The Nongshim Cup is a Go competition played between three teams representing China, Japan, and South Korea. The competition was created in 1999 and is held annually. It is officially named the Nongshim Shin Ramyun Cup World Baduk Championship, and sponsored by Nongshim, a South Korean food company.
Each team consists of five players. On each day of competition, a single game is played. After each game, the losing player is eliminated and the winning player continues to the next game. The last team with players remaining wins the competition.
The scheduling of the games is divided into three stages in different locations. Four games are played in the first stage, five games in the second stage, and up to five games (as necessary) in the third stage.
The winning team's prize is 500 million Korean won (approximately $340,000 USD), raised in 2016 from the previous 200 million Korean won.[1] Players receive a 3 million won match fee for each game played. Players with a winning streak of at least 3 games also receive a 10 million won prize for each win beginning with the third.[2]
^The game between Park Junghwan and Fan Tingyu ended in no result because of a technical issue. Park had clicked his mouse to play, but the stone was not placed, and he ran out of time. Officials declared a rematch for the following day, which Park won.[3]
^The game between Mi Yuting and Shin Jin-seo ended in no result because of a technical issue (reminiscent of a similar incident in the 21st cup in 2020). Mi had placed a move, but the computer declared that he ran out of time. Officials scheduled a rematch for the following day (February 23), which Shin won.[4][5]
Shin Jinseo's six wins and zero losses was the longest-ever winning streak to finish the competition. He also extended his Nongshim Cup winning streak to 16–0 across four Nongshim Cups beginning in 2020, breaking the previous record of 14–0 set by Lee Changho across six tournaments.[2]