News / Articles

Mark Lee goes for "three-peat" at Cotsen Open

To say that defending Cotsen Open champion Mark Lee dominated his opponents in the first three rounds Saturday would not do justice to Lee's play. "This is a slaughter," said one viewer on KGS as Lee (right) effortlessly erased Daniel Liu's (left) territory, leaving the 5-dan's groups struggling pointlessly in Round 2. In the first round, Wang Yi 5d attacked Lee strongly, but was forced to resign after just 134 moves when his eyeless group came up short against Lee's one-eyed group. In the third round, Aaron Ye, in a tenacious display of fighting spirit, threw everything he had at Lee -- despite the relentless pressure of the overtime clock -- but was unable to find a way to victory and, like Liu and Yi, was forced to resign. Lee's sweep Saturday puts him in position to capture the title for the third year in the final two rounds on Sunday, although Poland's Mateusz Surma, also 3-0, may have something to say about that. Surma was just in Mexico for the Mexican Go Congress and decided to come up for the Cotsen. The top-board games will be broadcast live on KGS, and see photos on Twitter @theaga. - report/photo by Chris Garlock