AMERICA DEFEATS CHINA
In the fourth round of the World Amateur Go Championship, being held at the Japan Go Association in Tokyo, Thomas Hsiang of the United States defeated Wen Dong Zhao of China. This is a milestone victory for the USA, almost on par with Fischer beating Spassky. Chinese players have dominated this tournament for the last 19 years, have won seven of the championships. For the Chinese players, this has usually been their first step in an illustrious professional go career.
Zhao earned the right to represent China by winning the All-China Amateur Newspaper Tournament, which probably that he is one of the top Chinese players, even including professionals.
Thomas Hsiang lives in New York and is ranked as 6-dan. He won the 1997 U.S. Open Go Tournament. He is 49 years old and is a professor of mathematics. With the favorite of the tournament beaten, Hsiang now has a good chance of winning the tournament with his four wins and no losses.
Also tied at 4-0 are Hirooka Satoshi (Japan), Mun Yong-sam (North Korea), and Kim Chan-woo (South Korea).
The final four rounds of the tournament will be played on the 4th and 5th of June.
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