The 38th Tongli Cup China Go Tianyuan Tournament opens
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, January 29th. According to the Chinese Go Association, the 38th Tongli Cup China Go Tianyuan Tournament opened in Beijing on the 29th and the first day of the top 32 competition was held. Shi Yue, Gu Zihao, Ding Hao and other 8 players took the lead in advancing to the top 16.
This competition is divided into three stages: qualifying, main competition, and challenge. Among them, one person from each of the 16 groups in the qualifiers will qualify, and 16 people including the top players from the previous session and the champions and runners-up of the 2023 World Series will participate in the top 32 of this competition. After five rounds of single-elimination knockout matches, one challenger will be selected and compete with the reigning Tianyuan Mi Yuting in a best-of-three-game match. The winner will win the championship with a bonus of 400,000 yuan, and the runner-up will receive a bonus of 200,000 yuan.
On that day, 8 games of the top 32 of the competition were played. Shi Yue, Gu Zihao, Ding Hao, Xie Ke, Xu Jiayang, Xie Hao, Liu Yuhang, and Fan Yin each defeated their opponents and took the lead in advancing to the top 16. There will be another 8 games in the top 32 on the 30th.
At the opening ceremony that day, Yan Xiaoxian, deputy editor-in-chief of Xinmin Evening News, said in his speech that since the Tianyuan Tournament was founded by Xinmin Evening News and the Chinese Go Association in 1987, it has been held every year without interruption. Entering the new century, Tongli, an ancient town in the south of the Yangtze River, has also joined the ranks of hosting events. The three organizers will jointly discuss cooperation plans in the next few years and make more plans for the innovation and expansion of the event.
Zha Xudong, deputy director of the Management Committee of Wujiang Economic and Technological Development Zone in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, said that Tongli joined the ranks of hosting the Tianyuan Competition in 2000 and it is now its 24th year. Go is a thousand-year-old culture passed down from generation to generation, and the ancient town is a thousand-year-old ancient town. It will provide continuous and stable guarantee and backing for the success of the event as much as possible, and jointly inherit and carry forward the Go culture.
Chang Hao, chairman of the Chinese Go Association, said in his speech that as a chess player, the Tianyuan Tournament left an unforgettable memory for him. When he was in his early 20s, he defeated teacher Ma Xiaochun in the final. He expressed the hope that the three parties will not only continue cooperation in competitions, but also cooperate on how to carry forward Go culture and promote Go culture overseas. He also mentioned that the qualifiers were set up for the first time in this Tianyuan Tournament to give more young chess players a platform to showcase themselves. He hoped that the chess players would cherish the opportunity and play exciting games in the competition.