King of Kings (last 4) : "gjopok" vs. "YHPak"

             The curse, that who plays for the King of Kings title under the real name will be eliminated, was not broken. This year, the fate has used "gjopok" as messenger. He beat them both "zhoury" (Zhou Ruiyang, 5P, China's number one) and "YHPak" (Park Yeonghun,9P).
             The destiny likes to play a little and make a more exciting scenario before applying its implacable law. This could be the explanation that "gjopok" won against "zhoury" by only half a point and, today, when "YHPak" resigned , even a 7D observer was a bit confused, as the score seemed to be very close. I had not enough time to analyze the position in more detail and make my own opinion , but I am sure that, if a 9P gives up, he must have a very good reason.
              In a previous article, I expressed some doubts whether "gjopok" is 100% Cho Hunhyun, 58 years old now. If, however, my doubts are unfounded and he is really the emperor of Korean GO, the wonderful living legend of this game, then his performance to qualify for the King of Kings final is exceptional.
              Let's see what Cho himself said in an interview quite recently : "In the past I was strong at all kinds of games. I used to play all night, quite a lot. But I don't have such physical strength now. These days it's difficult to play 50 games a year. Young players are strong, you know. Many professional games are played in tournaments. Sometimes I must withdraw after a single game. It's why I have more free time these days... I'm a kind of underdog, now, playing in preliminaries not finals."
             Do we wait now for a final between two exceptional players, Cho Hunhyun and Lee Sedol, the leaders of two different generations ? Too nice to be true ? I hope the future will elucidate this mystery ...


                                    "gjopok" 9D (Cho Hunhyun, 9P, ?) Korea : 162 - 52 (38179 p)
                                     18 - 2 last games
            ( I included the last 2 games against "zhoury" and "YHPak" , not counted as normal games by Tygem)

                                     "YHPak" (Park Yeonghun, 9P) Korea