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Chen Yaoye Wins Chunlan Cup to Take First Major International Title

Six years after becoming the youngest 9-dan professional, Chen Yaoye 9P (right) finally broke through on the world stage when he defeated Lee Sedol 9P (at left in photo) 2-1 on June 20 to capture the Chunlun Cup and win his first major international title. This was Chen’s fourth attempt at an international title and it was smiles all round as he finally made his long overdue breakthrough. Lee seems to make a habit of being present at special milestones in Chen’s career and looked genuinely pleased for Chen. The last time these two met in an international final was in 2007 at the 19th Asia TV Cup, where Chen was promoted to become the youngest (at the time) 9-dan professional. In other news from the 9th Chunlan Cup, Jiang Weijie 9P defeated Kong Jie 9P in the playoff to take third place. The Chunlan Cup is an invitational go tournament for 24 top players from around the world. In addition to players from China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, a European and a North American representative are also invited. The top 8 seeded players proceed directly to round two, while the remaining 16 play a single elimination round, knocking out 8 players. After the first round, the remaining 16 players compete in a knockout tournament, culminating in a best of three final. The tournament is sponsored by Chunlan Group, a Chinese conglomerate with interests in the air conditioning, domestic appliance, automotive, finance and alternative energy industries. The Chunlan Cup uses Chinese rules, with a komi of 7.5 points, and offers a prize of $150,000 USD to the winner. - based on a more detailed report on GoGameGuru, which includes game records and more photos