South Korea’s “absolute number one” Shin Shin-seo (신진서) has finally reached the top of the Go world.
Shin Shin-seo defeated China’s strong 9th dan Shaker (23) in 226 moves in the second game of the third round of the 9th Ng Sibae World Go Championship at the Sunkou Villa in Changning District, Shanghai, China on Wednesday.
Shin Shin-seo, who won the first game two days earlier, improved his overall record to 2-0 and claimed the long-awaited title.
It was the sixth time South Korea has won the tournament, 14 years after Choi Cheol-han 9-dan won the sixth edition in 2009.
Korea, which had won four consecutive titles with Cho Hun-hyun, Seo Bong-soo, Yoo Chang-hyuk and Lee Chang-ho in the first through fourth rounds, continued its winning streak with Choi Chul-han in the sixth round and Shin Shin-seo in the ninth round.
With the white pieces in play, Shin took advantage of Shaker’s early moves to build up a large force on the left and right flanks.
As Shaker rushed for a mate, leaving the center unprotected, Shin went on the offensive.
He attacked the black hemp, picked up a house on the top flank, and destroyed the right flank black pieces.
Confident of his advantage, Shin played it too safe and allowed his opponent to catch up.
However, when the disadvantaged Shaker hurriedly switched to a left-handed endgame, Shin won the keystone central black point and attacked the black hemp, cutting off its tail and capturing it to reopen the gap.
The defeated Shaker twitched here and there, trying to shake up the board, but eventually threw a stone as Shin Shin-seo calmly took it without making the slightest mistake.
That’s when the AI odds graph predicted a 99 percent chance of Shin’s victory.
“At first, I thought I wasn’t nervous, but I think I didn’t sleep well,” Shin said after his victory, “I was under a lot of pressure, but I’ve gained a lot of experience, so I thought, ‘Let’s not repeat my mistakes,'” he said.
“I thought it was very good in the middle, but when I loosened it up, it became fine,” he said, “and when Shaker took his hand out in the middle, I was able to chase (his opponent’s) hemp, and that’s when I thought I won.”
After five hours and 10 minutes of grueling play, Shin took home $400,000 (about $530 million), the world’s largest prize for a Go tournament.
The runner-up, Shaker, took home $100,000 (about $130 million).
Shin, who until last month had won $710 million in prize money this year, has now earned $1.24 billion, surpassing the $1 billion mark for the fourth consecutive year.
He is also expected to surpass his previous record annual prize of 1.4495 billion won, which he set last year.
In addition, Shin Shin-seo won his 33rd title in 11 years since joining the organization in July 2012, placing him at No. 5 on the all-time title list.
This is his fifth major world title, after winning two with LG and one each with Samsung and Chunran.
Shin also took a 2-1 lead in the all-time series against Shaker.
Due to the pandemic of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the tournament was played online from September 2020 to January 2021, with the round of 28 to the quarterfinals.
After waiting more than two years and seven months after the quarterfinals, the final match was held face-to-face to determine the winner. 안전카지노사이트