CH'OE DENTS RUI'S DREAM
Ch'oe Myeong-hun 7-dan has dented the dream of Rui Naiwei 9-dan to be the first woman to hold simultaneous open titles. He won Game 4 of the 5th LG Refined Oils Cup (formerly the Techron Cup) and so took Korea's most lucrative domestic title by a match score of 3-1.
Here is Game 4 in downloadable sgf format.
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Older News From 8 November 2000:
CH'OE TAKES THE LEAD AGAIN
Ch'oe Myeong-hun 7-dan not too long ago was leading the pack of young players who were following close in the wake of Yi Ch'ang-ho and Yu Ch'ang-hyeok. He has been eclipsed somewhat since then, but has always enjoyed some good results against top players. He has confirmed that by winning Game 3 of the 5th LG Refined Oils Cup (formerly the Techron Cup) against Rui Naiwei 9-dan on 8 November 2000 in Seoul. Ch'oe now leads 2-1, with Game 4 scheduled for 2 December.
Here is Game 3 in sgf format.
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Older News From 28 October 2000:
RUI'S DREAM REMAINS INTACT
Rui Naiwei 9-dan recovered to win Game 2 of the 5th LG Refined Oils Cup (formerly the Techron Cup) against Ch'oe Myeong-hun 7-dan on 25 October 2000, and so kept alive her latest dream.
Having achieved one major goal and beaten the men once at their own game, in winning the Kuksu title, Rui has set herself the goal not just of another title, but of being a multi-title holder. She can achieve that if she wins the deciding game of this match on 8 November on Cheju Island.
Here are the first two games in sgf format. Note the "21st century go" feel to Rui's games - she did of course study this for a time with Go Seigen.
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Older News From 15 October 2000:
FORM UPSET IN KOREA'S RICHEST FINAL
Well against the form-book so far this year, Ch'oe Myeong-hun 7-dan took the first game of the 5th LG Refined Oils Cup (formerly the Techron Cup) against Rui Naiwei 9-dan on 13 October in Seoul.
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Older News From 9th September 2000:
RUI MAKES YET ANOTHER "MALE" FINAL
Having already stormed the bastions of the previously all-male territory of the Kuksu title, Chinese guest player Rui Naiwei 9-dan is threatening to do the same in the 5th LG Refined Oils Cup (formerly the Techron Cup). After defeating Yi Ch'ang-ho 9-dan in the semi-final on 8 September 2000 (click here for the game), she is just one match from winning Korea's richest domestic event.
Last year's winner, Seo Pong-su 9-dan, fell at the first hurdle.
Full results known so far:
Round 1
- Mok Chin-seok 5d 1-0 Seo Pong-su 9d
- Yi Se-tol 3d 1-0 Kim Man-su 4d
- Yu Ch'ang-hyeok 9d 1-0 Kim Seong-ryong 6d
- Ch'oe Myeong-hun 7d 1-0 Kim Chong-chun 4d
- Yi Ch'ang-ho 9d 1-0 Kim Il-hwan 9d
- Kim Seung-chun 7d 1-0 Cho Han-seung 4d
- Rui Naiwei 1-0 Yi Yong-su 1d
- Im Seon-keun 9d 1-0 Cho Tae-hyeon 9d
Quarter-finals
- Ch'oe Myeong-hun 1-0 Yu Ch'ang-yeok
- Yi Ch'ang-ho 1-0 Kim Seung-chun
- Rui Naiwei 1-0 Im Seon-keun
Semi-finals
- Rui Naiwei 1-0 Yi Ch'ang-ho
Note that from this year this event has adopted 6.5 komi. Note also that this is the domestic LG event. The international version is at the semi-finals stage, and these are due to take place in Paris on 14 November.
LG REFINED OILS/TECHRON CUP ARCHIVES
HOW DOES THE LG REFINED OILS/TECHRON CUP TOURNAMENT WORK?
The Techron Pro Go Cup, which appears to have been renamed the LG Petroleum Cup in 1999, is sponsored by LG-Caltex Oil Corporation and the Mae-il Kyeong-che Sin-mun (Daily Economic News).
It culminates in a best-of-five final. Full details of the revamp are awaited, but as there is already an international LG Cup, we will stick with the name Techron Cup for the time being.
The winner's prize is 35 million won, about one-sixth of the total prize fund. Second prize is 7 million won. This is slightly down on Term 1 when first and second prizes were 30 million and 8 million won.
The main tournament is a 16-man knockout culminating in a best-of-five final played in the Autumn. Komi is 5.5 points. Time limits 5 hours each.
Techron (NB not Tekron) is a gasoline brand name.
LG REFINED OILS/TECHRON CUP FINALISTS
| Year |
Term |
Winner |
Score |
Losers |
| 1996 |
1 |
Yu Ch'ang-hyeok 9d |
3-2 |
Cho Hun-hyeon 9d |
| 1997 |
2 |
Yi Ch'ang-ho 9d |
3-0 |
Ch'oe Myeong-hun 5d |
| 1998 |
3 |
Yi Ch'ang-ho 9d |
3-0 |
Ch'oe Myeong-hun 6d |
| 1999 |
4 |
Seo Pong-su 9d |
3-2 |
Yu Ch'ang-hyeok 9d |
| 2000 |
5 |
Ch'oe Myeong-hun 7d |
3-1 |
Rui Naiwei 9d |
Note: All Korean names are in McCune-Reischauer transcription.
