On the same day that a Chinese lady reasserted her dominance as world champion in Korea, a Korean man was reasserting his world dominance in China. Chinese fans probably felt more despair than elation as Chang Hao 9-dan fell victim to Yi Ch'ang-ho 9-dan in Game 4 of the 4th Ing Cup on 16 February 2001 in Shanghai.
The gap between Yi and the top Chinese seems as big as ever. In this deciding game Yi was ahead by a comfortable 3 points despite having to give the large Ing komi of 8 points as Black.
Older News From 14 February 2001: BY GEORGE, CHANG DID IT AGAIN!
The Chinese report on Game 3 of the 4th Ing Cup on 14 February 2001 in Shanghai bore the phrase "slaying the dragon". It was natural to conclude that one of the most famous Dragon-year players in go, Chang Hao 9-dan, had just succumbed to the expected wipe out against his nemesis Yi Ch'ang-ho 9-dan.
In fact the dragon that was slain was a group that belonged to Yi Ch'ang-ho. By professional standards it was a simple looking life-and-death problem, so presumably Yi hallucinated. Maybe Chang's uncharacteristically cautious play in the centre threw him. In any event he lost and Chang won only his second game against Yi. Their personal score is now 13-2.
For Game 4, though, Yi has Black, with which he is close to invincible, so Chang will be hoping for more hallucinations. That game will be on 16 February, also in Shanghai. If Game 5 is needed it will be on 18 February.
Click here for Game 3. Note also the new line by Chang in the Sideways Chinese opening.
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Older News From 3 November 2000: CHANG HAO FIGHTS BACK BUT IN VAIN
Chang Hao 9-dan came agonisingly close to recording only his second ever win against Yi Ch'ang-ho 9-dan in Game 2 of the 4th Ing Cup Final on 3 November 2000 in Chengdu. He lost by just 1 point, and considering that Yi was Black - with which he is almost invincible - that is an achievement. But stark reality is that the score is now 2-0 in Yi's favour as the scene shifts to Shanghai in January.
Both Yi and Chang agree that the lopsided previous history of games between these two (11-1 in favour of Yi coming into the match) reflects a psychological hang-up by Chinese players in general when facing Koreans.
Older News From 1 November 2000: FORM BOOK RUNS TRUE
Yi Ch'ang-ho 9-dan went into Game 1 of the 4th Ing Cup Final with an 11-1 score against opponent Chang Hao 9-dan. He came out with a 12-1 score after a 306-move encounter that ended with the large victory margin of 7 points, aided of course by the large Ing komi of 8 points he received as White.
The encounter, on 1 November 2000, was part of a huge go fest in Chengdu in Sichuan, China, which styles itself "Go City" (qicheng). Given the long history of go in the area - Wang the Firewood Collector played his famous game with the old lady on a trip with the Emperor Xuan Zong over a millennium ago - and the major lead the city took in the 20th century in publishing go magazines and books, there is much merit in the claim. In recent years, however, much of the limelight has been stolen by Shanghai.
Nevertheless, Chengdu did have one card up its sleeve. One of its daughters is Kong Xiangming 8-dan, for a time the strongest woman player in the world, and she flew in from Japan with .... Mr and Mrs Go Seigen. Go was there as the official chief referee, but whenever he returns to China there is always a much deeper symbolism just below the surface (see Go Missions to China).
Kong, now 45, has announced her decision to return to live in China, now that her son (and Nie Weiping's) has established himself as a professional in Japan. She has come a long way since she worked in a department store in Chengdu.
Yi and Chang are playing for the biggest prize in go: 400,000 US dollars for the winner and 100,000 for the loser. Game 2 is on 3 November, also in Chengdu. But then Shanghai once again steals the limelight as the decisive games of the best-of-five series are played there from 5 to 9 January 2001.
Older News From 27 August 2000: CHANG SETS UP MOUTHWATERING FINAL
Chang Hao 9-dan of China has won through to a keenly anticipated final against Korea's Yi Ch'ang-ho 9-dan in the 4th Ing Cup. He defeated O Meien 9-dan in the last game of their best-of-three semi-final on 26 August 2000 in Kangneung, Korea.
Chang is currently No. 1 in China, and Yi likewise in Korea - if not the world. Unfortunately the date for this mouthwatering clash has yet to be fixed.
Older News From 25 August 2000: YI IS FIRST FINALIST
Korea's Yi Ch'ang-ho 9-dan became the first finalist of the 4th Ing Cup when he overpowered Yu Bin 9-dan of China in Game 2 of their best-of-three semi-final on 24 August 2000.
In the other semi-final, O Meien 9-dan (Taiwan/Japan) pulled back to level pegging by beating Chang Hao 9-dan, the current Chinese No. 1. The decider between them is on 26 August.
Despite the large komi, Black has won three out of the four semi-final games so far.
The opening of the O-Chang game will especially interest lovers of unusual fusekis.
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Older News From 22 August 2000: ING SEMIS CASH BONANZA
First blood in the semi-finals of the 4th Ing Cup was drawn by Yi Ch'ang-ho 9-dan of Korea, who defeated Yu Bin 9-dan of China, and Chang Hao 9-dan of China, whose victim was O Meien 9-dan (based in Japan but labelled as representing Taiwan).
These were but the first games, played at the Hyundai Hotel in Kangneung on 22 August 2000, of best-of-three matches. Games 2 and 3 are scheduled for 24 and 26 August at the same venue, which is a coastal town at the centre of the scenic belt along Korea's east coast at the far end of an expressway from Seoul.
Chang Hao will be relieved by his positive start. He is under intense pressure in China to fulfil his potential. Despite his acknowledged prowess he has yet to land an international title. But one way or another they will all do well - the match fee for the semi-finals, independent of prize money, is a whopping 25,000 dollars.
Older News From 14 May 2000: ING SEMIS HAVE SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
The semi-finals of the 4th Ing Cup are to be all 9-dan affairs between Yu Bin of China and Yi Ch'ang-ho of Korea on the one hand, and Chang Hao of China and O Meien of Taiwan/Japan on the other, so that all the major go countries have some interest left. The semis are best-of-three matches.
Among the highlights of the early rounds, the most astonishing has to be Awaji Shuzo 9-dan losing a group after filling in a dame at the end against Ma Xiaochun 9-dan in Round 2. Even the lack of familiarity with the Ing Goe rules doesn't seem to explain that lapse.
Japanese fans were disappointed to see Yoda Norimoto 9-dan lose against Yi Ch'ang-ho 9-dan in Round 3. Apart from the fact that Yoda is one of the outstanding performers at international level, he went into the game with an 8-2 record against Yi.
One element that is always watched keenly in the Ing events is the effect of the large komi (8 points). Up to and including the quarter-finals, White had won 10 games and Black had won 10. Moreover, of the six games that came down to counting, White and Black split them 3-3.
While we are on the question of statistics, it may be an interesting digression to look at the career stats of O Meien.
Otake Hideo 1-0 Yu Ch'ang-hyeok 9-dan (Korea)
Yi Ch'ang-ho 9-dan (Korea) 1-0 O Rissei
Chang Hao 1-0 Takemiya Masaki 9-dan (Japan)
Rin Kaiho 9-dan (Japan) 1-0 Ch'oe Myeong-hun
Yu Bin 1-0 Cho Chikun 9-dan (Japan)
Ma Xiaochun 9-dan (China) 1-0 Awaji Shuzo
O Meien 1-0 Cho Hun-hyeon 9-dan (Korea)
Yoda Norimoto 9-dan (Japan) 1-0 Shao Weigang
Round 3 Shanghai, 4 May 2000
O Meien 1-0 Ma Xiaochun
Yu Bin 1-0 Otake Hideo
Yi Ch'ang-ho 1-0 Yoda Norimoto
Chang Hao 1-0 Rin Kaiho
Here are the Round 3 Ing games in downloadable sgf format. The Ma-O Meien game is of some interest in that O plays the rare high version of the mini-Chinese fuseki. And, if it comes to that, we also saw a new variation of the Sideways Chinese in the Chang-Rin game in this round, and the Sideways Chinese was also played in the Yu-Otake and Yi-Yoda games!
Older News From 4th April 2000: JAPANESE ING ENTRANTS FINALISED
The Japanese contingent for the 4th quadrennial Ing Cup has been finalised and contains players from Taiwan (O Rissei 9-dan, O Meien 9-dan), Korea (Cho Chikun 9-dan), China (Rin Kaiho 9-dan) and Romania (Catalin Taranu 4-dan) - oh, and Japan (Takemiya Masaki 9-dan, Otake Hideo 9-dan, Awaji Shuzo 9-dan and Yoda Norimoto 9-dan). They have expressed themselves confident of unlocking the Korean stranglehold on this event so far.
The tournament starts with Round 1 on 30 April 2000 in Shanghai. Round 2 is on 2 May and Round 3 on 4 May.
HOW DOES THE ING CUP TOURNAMENT WORK?
The Ing Cup, named after its founder, Taiwanese businessman, Ing Chang-ki is unique in many respects. Huge prize-money, its own rules, a large komi and the fact that it is held only every four years are among them. It has also been a useful tool in Oriental diplomacy, but the details do not belong here.
The sponsor formally is the Ing Chang-ki Weichi Educational Foundation instituted in 1972 in Taiwan (weichi means go). It also sponsors other international events for children. The cup is also sponsored by the Japanese computer giant Ing, and by the Yomiuri Shinbun, the Nihon Ki-in, and the Kansai Ki-in, which means this is one international event the Japanese pros tend to take seriously. It is also the oldest fully international event. There are minor sponsors in other places, including Hong Kong.
It is an invitation tournament held nominally in the year of the Olympics, but the precise timing within the year has varied and some events have spanned two years. Players are invited from all the major go countries but in the past political disputes have restricted the mainland Chinese entries. The winner's purse in 1996 was $400,000; 2nd prize $100,000; 3rd prizes 2 x $25,000, 5th prizes 4 x $15,000, 9th prizes 8 x $5,000.
Komi is 8 points (or 7.5 points Japanese style) and the winner of the nigiri has choice of colour; in other tournaments he takes Black. But this is allied with the special set of with Ing's SST (or Taiwanese rules). Details can be found in the rules pages on Robert Jasiek's website (see Rules FAQ in rec.games.go for latest updates). This version of go is called Goe by its supporters to distinguish it. It appears not to have found much favour outside of this event.
The time allowance initially was 3 hours each. From term 2 it was 3.5 hours and a new rule was added that allowed time to be bought (35 min for 2 points extra komi, max. 3 purchases per player; no byoyomi). This flowed from Ing's dictum that time is money.
Initially 16 representatives (amateur if necessary) were invited from Japan (five from the Nihon Ki-in, three from the Kansai Ki-in), China (four from the China Weiqi Association), Korea (three from the Hanguk Kiweon), Taiwan, North America, South America and Europe. They played a straightforward knockout.
From Term 2, this was increased to 24 players (and players were deemed to represent countries not associations). Places were then allocated: to the top three in Term 1 plus 7 from Japan, 5 from China, 4 from Korea, 2 from Taiwan, 1 from North America, 1 from South America, and 1 from Europe. Eight top players selected on the basis of tournament results were seeded into Round 2, while the other sixteen competed in Round 1. Thereafter it was a straight knockout tournament.
The semi-finals are best of three games, and the final best of five. The various stages have usually been played in different countries.
Ing Chang-ki died in 1997 aged 83. He was born in Ningbo, China, but moved to Taiwan after the end of World War II. Inventor, entrepreneur and go philanthropist, he made his fortune in textiles, chemicals and food products. He was also deputy head of the Bank of Taiwan and Chairman of the International Securities and Credit Corporation.
