China News Service, Shanghai, February 23 (Reporter Miao Lu) The 25th Nongshim Cup World Go Team Championship (hereinafter referred to as the "Nongshim Cup") will stage the final showdown in Shanghai on the 23rd.

Gu Zihao, the head coach of the Chinese team, failed in the 9th dan attack. Shin Jin-soo, the main 9th dan player of the Korean team, single-handedly helped the South Korean team win the Nongshim Cup for the fourth consecutive time.

　　This is also the 16th time that the Korean team has won the Nongshim Cup championship. Shin Jin-seok ended the game with 6 consecutive victories, including defeating 5 Chinese chess players. His 16-game winning streak in the Nongshim Cup has become a new event record.

On February 23, the 25th Nongshim Cup World Go Team Championship was staged in Shanghai for the final showdown. The picture shows the Korean team leader Shin Jin-soo playing 9-dan.

Photo by China News Service reporter Miao Lu

　　The Nongshim Cup is regarded as the world's highest-level Go team competition. It adopts a "beating" competition system. Five chess players from each of the three teams of China, Japan and South Korea take turns to play. The winner defends and the loser is eliminated.

Under this rule, the individual role of top players is huge, which is one of the reasons why the Korean team has achieved four consecutive championships.

　　This competition kicked off in October last year. The Chinese team's pioneer Xie Erhao helped the Chinese team establish an advantage with seven consecutive victories in the ninth dan.

By the third stage of the Shanghai competition, the Chinese team still had four nine-dan chess players, Zhao Chenyu, Ding Hao, Gu Zihao, and Ke Jie, waiting to play, while the Korean team and the Japanese team only had one main player, Shin Jin-soo and Iyama Yuta, respectively.

　　Before the Shanghai competition, Chang Hao, chairman of the Chinese Go Association, said that although the Chinese team has a numerical advantage, there are many precedents of one person reversing the situation in the arena competition, so it cannot be taken lightly.

　　Shen Zhenzhen once again showed his super strength by "one man is in charge".

He first ended Xie Erhao's winning streak, and then defeated Jingshan Yuta, Zhao Chenyu, Ke Jie, and Ding Hao one after another, thus ushering in the showdown with Gu Zihao on the 23rd.

　　The match records between the two sides show that Gu Zihao does not have an advantage in winning rate, but in the final of the first "Quzhou Lanke Cup" World Go Open in 2023, Gu Zihao defeated Shen Zhenzhen in the middle game and won the championship 2:1.

This is also the second consecutive year that Gu Zihao and Shen Zhenzhen have met in the final battle of the Nongshim Cup as the captains of the two teams.

On February 23, the 25th Nongshim Cup World Go Team Championship was held in Shanghai for the final showdown. The picture shows the Chinese team leader Gu Zihao 9th Dan playing chess.

Photo by China News Service reporter Miao Lu

　　In this game, Shen Zhenzhen took the lead in black, and the two used a common layout.

After the prologue stage, although the real-time winning rate given by artificial intelligence is black's advantage, the actual difference in the board is not big.

Gu Zihao, who was good at the next half of the game, has been looking for opportunities to fight, but several long tests consumed him too much time.

　　After hundreds of moves, Gu Zihao's time disadvantage became more and more obvious.

Shen Zhenzhen, who had the upper hand on the board, began to seek stability, but with an instant winning rate of over 96%, he made consecutive doubtful moves, and the situation began to turn.

　　Gu Zihao, who entered the countdown early, overcame the huge pressure and responded well with his moves, and was very close to victory.

But in the end, he failed to see the robbery clearly, made mistakes in eliminating the robbery, and ultimately failed.

　　Chess players who have played against Shen Zhenzhen once pointed out that many of his moves have the charm of AI (artificial intelligence), especially the layout and chess feel. For this reason, he was given the title of "Shen Zhenzhen".

Although AI has become a training tool for many chess players, the experience of advanced "Shengong Intelligence" is: I don't blindly follow the moves prompted by AI, "I will repeatedly review the incomprehensible moves prompted by AI. Only in this way, Only then can it be digested as its own."

　　In the viewing room next to the arena, Yu Bin, the head coach of the Chinese Go team, and Nie Weiping, the Chinese "chess master", were also studying the game while playing chess.

After the game, Yu Bin said in an interview: "This game has a chance to be finalized. I have a long-term advantage during the robbery. If I make the right move, I will win this game. It is a pity."

　　Nie Weiping lamented Shen Zhenzhen's strength, "This shows that Shen Zhenzhen does practice a lot, and he can make better choices in the changes during the game."

(over)