Tournament commentary · 28
Ke Jie's elimination game: two more chances after it was 'already decided'
In the first round of the Chinese qualifier for the 2nd Shinhan Bank World Kisen, Ke Jie lost with Black to Jiang Weijie. Post-game reports said he lost on moves 87 and 101 and that nothing after move 141 mattered. A move-by-move KataGo rerun agrees with the first half. It also finds that between moves 164 and 167 Black twice came back to almost even.
An even opening, and White 50 tips it slightly to Black
Hangzhou, November 2, 2026. Ke Jie had Black and Jiang Weijie White, with 6.5 komi, 30 minutes each plus 20 seconds per move, single elimination. Neither side made a clear error in the first 49 moves; Black's win rate moved between 24% and 61%. White 50 was played at E6, while KataGo's first choice was F7, continuing F7, D6, E5. Black's win rate rose from 41% to 59%, and the score went from Black 0.8 behind to 0.7 ahead. Through move 84 the game stayed roughly even, and Black's win rate never fell below 39%.
The position before White 50, comparing the played E6 with KataGo's first choice F7. Moves 85 to 87: KataGo agrees with only half of the 'slow move' story
Reports named move 87 as Ke Jie's first slow move. KataGo agrees that 87 was a problem: the game went N15, the first choice was to reinforce the top at N17, and Black's win rate fell from 55% to 35%. But it rates Black 85, two moves earlier, as the bigger loss: J17 dropped Black from 52% to 33% when J16 was the first choice. White 86 at G17 instead of H15 handed that back at once. The two errors cancel out on the win-rate curve, so a quick review sees only move 87.
The position before Black 85, comparing the played J17 with KataGo's first choice J16, with moves 85 to 87 listed alongside. After move 101, White really pulls away
Black 101 went to O15; KataGo preferred L16, continuing L16, S15, S16. Black's win rate fell from 31% to 13%, and here KataGo fully agrees with the reports. Black 111 at L19, where J14 was the first choice, then took Black from 27% to 10%, and after move 115 only 6% was left. By move 140 White led by about 6.6 points and Black stood at 2.5%. The reports' figure of nearly 98% for White around move 141 matches KataGo.
The position before Black 101, comparing the played O15 with KataGo's first choice L16. After it was 'already decided': White 158 lets the gap shrink below one point
On move 158 White played Q5. KataGo's first choice was R5, and Q5 was not among its top three candidates. The move cut White's lead from 3.4 points to 0.8 and lifted Black's win rate from 3% to 23%. In KataGo's line after R5, the very next move is Black G6. From this point on, G6 in the lower left is the biggest point on the board.
The position before White 158, comparing the played Q5 with KataGo's first choice R5. G6: the point neither player took for four moves
From move 164 to 167, KataGo's main line ran through G6 every time. White 164 went to M2 instead of O13, after which Black G6 is available, and Black's win rate rose to 47%. Black 165 played L2 rather than G6 and fell back to 23%. White 166 at L13 gave a second chance, with Black at 46%. Black 167 played J10, G6 stayed empty, Black dropped to 12%, and the chances never came back. KataGo's line is G6, G7, F7, F6, H6, striking between White's E6–E7 stones and the H7 group in the centre.
The position before Black 165, comparing the played L2 with KataGo's first choice G6, with moves 164 to 167 listed alongside.
Post-game reports
Four judgements about this game
- Ke Jie did not collapse in one move: from move 85 he fell behind through several small losses.
- Moves 87 and 101 were real problems, and KataGo agrees with the reports.
- The game was not decided at move 141: between moves 164 and 167 Black twice came back to almost even.
- Both chances were at G6 in the lower left, which neither player took for four moves.