James beat Alex this morning to win the back-door bracket in the Top 8, advancing to face Matei in the Championship.

In a game marked by complex middle game fighting, James’s thicker position brought him into the endgame with a significant lead on territory that Alex could not overcome in yose. James won by 11.5 points.

This means that the 2020 Championship will see a rerun of the 2019 match-up, in which Matei shrugged off a first game loss to win the series 2–1. The date for the first game in the 2020 Championship will be announced shortly.