LG Cup (Go)

The LG Cup is organized by the Chosun Ilbo newspaper and sponsored by the LG Group of Korea.^[1] The LG Cup was created after the Kiwang (기왕; 棋王) title from Korea was abolished. There are 16 players who compete in a preliminary, and another 16 players are invited. The latest edition had 256 competitors in the preliminary, the biggest in history. The players are invited from the following Weiqi/Go/Baduk associations.

• 2 from the holder and runner-up of the previous year.
• 6 from South Korea
• 3 from Japan
• 3 from China
• 1 from Chinese Taipei
• 1 wildcard

The final is a best-of-three match. The komi is 6.5 points, and each player has 3 hours main time and five 40-second byoyomi periods. The winner's purse is 300,000,000 won and the total prize pool is 1.3 billion won.^[2]

In the 29th LG Cup, Byun Sang-il won the best-of-three final after his opponent Ke Jie was disqualified in game 2 for rule violations and forfeited in game 3 after a dispute over another similar rule violation. Both the losses by penalty and forfeit were unprecedented in Go world championship finals.^[8] The rule, adopted by the Korea Baduk Association in November 2024, required players to place captured stones on the bowl lid, to keep track of them as an aid to counting the score. Reflecting differences in scoring systems, there is no such rule in China, where players may be accustomed to setting captured stones aside anywhere near the board or putting the stones back into their opponent's bowl.^[9][10]

During the second game of the LG Cup final, Ke Jie violated the rule twice. The first violation resulted in a two-point penalty and a warning. Later in the game, Ke Jie again did not place a captured stone on the bowl lid, prompting an objection from Byun Sang-il. By rule, Ke Jie was penalized for the second violation with an immediate loss.^[10][11]

In the third game the next day, Ke Jie once again failed to place two captured stones on the bowl lid after capturing them. Ke Jie and the Chinese side objected to timing of the referee's intervention, because the referee paused the game several moves later, during Byun's turn, without requiring him to decide his next move before the pause. Ke Jie considered it unfair to resume the game after the pause had given Byun extra thinking time. Rather than resuming the game with a two-point penalty, Ke Jie asked for a rematch. No agreement was reached after two hours, and Ke Jie left the venue, resulting in a loss by default. The Chinese Weiqi Association released a statement saying that they did not accept the outcome of the third game. Byun Sang-il said he felt uncomfortable with the result and understood Ke Jie's position.^[8][9] The Korea Baduk Association issued an apology for the incident.^[12][13]