Yu Ch'ang-hyeok 9-dan kept the Korean sponsors happy by keeping the 5th Samsung Cup at home, following Yi Ch'ang-ho's victories in the previous three years. He also capped a gradual return to form over the latter part of 2000 when he won Game 4 on 14 December in his battle against Yamada Kimio 8-dan of Japan, taking the title by 3-1. Although Yamada was rather outplayed in the final game (the source of his problems was felt to be ending up in gote after living on the right side), he can take some satisfaction from this match - it was his first international title match, he won his first international title game, and he did it in the pressure-cooker Game 3. He will be back.

5th Samsung Cup winner Yu Ch'ang-hyeok

Korea tightened its grip on the 5th Samsung Cup, taking six out of the remaining eight places in Round 2 in Seoul on 1 September 2000. But few would have predicted that one of their failures was world number one Yi Ch'ang-ho. He recently remarked that Chinese players are too afraid of Koreans (meaning himself in particular), but this backfired on him as Zhou Heyang 8-dan exorcised the demon.

Nevertheless, Chinese fans will be glum that their number one Chang Hao has yet again failed to make his mark on the international stage. He lost to perennial Korean favourite Seo Pong-su - Seo has a special place in the hearts of Korean fans as he was the only top Korean till recent times who had not "sold out" by studying in Japan.

The progress of steam train Yi Se-tol 3-dan was interrupted by Rui Naiwei, but safest prediction of the year: it won't be for long.

Zhou Heyang is China's last representative. Japan still has Yamada Kimio to wave their flag.

Results of Round 2:

• Cho Hun-hyeon 9d 1-0 Ko Mosei 8d
• Kang Chi-seong 4d 1-0 Ch'oe Myeong-hun 7d
• Rui Naiwei 9d 1-0 Yi Se-tol 3d
• Seo Pong-su 9d 1-0 Chang Hao 9d
• Yamada Kimio 8d 1-0 Pak Seung-ch'eol 1d
• Yang Chae-ho 9d 1-0 Yokota Shigeaki 9d
• Yu Ch'ang-hyeok 9d 1-0 Kim Chu-ho 1d
• Zhou Heyang 8d 1-0 Yi Ch'ang-ho 9d

The draw for the quarter-finals on 4 October is:

• Rui Naiwei - Yamada Kimio
• Yang Chae-ho - Zhou Heyang
• Cho Hun-hyeon - Seo Pong-su
• Yu Ch'ang-hyeok - Kang Chi-seung

*****

The first round of the 5th Samsung Cup took place in Seoul on 30 August 2000. It was close to a wipe-out for Japan and China. Cho Chikun (Japan) had yet another international nightmare, losing to, of all people, his cousin Ch'oe Myeong-hun. Cho Sonjin (Japan) lost to a brand-new Korean 1-dan, Pak Seung-ch'eol, an experience he had to share with Wang Yuhui of China, who lost to Kim Chu-ho.

It was rather less of a surprise to learn that a Korean 3-dan knocked out a top Chinese 9-dan (Yu Bin) when you learn that it was the currently well nigh invincible Yi Se-tol. But still...

Japanese pride was salvaged by Yamada Kimio and Taiwanese-born Ko Mosei, the latter a virtual unkown at tournament level but he was one of those who paid his own way to the qualifying tournament and won through.

Sixteen players (11 of them Korean, counting Rui Naiwei) proceed to Round 2 scheduled for 1 September, then there will be a break before the quarter-finals on 4 and 5 October.

The semi-finals will be on 26 October and the best-of-five final starts on 23 November. Dates for the other games, as needed, in the final are: Game 2 - 11 December, Game 3 - 12 December, Game 4 - 14 December, Game 5 - 15 December. The winner's eventual prize will be 200 million won, with 60 million for the runner-up.

Here are the full results of Round 1, the 16 players coming in from the qualifying tournament being marked [Q]:

• Chang Hao 9d (China) 1-0 Yi Yong-su 1d (Korea) [Q]
• Ch'oe Myeong-hun 7d (Korea) 1-0 Cho Chikun 9d (Japan)
• Cho Hun-hyeon 9d (Korea) 1-0 Kobayashi Satoru 9d (Japan)
• Kang Chi-seong 4d (Korea) [Q] 1-0 Qiu Jun 5d (China) [Q]
• Kim Chu-ho 1d (Korea) [Q] - Wang Yuhui 7d (China) [Q]
• Ko Mosei 8d (Japan) [Q] 1-0 Yi Hyeon-uk 4d (Korea) [Q]
• Pak Seung-ch'eol 1d (Korea) [Q] 1-0 Cho Sonjin 9d (Japan)
• Rui Naiwei 9d (Korea) 1-0 Yu Ping 6d (China) [Q]
• Seo Pong-su 9d (Korea) 1-0 Wang Runan 8d (China)
• Yamada Kimio 8d (Japan) 1-0 Weon Seong-chin 3d (Korea) [Q]
• Yang Chae-ho 9d (Korea) [Q] 1-0 Luo Xihe 8d (China) [Q]
• Yi Ch'ang-ho 9d (Korea) 1-0 Nakano Hironari 9d (Japan) [Q]
• Yi Se-tol 3d (Korea) [Q] 1-0 Yu Bin 9d (China)
• Yokota Shigeaki 9d (Japan) [Q] 1-0 Yang Keon 5d (Korea) [Q]
• Yu Ch'ang-hyeok 9d (Korea) 1-0 Ryu Shikun 7d (Japan)
• Zhou Heyang 8d (China) 1-0 Hikosaka Naoto 9d (Japan)

The draw for Round 2 is:

• Yi Ch'ang-ho - Zhou Heyang
• Cho Hun-hyeon - Ko Mosei
• Seo Pong-su - Chang Hao
• Yu Ch'ang-hyeok - Kim Chu-ho
• Rui Naiwei -Yi Se-tol
• Ch'oe Myeong-hun - Kang Chi-seong
• Yang Chae-ho - Yokoto Shigeaki
• Pak Seung-ch'eol - Yamada Kimio

*****

The recent qualifying round of the 5th Samsung Cup, apart from being the biggest international event so far, may turn out to be the most influential, changing the face of go as we know it - no, not a new komi!

The most distinctive feature of this event is that the pros attempting to qualify have to pay their own way. It is not a desperately onerous task, as just a couple of victories are enough to more than pay the bills. And it is in Korea, not Japan.

But what this has led to is an unprecedented fragmentation of the players. Traditionally, all the players stay in the same hotel, in similar rooms, and eat together. What is now happening is that players are shopping around for bargains, and staying in various places and at various standards of accommodation. And now, if you see a sad and lonely figure under the curtain of a street-corner noodle cart, it could be a professional go player.

In Seoul, the Chinese chose a single hotel next to the Korean Go Association, but some apparently took rooms at 65,000 won and others opted for 95,000 won.

If this trend continues, pros will have to start making decisions about travel arrangements, and this may in turn impact on tournaments. Despite the almost universal knockout system, players taking an early bath can normally stay on and travel back with the main party. If they are paying for themselves they may want to leave early. Given the hassle of changing air tickets that this would involve, players may either give a thumbs down to the Samsung system (though on this year's form that looks unlikely) or they may start pressing for round-robin or Swiss tournaments similar to the chess scene.

*****

The qualifying tournament for the 5th Samsung Cup was completed in Seoul on 1 August 2000, with 9 Koreans, 3 Japanese and 4 Chinese going through to join 15 seeds and one wild card in the main event - a 32-player knockout.

The wild card is yet to be allocated. The 31 known players comprise 15 from Korea (including guest Rui Naiwei from China), 9 from Japan and 7 from China, as follows:

Korea
Yi Ch'ang-ho (holder), Cho Hun-hyeon, Yu Ch'ang-hyeok, Seo Pong-su, Rui Naiwei, Ch'oe Myeong-hun, Kang Chi-seong, Yi Se-tol, Weon Seong-chin, Yang Chae-ho, Yang Keon, Yi Hyeon-uk, and 3 others.

Japan
Cho Sonjin (last year's runner-up), Yokota Shigeaki, Nakano Hironari, Yamada Kimio, Hikosaka Naoto, Kobayashi Satoru, Cho Chkiun, Ryu Shikun, Ko Mosei

China
Zhou Heyang, Chang Hao, Yu Bin, Luo Xihe, Yu Ping, Wang Yuhui, Qiu Jun.

• Round 1 of the main event is on 30 August, with Round 2 the day after, in Korea.
• Round 3 (the last 8) is played on 4 and 5 October, with the semi-finals on 26 October.
• The final, a best-of-five starts on 23 November, then resumes from 11 to 15 December.

*****

• The 4th Samsung Cup

The Samsung Cup, more precisely the Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Cup World Open, is co-sponsored with MBC, Ch'ong-ang Il-po Newspaper and Unitel in Korea.

Seeded players (each country's titleholders or prizewinners) are joined by winners of an international preliminary. This preliminary knockout is two rounds for some players, three for others.

The final knockout starts with 32 players. Top prize is 200 million won.

In the preliminary players have to pay their own expenses but prize money for each game is 700,000 won. The final, now a best-of-five, is held in Samsung's offices in Seoul over the winter months.

Thinking time is 3 hours each. Komi was 5.5 points in Terms 1 to 3 but was increased in 1999 to 6.5 points in line with the LG Cup.

SAMSUNG CUP FINALISTS (From Term 2 the final became a best-of-five)

Note: Korean names are in McCune-Reischauer transcription.