Hsu Hao-hung completes historic sweep of domestic pro Go titles

Taipei, Dec. 9 (CNA) Hsu Hao-hung (許皓鋐) on Monday completed the first-ever calendar-year sweep of Taiwan's professional Go circuit with victory in the Go Grandmaster Tournament.

Hsu, playing with white stones, secured the historic octuple when 8-dan professional Chen Chi-jui (陳祈睿) conceded after 152 moves in the fifth game of the best-of-seven Go Grandmaster Tournament.

The victory earned the Hangzhou Asian Games champion his third consecutive Go Grandmaster Tournament title and his fourth win in the tournament in five years.

Throughout 2024, Hsu extended his title streaks in the Taiwan USE Judan to seven, the National Champion Tournament to six, the Taiwan Tengen to three and CMC Grandmaster Tournament to two.

Hsu previously claimed titles in the Taiwan UMC Tournament in 2022 and 2023, but the tournament was not held this year, reducing the total number of domestic pro Go tournaments from nine to eight.

According to the HaiFong Go Association, which oversees Taiwan's professional Go affairs, Hsu is the first player to win all domestic professional titles in a single year since 2000.

In addition to his domestic success, Hsu reached the semifinals of the ING World Professional Weiqi (Go) Championship in July, achieving the best performance by a Taiwanese player at the quadrennial tournament.