China News Service, Shanghai, October 24 (Reporter Miao Lu) The finals of the 20th China Professional Go Championship of the Advocate Chess Cup ended in Shanghai Changning Ledong Hongqiao on the 24th. Gu Zihao's 9th dan defeated Dang Yifei's 9th dan in straight games to win the championship. This also means that Gu Zihao will directly qualify for the 11th Yingshi Cup World Professional Go Championship in 2028.
On October 24, the finals of the 20th China Professional Go Championship of the Changqi Cup ended in Hongqiao, Changning, Shanghai. The competition for the final three games ended. Gu Zihao (right) defeated Dang Yifei (left) in straight games to win the championship. Photo courtesy of Shanghai Chess Academy
The Chess Advocacy Cup was founded in 2004 and is jointly sponsored by the China Go Association and the Shanghai Ying Changqi Weiqi Education Foundation. The name "Changqi" is a homophony of the name of Mr. Ying Changqi, a patriotic industrialist from Taiwan, and also means "advocating Go".
Today, the Changqi Cup is one of the traditional competitions with the highest standards, the largest number of participants, and the greatest influence in China. It has become a common memory in the growth process of Chinese professional chess players. The first champion in 2004 was Kong Jie. Since then, Zhou Heyang, Gu Li, Qiu Jun, Wang Xi, Qi Jiaxi, Chen Yaoye, Shi Yue, Yang Dingxin, Lian Xiao, Tan Xiao, Mi Yuting, Ke Jie, Ding Hao, Wang Xinghao and other players have successively reached the top. Many champions have since aspired to the world competition, and the Changqi Cup has therefore been regarded as the "cradle of champions" of Chinese Go.
On the 23rd, in the first game of the three-round chess final, Gu Zihao played black and successfully slayed the dragon. He defeated Dang Yifei in 135 hands and won the first victory.
In the match that day, Dang Yifei played black and Gu Zihao played white, and they jointly contributed to a wonderful game. The two sides fought fiercely in the early stage, and the battle on the right became the key to victory or defeat. White made a mistake at first and lost a piece of calamity, but quickly stabilized his position and counterattacked Black in 126 moves. Black responded improperly, and White regained the initiative as a blessing in disguise.
After that, both black and white made some mistakes in judging the value of the right calamity, and the situation was chaotic and unclear. In the end, Black made successive defeats at moves 141 and 143, unable to win the battle on the right, and was completely blocked by White in the middle, leaving no chance. Gu Zihao defeated Dang Yifei in the 220th hand and won the championship 2:0.
On October 24, the finals of the 20th China Professional Go Championship of the Changqi Cup ended in Hongqiao, Changning, Shanghai. The competition for the final three games ended. Gu Zihao (left) defeated Dang Yifei (right) in straight games to win the championship. Photo courtesy of Shanghai Chess Academy
Gu Zihao said after the game: "In the past two years, I feel that my performance has not been particularly ideal, while my opponent's performance in recent years has been very stable. Before the game, I felt that it would be a tough battle no matter what. So after the game started, I didn't feel that I was particularly advantageous. In fact, our chances of winning were relatively even. Then my opponent made a mistake and I seized the opportunity. In the end, I took away the opportunity. I felt that I should be able to win. Although I won the championship directly in two sets, in terms of the content of the game, both sets were very intense."
The venue simultaneously held the 2026 "Sports Lottery Cup" Yangtze River Delta Youth Go Invitational Tournament. Young Go players from Shanghai, Kunshan in Jiangsu Province, Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province and other places gathered in Changning to play and compete. Go veteran Wang Runan and China National Go Team head coach Yu Bin were also on hand to give general explanations to help young players understand and learn the layout choices, key offenses and defenses, and practical ideas of professional players.
