▲ A view of the first day of the Round of 32 at the 2026 Samsung Fire Cup World Baduk Masters - Byun Sang-il (변상일) beats China's Wang Shuo (왕숴) by resignation as Black in 143 moves... Mok Jin-seok (목진석) defeats Han Seung-joo (한승주) to reach the round of 16 － Korea sends five players on the first day of the round of 32, with two winning… Shin Min-jun (신민준) and Ahn Sung-joon (안성준) eliminated - On the 11th, eight games in the second day of the Round of 32, including the Korea-Japan matchup between Shin Jin-seo (신진서) and Shibano Toramaru (시바노 도라마루) Byun Sang-il (변상일) and Mok Jin-seok (목진석), both 9-dan, cleared the first hurdle of the main tournament at the 2026 Samsung Fire & Marine Cup World Baduk Masters and advanced to the round of 16. On the first day of the round of 32 at the 2026 Samsung Fire Cup World Baduk Masters, held on the 10th at the Samsung Fire Global Campus in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, a total of 16 players, including five from Korea, took part, competing head-to-head for eight tickets to the round of 16. Byun Sangil (변상일) 9-dan won his first-ever meeting with China's Wang Shuo (왕숴) 8-dan by resignation as Black in 143 moves, becoming the first to advance to the round of 16. Entering the main tournament as a national seed, Byun opened with a victory and took his first step toward the title. Mok Jin-seok (목진석) 9-dan, who advanced to the main draw by coming through the senior group of the combined qualifier, also made it to the round of 16. In an all-Korean matchup against Han Seung-joo (한승주) 9-dan, who entered as the sponsor's wild-card pick, Mok won with Black by resignation after 205 moves and secured a place in the next round. In contrast, 9-dan Shin Minjun (신민준) was eliminated, losing by resignation as Black in 202 moves to China's 9-dan Sue Wei (스웨). 9-dan An Sungjoon (안성준), who entered as a sponsor-nominated wild card, lost by a half point as Black after a close fight against China's 9-dan Xia Chenkun (샤천쿤) and narrowly missed advancing to the round of 16. With this, two of the five Korean players who competed on the first day of the round of 32, Byun Sang-il (변상일) and Mok Jin-seok (목진석), both 9-dan, won their games and secured places in the round of 16. In other games, Japan's Fukuoka Kotaro 8-dan defeated China's Lian Xiao 9-dan by white resignation in 192 moves. China's Fan Yin 9-dan beat Zhao Chenyu 9-dan by white resignation in 252 moves, and Wang Xinghao 9-dan defeated Singapore's Xu Xiaofan by white resignation in 214 moves. In the all-Chinese matchup between Gu Zihao 9-dan and Zhang Weijie 9-dan, Gu Zihao won by 1.5 points with black in 279 moves to join the round of 16. At noon on the 11th, eight games of the second day of the main-draw Round of 32 will continue. From Korea, four players are competing: 9-dans Shin Jin-seo (신진서), Park Jung-hwan (박정환), Kang Dong-yun (강동윤) and Kim Myung-hoon (김명훈). Shin Jinseo (신진서) 9-dan will face Japan's Shibano Toramaru 9-dan in a Korea-Japan match, while Kim Myunghun (김명훈) 9-dan will take on China's Ding Yifei 9-dan, with both aiming for a spot in the round of 16. Park Jungwhan (박정환) 9-dan and Kang Dongyun (강동윤) 9-dan will meet in an all-Korean matchup to decide who advances to the round of 16. The 2026 Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Cup World Baduk Masters, sponsored by Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd. and hosted by JoongAng Ilbo, offers a winner's prize of 300 million won and a runner-up prize of 100 million won. Each player is given a thinking time of 2 hours, plus five 1-minute byo-yomi periods. ▣ 2026 Samsung Fire Cup World Baduk Masters Round of 32, Day 1 Results (Nov. 10) Byun Sangil 9p (Korea) wins vs. Wang Shuo 8p (China) - Black wins by resignation after 143 moves Mok Jin-seok (목진석) 9-dan (Korea) won vs. Han Seung-joo (한승주) 9-dan (Korea) - Black wins by resignation after 205 moves Shin Min-jun 9-dan (Korea) lost to Sihe 9-dan (China) - Black resigned after 202 moves An Seong-jun (안성준) 9-dan (Korea) lost to Xie Chenkun (샤천쿤) 9-dan (China), Black losing by half a point after 333 moves Fukuoka Kotaro 8-dan (Japan) wins vs. Lian Xiao 9-dan (China) — White wins by resignation in 192 moves Fan Yin 9-dan (China) wins vs Zhao Chenyu 9-dan (China) - White wins by resignation after 252 moves Wang Xinghao (왕싱하오) 9-dan (China) wins vs. Xu Xiaopan (쉬샤오판) (Singapore) - White wins by resignation at move 214 Gu Zihao 9-dan (China) wins vs. Zhang Weijie 9-dan (China) - 279 moves, Black wins by 1.5 points 〈Korean Players' Games on Wednesday, November 11〉 Park Jung-hwan (박정환) 9-dan vs. Kang Dong-yun (강동윤) 9-dan – 15 wins, 13 losses Kim Myeong-hun (김명훈) 9p vs. Dang Yifei 9p (China) - 0 wins, 2 losses Shin Jin-seo (신진서) 9-dan vs. Shibano Toramaru (시바노 도라마루) 9-dan (Japan) - 3 wins, 0 losses
