Zhang Xuan 8-dan won the first new-style Women's Mingren tournament for the Langchao Cup on 5 January 2001 when she beat Yang Hui 8-dan in the knockout final in Jinan.
The event was designed to promote opportunties for new female talent in China, but in the end the older hands triumphed. Zhang, wife of Chang Hao 9-dan, is 32. Yang Hui, wife of Cao Dayuan 9-dan, is 37.
In the longer term, though, of the increase in opportunities is sustained, we can expect more Chinese parents to allow their daughters to "go on the stage".
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Older News From 4 January 2001: NEW WOMEN'S TITLE
A new tournament for Chinese women began on 1 January 2001 as part of a new concerted campaign to bring the level of young female go players in China up to that of their Korean counterparts. The centrepiece of the campaign is to increase the woeful number of events in which they can compete.
The new event styles itself the Langchao Cup for the 1st Women's Mingren title. In fact China has already had a Women's Mingren event from 1989 to 1991, and the last holder, Ye Gui who was then 2-dan, is competing as 5-dan in the new incarnation. That perhaps tells us much about the present state of women's go in China.
But the Chinese were overjoyed to find one glimmer of hope for the future, a sterling performance by 16-year-old 2-dan Zheng Yan from the far northern province of Heilongjiang. She fought her way to the semi-finals, knocking out the redoubtable Hua Xueming 7-dan in Round 2, but fell at the final hurdle to Zhang Xuan 8-dan (Chang Hao's wife). Zhang will meet Yang Hui 8-dan in the final, Yang having overcome "holder" Ye Gui in their semi-final on 4 January. The final will be held on 5 January.
Sixteen players were invited for the final knockout.
RESULTS
Round 1 (1 January)
Zhang Xuan 1-0 Li Ying 2d
Yang Hui 8d 1-0 Qiu Danyun 1d
Li Chunhua 4d 1-0 Yu Meiling 4d
Ye Gui 5d 1-0 Cui Ning 1d
Zheng Yan 2d 1-0 Liang Yadi 3d
Xu Ying 3d 1-0 Wang Rui 2d
Huang Jia 1d 1-0 Chen Huifang 5d
Hua Xueming 7d 1-0 Cao Cheng 1d (age 13)
Round 2 (2 January)
Zheng Yan 2d 1-0 Hua Xueming 7d
Yang Hui 8d 1-0 Huang Jia 1d
Zhang Xuan 8d 1-0 Xu Ying 3d
Ye Gui 5d 1-0 Li Chunhua 4d
Semi-Finals (4 January)
Zhang Xuan 8d 1-0 Zheng Yan 2d
Yang Hui 8d 1-0 Ye Gui 5d
HOW THE WOMEN'S MINGREN WORKS
The event is being held in Jinan, capital of Shandong Province - what in the west would now be known as Confucius Country. Jinan is the home base of the LangChao Group, one of China's leading electronics and IT concerns and one of its biggest hopes for competing with the West once China enters the World Trade Oraganisation. It is being encouraged by the government to take a higher profile, and the current tournament sponsorship may be part of that.
Other sponsors include the Shandong News and the Chinese Go Association. We have not yet seen any details of prize money. Time limits seem to be 3 hours each and komi is the standard 2.75 of Chinese rules.
The previous Women's Mingren (Mingren is the Chinese version of Meijin) was a 7-round knockout, and one interesting feature was that in Term 1 (1989) Japanese player Miyazaki Shimako was allowed to take part. She finished 7th out of 26.
