North American Go Federation professional Alexander Qi 1P will challenge Li Weiqing 9P in the 2023 Quzhou Lanke Cup world championship in Quzhou, China on May 5.
Just turned professional last year, Qi 1P from New Jersey is the youngest pro among the go masters competing in the Lanke Cup. His teachers include Feng Yun 9P, Zhongfan Jian, and Ryan Li 4P. His grandfather and father Robert Qi -- a long-term AGA volunteer -- also play go. Qi won the 2022 Redmond Cup and set an example by teaching and training while managing high-school coursework and competing in many AGA tournaments in recent years, racking up thousand of miles on his father's car.
The New Jersey prodigy represented the US and took second place in the 2021 CCTV World Youth Amateur Online Go Tournament (13 and under group). He also represented the US in the 36th World Youth Goe Championship (Junior Division) in 2019.
Kevin Yang 1P from California won the N.A. prelim for Lanke Cup last year, but had to withdraw from the international championship due to a school schedule conflict. Eric Lui 2P and Ryan Li 4P also competed in the prelim directed by Hajin Lee, executive director of the N.A. Go Federation.
In the first round, other exciting matches include Ke Jie vs Lai Junfu, Shin Jin-seo vs Li Qincheng, Yuta Iyama vs Xie Erhao and Ali Jabarin vs Jiang Weijie
-reported by Edward Zhang, Capital Go Club; Photo credit: Yike Weiqi , sina.com and Qiu Dao Yu