The 1st

Nongshim Cup The Nongshim Cup is a Go competition played between three teams representing China, Japan, and South Korea. The competition was created in 1999 and is held annually. It is officially named the Nongshim Shin Ramyun Cup World Baduk Championship, and ...

was the inaugural edition of the team Go tournament consisting of five players each from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. The tournament began on 16 December 1999 in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

and finished on 28 March 2000. On

Lee Chang-ho Lee Chang-ho (; born 29 July 1975) is a South Korean professional Go player of 9-dan rank. Considered to be one of the greatest Go players of all time, Lee was ranked #1 in the world in Go ELO rankings from 1991 to 2006. Biography He ...

and

Ma Xiaochun Ma Xiaochun (; born 26 August 1964) is a Chinese professional Go player. Biography Ma was born in Shengzhou, Zhejiang, China. He began playing Go at the age of nine and was awarded 7 dan rank in 1982. In 1983, Ma was promoted to 9 dan. He v ...

met in the final, with Lee defeating China's top player and leading Korea to their first of six straight Nongshim Cup titles.

Teams

Preliminaries were held in Korea, while Japan and China sent pre-selected teams. Players listed in order that they appeared for their respective teams.

* Qiu Jun *

Luo Xihe Luo Xihe (; born November 23, 1977) is a Chinese professional Go player. Play ...

* Wang Lei * Chang Hao *

Yamashita Keigo is a professional Go player. Yamashita adopted the name Honinbo Dowa after winning his first Honinbo title in 2010. Biography A student of Yasuro Kikuchi, Yamashita turned professional in 1993. He won the 19th Kisei 2 dan division in 19 ...

Kudo Norio is a professional Go player. Biography Kudo turned professional in 1955 and was promoted to 9 dan in 1976. Although he did not win many tournaments, he was known for teaching Go to many people, even if they were just starting to learn, or we ...

Yoda Norimoto is a professional Go player. Biography Yoda is a student of Takeo Ando. He has won 35 titles so far in his career, the seventh highest in Japan. He became a professional in 1980, and reached 9 dan in 1993. In 2006, he was the heart of the Jap ...

Yamada Kimio is a professional Go player. A territorial player who is adept at invading and living within opponent's spheres of influence, Yamada won his first major title, the Oza, in 1997. He has two older brothers, Shiho Yamada and Wakio Yamada. ...

Cho Sonjin Cho Sonjin (; born April 18, 1970) is a professional Go player. Cho was born in South Korea, but moved to Japan at age 12 in order to become a professional. He accomplished his goal two years later in 1984. He was promoted to 9 dan in 1998. I ...

Mok Jin-seok Mok Jin-seok (born 20 January 1980) is a professional Go player. Biography Mok Jin Seok became a professional Go player in 1994 when he was 14 and reached 9 Dan, the highest level, in 2005. He is called 'Goe dong' by media, which means a Bo ...

* Kim Yeong-sam *

Cho Hunhyun Cho Hunhyun (; born 10 March 1953) is a South Korean professional Go player and politician. Considered one of the greatest players of all time, Cho reached professional level in Korea in 1962. Since then, Cho has amassed 150 professional title ...

Yoo Changhyuk Yoo Changhyuk (born April 25, 1966) is a professional Go (board game), Go Go players, player in South Korea. Biography Yoo Changhyuk was one of Korea's best Go (board game), Go players. Growing up without a teacher, Yoo became a professional i ...

Tournament

of Korea defeated

in the first game. He would go on to defeat China representative Qiu Jun before losing to Japanese player

on 19 December.

Luo Xihe Luo Xihe (; born November 23, 1977) is a Chinese professional Go player. Play ...

beat Kudo Norio before the tournament moved to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. Luo lost to Kim Yeong-sam of Korea, who then lost to Japan's

. Korea's

defeated Yoda after the Japanese representative eliminated China's Wang Lei from the tournament. The third and final stage moved to

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. Korea had three players left (including Hunhyun), while China ( Chang Hao and

) and Japan (

and

) were left with two players each. Cho Hunhyun would lose the opening match of the third stage to Chang, who then stringed together two more victories by defeating Yamada (Japan) and

(Korea). Cho Sonjin of Japan defeated Chang, but then lost his next match against Korea's

Teams

Tournament

First stage

Second stage

Third stage

References