Round 1: An official announcement to start the match
is made from the captains table. Yoo ChangHyuk faces
the in-form Zhou Heyang, who recently became #2 in
China and closing on #1 Gu Li.
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Round 1: On table 3, Wang Lei 8p takes on a tough
opponent in Choi CheolHan, about to play White 12. Choi
is at least in the Korean top 3, whereas the Chinese fans
worry that Wang's recent results make him a weakness for
the home team.
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Round 1: His usual merry self, Lee SeDol came to cheer
his fellow countrymen and to analyze some games. The one
in progress on his board is Wang vs. Choi.
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Round 1: The violent attack initiated by Wang's Black 19
was handled skillfully by Choi; now the pressure has
changed sides.
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Round 1: Ma Xiaochun has a close look to a very interesting
game: White is Park YoungHoon, barely 20, holder of the last
Fujitsu and Zhonghan-CMC world titles; Black is Hu Yaoyu,
who at 23 has yet to shine as much. He's regarded as
promising, however, with a 2-2 record against Lee ChangHo.
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Round 1: Nie Weiping and the popular Xu Ying give a public
commentary of Yoo ChangHyuk vs. Zhou Heyang, explaining why
Yoo chose to play a "slow" White 30 on the northeast sansan:
A Black play there really is unbearable.
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Round 1: Choi games are often spectacular, he's a born
fighter with a ferocious temper. No world title yet, but his
record's main feature is an all-time 8-8 against Lee "The
Benchmark" ChangHo, including a 6-2 in the last 8 (another 2
wins over Lee in later February make it 8-2 for the last 10).
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Round 1: Hu Yaoyu coldly reaps the harvest of his unrelenting
center attack. 127 moves to see Park YoungHoon resign is a
feat very few players are able.
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Round 1: Wang Xi enjoys a convincing win over Song TaeKon on
table 4. The young Chinese players regularly prove their raw
strength is on par with that of their Korean counterparts, yet
consistently fail in the biggest events.
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Round 1: Kim SongYong 9p (right) plays Black 23, which hurts
Luo Xihe's group and settles his own stones in sente.
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Round 1: Kim is the less well-known player in this Korean team.
At 28, he's not one of the young guns any more, and has only
one national title to his name (2004 King of Kings). His
international performances may be a welcome indication of the
real depth of Korean go.
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Round 1: Luo Xihe has the same popularity problems than his
teammate Wang Lei, these days. Eager to see some measure of
revenge to the frequent humiliations received facing Korea,
some Chinese fans harshly dubbed their seats in the home team
as wasted.
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Round 1: Nie has a look at what direct invasion would have led
to, instead of Yoo ChangHyuk's choice of the peacefully reducing
moves 48 to 52. Zhou Heyang (standing on the right) appreciates.
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Round 1: Noted for his tidy organization, Liu Xiaoguang makes
sure he does not forget anything behind him before leaving the
playing rooms. "Hem... Mr Nie? Everybody's gone, now... Mr Nie?"
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Round 2: Following his patient win over Luo Xihe, Kim SongYong
faces Hu Yaoyu on the second day.
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Round 2: Song TaeKon (right) about to play Black 15. In a game
complicated by several furikawari and large ko, Zhou Heyang
manages to keep control and eventually has the better.
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Round 2: Rendered optimistic by the day before 3-2 success of
the home side before, the Chinese hosts are joyous.
The hilarity of Ma Xiaochun (left, standing) is shared by Liu
Xiaoguang (right, seated) and Xu Ying 5p (right, standing)
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Round 2: Signing autographs is the mark and duty of the
international stars. Lee SeDol kindly complies to the task;
incidentally, he's known as Li Shishe to the Chinese public.
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Round 2: The public comment of the game opposing Choi CheolHan
to Luo Xihe is led by Ma Xiaochun.
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Round 2: Ma's teaching skills are tried out as a violent center
fight soon erupts from the North-West large avalanche, a common
occurrence with this joseki.
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Round 2: The first two rounds proved difficult for Song TaeKon.
Nevertheless, it's hard to picture him as a weak spot in the
Korean team.
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Round 2: A contrasted clash between the confident Choi CheolHan
and the worried Luo Xihe. Everything seems to go Choi's way these
days, with two world title finals plus home successes; he's 2-0 up
in this team matches after this game, whereas poor Luo is 0-2 down.
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Round 2: Lee SeDol is interested in this young pro's opinion
about the future of the West side in the game Park YoungHoon
vs. Wang Xi.
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Round 2: Zhou Heyang makes a good job for his team, disposing of
Song TaeKon who doesn't seem too sharp right now. These first two
rounds end up with no loss for the former and no win for the
latter.
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Round 2: Hu Yaoyu, too, might well be gaining confidence in his
encounters to come, with these two wins against Kim SongYong and
the very strong Park YoungHoon.
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