Ch'oe Kyu-pyeong has won the first title in Korea's newest event, the battle of the 9-dans for the Maxim Cup. Maxim will be better known to the west as Maxwell House of coffee fame.
This unique event began as a win-and-continue tournament for eighteen 9-dans, followed by a mini-league, followed by a three-game final - all televised.
On 16 March 2000, Ch'oe beat Yu Ch'ang-hyeok in the final, 2-1, but worthy of note was the 3-game winning streak by Rui Naiwei's husband Jiang ("Jujo") Zhujiu.
WINNING GAME
Here, in downloadable sgf format, is the deciding Game 3 which gave Ch'oe Kyu-pyeong victory over Yu Ch'ang-hyeok in the final of the 1st Maxim Cup.
RESULTS
Kim Su-chang 0
Kim Il-hwan 1 0
Ch'oe Kyu-pyeong 1 1 0
No Yeong-ha 0
Yun Ki-hyeon 1 0
Jiang Zhujiu 1 1 1
Yang Chae-ho 0
Cho Tae-hyeon 0
Seo Pong-su 0
Kang Hun 1 1 0
Paek Seong-ho 0
Rui Naiwei 1 0
Yu Ch'ang-hyeok 1 1 0
Seo Neung-uk 0
Cheong Su-hyeon 1 0
Im Seon-keun 1 0
Chang Su-yeong 1 0
Cho Hun-hyeon 1
The full league results are not available to us, but Ch'oe and Yu won through to play a final as follows:
Game 1 (6 March) Ch'oe 1-0 Yu (5.5 points)
Game 2 (6 March) Yu 1-0 Ch'oe (4.5 points)
Game 3 (16 March) Ch'oe 1-0 Yu (2.5 points)
HOW DOES THE MAXIM CUP TOURNAMENT WORK?
Sponsors of this event, televised on Baduk TV, are the Dong Suh Foods Co., specifically advertising coffees and teas under the Maxim (Maxwell House) banner. The full title is the Strongest 9-dans Win & Continue Tournament for the Maxim Cup.
First prize 10 million won out of total prize money of 66 million won.
The tournament starts with all active and available 9-dans (eighteen in Term 1) playing a win & continue tournament in which the first pair is drawn by lot, and the winner remains in place, taking on the next players in turn until he is beaten. The new winner then occupies the hot seat in the same way. However, a special rule was imposed limiting the maximum winning streak to three games.
The top four players (longest winning streaks) then go into an all-play-all mini-league, and the top two play off in a best-of-three final.
Komi is 6.5. Time limits are 30 minutes each plus 40 seconds for one critical move.
MAXIM CUP FINALISTS
Year
Term
Winner
Score
Loser
2000
1
Ch'oe Kyu-pyeong 9d
2-1
Yu Ch'ang-hyeok 9d
Note: All Korean names are in McCune-Reischauer transcription.
