Life In 19x19

Strict and Tedious

Move 200, fingertip

Samcheok Sea cable car finished second in fixture one, as Kim Dongyeop 9p edged Eumseong Ginseng ahead after ensuring the life of his groups to win in a point-and-a-half's breadth.

Jimmy Cha 5p was left in regret in 204 moves, moving the momentum of the match back to equilibrium after fumbling with the positioning of move 200, his hand losing contact with the white stone during a last-minute transition from Q2 to R2, and four moves later looking up to see the referee walk towards the go board and, from action replay, eventually declare a foul forfeiting Jimmy Cha 5p the game.


For one to finish things off

Game three took longer than two or one to come to resolution in terms of time, with white winning by resignation after 240 moves, an end in Kim Soojang 9p's favour.

Fixture two saw Kim Dongmyeon 9p fail to make the most of a good early position and losing against Seo Bongsoo 9p Sangju, but a counter on second board occurred as Kim Chongsu 8p's aim for a top score of ten out of twelve possible wins continues together with Oh Kyuchul 9p's first win, bringing Yeongam their second.

In fixture three, games three and two finished ten minutes between each other—Kim Ilhwan 9p capturing Chang Suyeong 9p's stones in the centre, and Kim JongJoon 7p's strong start slipping from his fingers, suffering at the hands of Kang Hun 9p—for top player Cho Chikun 9p to decide the match against An Kwanwuk 9p, the latter making a crucial mistake in after promising play in some perplexing positions.

Falling Places

Three's a crowd
All points align as to third place Sangju sweeps, and continues the winlessness of Samcheok Sea cable car's streak. A clear win to kick things off— Paek Seongho 9p's 126-move success versus Cho Daehyeon 9p against a fourth-line strategy via a third-line counter. Following, Kim Kihun 7p and Kang Manwoo 9p, the finesse of the former finishing the fight of the latter.

Finally, Park Seungmun 7p's failure to capitalise on Seo Bongsoo 9p's opening mistakes in time sealed the deal to lead to four consecutive losses and victories for the former and the latter respectively. Samcheok Sea cable car zero Sangju, three.

A critical encounter
The top two teams took to battle the next day, a win for Eumseong Ginseng possibly putting them in first place.
With Cho Chikun 9p unavailable, it was time for Chang Myunghan 6p to make his first appearance for the defending champions in 2018, but not his first win.

It took 162 moves for Jimmy Cha 5p to give Eumseong Ginseng the golden chance. Kim Dongyeop 9p came short 12.5 points after his central stones fell under fire, for KH Energy to comeback into the match. This gave the first board game potenial to play heavily towards the order of the postseason placement.

At this time, therefore, all eyes where on the AI-influenced game between Kim Soojang 9p and Kang Hun 9p, the latter acquiring control early, never giving it back, and winning on points with black by two-and-a-half.

The third fixture resulted in three victories for one team—Jeong Daesang 9p's season came from hearty battle until black had five groups by the time white resigned, a big ko deciding the match for a three-win-one-loss seaon record so far.

Park Yeongchan 5p found his first win in the deciding game for CyberOrO's second victory, Seo Nungwuk 9p following suit by leaving Kim Dongmyeon 9p dumbstruck in a comeback to clean sweep the match. Yeongam missed out on a chance for a possible second near the main league halfway point, settling for sixth, CyberOrO falling fourth.

Bucheon Fantasia got the better of the start, Kim Ilhwan 9p quick off the mark to take control of the early right-of-board fighting. White continued to dominate, AI estimating 83-17 for white by move 210. Park Seungmun 7p's serene style was perhaps not apt for a dramatic comeback as, 64 moves later, black resigned. Follwing, An Kwanwuk 9p showed his determination to win, swallowing a white group on the left side to take early control in similar fashion to his team-mate. Cho Daehyeon 9p recovered one point for Samcheok Sea cable car after 304 moves.

Fixture two—if CyberOrO cannot overcome KH Energy, Bucheon Fantasia might take third place.

Seo Nungwuk 9p and Cho Chikun 9p attracted much attention for their match. A fatal slip from Seo Nungwuk 9p saw Cho Chikun 9p take control of the game to finish with a fourth straight victory. Kang Hun 9p collected his fifth consecutive win, the only player to do so so far apart from Seo Bongsoo 9p, Cho Chikun 9p eyeing him in the match with Sangju against whom to achieve the same feat.

In fixture three, Jimmy Cha 5p found his fourth victory of the season, for Seo Bongsoo 9p to follow 70 seconds later with a win by overcoming Kim Dongyeop 9p. Paek Seongho 9p's match deciding victory over Kim Soojang 9p let Sangju slide up to second, two match points and one board point behind the leaders KH Energy.

Showdown

While a potential showdown between the two top players of each team didn't arise, it was nevertheless a major moment in the league as Sangju see second place by ending the sweep of the defending champions. Kim Kihun 7p and Seo Bongsoo 9p stepped up to clasp the match against opponents Kang Hun 9p and Chang Suyeong 9p respectively, but Paek Seongho 9p stole the show by turning around the game against Cho Chikun 9p. In fixture two, Kim Chongsu 8p swept white on the lower left side to take the win from Kim JongJoon 7p, followed by a phenomenal struggle for life on the right ending successfully for Kim Ilhwan 9p. The second-board deciding game gave Yeongam a good chance to advance to the postseason when Kim Dongmyeon 9p beat An Kwanwuk 9p by resignation.

For the third fixture, Chang Doojin 8p eeked out a half-point win for his first of the season, but it wasn't to be a match winner. Cho Daehyeon 9p suffered an 11 point loss to Seo Nungwuk 9p after a bad attempt at erasing the white territory—black's group got captured quickly, leaving Samcheok Sea cable car yet to taste victory.

Despite the shutout from Sanju in the seventh round and being two board points less than their nearest rivals, KH Energy lead by one match point to top the table, primarily the result of a consistent performance from Kang Hun 9p and Cho Chikun 9p excepting round seven, and Chang Suyeong 9p stepping up to take his second win at the most critical point in the season. The two teams to defeat Sanju, however, both lie below the qualification line shy of third place by two BP, the field wide open among slots four to six.

Park Seungmun 7p and Kang Manwoo 9p still search for their first victory, leaving Samcheok Sea struggling to acquire a win and, most likely, entry into the postseason.

Deciding Matches

Kang Hun 9p kept a solid record in the season's first half, but started the second shy of success against Chang Doojin 8p, Samcheok Sea cable car's replacement for Heo Janghoi 9p already earning his second win. With a player on two wins out of four games battling Samcheok's best, Samcheok seemed on course to pull of the spectacular, but Chang Suyeong 9p managed a surprise win over Cho Daehyeon 9p. Park Seungmun 7p spent much time on his opening moves, but was still to lose to Cho Chikun 9p by six-and-a-half points.

The main competitors for fourth place played each other early in the second half. Kim Ilhwan 9p couldn't keep his lead, losing a critical game against Seo Nungwuk 9p in a critical match against CyberOrO. Jeong Daesang 9 sealed the fate of the match by 13.5 points over Lee Kisup 8p, An Kwanwuk 9p's win a consolation in keeping Bucheon Fantasia's title hopes alive.

Fixture three saw Kim Soojang 9p suffer a painful defeat against Kim Chongsu, 8p, when set up nearly perfectly to win the match. A blunder saw his position crumble to the ground, white giving black's upper-middle group life to lose by resignation. It seemed Yeongam had the upper hand until the victory from Jimmy Cha 5p against Kim Dongmyeon 9p in 159 moves when he captured the white dragon, cutting the string even. Kim Dongyeop 9p overcame Oh Kyuchul 9p in the fixtures final game to change Eumseong Ginseng's fate and leave them a clear third on the leaderboard.

An Unforgiving Battleground
Held on the sixth, the first match saw Yeongam obtain a perfect score, Samcheok Sea cable car still without wins despite the strange strange step of leaving out their captain, Park Seungmun 7p. Oh Kyuchul 9p's victory began proceedings, giving Yeongam the lead from the first board. Kim Chongsu 9p defeated Cho Daehyeon 9p after a difficult struggle to win the match point for Yeongam, and Kim Dongmyeon 9p came back from behind when he capitalised on his opponent's mistake, keeping Kang Manwoo 9p without any wins and giving Yeongam a perfect score.

Fixture two's feeling was that of a match of elevated tension, two teams with two board points seperating them attempting to keep their postseason hopes alive. Within three minutes of each other, Kim Dongyeop 9p could not overcome the third board player Kim Ilhwan 9p, three minutes later saw Kim Soojang 9p repeat his feat against Kim JongJoon 7p. It was in similar manner to before: by a large gap in score, this time more than 34.

At one-one, there was one board left to determine the victory: the 'professional' Jimmy Cha 5p against An Kwanwuk, 9p. Despite having to overcome a late-game crises, An Kwanwuk 9p kept his composure to win by a point-and-a-half.

Seo Bongsoo 9p got his seventh straight win in the third fixture of the round, this time against Na Jonghoon 8p. Paek Seongho 9p powered through Jeong Daesang 9p even after losing ten black stones in the lower left; he took advantage of his thickness to strengthen his position. CyberOrO lost their chance to swipe second place from under Sangju's fingertips, but Seo Nungwuk 9p scored a consolation board point by 20.5 territory points against Kim Kihun 7p.

The standings show that even though both Sangju and KH Energy have played a game less than the other teams, they are second and first with five and six wins respectively, representing, perhaps, the power of both Cho Chikun 9p and Seo Bongsoo 9p. With 15 board points to KH Energy's 13, Sangju creep behind the leaders backs with an uncomfortable air; the match between them in the second have of the season could yet again prove decisive.

More important, though, might be the battles for postseason placement between the middle tier teams, the four wins, straight, required to garuantee such status being a big ask for any of them at the moment. A tied situation seems most likely.

Strategy and Tragedy

CyberOrO took heir chance to step up to task in an imotant round in fixture one, defeating Eumseong Ginseng. The first win arused from Seo Nungwuk 9p's board: not faring well in the early game, he forced Kim Soojang 9p's resignation by chasing a white dragon across the upper left to the lower right and into black's jaws. CyberOrO finished their victory with Park Yeongchan 5p's 13.5 point difference over Kim Dongyeop 9p.

Jimmy Cha 5p claimed a sixth win of the season to stop a possible shutout, his victory increasing the high number of Eumseong Ginseng's board points to 14, a cushion against their loss in that any wins would guarantee a good position.

or fixtur two, Kim Chongsu 9p was Yeongam's most likely bearer of victory against KH Energy owing to his equally performing opponent, but Kang Hun 9p found a critical strike to stop the Yeongam player in his tracks; after 290 moves, Yeongam suffered a three-and-a-half loss at what seemed to be their best chance for a board point, KH Energy coming into fixture two as clear favourites from the significant strength gap between the other boards. But when Kim Dongmyeon 9p captured the black stones of Chang Suyeong 9p to win by resignation and Oh Kyuchul 9p grasped the upper hand against Cho Chikun 9p, Yeongam looked on course to score the double upset of the season considering Oh Kyuchul 9p's opponent, a decisive victory that might have pushed the defending champions into second place until—black blundered a 20 point lead away leaving the board in tatters, the team without a win an Oh Kyuchul 9p in all tears but those physical.

Kim Kihun 7p equalised his record against Kim Ilhwan 9p to three victories a piece, setting Sanju up for another match point as the two boards remained seemed to be in Sangju favour. But when an upset opportunity occurred in fixture three, An Kwanwuk 9p was on hand to take it by defeating Seo Bongsoo 9p, the streak winner stumbling after seven victories after making some mistes in his round 10 game.

At one each and with fans in the Bucheon Fantasia review room giving their support, Lee Kisup 8p won against Paek Seongho 9p to preserve Bucheon's championship hopes while sending Sangju their loss number three of the season.

Countdown

In round 11, Bucheon Fantasia shocked the title favourites with a perfect score. 68 year-old Lee Kisup 8p, the oldest player in the league, obtained the winning result against Chang Myunghan 6p after which An Kwanwuk 9p got his fourth straight win by beating Chang Suyeong 9p.

The second fixture took place in the Gyeongju Indoor Gymnasium where Seo Bongsoo's exciting go slipped Sangju ahead to beat Yeongam two to one. This result left Sangju at six wins and three losses to league leaders KH Energy's seven and two, a threat for first the defending champions would have to step up to next round.

The third fixture saw Eumseong Ginseng shutout Samcheok Sea cable car— Kim Dongyeop 9p beat Park Seungmun 7p by one point-and-a-half. Then Cho Daehyeon 9p fell on the bitter side of the clock to give Kim Soojang 9p the game and Eumseong Ginseng the match, Samcheok still fighting to find their first win of the tournament.

Wins and Losses

The first fixture of round 12 saw the fourth and six placed teams vie for a place in the postseason with Cyberoro at 5 wins 4 losses and Yeongam at 4 and 6. Both teams must do better than 50%.

Each team captain got a comfortable win to set the last game as the crucial point in a most crucial match— Jeong Daesang 9p took control of the game early on, but Hwang Weonjun 9p saved what remained of Yeongam's hopes in a reversal win by resignation. There chance to qualify was still slim— Bucheon Fantasia would have had to lose against Samcheok Sea cable car, the latter having yet to win a match.

In fixture three, Cho Chikun 9p started KH of well with a tremendous win avenging Jimmy Cha 4p's victory against him in the 1990 Fujitsu Cup. In the end, however, KH Energy could only come close to keeping for sure their first place in the league. Kim Soojang 9p won by half-a-point against Kang Hun 9p before Kim Dongyeop 9p won by one-and-a-half over Chang Suyeong 9p.

Sangju would steal first place in their match with the struggling Samcheok Sea cable car. Seo Bongsoo 9p clocked up a seven game winning streak in his reversal win against Cho Daehyeon 9p, ensuring the most game wins place with two games to spare. Park Seungmun 7p, however, obtained his first win to gain a board point for Samcheok.

so Far so Near

Just when things were looking good for Sangju, Eumseong Ginseng performed a second upset in a row scoring three board points against the league leaders. Ginsengs sum of board points would ensure their entry into the postseason.

KH Energy's two losses in a row left them in a surprising position; they had to worry about entering the postseason, and in their way was a team who also needed this win: CyberOrO.

Cyberoro seemed to have the upper hand after Seo Nungwuk 9p beat Kang Hun 9p in just 136 moves. Their advantage would not last. Chang Suyeong 9p reversed his game against Park Yeongchan 5p and with a win form Cho Chikun 9p kept KH energy in the postseason.

Bucheon Fantasia defeated Samcheok Sea cable car to enter into the postseason and dash Yeongam and Cyberoro hopes. But, Park Seungmun 7p scored his second win— the last two matches may have been missed opportunities for Samcheok. After this match, An Kwanwuk 9p and Kim Ilhwan 9p shared their team's record of seven wins and four losses.

On the Line

CyberOrO's two losses in the last round eliminated them from the postseason contenders. In any case, they won their last match against Samcheok Sea cable car three-zero after some controversy in the game between Seo Nungwuk 9p and Park Seungmun 7p. Samcheok Sea cable car could not win once in the league.

Bucheon Fantasia went to the playoffs by defeating Yeongam 2-1, and after 126 games over 16 weeks, the main league came to an end in a dramatic finish between two teams and two players fighting for first. Seo Bongsoo 9p did not play Cho Chikun 9p directly, but there was every chance they would in the final and there wins would be key in the match KH Energy and Sangju.

Seo Bongsoo 9p's result proved especially so. Kang Hun 9p defeated him after 271 moves to put Paek Seongho 9p's win to waste, decide the match and win first place for KH Energy.

On the eighth of October, Eumseong Ginseng and Sangju faced off in the preliminary playoffs for the 2018 SKBL Championship.

Sangju took the unusual step of playing their strongest player on third board, and as two wins are needed there was a chance Seo Bongsoo 9p might not play.

Eumseong took the lead on both boards by the their middlegames. Kim Soojang 9p defeated Kim Kihun 7p with few problems, but when it seemed Eumseong Ginseng where on their way to the playoffs, Jimmy Cha 5p let his lead slip from his fingers in the endgame where Paek Seongho 9p put on a reversal, bringing Sangju back into the match by half a point.

Seo Bongsoo 9p beat Kim Dongyeop 9p by five-and-a-half points to send Sangju into the playoffs.

Two days later Sangju faced off against second-ranked team Bucheon Fantasia. The second board saw Kim Ilhwan 9p tip Bucheon ahead with a win over Kim Kihun 7p, but on first board Seo Bongsoo 9p showed his effective go against An Kwanwuk 9p in a comeback victory.

This would, like last round, leave a third deciding board point. Lee Kisup 8p took black for Bucheon Fantasia. Paek Seongho 9p opened up on two three-threes as white; black took a central position white undermined on the right and top. By move 242, Paek Seongho 9p had won by resignation to tke Sangju to the finals.

Sorry about the long wait.

I became a bit exhausted and didn't want to be completely haphazard.