Korea is only one game away from winning the 12th Nongshim Cup. In round 12, Choi Chulhan 9P of Korea defeated Yuki Satoshi 9P of Japan by resignation after 145 moves, having 3 consecutive wins.

Commentator Kim Seongyong 9P said that Yuki Satoshi played two bad moves in the opening, 44 and 46; that became a big baseless group. Fortunately, he saved the group, but Choi Chulhan was ahead in territory. Since Yuki was totally losing, he made his bid for victory by 112 to 116, taking a big risk. However, it failed, and another big group of Yuki was captured. That was the end of the game.

Now Japan is eliminated, and it becomes a game between Korea and China. The remaining player of China is Kong Jie 9P who is the one of the strongest players in the world. Tomorrow it will be decided if there is round 14 or not.

The round 13 will be played tomorrow, Jan. 20, 12:00 (Korean Standard Time), and it will be live broadcast on WBaduk server.

The 12th Nongshim Cup is a ring contest where five representative players of Korea, China, and Japan participate to determine the winner of the country. Each player who wins continues to play opponents from the other two teams, alternating between them until there are no more opponents left.

The champion prize is 200 million won (approx. 1,200,000 RMB), and each player is given 1 hour and 1 period of 60 seconds for over time.

The 12th Nongshim Cup is sponsored by managed Nongshim Co., Ltd., and managed by Korea Baduk Association.

¡Þ Match Results
1 Round : Lee Sedol 9P vs. Wang Xi 9P
2 Round : Lee Sedol 9P vs. Iyama Yuta 9P
3 Round : Lee Sedol 9P vs. Xie He 7P
4 Round : Sakai Hideyuki 8P vs. Xie He 7P
5 Round : Park Seunghwa 4P vs. Xie He 7P
6 Round : Hane Naoki 9P vs. Xie He 7P
7 Round : Mok Jinsuk 9P vs. Xie He 7P
8 Round : Mok Jinsuk 9P vs. Takao Shinji 9P
9 Round : Tuo Jia Xi 3P vs. Takao Shinji 9P
10 Round : Choi Chulhan 9P vs. Takao Shinji 9P
11 Round : Choi Chulhan 9P vs. Zhou Rui Yang 5P
12 Round : Choi Chulhan 9P vs. Yuki Satoshi 9P
13 Round : Choi Chulhan 9P vs. Kong Jie 9P

¡Þ Representative players
Korea: Lee Sedol 9P, Lee Changho 9P, Choi Chulhan 9P, Mok Jinsuk 9P, Park Seunghwa 4P
China: Kong Jie 9P, Wang Xi 9P, Xie He 7P, Zhou Rui Yang 5P, Tuo Jia Xi 3P
Japan: Iyama Yuta 9P, Hane Naoki 9P, Takao Shinji 9P, Yuki Satoshi 9P, Sakai Hideyuki 8P

¡Þ 12th Nongshim Cup World Baduk Championship Schedule
First matches: Oct. 18 ~ Oct. 21, 2010 – Beijing, China
Second matches: Nov. 29 ~ Dec. 4, 2010 – Busan, Korea
Third matches: Jan. 18 ~ Jan. 21, 2011 – Shanghai, China























￠· Kong Jie 9P and his wife
in reviewing room.