Chang Hao 9-dan made it five in a row when he won three in a row, taking Game 3 of the 15th Tianyuan final in Wu County, Jiangsu. Chang has thus held the title for the last five terms.
In Game 3, on 7 March 2001, challenger Ding Wei 7-dan looked no nearer to finding a way to dent Chang's superiority, although he did manage this time to bring the game to a countable finish. He lost by 1.25 points.
Chang also won the Lebaishi Cup with a clean sweep at the end of February. His good form is giving succour to Chinese fans for Stage 3 of the Nong Shim Spicy Noodles Cup, which starts in Chang's home town Shanghai in a week's time. China is desperate to win an international event, and only Chang and Yu Bin are left to help them in their quest on this occasion.
Older News From 5 March 2001: CHANG CONTINUES ON WINNING PATH
Chang Hao 9-dan established a probably unassailable 2-0 lead in the 15th Tianyuan when he defeated challenger Ding Wei 7-dan in Game 2 on 5 March 2001. The game was played in Shanghai, Chang's home town. Ding, from far away Yunnan, must have felt just as remote in the game, dispiritedly resigning some 10 points behind on the board with just a couple of possible plays left.
Older News From 2 March 2001: CHANG STARTS DEFENCE WITH VICTORY
Chang Hao 9-dan, holder for the past four years, started the defence of his Tianyuan title on a winning note when he defeated Ding Wei 7-dan on 3 March 2001.
Game 1 of this 15th term, held in Wu County, Jiangsu Province, was a scrappy affair ended by an even scrappier ko fight. 21-year-old Ding will have to perform better if he is to prevent Chang making his first clean sweep in Tianyuan title matches.
Older News From 24 February 2001: DING EARNS CHANCE AT CHANG
Key of the door to 21-year-old Ding Wei from Yunnan! After victory over Wang Lei in the semi-final on 22 February 2001, he had to face Zhou Heyang 8-dan, conqueror of Peng Quan 3-dan, in the Challengers' Final of the 15th Tianyuan tournament.
He overcame that hurdle on 24 February at the Chinese Go Association headquarters in Beijing. He was so far ahead going into the endgame - over 10 points - that Zhou saw no point in playing to a finish. Now Ding has earned the chance to challenge four-times holder Chang Hao 9-dan.
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Older News From 20 February 2001: LAST VETERAN FALLS
The last of the oldies was despatched in the quarter-finals of the 15th Tianyuan tournament on 20 February 2001. Wu Zhaoyi 9-dan fell to Zhou Heyang 8-dan, but at 24 Zhou is now the veteran of those left. He's also the only one left with a double-barrelled name.
He is joined by 23-year-old Wang Lei 8-dan, who overcame Dong Yan 7-dan. 21-year-old Ding Wei 7-dan disposed of Kong Jie 5-dan, and the remaining semi-final place will be filled by young teenager Peng Quan 4-dan, conqueror of Huang Yizhong 5-dan.
The semi-final pairings will be Wang versus Ding and Zhou versus Peng. These games will be at the same venue, the Chinese Go Association HQ in Beijing, on 22 February.
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Older News From 19 February 2001: NEW BOYS SHINE
The 15th Tianyuan tournament began as a contest between new boys and veteran 30-somethings, but by the end of Round 1 it was already a case of "out with the old". Only Zheng Hong, Zhang Wendong and Wu Zhaoyi, all 9-dan, had survived the onslaught.
The second bombardment, in Round 2 on 18 February 2001 at the Chinese Go Association headquarters in Beijing, saw Zheng and Zhang fall by the wayside, so that only Wu Zhaoyi (36 in April) is left flying the silver flag in the quarter-finals.
The QF draw, with games to be played in the same location on 20 February, is:
Dong Yan 7d v. Wang Lei 8d
Ding Wei 7d v. Kong Jie 5d
Wu Zhaoyi 9d v. Zhou Heyang 8d
Peng Quan 4d v. Huang Yizhong 5d
Tip: it's not a totally reliable guide, but you can separate the oldies and the newbies fairly well by the length of their names. The youngsters often have just two characters, the oldies three.
Round 2 results:
Wang Lei 8d 1-0 Luo Xihe 8d
Dong Yan 7d 1-0 Zhang Wendong 9d
Ding Wei 7d 1-0 Wang Yao 4d
Kong Jie 5d 1-0 Gu Li 5d
Wu Zhaoyi 9d 1-0 Zheng Hong 9d
Zhou Heyang 8d 1-0 Li Jie 3d
Peng Quan 4d 1-0 Xie He 4d
Huang Yizhong 5d 1-0 Qiu Jun 6d
Sponsors are the Zhongguo Weiqi Xiehui (Chinese Go Association), Xinmin Wanbao-she (New People's Evening News, Shanghai) and Xinmin Weiqi (New People's Go - originally Weiqi) monthly magazine.
A two-stage knockout is used to find the challenger. After a variable preliminary, 32 players compete in the main knockout tournament (originally held, with the final, over five consecutive days, but now spread out). The winner of this challenges the holder in a final best-of-five in the spring.
In Term 1 the final was a best-of three as were the semi-finals. First prize, as of 1996, was 10,000 yuan. They also play for the Guomai Cup. It is a quickplay event. Komi is 2.75 (Chinese rules).
Tianyuan, like the Korean Chunweon, is borrowed from the Japanese word Tengen (origin of Heaven) which, in its go sense of centre of the board, is attributed to the Imperial astronomer Shibukawa Shunkai (1639-1715; he was 7-dan in go). For this reason the tournament is sometimes known as the Chinese Tengen.
