Chinese Ricoh Cup

Submitted by macelee on 2013-12-31 12:55; Last upda ted on: 2018-10-07 17:56

Overview:

The Chinese Ricoh Cup (理光杯职业围棋个人赛) was a Chinese fast-game tournament held between 2000 and 2015. It was organised by the Chinese Weiqi Association and sponsored by RICOH China Co., Ltd. It's also known from some western sources as Liguang Cup, 'Liguang' being the Chinese pinyin of the sponsor's name - something isn't really necessary as Ricoh is a well-known international brand. When the tournament first started in 2000, it was merely a small 8-player invitational tournament. It had evolved into one of the largest fast-game tournaments in China. Ricoh also sponsored two separate Go tournaments, a Xinxiu Cup for young players and a Pair Go tournament to entertain Go fans, both held at approximately the same time as the main Ricoh Cup.

Tournament Format:

The main tournament has 48 players: the winner and runner-up of the previous term; 28 top players (according to the official Chinese rank); 2 seats reserved for prominent female players; and 16 seats for those who qualified for the related Xinxiu Cup (through an Internet-based preliminary tournament). The tournament format is single elimination, with 16 top players seeded directly into the second round.

Prize Money:

The prize: 250,000 CNY for the winner and 100,000 CNY for the runner-up.

Time System:

The time system is a modified Canadian system. In the first stage, 30 moves have to be played within 60 minutes; in subsequent stages, 20 moves have to be played over 15 minutes. Time saved from earlier stages can be carried over.

Ruleset and Komi:

Chinese rule with 3 and 3/4 stones komi (equivalent to 7.5 points). The komi was 2 and 3/4 stones for term 3 and earlier.

Key Players, Events and Statistics:

Chang Hao is he best performing player in this tournament, winning it twice and entering final round four times. Another two-time winner is Kong Jie.

Historical Results:


Term	Year	Winner	Score	Runner-up
1	2000	Chang Hao	1-0	Zhou Heyang
2	2001	Gu Li	1-0	Kong Jie
3	2003	Kong Jie	1-0	Liu Xing
4	2004	Chang Hao	1-0	Liu Xing
5	2005	Xie He	1-0	Wang Xi
6	2006	Wang Xi	1-0	Chang Hao
7	2007	Hu Yaoyu	1-0	Chang Hao
8	2008	Qiu Jun	1-0	Gu Li
9	2009	Wang Yao	1-0	Zhou Heyang
10	2010	Kong Jie	1-0	Xie He
11	2011	Tan Xiao	1-0	Li Zhe
12	2012	Yang Dingxin	1-0	Piao Wenyao
13	2013	Zhou Ruiyang	1-0	Tang Weixing
14	2014	Lian Xiao	1-0	Wu Guangya
15	2015	Ke Jie	1-0	Shi Yue