The 1st Shinhan Bank World Kiseon Championship, established with the largest winner’s prize of 400 million KRW for an annual international tournament, officially kicked off its competition for the title with an opening ceremony and bracket draw on 23rd December.
The main tournament consists of a 32-player bracket. By affiliation, the field is composed of 15 players from Korea, 7 from China, 7 from Japan, 2 from Taiwan, and 1 from Vietnam. Notably, 12 of these participants (5 from Korea, 6 from China, and 1 from Japan) are former champions of major international titles.
The draw for the Round of 32, which drew significant attention, resulted in several high-profile early clashes:
Shin Jinseo 9p (Korea’s No. 1) will face Li Xuanhao 9p (China’s No. 9)
Park Junghwan 9p (Korea’s No. 2) will go up against Hsu Haohung 9p, the top player in Taiwan.
The Round of 32 will be held at the Korea Baduk Association over two days, December 24 and 25, with eight matches taking place each day. The tournament utilizes the Fischer Rule, providing a base time of 30 minutes with a 20-second increment per move. Matches will proceed daily through the semifinals without any rest days, and the final best-of-three series is scheduled to take place next February.
Below is the full schedule and match-ups. All rounds will be broadcast on BadukTV and major Go servers.
Round of 32 Part 1 – 24th December 2025 10am KSTByun Sangil 9p (Korea) VS Lai Junfu 9p (Taiwan) Kim Jiseok 9p (Korea) VS Wang Xinghao 9p (China) An Sungjoon 9p (Korea) VS Yang Kaiwen 9p (China) Lee Changseok 9p (Korea) VS Ding Hao 9p (China)
Round of 32 Part 2 – 24th December 2025 2pm KSTPark Junghwan 9p (Korea) VS Hsu Haohung 9p (Taiwan) Park Jinsol 9p (Korea) VS Iyama Yuta 9p (Japan) Heo Youngrak 5p (Korea) VS Ichiriki Ryo 9p (Japan) Han Seungjoo 9p (Korea) VS Tan Xiao 9p (China)
Round of 32 Part 3 – 25th December 2025 10am KSTNakamura Sumire 4p (Korea) VS Hsu Chiayuan 9p (Japan) Shin Minjun 9p (Korea) VS Koyama Kuya 7p (Japan) Shin Jinseo 9p (Korea) VS Li Xuanhao 9p (China) Kim Myunghoon 9p (Korea) VS Li Qincheng 9p (China)
Round of 32 Part 4 – 25th December 2025 2pm KSTPark Minkyu 9p (Korea) VS Ha Quynh Anh 5d (Vietnam) Lee Jihyun 9p (Korea) VS Shibano Toramaru 9p (Japan) Murakawa Daisuke 9p (Japan) VS Dang Yifei 9p (China) Yun Junsang 9p (Korea) VS Sada Atsushi 7p (Japan)
Round of 16 – 26th to 27th December 2025 Round of 8 – 28th December 2025 Semi-finals – 29th December 2025 Finals best-of-three – February 2026More pictures