pity! Facing the three major players in South Korea, he almost completed the "one through three"

　　Chinanews.com, Beijing, February 24th (Reporter Yue Chuan) The 24th Nongshim Cup World Go Team Competition finally ushered in the final battle.

After defeating South Korean chess players Park Ting-hwan and Byun Sang-il one after another, the Chinese team leader Gu Zihao narrowly lost the "No. 1 player in Korea" Shin Jin-jeong today. Unfortunately, he failed to create a miracle.

The South Korean team achieved three consecutive championships.

The data picture shows Gu Zihao. Source: Chinese Weiqi Association

　　The World Go Team Championship represents the highest level of team competition in the field of Go, and its importance is self-evident.

The Nongshim Cup adopts the "fighting" competition system. Five players from each of the three teams of China, Japan and South Korea play in turns. The winner stays in the ring and the loser is eliminated.

　　In the past 23 competitions, the Chinese team has won eight times.

South Korea leads the way with 14 titles, while Japan has just one.

The last time the Chinese team won the Nongshim Cup was in 2020. At that time, the Chinese leader Ke Jie defeated the Korean leader Park Tinghuan in the decisive battle, and the final decision was made.

　　The lineup of the Chinese team this year is: Fan Tingyu, Tuo Jiaxi, Lian Xiao, Ke Jie, Gu Zihao.

Today's world chess world is dominated by China and South Korea competing for hegemony, and this year's Nongshim Cup is no exception.

Fan Tingyu won the Winning Streak Award. Source: Chinese Weiqi Association

　　In the first two stages of competition, Chinese team forward Fan Tingyu won three consecutive victories, while South Korean chess player Jiang Dongyun achieved four consecutive victories.

The Japanese team, which had lost consecutive games, did not win the first victory until the end of the second stage.

　　The third phase of the competition started this week.

Yuta Iyama lost to South Korean chess player Park Ting-hwan, and the Japanese team took the lead again.

The Chinese team changed the order of play, and Ke Jie, who had been the main player in the previous few sessions, took the lead.

　　This is the first time that Ke Jie has not played in the Nongshim Cup as the leader of the Chinese team. The defender he faces is the famous Korean player Park Tinghuan.

The two are not only opponents who have been fighting for many years, but also teammates in the Siege League, and they are very familiar with each other.

The picture shows Ke Jie in the game. Source: Chinese Weiqi Association

　　Although there have been ups and downs in his record since last year, Ke Jie scored 7 wins and 1 loss in the just-concluded 2022 Siege Playoffs, showing a comeback.

　　The rhythm of this game is tight, and the gap between the boards is always small.

Both of them had a chance in the official stage, but Ke Jie, who was once in sight of victory, failed to catch Pu Tinghuan's mistake.

After fighting 298 hands, Ke Jie finally lost with a slight disadvantage of half a goal.

　　So far, the Chinese team only has the main player Gu Zihao, while the South Korean team has three generals left: Shin Jin-joo, Park Ting-hwan, and Byun Sang-il. The three players are also ranked among the top three in South Korea.

　　Koo Zihao, who fought his last battle, took on the heavy burden. He performed very well in the past two days of the game, defeating Park Ting-hwan and Byun Sang-il in the mid-set, forcing out the South Korean team leader Shin Jin-joo.

The data picture is taken by Shen Zhenzhen and Zeng Nai

　　In today's peak game, Gu Zihao, who was playing black first, took the initiative to seek changes, and he resorted to new tactics in the battle on the upper left of the chessboard.

Although this change caused some troubles for White, it did not break the balance of the situation.

　　After entering the middle game, white gradually took the lead on the field and also had an advantage in time.

Black, who was passive in the situation, made a final fight in the closing stage, but his moves were resolved one by one by white, and it was difficult to recover the defeat.

　　In the end, Shen Zhenzhen ended the Nongshim Cup competition for three consecutive times. While helping the South Korean team achieve three consecutive championships, he also achieved a ten-game winning streak in the Nongshim Cup.

Although Gu Zihao failed to achieve "one wear three", his performance in this competition is remarkable and the future can be expected.

　　Looking forward to the Chinese team's comeback next year, come on!

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