YinChuan XU Wins Sixth World Cup
It's over.
In the final round, held November 3, YinChuan XU drew with Daniel WONG of Hong Kong in 23 moves to capture his
first World Cup title.
WenQing YAN and KuiLin WU beat KahKheng LEE of W. Malaysia and DotSun YAN of US-West to place second and third.
Kazuharu SHOSHI of Japan took the non-Asian title.
Top team results: 1. China; 2. Taipei; 3. W. Malaysia; 4. Vietnam; 5. Hong Kong; 6. France ....
- Dave Woo, Chinese Chess Institute
Report from Shanghai:
The sixth World Cup is proving to be
one of the toughest yet. After the fourth round on October 30, Chinese master
Wen Qing YAN shared the lead with West Malaysia's Rong
Yao HE. Each had eight points from four straight
victories.
A point back were China's brilliant young grandmaster, Yin
Chuan XU; Taiwanese heavy-weight, Kui Lin WU and Vietnam's
A Sang TRINH.
The tournament will last nine rounds, and is using the Swiss system. It is being held in Shanghai by the World Xiangqi Federation. The venue is the Rinhe hotel, which overlooks the Huang Pu river. The view from the upper floors is spectacular.
Xu and Wu drew in Round Four, after a gigantic end-game battle that lasted most of the day. This has knocked both off stride. For Xu, the tournament favorite, the draw is
particularly unwelcome. It means that he will likely have to try to beat his countryman in a later round.
Round Five is underway at the time of this writing. Players are bringing up reports from the tournament hall. Yan has an almost certain win against He, and will likely lead the tournament out-right. Wu appears to be in trouble against Trinh, and is playing for a draw. Xu looks distinctly tired. His game against Taiwan's Chen Zhen Guo is still unclear.
| Chinese
Chess Institute News Flash:
YinChuan XU
beat WenQing YAN in the 6th round to regain the
lead.
After seven
rounds, XU is leading with 13 points (+6=1, the AXF/WXF
people would always
insist that a win = 2 points), followed by YAN and KuiLin
WU, 12 points each.
In the ladies'
section, HaiYing JIN of China already clinched the
trophy,
with four straight wins.
- Dave Woo, C.C.I. |
If Yan can maintain his lead, and win the tournament ahead of Xu, it will be
sweet revenge. All around the tournament hall, people are talking about the 1998 Chinese championship, when Xu stole the title from Yan with a last-round victory. This would have given Yan a grandmaster title.
Many Chinese superstars are here to observe, and to give exhibitions. These include
Rong Hua HU (a Shanghai native), Qin LU (who is playing the
world match), Da Hua LIU, Ming HU, Hua GAO, LI Shan Xia (Shanghai's greatest female player), and the great veteran,
Jia Liang WANG.
During Round Four, Lu declared that Yan's Round Two win over Vietnam's
Cao Khoa DAO was "definitely" the game of the tournament. He gave the chances for victory as "Xu, 40%, Yan 30%, and
Kui Lin Wu 30%".
Expert observers consider this to be the most competitive World Cup yet. This is largely due to the progress of the "non-Asian" division, made up of players from countries where xiangqi does not have a traditional base. The large German team is playing well, and has received particular praise from Qin
Lu and Ming Hu.
- Bill Brydon, with help from Felix Tan and Elton Yuen
|
Sixth World Cup