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2012 SportAccord World Mind Games Day 1: The Players Arrive; Press Conference; Opening Ceremony;

NOTE: Watch the AGA website for our Day 2 Update -- including Michael Redmond's analysis of the Park Jeongghwan (Korea)-Chen Yaoye (China) game -- which will be posted later this morning.

The Players Arrive: After months of build-up, go players from Argentina, Canada, China, Czechia, Chinese Taipei, Hungary, Japan, Korea, Russia, and the United Kingdom began arriving in Beijing around December 10 for the 2012 SportAccord World Mind Games (SAWMG). The first event on their schedule was an evening meeting on December 11 at which they drew for the all-important player numbers that would decide their pairings during the games...click here for Ranka's complete report. 

Press Conference: The popularization of mind games are part of Beijing’s plan to develop into a cultural center and an "intelligent city," Wu Jingmi, Executive President of the local organizing committee said at the December 12 press conference launching the 2012 SportAccord World Mind Games. Beijing’s all-out approach to the 2008 Olympic Games earned it a permanent Olympic legacy, added Hein Verbruggen, president of SportAccord. This year's Games have attracted extensive media coverage, reported David Neville, Director of SportAccord’s Multi-Sports Unit, with 24 platforms broadcasting to 64 countries, who noted that the event's preliminary online tournament attracted 380,000 amateur participants this year, five of whom won trips to Beijing...click here for Ranka'scomplete report. 

Opening Ceremony: "Mind sports are deeply rooted in Chinese culture" said SportAccord president Hein Verbruggen at the opening ceremony of the SportAccord World Mind Games on December 12 in Beijing, China. The flags of the People’s Republic of China and SportAccord were hoisted to flutter vigorously in an artificial breeze, anthems were played, and the attending athletes, officials, staff, and guests were treated to a succession of speeches...click here for Ranka'scomplete report. All photos by Ivan Vigano

LIVE from the SAWMG: Redmond, Bogdanov, Missingham & Lin
The first-day go segment of the SAWMG live web-streaming program featured Michael Redmond 9P's analysis of the Round 1 game between Russia’s Ilya Shiksin 7d and Japan's Daisuke Murakawa 7P, as well as visits from Russian Go Federation Vice-President Victor Bogdanov, Taipei player -- and official Go Ambassador to the SAWMG -- Joanne Jia Jia Missingham (l) and Canadian representative Tianyu (Bill) Lin. Missingham's tips for tournament prep included "watching television and taking a bath" to relax. American Go E-Journal Managing Editor -- and the IGF's Media Officer for the SAWMG -- Chris Garlock hosted the show, which is available on the Mind Games Channel on YouTube.

World Mind Games 2012 Game Commentary: Round 1 (China-Korea) December 12, 2012, Beijing, China W: Jiaxi TUO 3P (China) B: Chulhan CHOI 9P (Korea) Commentary by Michael Redmond Edited by Chris Garlock
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Tuo is a relatively young player, very high in the world rankings right now. Choi has been representing Korea for some time now; he's known for his fighting strength and usually plays an exciting game, as you'll see here. This was the most evenly-matched game of the first round, featuring top players from Korea and China.