The keyword for this year’s KB Baduk League is ‘Ace Match’. If it is 2 to 2 after playing up to 4 countries, it means the final 5 countries played between the aces nominated by both teams.
Out of 45 games (as of the 27th) in the half of the regular season, 19 games were decided by an ace match. This is more than 42% of the total. The average end time is 22:37 for 4 stations and 23:55 for 5 stations. There were also 11 games played over midnight in ‘two days without night’. Jokes such as ‘overtime’ and ‘early leave’ are exchanged between leaguers.
Since it is a board that determines the team’s win or loss, an ace or a knight in the best condition is appointed. Looking at the total score by nomination order, the first nomination is overwhelming with 22 times (14 wins and 8 losses), but the second and third nominations are also 10 times (4 wins and 6 losses) and 4 times (1 wins and 3 losses), respectively.
There is one more reason why the ratio of the first nominee to participate in the ace match is lower than expected. This is because the number of matches per person is limited to six. It is a measure to prevent indiscriminate use of ‘molbread’. Managers agonize over whether to pick up an ace card the moment it becomes 2-2 or save it and use it when it is more urgent.
The article that stands out the most in the current ace match is Byeon Sang-il. As the 1st designated Cheonnok in Cheonggwanjang, he went out three times as an ‘Ace’ and won. They are followed by Kim Myung-hoon (Celltrion) and Park Gun-ho (Com2uStygem) with 2 wins, Shin Jin-seo (Kix) and Shin Min-jun (Ulsan Korea Zinc) with 2 wins and 1 loss.
The star players eat the ‘doubleheader’ as well. If other competition schedules overlap, they can digest up to 3 rounds a day. Shin Jin-seo lost to Won Seong-jin after winning the first match against POSCO Chemical on the 3rd, ending the legend of 36 consecutive wins in the Go League. It was an aftereffect of having three games a day, including the King of Baduk match played during the day. Criticism of ‘player abuse’ followed. 먹튀검증
Late night games are tiring even for young knights. Park Geon-ho was unable to score in the match against Hong Moo-jin, so he got the stone in 101 moves. After a return match was made in the final 5 stations to make up for the big mistake, he confessed, “I was thinking about submitting a letter of resignation as a professional article.” It was such a shocking mistake.
Shin Jin-seo said, “I thought it was no big deal to have two copies of shorthand, but when I actually put it on, it was very tiring.” Choi Jeong (Korea Zinc), a Hong Il-jeom leaguer, said, “It seems impossible to maintain the stamina of the third round as well as the first round.”
There were a total of 8 players who won 2 wins in one day. Shin Jin-seo, Shin Min-joon, and Kim Myung-hun each recorded twice, Byeon Sang-il, Park Jeong-hwan, Won Seong-jin, Kim Jeong-hyeon, and Park Gun-ho once each. On the other hand, Park Min-gyu (POSCO Chemical) and Park Young-hoon (Suryeohan Hapcheon) experienced two defeats in one day for the first time in their lives.
By team, Cheong-Kwan-Jang won 4 3-2 matches and emerged as an ‘ace match-specialized team’. On the other hand, Go Mecca’s government had the bad luck of losing all four full set games. Kim Seong-hyeon, the PD in charge of the Go league at Go TV, analyzed, “The ace match is directly related not only to the victory points but also to the morale of the team, so it is expected to become more intense as it moves towards the end.”