bye, and the winner of this match will move to the grand-finals.]

Each countries respective title names and holders are as follows:

China: Mingren, Gu Li, 9p

Japan: Meijin, Iyama Yuta, 9p

Korea: Myeongin, Yi Ch’ang-ho, 9p

The tournament began with Gu Li and Yi Ch’ang-ho drawing the shortest straws to decide the first match-up, with Iyama Yuta receiving the bye.

Their game opened up with good examples of some recent joseki trends. The middle game saw the aji of these josekis being used and an exchange happen on the bottom right/side. Gu Li (W) fell behind to the surprise of some and initiated a large ko. Yi Ch’ang-ho had a few more ko threats and was, thus, able to win the ko fight. Quickly thereafter, Gu Li resigned.

Game record: http://www.mediafire.com/?o2azo81e9qo9e42

Some post-game interviews followed:

Question (Q): Can you please discuss this game?

Yi Ch’ang-ho (YC): Before White started the ko on the upper side I felt that Black was rather comfortable. After the ko started I was sure that I had more ko threats.

Gu Li (GL): I did not play very well in the opening. The exchange in the lower right was not good for White. I started the ko because I felt behind in territory, and choosing not to fight would not have worked. In the end my ko threats were insufficient.

Q: How has your condition been recently?

GL: Recently I have been very busy, continuously playing matches for the Asian Games selection tournament, but my condition is actually pretty good. However, today I did not bring my strength to bear.

Q: What is your outlook on tomorrow’s game with Iyama Yuta?

GL: Being able to play games against these Korean and Japanese masters makes me very happy. Being able to play more games like this would be a good thing.

Q: Can you please discuss the game?

Iyama Yuta (IY): These two players are both very strong. I felt that White had a good position in the opening, but Yi Ch’ang-ho fought hard to get a favorable position. It is a pity that Gu Li lost.

Q: What is your outlook on tomorrow’s game with Gu Li?

IY: Five years ago I played a match against Gu Li, but I was still very young, and the disparity in our skill was very great. After five years of effort I feel that my skill has improved. Tomorrow I will be confident and strive hard in my game against Gu Li.

-http://sports.sina.com.cn/go/2010-07-24/16525118706.shtml

The next morning Gu Li faced off against Iyama Yuta, while Yi Ch’ang-ho waited to see who his opponent would be in the grand-finals.

The game began with an interesting series of opening exchanges by both players, with Iyama Yuta ending with a large moyo. After one successful invasion on one-half of Iyama Yuto’s moyo, Gu Li attempted a reduction on the other and ended up in a dangerous situation. However, through some tight maneuvering and use of his famous fighting skills Gu Li found his way out and was nearly able to reverse the situation. They fought two ko fights and both came out pretty close. However, Gu Li was able to outplay Iyama Yuta in the endgame sealing the game with a 4.5-point win.

Game record: http://www.mediafire.com/?b2cyq81o8dw2py4

The grand-finals will be Tuesday morning with Gu Li versus Yi Ch’ang-ho. The WBaduk client should have the game live; and the Chinese website zhibo.56.com has been suggested to stream the event live on their weiqi channel: http://zhibo.56.com/tianyuanwq.

Who do you think will win?

Lastly, here are some Chinese commentary videos over the first two matches, with more to likely come up after the grand-finals.

Gu Li, 9p – Yi Ch’ang-ho, 9p

专辑:常德杯世界名人战古力VS李昌镐华以刚讲解

http://www.56.com/w37/play_album-aid-8302925_vid-NTM2OTIzMjk.html

专辑:常德杯世界名人战古力VS李昌镐华以刚陈盈讲

http://www.56.com/w37/play_album-aid-8302925_vid-NTM2OTM0MTY.html

专辑:常德杯世界名人战古力VS李昌镐华以刚陈盈讲

http://www.56.com/w37/play_album-aid-8302925_vid-NTM2OTQzNzI.html

Gu Li, 9p – Iyama Yuta, 9p

专辑:世界围棋名人战第二轮古力VS井山裕太曹大元

http://www.56.com/w98/play_album-aid-8307080_vid-NTM3MzA3OTM.html

专辑:围棋名人战二轮古力VS井山裕太曹大元讲解

http://www.56.com/w98/play_album-aid-8307080_vid-NTM3MzEzMDI.html

专辑:围棋名人战二轮古力VS井山裕太曹大元讲解

http://www.56.com/w98/play_album-aid-8307080_vid-NTM3MzI3MDE.html

It’s about time I posted this! I apologize to everyone that had to wait to see these photos. These were taken throughout the day at the Asia Society of Oklahoma Festival. The festival was highly enjoyable and we had a lot of people show interest in the game. We handed out many cards, pamphlets, instruction manuals, you name it! Everyone present had a good time playing go and enjoying the food and festivities.

For a more detailed synopsis of the event, check out the full gallery by clicking the “Read More” link. Each photo has a short description and a comment page.  Feel free to comment on any of the photos! Thank you and enjoy.

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Hello! This is Nathan. Jim Story wrote this, but I am reposting it from the mail group just to make sure everyone knows!

We will have a booth this Saturday from 9am (set-up begins at 8:30) until 4pm at the Annual Festival of the Asia Society of Oklahoma.

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