In 2023, the Go World Championship Rankings will change a lot. Which players are new to the list?Which good players are making strides up?Which masters are holding back?Let's take a look at this list.
Ding Hao, who won two consecutive titles this year, was the biggest winner this year, beating Yang Dingxin Jiudan in February to win the 27th LG Cup World Chess Championship, thus making his mark on the world championship rankings.
After that, Ding Hao defeated compatriot Xie Erhao Jiudan in the final of the 28th Samsung Cup in November, and the honor of double crown made him jump to 21st place in the world championship list, alongside the famous Cosmic Flow Martial Palace Masaki Kudan.
The 23-year-old Ding Hao is the first post-zero world champion of Chinese Go, and it is foreseeable that he will not stop at two world championship titles in his playing years. As for whether he can surpass more predecessors and continue to move forward significantly in the rankings, it depends on his creation.
Another newcomer to the list is South Korea's Bian Sang-il 9 Dan, who became the 47th world champion in the world chess tournament by defeating Lee Xuan Ho 9 dan in the final of the 14th Chunlan Cup in July. With his previous two semi-finals, he was ranked 41st on the list. He will move up next year because he has already won the final of the 28th LG Cup with Shin Jinzhen.
Also a big climb is Gu Zihao Jiudan, who unexpectedly counterattacked in the final of the first Lanke Cup World Go Open in June, defeating the current world No. 1 Shen Zhenzhen to become a double champion, and at the same time, his ranking jumped from 29th to 17th.
After winning the 9th Ying Cup in August, Shin Zhenzhen also moved forward slightly, and he also won the fifth crown, relying on the advantage of the number of runners-up, surpassing his predecessor Park Tinghuan Jiudan, and ranking among the top seven in the world, Park Tinghuan retreated to eighth place.
There was also a slight increase in the LG Cup runner-up Yang Dingxin and the Samsung Cup runner-up Xie Erhao, but they failed to break away from the first championship group and became a regret this year. Despite this, we must not forget their hard work, because they all killed their number one rival Shen Zhenzhen, which cleared the biggest obstacle for Ding Hao to finally become the champion.
Ke Jie Jiuduan, Qi Yuting Jiuduan, Fan Tingyu Jiuduan and other popular students have stagnated this year, especially Ke Jie, an Internet celebrity and restaurant owner, who is only 26 years old this year, and it is a good time to make a contribution, but unfortunately there are too many distractions, so that he almost got nothing at the 2023 World Go Championship, and only got the semi-finals of the 28th LG Cup, and was immediately eliminated by Shen Zhenzhen.
Ke Jie has not won the World Championship Gold Cup for 37 months, and has not won the right to the finals of the World Series for 34 months.
Looking ahead to 2024, the first World Championship trophy will be produced in the 28th LG Cup final in early FebruaryThe author believes that the former is very likely.
The fifth Dream Lily Cup has produced the quarterfinals, and it is gratifying that the quarterfinals are occupied by national players, which is definitely a blessing for chess fans. The matchup situation of the eight masters is;Li Xuanhao 9th Duan vs Tan Xiao 9th Duan, Gu Zihao 9th Duan vs Dang Yifei 9th Duan, Qi Yuting 9th Duan VS Liao Yuanhe 9th Duan, Liu Yuhang 6th Duan VS Xu Jiayang 9th Duan.
The focus of the Dream Lily Cup is whether Li Xuanhao can complete the transformation, and whether Gu Zihao and Qi Yuting can be promoted to the triple crown?Chess fans, who do you like?