The Ing Cup (Chinese: 应氏杯; pinyin: Yīng Shì Bēi) is an international Go tournament with a cash prize of over US$400,000. It was created by, and is named after, Ing Chang-ki.[1] The tournament is held once every four years and hence often nicknamed the Go Olympics.
In the 7th Ing Cup, held in 2012/13, Fan Tingyu defeated Park Junghwan and became the youngest Ing Cup winner in history. In the semifinal, Fan defeated Xie He, and Park defeated Lee Chang-ho.
Overview
The Ing Cup is sponsored by Ing Chang-ki Weichi Educational Foundation, Yomiuri Shimbun, the Nihon-Kiin, and Kansai-Kiin, and is held every four years (and thus often nicknamed Go Olympics). The competition has its own special rules. There is no byoyomi; instead, players who run out of time pay a two-point penalty to receive some extra time. The precise amount of time has varied historically; in the 10th cup final in 2024, the time allotment was three and a half hours for each player, with a two-point penalty to receive an extra 35 minutes, and players could receive extra time this way at most three times.[2][3] The komi is 8 points, but Black wins ties.[4] The first rounds are single-elimination knockouts, the semifinals are best-of-three, and the finals are best-of-five (except in 2023, when the final was best-of-three).[5][6]
The 9th Ing Cup began in 2020, but its conclusion was significantly delayed, because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the organizers' decision to hold the final match face-to-face rather than online. The finalists were Shin Jin-seo and Xie Ke, who each advanced from the semifinals in January 2021.[2] Shin Jin-seo beat Xie Ke 2–0 in the final matches, held on August 21 and 23, 2023.[7]
The 10th Ing Cup expanded the number of players from 30 to 58. The finalists of the previous tournament, Shin Jinseo and Xie Ke, automatically qualified for the round of 16.[8] The first and second round were played online on April 20–21, 2024. The round of 16, round of 8, and semifinals were played July 3–9. Match-ups were not determined by a pre-set bracket, but randomly drawn each round.[9] Time controls in games before the semifinals were 2 hours per player, and players could pay a penalty to receive an extra 20 minutes up to three times. Games in the semifinals were played with 2.5 hours and up to three 25-minute extra periods; games in the finals were played with 3.5 hours and up to three 35-minute extra periods.[10]
