Ding Hao's 9th dan was counterattacked by Shen Zhenzhen's 9th dan under the great advantage, and Gu Zihao's 9th dan reversed Iyama Yuta's 9th dan in an unfavorable situation, which was the result of the semi-finals of the 2nd Quzhou Ranke Cup World Go Open on June 29.
Last year's champions and runners-up, Gu Zihao and Shen Zhenzhen, once again entered the final stage of the Ranke Cup, how did the two win? Is it smooth sailing, or is it thrilling? Let's take a look at the game.
Ding Hao was defeated by Shen Zhenzhen
Let's take a look at Ding Hao's regret against Shen Zhenzhen. In this game, Shen Zhenzhen, the world's first player, took the lead in black, and his performance in the first half of the game was average, climbing in the lower right corner of the 79th hand and jumping up and down in the 85th hand, all of which were problem hands. Ding Hao, who was white, played normally, and the win rate given by the AI rose to more than 90%.
It's a pity that Ding Hao's dominant position didn't last long, and Shen Zhenzhen's 99th black chess hand in the middle of the break induced Ding Hao's 100th and 102nd white chess moves to appear in a row of incredible low-level spoons, resulting in the middle two chess tendons being eaten, the winning rate decreased by more than 20 points, and the situation became long.
After that, Ding Hao's old problem of weak attack power and poor local acuity recurred, and he had the opportunity to divide and besiege the three black pieces in the upper edge, middle belly and lower right corner, but unfortunately he missed them one by one. In the lower right corner, Shen Zhenzhen took the lead in the work, and the mid-abdomen also played a losing move.
Even so, Shen Zhenzhen still gave Ding Hao a good opportunity to reverse the decline, that is, the 123rd move that black touched on the next side, which was a slow move out of the main battlefield, but unfortunately Ding Hao missed the opportunity and did not take off the first throw, but followed, and the winning rate plummeted to single digits. At this point, the situation of white chess is no longer good, and Ding Hao has no chance.
Shen Zhenzhen and Gu Zihao
The author hoped that Ding Hao would win in the pre-match prediction text, but the objective analysis is that the probability of Shen Zhenzhen passing the test is slightly higher. The reason is that the two fought 11 games before, and as a result, Shin Zhenzhen took the lead with a record of 8 wins and 3 losses. After this game, Shin Zhenzhen has won five consecutive victories against Ding Hao since 2022, and I don't know when Ding Hao will be able to end this bitter record.
Besides, Gu Zihao defeated Iyama Yuta in this game of chess, and Iyama Yuta, who took the lead in black, played smoothly in the first half of the game, while Gu Zihao's performance was mediocre.
White's 44th move was not tight enough on the top side, and the winning rate plummeted by 25%, and the correct move was to break the black piece. After that, Gu Zihao was still weak, and the winning rate suddenly dropped to below 20%, and the lowest fell to single digits.
In the second half of the game, Yuta Iyama, who is quite old, made frequent tricks. The 89th hand of black was a big mistake, and he should have taken the next piece, and the winning rate dropped by more than 50 points. In the battle on the right, Iyama Yuta made another losing move, causing a small dragon to be slaughtered in black, and the AI's win rate dropped to single digits.
After that, Iyama Yuta persisted for a long time, but Gu Zihao coped with it easily in the sound of counting, and seeing that he couldn't find a shortcut to turn the tables, Iyama Yuta had no choice but to admit defeat.
Gu Zihao defeated Yuta Iyama
Before the semi-finals, I judged that Shin Zhenzhen and Koo Zihao had the highest probability of meeting in the finals, around 50%. The hope of Ding Hao and Gu Zihao succeeding is about 30%, the probability of Shin Zhenzhen and Iyama Yuta winning is about 15%, and the probability of Ding Hao and Iyama Yuta is only 5%. The outcome of the game is more in line with my prediction.
The final of this year's Ranco Cup trilogy will be held on August 19-21, will Gu Zihao be crowned the triple crown champion of the World Series, or will Shen Zhenzhen be the seven-time champion of the snow before the snow? Let's wait and see.