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Headline of the year so far?
I've been a bit surprised that the newest go tournament in Korea hasn't been mentioned here. Only "a bit" because L19 itself appears to be in another of its self-isolation phases... You don't have to go to work - you should be posting here! Even if you work at home you save all that travel time.
But the new tournament seems very worthy of mention, to me, because it may signal an upturn for Korean go, which, organisationally, has been a bit in the doldrums.
It is the Sawpalcosanol Top Pros Tournament. It is sponsored by a company making an octacosanol from saw palmetto. It is a male nutrient supposedly good for preventing prostate problems. In all the CJK countries there has been a bit of trend for chemical and pharmaceutical companies to sponsor go events. First it was newspapers, then stocks and shares companies, then (especially in Korea) petrol companies. Now its drugs! But a trend is a trend, not a one-off, so that may be one good sign.
Second good sign, for me, is that the time limits are a much more sensible 2 hours each (+ 3x1m byoyomi).
Third good sign is that the new event is in a league format rather than the ubiquitous knockout. Leagues were once the primary format in Korea but were wiped out in favour of Mickey Mouse events. Now one is back. And on top of that, plans for future terms are already known, so it looks like this event may last, for a while at least.
In some ways it resembles the Japanese Kisei. There is a top division of 8 players (in the first term based on ranking), and in future players from lower leagues can percolate up (or down) via lesser divisions. The bottom three in the first division will be demoted. I haven't yet seen whether there will be a title match in future years, with this Division 1 serving to provide a challenger.
One thing about the multi-division leagues like the Kisei (and now this one) is that it takes a long time for a new pro, however good, to filter up. Whether that's a good thing or not is a matter of opinion, but it does provide a modicum of stability for established players. They can count on a decent income and a decent number of decent-quality games a span of a few years at least, instead of being knocked out in Round 1 of knockout after knockout in which they spend just half an hour on a game.
Not quite so good is the prize money. First prize will be 70 million won (about $60,000) and second prize 20 million. But not too bad by recent Korean go standards.
In the first term, the top eight are three quarters of the way through, and so far Sin Chin-seo is romping through his games at 4-0. Kim Chi-seok is second at 4-1, and they play on 7th April if you want to watch out for it.
The others in the top eight, with current scores as of (6 April) are: Pak Cheong-hwan (3-2), Sin Min-chun (2-2), Kang Tong-yun (2-3), Pyeon Sang-il (2-4), Pak Yeong-hun (1-3), and Yi Tong-hun (1-4). All are 9-dans. by the way.
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John Fairbairn
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