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There was no unusual incident. Shin Jin-seo, 9 dan, the "world's strongest Go player," won the Maxim Coffee Cup for two consecutive years, solidifying his position as the strongest player once again.

Shin beat Kim Myung-hoon 9 dan in the second round of the 25th Maxim Coffee Cup Final, held at Gonjiam Resort in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province on the 15th. Shin Jin-seo, who won the title in 174 games in the first round on the 9th, also grabbed a victory in the second round. It was his 37th career win, and his second this year after the LG Twins in January. With this victory, Shin widened his opponent's record to 13-3 with Kim. Notably, he has won nine consecutive games since June 2022.

Shin has won his third Maxim Coffee Cup title. Only Lee Se-dol (five times) and Park Jeong-hwan (four times) have won more titles than Shin. Shin also became the fifth player to win two consecutive championships following last year, and the first player to win two consecutive championships in 11 years since Park Jung-hwan in 2012-2013.

Unlike the first round, the second round had a tight race in the beginning. Then Shin Jin-seo, who won the central battle near the 100th round, seemed to win the game.

However, while Shin Jin-seo was off guard for a while, Kim Myung-hoon chased fiercely, and the game quickly became tense again. However, Kim Myung-hoon, who was chased by time, made several mistakes after that, and the weight tilted again toward Shin Jin-seo, and Shin Jin-seo won the finishing fight at the end of the day.

"It was bad for artificial intelligence (AI) to go. Overall, it was difficult," Shin said after the game. "I was able to win because I was able to maintain my concentration until the last minute."

Shin Jin-seo, who trailed Lee Se-dol (aged 50 times) by moving from the top to fourth, said she would aim to catch up within the next two years. Shin said, "I think I will think about two years from now. As there are many competitions in Korea recently, I think I will have many chances to win. I want to pursue more careers in world competitions."