Foreign Teams in 2018 China Weiqi League

[wolfking]

Every year in June China Weiqi B-League (BL), C-League (CL) and Women's B-League (WBL) meet in Go Congress style for about 10 days to decide which teams will be promoted/demoted to the next league. The official name for the event is "2018 National Weiqi Team Championship (2018年全国围棋团体锦标赛)". Starting from last year an all European team played in the C-League and I did some reports on their performance (and also the Japanese team and 3 Taiwan teams). I will try to do the same this year. You might want to check out last year's thread here to catch up on the background of the teams and scoring/promotion rules of these leagues if you have not read it.

This year's competition is held in Wuxi, Jiangsu province. There are 16, 29 and 14 teams in BL, CL and WBL respectively. Compare to last year's number of 16, 26 and 24 there are 3 more BL teams but 10 less WBL teams! At a first glance the fact there are 10 less teams in Women's league seems alarming. But that is mostly due to this year's rule changes.

Change #1: Back in January the CWA announced that starting in 2018 all China's Weiqi Leagues are open to female players. Right away China's top female player Yu Zhiying became a member of both Jiangsu's A-League teams. Other strong players like Rui Naiwei of Shanghai and Gao Xing of Hangzhou are also playing for their BL and CL teams in this meeting. That makes it harder to organize more women's teams.

Change #2: This Year the WBL has expanded from 2 players per team to 3 players per team. This is probably the main reason for the 10 team reduction in WBL. But the competition remain very strong since all 3 leagues invited Korean/Japanese players to join. On women's side Choi Jeong, Kim Cheayoung and Oh Jeonga are all in the field, while Japan's Nyu Eiko is playing for her mother's home team Harbin Six Harmony.

Edit: Nyu Eiko actually is playing for Team Harbin not Team Heilongjiang. Harbin is the capital city of Heilongjiang Province (Heilongjiang literally means Black Dragon River). Apparently Heilongjiang sent two teams to the WBL this year. Nyu Eiko's mother is from that province so I just assumed she is playing for Heilongjiang.

[wolfking]

This year Team Europe (official name: Team Tsinghua Zijing 清华紫荆队) almost had same players as last year. Only Ali Jabarin was replaced by Artem Kachanovskyi. Here is the line up

Board 1. Ilya Shikshin 2p (Russia)
Board 2. Pavol Lisy 2p (Slovakia)
Board 3. Artem Kachanovskyi 1p (Ukraine)
Board 4. Mateusz Surma 1p (Poland)

The first round started on June 11th. Because this year there are 29 teams in the CL, the European pros got a bye in the first round and gained 2 points without playing a game! They played team Hangzhou Go Institution Supor in the second round and unfortunately lost all 4 games, similar to the start of last year. Here are the results:

1. Ilya Shikshin 0:1 Cheng Jiaye 1p
2. Pavol Lisy 0:1 Li Zerui 1p
3. Artem Kachanovskyi 0:1 Ji Xiang 1p
4. Mateusz Surma 0:1 Zhao Yifei 2p (female)

Hangzhou Supor is a team of new pros. All 3 male players are new pros from last year. Zhao Yifei on the other hand turned pro in 2014 so is the big sister of the group. And if you remember last year's match up Surma actually played Ji Xiang in round 1 last year when Ji was still an amateur.

Team Europe on opening ceremony

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Yu Lijun(Left) vs Choi Jeong. Some team Europe members waking around in background

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[wolfking]

Team Japan (official name: Team China-Japan Friendship 中日友好队) has exactly same members as last year, with a slight change in board position (and quite some change in ratings):

Board 1. Shibano Toramaru 7p (was 3p last year!)
Board 2. Ida Atsushi 8p
Board 3. Yu Zhengqi 7p
Board 4. Hsu Chiayuan 7p (also was 3p last year)

Shibano was moved from board 4 to board 1 and deservedly so. On GoRatings.org only Ida lags behind at 181, the other 3 are very close to each other with Hsu Chiayuan highest at 52. Maybe they can make a stronger push for A-League this year.

First two rounds for Team Japan (Korean players are marked with blue color)

Round 1 Result: Team Japan vs Team Shenzhen 2:2

1. Shibano Toramaru 1:0 Gan Siyang 5p
2. Ida Atsushi 0:1 Han Han 5p
3. Yu Zhengqi 1:0 Yun Chanhee 7p
4. Hsu Chiayuan 0:1 Zhang Ce 4p


Round 2 Result: Team Japan vs Team China Mobile Shanghai 2:2

1. Shibano Toramaru 0:1 Hong Seongji 9p
2. Ida Atsushi 1:0 Wang Yao 6p
3. Yu Zhengqi 0:1 Cao Xiaoyang 5p
4. Hsu Chiayuan 1:0 Zeng Zhihao 4p

Team Japan in round 1

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[wolfking]

Taiwan as usual sent 3 teams to the meeting. 2 CL teams and 1 WBL team. Here are the line ups:

Team Haifeng Go Institute
1. Lin Junyan 7p
2. Xu Haohong 5p
3. Jian Jingting 3p
4. Lai Junfu 3p

Team Haifeng Go Institute Women
1. Yu Lijun 2p
2. Yang Zixuan 2p
3. Bai Xinhui 1p

Team Taiwan Zhonghuan
1. Chen Shiyuan 9p
2. Xiao Zhenghao 9p
3. Lin Shixun 6p
4. Chen Qirui 5p

In the first two rounds Haifeng Men's Team won 4:0 against both Team Shanxi Go Association and Team Luoyang Software. Haifeng Women's team lost 0:3 to both Shanxi Tianyuan Go Institute (Led by Choi Jeong 9p and arguably strongest team in WBL) and Hangzhou Go School (also a very strong team led by Song Ronghui 5p).

Taiwan Zhonghuan tied with Shanghai Sports Club in round 1 and beat Tianjin University 3:1 in round 2.

[wolfking]

Some photos

Cell phone storage pockets: All cell phones from players are checked in and stored in these pockets upon entering the game hall. If cell phone were found on the player any time during the game he/she would immediately treated as if forfeited the game. Team leaders and coaches must turn in their cell phones too 15 minutes prior to the start of the game (to allow them take pictures). If coaches get caught using AI to aid the players the whole team will be considered forfeited the games.

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Can you guess how old this kid is?

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And this one? (She is playing for a CL team too!)

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[Uberdude]

Thanks for these updates wolfking, you've been missed!

[daal]

My guess is that the boy is 9 and the girl is 11.

[wolfking]

Thanks for these updates wolfking, you've been missed!

You are welcome! I have been busy but will try my best to do reporting on these events.

My guess is that the boy is 9 and the girl is 11.

You are spot on with the girl! That is Wu Yimin 6D. I think I posted some photos of her last year too during the new pro qualification tournament. She barely missed last spot by a fraction of points.

That young gentleman is Hu Zihao 6D and is also 11 years old. He was a 5D at the ripe age of 6 so actually has been a strong amateur for a while. It's good to see both of them playing in the CL. They will probably turn pro before long.

Edit:Both Hu and Wu won their game in round 3. Hu beat Huang Siyuan 5D. Wu beat last year's new pro Dong Kun 1p! Dong Kun has an Elo of 2228 so not exactly a pushover either!

[wolfking]

Round 3 was played on June 13th. Tomorrow will be a day of rest. The tournament will resume on June 15th.

Just like last year Team Europe got their first wins in their "second" round. They tied Team China Coal Industry Go Institute. Here are the results (female player marked pink):

1. Ilya Shikshin 1:0 Li Le 4p
2. Pavol Lisy 0:1 Xu Zexin 3p
3. Artem Kachanovskyi 0:1 Lu Jia 2p
4. Mateusz Surma 1:0 Li Cong 3p

Ilya's win against Li Le is especially impressive. Li is ranked 168 with Elo rating of 2288 in latest CWA ranking (Ke Jie at number 1 has an Elo rating of 2693). That is in the top half of active Chinese pros. As a comparison, his last round opponent Cheng Jiaye ranked 292 with an Elo of 2203. Mateusz's opponent Li Cong was not in the active pro listing but does have an Elo rating of 2194. This is a very good round for Team Europe!

In the BL Team Japan again tied with their opponent. This time it was Team Wuhan Sanmin led by Korean import Seol Hyunjun 3p. Results:

1. Shibano Toramaru 0:1 Seol Hyunjun 3p
2. Ida Atsushi 1:0 Niu Yutian 7p
3. Yu Zhengqi 0:1 Chen Hao 6p
4. Hsu Chiayuan 1:0 Hu Yuefeng 5p

Ida is doing much better than last year. Last year he did not win his first game until late into the tounament. This year he already has 2 wins after 3 rounds. But Team Japan needs to win some rounds to get into the promotion race. After 3 rounds they are tied with several other teams at number 6, having accumulated only 3 points. Team Henan Yatai is leading the way with 6 points.

For the 3 Taiwan teams, Haifeng men's team continued their run with another win, this time 3:1 over Hangzhou International. Haifeng women's team got their first win by sweeping Team Heilongjiang 3:0! Taiwan Zhonghuan also swept their opponent Hangzhou Sina 4:0.

[Schachus]

Mateusz's opponent Li Cong was not in the active pro listing but does have an Elo rating of 2194. This is a very good round for Team Europe!

Is this the same Li Cong 3p, that was visiting Berlin about 2 years ago for a couple month giving go lessons?

[wolfking]

Is this the same Li Cong 3p, that was visiting Berlin about 2 years ago for a couple month giving go lessons?

Yes it seems he was in Berlin back in May 2016.

[wolfking]

Round 4 was played on June 15th.

Team Europe lost to Team Peking University + Beijing Go Institution 1:3.

1. Ilya Shikshin 1:0 Cheng Honghao 3p
2. Pavol Lisy 0:1 Cao Youyin 3p
3. Artem Kachanovskyi 0:1 Tian Ruiqi 2p
4. Mateusz Surma 0:1 Zhang Chenglong 5D

Ilya got another nice win over a strong opponent. Cheng Honghao 3p is ranked 178 in latest CWA ranking with an Elo of 2268. Cheng is basically the median of active Chinese pros (May 2018 active pro list has 355 players). The sample size is small but I think Ilya has gotten stronger. Surma beat Zhang Chenglong 5D last year in round 2 but unfortunately could not repeat the feat this time around.

Team Japan had one more tie against Team Hebei XinAo, who also tied their previous 3 rounds.

1. Shibano Toramaru 1:0 Li Kang 7p
2. Ida Atsushi 0:1 Wang Lei 6p
3. Yu Zhengqi 0:1 Yang Yi 4p
4. Hsu Chiayuan 1:0 Xue Guanhua 2p

It looks more and more unlikely for Team Japan to promote to A-League. They would have a better chance with Ichiriki Ryo on the team.

For the Taiwan teams, Haifeng Men's team continued their strong run in the CL with another 3:1 win over Team Beijing YiBenQingYuan. They have not lost a single round and has a very good chance to be promoted to BL.

1. Lin Junyan 1:0 Ying Yitao 3p
2. Xu Haohong 1:0 Chen Xuan 2p
3. Jian Jingting 1:0 Wang ZiAng 2p
4. Lai Junfu 0:1 Zhang Jiayao 2p

Haifeng Women's Team also won 2:1 against Beijing Go Institute.

1. Yu Lijun 0:1 Zhang Peipei 2p
2. Yang Zixuan 1:0 Zhan Ying 1p
3. Bai Xinhui 1:0 Zhang Tiange 1p

Taiwan Zhonghuan swept Team Xinjiang AoSheng 4:0. They are right behind Team haifeng in second place with 7 points.

1. Chen Shiyuan 1:0 Song Jihoon 3p
2. Xiao Zhenghao 1:0 Guo Xinyi 5p
3. Lin Shixun 1:0 Zhang Jiahao 4p
4. Chen Qirui 1:0 Chen Lei 1p

Team Europe vs Peking University + Beijing Go Institute

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Team Japan (Left) vs Hebei XinAo

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Haifeng Go Institute (Right) vs YiBenQingYuan

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[wolfking]

Couple more photos from round 4.

Haifeng Go Institute Women's Team vs Beijing Go Institute. On the near side is Yu Lijun 2p (Right) vs Zhang Peipei 2p.

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Taiwan Zhonghuan (Left) vs Xinjiang. On the near side Zhonghuan's Chen Qirui 5p is playing Chen Lei 1p.

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[wolfking]

A photo that you do not usually see during a tournament because it did not happen in a game hall or a research room next door. This is Rui Naiwei sensei reviewing games with teammates back in their hotel room. Some of you probably recognize the men sitting on the right. That is Rui Sensei's husband Jiang Zhujiu 9p. The lady next to Rui sensei is Korea's Oh Jeonga 3p (Shanghai's Qingyi dojo has two teams in BL and one team in WBL. Rui sensei is playing for Qingyi in BL, Oh 3p is playing for Qingyi in WBL). And this photo was taken at 12:30am! Rui sensei started review at 7pm and at 12:30am they just started reviewing another game! And nobody's leaving!

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[Shenoute]

Thank you for these great updates, wolfking!