Lee Changho came back to recapture his lost Guksu Title!

The 53rd Guksu Tournament Top 8 match between Lee Changho and Mok Jinsuk was held in final selection round baduk room of Korea Baduk Association on Jan. 20th. As Lee Changho 9p won by resignation after 185 moves in the game that proceeded for about 8 long hours, he became the last player in the semifinal.

Lee Changho 9p, who lost the title as he was defeated by Yun Junsang 4p (at the moment) by 3-1 in the 50th Guksu Title match in 2007, got eliminated in the round of top 16 in the 51st Guksu Tournament, did not participate in the preliminary round but got seeded in the final selection round as a player picked by the sponsor company. It is becoming the focus of attention whether Lee Changho 9p, who won the Guksu tournamenat for 9 times, will successfully become the Guksu title holder again. The following semifinal will be continued as a match between Lee Changho 9p and Joo Hyeongwook 5p takes place on Feb. 9th. As they come to meet each other this time, it is going to be their first official match.

Being supervised by the Dong-A Ilbo and sponsored by Kia Motors Corporation, the champion prize and runner-up prize of the 53rd Guksu Tournament are 45 million Won and 15 million Won respectively and for the time control, each player is given 3 hours and 1 minute's overtime counting for 5 times. As Lee Sedol 9p gave up his Guksu title, in the 53rd Guksu Tournament, on the other hand, the finalists play the best-of-5 match to determine a new Guksu without a challenge match.

- Cyberoro.com