BL 3rd round results:

All three teams we are tracking lost 1:3 to their opponents.

Team Japan lost to Henan Yuzidao 1:3
1. Hsu Chiayuan 8p vs Liu Zhaozhe 5p
2. Shibano Toramaru 7p vs Chen Yunong 4p
3. Motoki Katsuya 8p vs Ying Yitao 4p
4. Yu Zhengqi 8p vs Huang Chunqi 2p
Huang Chunqi is a 2018 new pro and one of a few that were already promoted to 2p.

Taiwan Huanxu Electronics lost to local team Quzhou Lanke Go Institute 1:3
1. Lin Junyan 8p vs Weon Seongjin 9p
2. Xu Haohong 6p vs Zhong Wenjing 6p
3. Jian Jingting 4p vs Zhang Wei 6p
4. Lai Junfu 4p vs Qin Yuexin 5p

Taiwan Zhonghuan lost to Shanghai Zhongyan Mobile Games Qingyi 1:3
1. Chen Shiyuan 9p vs Zhang Li 6p
2. Lin Lixiang 7p vs Lee Yeongkyu 9p
3. Lin Shixun 6p vs Zhu Yuanhao 5p
4. Chen Qirui 5p vs Cao Xiaoyang 5p

Edit: Taiwan Zhonghuan's opponent was Shanghai Zhongyan Mobile Games, not Shanghai Yanzhong Mobile Games.

WBL 3rd round result:

Taiwan Youshi got their first win against Hangzhou Xizi 2:1
1. Yang Zixuan 3p vs Li Ying 2p
2. Yu Lijun 2p vs Fengsheng Jingyue 5D
3. Bai Xinhui 1p vs Ding Kewen 5D

Harbin Six Harmony swept Beijing Youth Go Institute 3:0
1. Nyu Eiko 2p vs Wang Pan 1p
2. Ye Gui 5p vs Feng Junxiang 5D
3. Chen Manqi 5D vs Yang Luoyi 5D

June 17th is a day of rest. The tournament will resume tomorrow. Euro pros will play the last place team Dalian Yidao. Dalian has won one game so far. Euro pros will have a good chance to win a round for the first time.

Match up
1. Ilya Shikshin 3p vs Gu Wanshan 1p
2. Pavol Lisy 2p vs Wang Zixin 1p
3. Mateusz Surma 2p vs Wen Zhaoyi 1p
4. Artem Kachanovskyi 2p vs Pan Tianxing 5D

Europe won 4:0!

Yes, the European team won, but I have a feeling they played against a team of teenage girls. And somehow a bunch of grownup men celebrating a win over a team of 12-15 year-old girls seems troubling. Still, winning is better than losing...

I hope I'm wrong though and that there were at least a few adults on that team.

Next game is vs team 11, who just scored their first win as well.

And I believe team Japan got their second win.

According to goratings,

Gu Wanshan is 18,
Wang Zixin is 18,
Wen Zhaoyi is 19.

I don't know about Pan Tianxing.

Gu Wanshan 1p is 18 years old, was 3rd of 9 female pros in 2017 qualification, goratings #948.
Wang Zixin 1p is also 18, was 6th in the same 2017 qualification, you can actually see a pic of them playing in above link. goratings #814
Wen Zhaoyi 1p is 19 and was 9th in the same 2017 qualifier.

Oh, that's good. 18/19-yr olds are adults, so they're fair game. Also, based on these ratings, the Europeans were favorites to win. So they are starting to move up in the pro world.

I look forward to seeing Europeans get someone of Michael's Redmond caliber. So far, the highest level they reached was Catalin Taranu (5p). Will be interesting to see how far the young ones will get.

I don't see how unless someone actually _stays_ in Japan. I don't think any European has done that, yet.

Take care.

_________________
一碁一会

Professional "ranks" are not very useful for figuring out how strong someone is.

Looking at the European Go Database and the European rating system, Ilya Shikshin is already very close, or at, the historic peak rating of Catalin Taranu.

This of course isnt a perfect measurement for strength either, but at least miles better than just looking at professional ranks.


Looking at the incredible number of 5-7 dan amateurs in China, i find it incredible and extremely positive that the European pros manage to get wins against the professionals in the Chinese C-league.
Do not underestimate the overall level of Go in China at the "low pro" levels.

Huge congratulations for the European team!

Note that Catalin's peak rating in EGD was following a rating reset to 2820 which is the EGD rating that has been decided to correspond to his prior promotion to real-life 5p. When Ilya got his EGF 1p he didn't reset to 2700 because he was already above 2700 and has earned all his points up to ~2800 through winning games not external promotions. All of the other EGF pros got a rating boost to 2700 when they got 1p but most have managed to maintain/improve it since.

I'm not even sure I'd bet on Michael Redmond to beat Ilya.

Pan Tianxing 5D is 18 years old. Here is a picture of her taken in last year's Pro Qualification Tournament(photo from Sina Sports):

CL 4th round results:

Thanks to the posts above we already knew that Team Europe had a clean sweep of Dalian Yidao 4:0
1. Ilya Shikshin 3p vs Gu Wanshan 1p
2. Pavol Lisy 2p vs Wang Zixin 1p
3. Mateusz Surma 2p vs Wen Zhaoyi 1p
4. Artem Kachanovskyi 2p vs Pan Tianxing 5D

Sina Sports called this a "Historical Breakthrough for European Go" in the news title. Here is the link to the article: http://sports.sina.com.cn/go/2019-06-18 ... 9756.shtml. I hope this win will boost their confidence and will lead to more wins!
Team Europe will play Henan Luoyang Software in round 5.

Hangzhou Supor also won 3:1 against Nie Weiping Dojo
1. Yu Fulin 2p vs Lou Luoning 5p
2. Li Zerui 1p vs Zhang Qi 2p
3. Hu Zihao 1p vs Xue Hongzhe 1p
4. Wu Yiming 1p vs Yu Jiabu 5D
Wu Yiming 1p finally got her first win, albeit against a player even younger than she is. I do not know the exact age of Yu Jiabu 5D but I think he is around 10. He and Chendu Go Institute's 10 year old Huang Siyuan 5D, Team Henan Luoyang Software's 9 year old Duan Boyao 5D are among the youngest players in the CL this year.

Shanghai Qingyi lost 1:3 to Beijing Yiben Qingyuan.
1. Tang Yi 3p vs Gao Yu 3p
2. Pan Yang 3p vs Wang Yinlingshui 2p
3. Zhang Zihan 3p vs Yang Wenkai 1p
4. Chen Si 6D vs Xiao Qi 1p

Team Europe vs Dalian YidaoIn the front Ilya vs Gu Wanshan Artem's next opponent Duan Boyao 5D. Photo shows him accepting 2nd place award in 2019 Evening Paper Cup Children's group

Europe gained another draw!

( Pavol and Artem won this time )

Young player Boyao played maybe too confidently and invest only 10 or 15 minutes against Artem's one and half hour,

Team Europe is doing quite well this year. Europe has 4 points and there are 7 other teams with 4 points. But there are 6 teams with fewer points:
4 with 3 points (teams 1, 3, 13, 24)
1 with 2 points (team 27)
1 with 0 points (team 21). This is Dalian Yidao, the team Europe defeated in round 4.

Also, all Europeans have a reason to be happy: they all won (Ilya has 2 wins, Pavol 2, Mateusz 1, Artem 3).

Their next opponent is strong (team 10). Team 10 has only 4 points but they had strong opponents and they never played team 21 (which everybody has defeated so far).

Team Japan seems to do quite well, too. They seem to be placed 3-6 with 7 points. In league B, there are two teams with 8 points and 4 teams with 7 points, Japan being one of those with 7.

Is round 6 the last round in the C league?

You can see the results here: http://www.eweiqi.com/index.php?m=content&c=index&a=show&catid=133&id=31089. The chart is a bit confusing, but the teams are listed by team number, not by number of points. Japan team is #11 in the top grid and next play team 10.

Europe is team #17 in the 2nd grid (the one with very long player names) and play team #10 next.

BL 4th round results:

Team Japan beat Team China Mobile Shanghai 3:1
1. Hsu Chiayuan 8p vs Yun Junsang 9P
2. Shibano Toramaru 7p vs Wang Yao 6p
3. Motoki Katsuya 8p vs Huang Mingyu 2p
4. Yu Zhengqi 8p vs Cheng Jiaye 1p

Taiwan Huanxu Electronics lost to Team Shanghai Qingyi 0:4
1. Lin Junyan 8p vs Tong Yulin 4p
2. Xu Haohong 6p vs An Jungki 5p
3. Jian Jingting 4p vs Qiao Zhijian 5p
4. Lai Junfu 4p vs Guo Xinyi 5p

Tong Yulin 4p participated in 2015 US Go Congress in Minnesota and won the US Open. An Jungki 5p was the amateur 7D who defeated world champion Chen Yaoye 9p in the LG Cup in 2015.

Taiwan Zhonghuan also got swept by local team Quzhou Lanke Go Institute 0:4
1. Chen Shiyuan 9p vs Weon Seongjin 9p
2. Lin Lixiang 7p vs Zhong Wenjing 6p
3. Lin Shixun 6p vs Zhang Wei 6p
4. Chen Qirui 5p vs Qin Yuexin 5p

WBL 4th round results:

Taiwan Youshi lost to Beijing Go Institute 1:2
1. Yang Zixuan 3p vs Ma Yuanyuan 2p
2. Yu Lijun 2p vs Wei Xintong 5D
3. Bai Xinhui 1p vs Yangu Yunqi 5D

Harbin Six Harmony lost to Hainan Luoniushan 1:2
1. Nyu Eiko 2p vs Oh Yujin 6p
2. Ye Gui 5p vs Zheng Yan 2p
3. Chen Manqi 5D vs Qiu Danyun 2p

CL 5th round results:

Euro pros tied Henan Luoyang Software 2:2
1. Ilya Shikshin 3p vs Chen Yang 3p
2. Pavol Lisy 2p vs Li Jianyu 2P
3. Mateusz Surma 2p vs Xu Feiran 2p
4. Artem Kachanovskyi 2p vs Duan Boyao 5DI know young players tend to play fast but that is probably TOO fast!

Shanghai Qingyi lost to Team Guangdong 1:3
1. Tang Yi 3p vs Cheng Honghao 3p
2. Pan Yang 3p vs Zhu Jianshun 3p
3. Zhang Zihan 3p vs Li Huasong 4p
4. Chen Si 6D vs Chen Tuli 6D

Dalian Yidao lost 0:4 to Team Europe's 2nd round opponent Hebei Sports Lotto:
1. Gu Wanshan 1p vs Ding Mingjun 2p
2. Wang Zixin 1p vs Jia Ganglu 2p
3. Wen Zhaoyi 1p vs Qian Liuru 4p
4. Pan Tianxing 5D vs Wan Enze 5D

Hangzhou Supor swept by Beijing Phoenix Real Estate 0:4
1. Yu Fulin 2p vs Li He 5p
2. Li Zerui 1p vs Gao Tianliang 2p
3. Hu Zihao 1p vs Yu Haoran 1p
4. Wu Yiming 1p vs Pan Weijian 2p

After 5 rounds, Guangdong Tianjixing Culture leads with 9 points. Previous leader Hangzhou Go Association suffered their first lost game at the hand of the new leader Guangdong Tianjixing in this round (Hangzhou Go Association did not lose a single game in the first 4 rounds!) and lost the round 1:3. Team Europe's first round opponent Hangzhou Black White Go Institute also accumulated 8 points. 6 other teams tied at 7 points.

There are 6 teams with 3 points or less. 7 other teams tied with Team Europe at 4 points, including their next opponent Team Heilongjiang.

Europe's match up next round
1. Ilya Shikshin 3p vs Liu Yunlong 4p
2. Pavol Lisy 2p vs Gong Yanyu 3P
3. Mateusz Surma 2p vs Dong Kun 2p
4. Artem Kachanovskyi 2p vs Qu Ming 6D
Qu Ming is another new pro prospect and is a week away from his 15th birthday.

BL 5th round results:

Team Japan beat Team Shanghai Qingyi 4:0
1. Hsu Chiayuan 8p vs Tong Yulin 4P
2. Shibano Toramaru 7p vs An Jungki 5p
3. Motoki Katsuya 8p vs Qiao Zhijian 5p
4. Yu Zhengqi 8p vs Guo Xinyi 5p
This is a good win for Team Japan. Shanghai Qingyi just swept Taiwan Huangxu and is not a weak team.

Taiwan Huanxu Electronics tied Shanghai Foreign Language University 2:2
1. Lin Junyan 8p vs Wang Yanhao 5p
2. Xu Haohong 6p vs Wu Zhenyu 4p
3. Jian Jingting 4p vs Jin Shan 1p
4. Lai Junfu 4p vs Linghu Jiajun 1p

Taiwan Zhonghuan tied Nanjing Mudao Yigao 2:2
1. Chen Shiyuan 9p vs Kim Sonjin 5p
2. Lin Lixiang 7p vs Liu Yuhang 4p
3. Lin Shixun 6p vs Liu Yuncheng 1p
4. Chen Qirui 5p vs Chen Xuan 2p

After 5 rounds Team Yunnan and Henan Yuzidao both have 8 points. Team Japan, Quzhou Lanke Go Institute, Shanghai Zhongyan Mobile Games Qingyi, Guangdong East Lake Go Institute all have 7 points. Japan still have a chance for the two promotion spots with 3 rounds to go. Their next opponent is Shanghai Zhongyan Mobile Games Qingyi.