The Countdown began for Chang Hsu 9p to won the first Kisei title in his career. In the Game 3 of the 34th Kisei title best-of-7 final held in Beppu City, Oita Prefecture, Japan between Feb. 3rd and 4th, the challenger Chang Hsu 9p (W) defeated the title holder Yamashita Keigo 9p by 8.5 points after 303 moves, got ahead in the series by 3:0 and got closer to the Kesei title.

As Chang Hsu 9p, who has won all top 7 titles except for the Kisei title, made it to the title match and got ahead in the series by 3:0, he will win the Kisei title unless he loses 4 straight games in the remaining 4 games.

If Chang Hsu 9p wins the title, it is going to be his first Kisei title and he is going to complete a ¡®grand slam' of the current top seven titles. Then, this record will be the first time after Cho Chihun 9p completed a grand slam as he won the Tengen (JPN) title by wining 3 straight games over Kobayashi Koichi after losing 2 straight games.

Yamashita Keigo 9p, holding the title for 4 consecutive years (5 times in his career), got an opportunity to be given the honorary Kisei title but now that he cannot take the chance without miraculously wining 4 straight games after losing 3 straight games, his aspiration to be the honorary Kisei is endangered.

The two players have met in best-of-5 title matches for 6 times (4 times in Oza, once in Tengen and once in Kosei) but this is the first time they have met in a best-of-7 title match. In the previous 6 titles matches, Chang Hsu 9p won 4 times and Yamashita Keigo 9p won 2 times. The winner of this best-of-7 title match is expected to affect the future major matches where the two players probably meet each other.

This Kisei title match will determine whether the winner is going to be ¡®a new honorary Kesei or a new Kisei.' The game 4 of the 34th Kisei title best-of-7 final will take place in the Arima Grand Hotel in Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan between Feb. 18th and 19th between Chang Hsu 9p who is leading this best-of-7 match by 3:0 and Kisei Yamashita Keigo who is being cornered and Chang Hsu 9p will take black in this game, which is what he prefers to taking white.

Being sponsored by the Yomiuri Newspaper, as the Kisei Title Tournament has increased 3 million Yen for the champion prize starting from the tournament in this year, the champion prize became 45 million Yen. In the Kisei Leagues, each player is given 5 hours and 60 seconds' over time counting for five times. (Picture provided by Japanese Go Association)

¡Þ The 34th Kisei Title Best-of-7 Final
Game 3 Chang Hsu (W) won by 8.5 points after 303 moves.
Game 2 Chang Hsu (B) won by 6.5 points after 342 moves.
Game 1 Chang Hsu (W) won by resignation after 234 moves.

- Kyungdong Kim, Cyberoro.com