Shin Jinseo wins 26th LG Cup!

Shin Jinseo won the 26th LG Cup, after what can only be described as an eventful second game. And takes home 300 million won (roughly 220 thousand euros), Yang Dingxin takes home 100 million won (around 73 thousand euros).

The move that complicated the
game unnecessarily

Shin Jinseo was ahead from the opening till the middle game, after which one move (127) proved to be a mistake, which should have been played one space below it (see diagram). Which complicated the game tremendously. It even looked for a while that a third game was to be played. But Shin managed to get a get as ko in the upper left corner, which eventually resulted in a “trade”. Shin Jinseo got the upper left corner while Yang Dingxin was able to expand his corner in the lower left, by killing black’s surrounding stones. This result was however favorable for Black, and after the dust had settled Yang Dingxin resigned, clearly behind.

This second game and the first showed Shin Jinseo’s fast endgame skills in byo-yomi, where he outwitted his opponent, with what some call Shin Jinseo Magic. The LG cup might be considered especially cruel in this regard as the byo-yomi is 40 seconds instead of the more widely used 1 minute in international play.

Score and Winning percentage fluctuated heavily

Shin Jinseo said afterward: “I was very greedy but I’m happy that I won. The second game was comfortable from the beginning, and it felt good after Yang Dingxin made some mistakes, but didn’t have much time left so I forced the fight on the left [with move 127]. Yang Dingxin is the best in the world regarding the opening and middle game skill, and in the end, I got more and more nervous. And felt that it go either way, no matter what the AI might think of it. I am not satisfied with the quality of my game, but I am glad the results are there. It was hard after losing the Samsung Cup [to Park Junghwan], am happy that I got another chance with the LG Cup.”

Shin Jinseo now joins an illustrious group of predecessors who won the LG multiple times (Lee Changho: 4 times, Lee Sedol & Gu Li: 2 times). He also puts South Korea one past China in the number of wins in this tournament which now stands at 12, with China at 11, Japan at 2, and Taiwan at 1 (The two for Japan are won by O Rissei and Cho U, who are originally from Taiwan). On top of that, he is now tied 7-7 with Yang Dingxin in the games they won against each other.

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