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Youwhan Kim Drinks Deep at Santa Monica Coffee Cup

Youwhan Kim 7d, former Korean insei and winner of last year’s Cotsen Open (10/26 EJ), will be sipping his coffee from the 9th annual Santa Monica Coffee Cup.  Kim (right) took top honors by going 3-0 in the one-day tournament, beating fellow Korean visitor Seunghee Ryu 7d in the final.  Ryu and Kim were the strongest of a strong “Espresso” section; eight of the 48 competitors were 5d or stronger.   Other 3-0 winners were Tyler Oyakawa 3d in the Java Section, Jeff McLellan 4k in the Mocha Section, Greg Kulevich 8k in the Latte Section and Jeremy Cook 17k and Ryan Kim 23k in the Decaf section.  In addition to hand-painted mugs and tiles for first through fourth place, winners and placers got bags of organic Peruvian light-roast coffee ground and packed by owner Pam Stollings of the UnUrban Coffeehouse.   Players with no wins received a portable go board courtesy of the Korean Baduk Association as a consolation prize.  TD Joe Cepiel also awarded one of the KBA boards to the youngest player attending, six-year-old Oliver Williams (at left, with Andy Okun and Myungwan Kim 9p), who completed a game in good form.  The turnout, close to the Coffee Cup’s highest, was boosted not only by visitors from Korea, but by large contingents from San Diego and Arizona and a player from Hamburg, as well as the cool, sunny weather. - report/photos courtesy Andy Okun