Chinese go chess players shook their Japanese and South Korean counterparts at the pre-quarterfinals of 10th LG Cup in Seoul yesterday, booking six seats in the last eight.
Teenager Chen Yaoye upset world No. 1 Lee Chang-ho of South Korea, highlighting the reserve strength of China and sparking hopes of regain its dominance of the sport which has a solid following in China, Japan and South Korea.
Go chess is known as "weiqi" in Chinese. The main rule of the game is to capture the opponent's stones by completely surrounding them.
The all-conquering Chinese players won six games with Chen, a 16-year-old Beijing-based player, offering a brilliant display of chess by capturing Lee's long line of stones on his international debut.
China's No. 1 Gu Li ousted Japanese veteran Kobayashi Koichi yesterday and steamed ahead in the race for his first world title. Gu last month also beat Lee Chang-ho in the Fujitsu Cup for a berth in the quarterfinals.
Yesterday, only Luo Xihe of China lost while other four players - Qiu Jun, Wang Yuhui, Piao Wenyao and Zhou Heyang - also stormed into the top eight.
China will have two berths in the semifinals with two all-Chinese quarterfinals.
However, the Chinese players will still have to overcome Lee Se-dol of South Korea, who won the Toyota and Samsung cups by beating Chinese opponents Chang Hao and Wang Xi in the finals.
