The 13th CCTV Cup lightning tournament began on 28 January 2001, with the most notable result being the demolition of Fang Tianfang 8-dan by teenager Peng Quan 4-dan who has also been showing up well in the Tianyuan.
Rounds 2 and 3 took place on 13 and 14 February in Beijing. Highlight of Round 2 was the defeat of Nie Weiping 9-dan by Li Kang 3-dan. Li won the 15th Ing World Youth Championship in 1998 and is clearly moving on.
The last 16 after Round 3 were headed by Liu Xiaoguang 9-dan, Ma Xiaochun 9-dan, Wang Lei 8-dan, Peng Quan 4-dan, Wang Yang 4-dan, Zhang Wendong 9-dan, Kong Jie 5-dan, Hu Yaoyu 6-dan, Liao Guiyong 9-dan and Wu Xinyu 6-dan.
Part of Round 4 took place on 28 February, and Ding Wei Ma Xiaochun and Kong Jie have made it to the last eight. Ding beat Hua Yigang 8-dan, while Ma bested his old rival Liu Xiaoguang. Kong Jie disposed of Zhou Heyang 8-dan.
Ding, Ma and Kong were all semi-finalists last year, so already a repeat is shaping up.
This event has always been sponsored by the Chinese Weiqi Association and Zhongyang Dianshitai, (CCTV) who broadcast each Sunday afternoon. Since 1998 they have been joined by the Aiduo Electrical Goods Co. of Guangdong, which has led to doubling the size of the event and more than doubling the prize money. To the CCTV Cup is also added the Aiduo Cup.
First prize is now 300,000 yuan, increased from 120,000 yuan. The runner-up takes 128,000 yuan. The winner and the runner-up also qualify for the TV Go Asia Championship, which is effectively the world championship for quickplay go.
The tournament is a knockout, originally for 32 but now 64 top players. The previous winner is not seeded. The timing of the event has varied, though all the games are played over a span of about 3 months. The event used to be Beijing based but is now held in as many as eight cities.
Time allowances have varied between 20 minutes each plus 40 seconds overtime and 1 move in 30 seconds. Komi: 2.75 (Chinese rules).
TV go tournaments in China seem to have begun in 1983 but had a patchy history until NHK of Japan helped develop interest with an event intended to feature quickplay champions of each country. It was this that created the impetus for a regular event in China. The international event meanwhile developed in to the TV Go Asia Championship.
