2007-12-28:

I had the opportunity to visit the DSC-cup in Wuhan that has taken place from Dec. 25th until 27th. I sat at each round next to one one player and recorded the game.

24 professional teenagers + 6 strong dan-players participated. The teams are from different cities. Each team consists of 4 pros + 1 dan-player. Altogether 5 rounds. 1 hour + 5*1min for the pros, 1,5 hours sudden death for the dans.

Prize: Altogether 10,000 EUR. 5 TEUR for the 1st, 3 TEUR for the 2nd, 2 TEUR for the 3rd.

It started on Tuesday afternoon. "Hot" atmosphere, and of course a lot of prestige.

One game that offered everything but to be boring. HUGE ko-fight, using existing ko-threats, creating new ones - out of the blue so to say -, capturing race and all this in byoyomi. The players showed poker-face, but you could sense how tensed they were under the mask.

It surprised me how "cool" the players were. Most of them had during the entire game just poker-face; no emotions; no hint if they judge the game, a certain position as good or bad. Amazing!

The second round started on Wednesday morning at 8.30 o'clock. It seemed to be quite early for some of the players. I sat next to Li He, 1p (w) and Zhang Ce, 3p (b). After move 88 main time is used, and only one quarter of the board is played. Move 137, last byoyomi for the players. Move 320, Li He resigned. The game totalled 4 hours, meaning the players played 2 hours in byoyomi...

Position after move 88:

Position after move 137:

Game over:

In the evening I was so tired, so exhausted; unbelievable! I would have never imagined that recording games can be SO exhausting. It is quite stressful to get all the moves, especially in the later stage of the game. The board is full, you need to catch the move, find the same position on your pocket PC, but be careful that you dont miss the opponent's immediate answer. You easily can get lost...

Nevertheless, after dinner teachers and students from the go-school and I go through some of the games, play some on our own, do some exercises and fall asleep like a stone.

Thursday, final day with round 4 and 5. Some of the players are sick, running nose. Yawning everywhere. If I am already tired as non-participant, how do the players feel?

After the forth round theoretically 4 teams still have chances. 2 teams scored 3-1, 2 teams 2-2. And in the last round the two teams that scored 3-1 play against the ones with the 2-2 score. At the end of the day the team Beijing-1 wins the cup with 4-1. Congratulations! And many thanks for the opportunity to watch fantastic games and fights.

I learnt a lot.

The winner: