Yi Major beat Yi Minor in the battle of the brothers, alias the final of the 4th New Stars Best Ten. Sang-hun 3-dan won the decisive game on 1 November 2000 and so emerged 2-1 ahead.
Yi Minor is still burning rubber, however, as he speeds his way past more established stars. In the latest figures we have seen, his tally for the year so far to mid-October was 59 wins to 10 losses, or 85.5%.
Brothers Yi Sang-hun (left) and Se-Tol
Both Yis still have plenty of opportunities to compete for this title in the future.
*****
Older News From 28 October 2000: TIE
Big Brother Yi Sang-hun 3-dan lost out to Little Brother Yi Se-tol 3-dan in Game 2 of the 4th New Stars Best Ten on 24 October 2000, making the score 1-1 and so setting up the crunch decider on 1 November in Seoul.
In the 3rd and 4th place playoff, Kim Myeong-wan (having just been promoted also to 5-dan) beat Kim Kwang-sik, while Mok Chin-seok took 5th place by defeating Weon Seong-chin in their playoff.
*****
Older News From 6 October 2000: BROTHERLY LOVE PUT TO THE TEST
Yi Sang-hun 3-dan beat Yi Se-tol 3-dan on 6 October 2000 in Game 1 of 4th New Stars Best Ten. It was the first pro final in history between brothers - Yi Major is 25 and Yi Minor 17. Very few other people have been able to beat Se-tol this year, so he probably remains favourite in the best-of-three match. On the other hand Sang-hun won his first title earlier this year, the BC Card Cup, and if anybody knows his brother's weak points it should be him.
Game 2 is scheduled for 24 October.
The league results leading to the final were:
LEAGUE A
M
K
Y
H
P
Mok Chin-seok 5d
-
0
0
1
1
2-2
Kim Myeong-wan 4d
1
-
0
1
1
3-1
Yi Sang-hun 3d
1
1
-
1
1
4-0
Han Chong-chin 3d
0
0
0
-
1
1-3
Pak Chi-hun 3d
0
0
0
0
-
0-4
LEAGUE B
W
K
Y
K
Y
Weon Seong-chin 3d
-
1
0
0
1
2-2
Kim Yeong-sam 4d
0
-
0
0
1
1-3
Yi Se-tol 3d
1
1
-
1
1
4-0
Kim Kwang-sik 3d
1
1
0
-
0
2-2
Yu Kyeong-min 1d
0
0
0
1
-
1-3
The name Yu Kyeong-min may be one for the future. Despite a poor score in the league it should be noted that he qualified immediately after turning 1-dan. He was also Korea's representative in the 13th World Youth Championships, as 1-kyu.
HOW DOES THE NEW STARS BEST TEN WORK?
The SK Gas New Stars Pro Best Ten Tournament, to give its full title, is sponsored by SK Gas, a member of the SK (Sunkyong) group which describes itself as "the first and biggest energy and chemicals company in Korea" based on a complex in Ulsan. The same group also sponsors the Myeongin.
The main tournament begins with ten qualifiers playing in two separate all-play-all leagues, A and B, of five players each. Entrants are restricted to those of 5-dan and below, and aged 25 or under, at the time of entry. The winners of each league play off in a final (now best-of-three) to decide first and second places in the best ten. The respective runners-up play off for the third and fourth places, the third placers play off for fifth and sixth positions, and so on. League ties are decided according to results between the tied players.
Komi was 5.5 points up to and including Term 3. It is now 6.5. Time limits are 3 hours each. The total prize fund is 80 million won, the winner taking 10 million won and runner-up 7 million.
NEW STARS BEST TEN WINNERS AND CHALLENGERS
Year
Term
Winner
Score
Second
1997
1
An Cho-yeong 3d
1-0
Kim Yeong-sam 2d
1998
2
Yi Seong-chae 5d
1-0
Mok Chin-seok 4d
1999
3
Mok Chin-seok 4d
2-0
Weon Seong-chin 2d
2000
4
Yi Sang-hun 3d
2-1
Yi Se-tol 3d
Note: All Korean names are in McCune-Reischauer transcription.
