Have you ever wanted to know whether someone nearby shared your passion for playing go and was perhaps looking to play a few games? Well, Chuck Thomas of Shodan Imports has created the prefect networking tool for you homebodies or jet-setting travelers who dream of connecting with warm bodies for a one-on-one game of go. It’s called IgoLocal and it’s the hottest social networking tool for those of us who still believe that there’s nothing better than playing a face-to-face game of go.
IgoLocal.net is already boasting 1220+ members worldwide and growing. This is a very cool service that I wholeheartedly endorse. Whether you’re a 30 kyu beginner or an 8 dan pro, you’re sure to find a partner close by. The best part is that it’s absolutely free. Register your free account and search for players locally or wherever you may be traveling.
Peter Hansmeier provides us with another translation of an article “representative of what is being said on [tom.com] and other popular Chinese-language sites [regarding] Rui Naiwei’s participation in the Asian Games.” Thanks again, Peter!
When the Zhongguo Qiyuan announced the female delegation to the Asian Games, and Rui Naiwei made the list, they did not expect a controversy with South Korea. However, a South Korean newspaper reported that some Korean professionals grumbled that after ten years of playing with the Hankuk Kiwon, using the opportunities for matches and prize money, and being granted formal professional status, Rui Naiwei now wants to represent China and become the greatest obstacle to a South Korean gold medal. South Korean professionals find this difficult to accept. Now the Hankuk Kiwon is reportedly reevaluating the rights and obligations of foreign-born professional players.
Zhongguo Qiyuan president Liu Siming talked with a reporter about Korean dissatisfaction with the announcement. In his opinion, there should be no problem with Rui Naiwei’s participation. He said that this is not the first time that Rui Naiwei has represented China in international play, such as the first World Mind Sports Games. He also made an analogy to football, noting that a famous Portuguese player, Christiano Ronaldo [nicknamed C罗 in Chinese], plays for a Spanish club but represented Portugal in the European Football Championship and the World Cup. Liu Siming noted that Spain never complained about this arrangement.
46-year old Rui Naiwei 9p is the world’s strongest female Go player. Because of “breaking team rules” [euphemism for political pressure…], she left China in 1989 to play Go in Japan. In 1992 she married Jiang Zhujiu. In 1992 she studied with Go Seigen. Until 1996, though, the Nihon Kiin did not allow her to participate in official matches. In 1999 the couple received an invitation to come to South Korea to play Go as guest players, and then later become official professionals. With Rui Naiwei’s participation, South Korea’s women’s Go quickly became the best in the world.
Rui Naiwei has never applied for Korean citizenship. She is proud of her nationality and has never felt the need to apply for citizenship.
Qualifying for Go competitions is unique from other sports. It is different from football, basketball, and other team sports that play in international competition. In Go, Players represent the professional organization that registered them, rather than than representing their country.
For example, in the first two instances of the Jeongganjang Cup the tournament format produced an individual champion, and Rui Naiwei participated as a result of her status with the Hankuk Kiwon. In the following term, the tournament became a team competition, and Rui Naiwei played on the Chinese team. Likewise, Taiwanese player Cho U [Zhang Xu] is regarded as the number one player in Japan, but he has not applied for Japanese citizenship. He does, though, represent the Nihon Kiin in international competition [see, e.g., the 10th Agon Cup].
In other competitions such as the Nongshim Cup and the Asian Games, players participate based upon their nationality. Foreign players cannot represent a country merely based upon their status with that country’s professional organization.
The reaction comes from diffidence, not pettiness
Ten years ago, for the purpose of improving the level of women’s Go in South Korea, the Hankuk Kiwon invited Rui Naiwei to South Korea. They gave her full professional status, voting rights, retirement pay, and other benefits. Now when Rui Naiwei represents her country in the Asian Games, the Hankuk Kiwon expresses annoyance.
In the first Jeongganjang Cup, Rui Naiwei represented the Hankuk Kiwon and ultimately won the tournament. In the third term, when the tournament adopted the team format, Rui Naiwei joined the Chinese team, to the detriment of South Korea. In fact, she won the crucial final game against Park Jieun, winning the tournament for China. At that time, there were no complaints from South Korea. In fact, there was some gloating that the final two participants were both members of the Hankuk Kiwon.
On the surface, it looks like South Korea is simply eager to get the gold medal in the Asian Games. In reality, the complaints bear a resemblance to the cancellation of lunch breaks in the Samsung Cup in that they reveal South Korea’s lack of confidence. Over the last few years, as Gu Li showed his dominance on the world stage, the Hankuk Kiwon began to feel pressure. In response to the rise of Chinese Go, Korean countermeasures have begun to appear away from the Go board.
Rui Naiwei: “Nationality and gold medals are not important. I only want to play Go. Playing Go is my calling.”
Rui Naiwei: “My position is very difficult. If I had not accepted the invitation to play in South Korea, I would likely not be where I am today. I ask for my fans’ forgiveness, but I am Chinese, and I should represent China in this competition. With my participation, China is not guaranteed a gold medal. With my absence, South Korea is not guaranteed a gold medal. I worry about my Korean Go fans. If I defeat a Korean player, I do ask the Korean fans not to get angry.”
When asked whether she would return to China to play Go, she tactfully stated that returning to China would convenient in terms of language, food, and customs, but that she is a professional with the Hankuk Kiwon, and that it is better for her to play Go in South Korea. She may make the occaisonal trip to China, but her professional home is in South Korea.
There’s a new feature called “EDIT mode” that is now available in the flash SGF viewer (GOswf version 1.8) that I use here on JustPlayGo. It can be accessed by clicking on the hand icon next to navigation arrows. It allows you to do the following:
• play new moves and explore variations in an existing game
• put markups (Squares, Triangles, Circles, Cross marks, labels ABC…)
• delete a move
• export SGF data
• set annotation (“good for white”, “even position”, etc..)
• save your annotations to a file
Give it a try, play around with it, and let me know what you think. The EDIT mode is designed for editing an existing game, but the source file is not modified: you have to export the modified SGF data in a file on your computer. For further instructions on how to use the EDIT mode, see the help files marked with the question mark ? button in the lower right-hand corner. Note: this software is a third-party application provided by Gludion.com and not developed by JustPlayGo.
I’m not sure what Lee Changho was saying (or singing) but whatever it was, it got Kang Dongyun and everyone else to laugh (see below). This is proof positive that Kang Dongyun can actually smile and have fun - a great photo. I can’t say exactly what this event was about but it certainly was a good time for everyone, giving the pros and their fans an opportunity to intermingle.
You may have noticed that over the past several weeks I’ve implemented some minor cosmetic changes to the site. Much of what I’ve done is to present a cleaner, more elegant look to the site but also remove unnecessary noise to increase page-load time. With the number of pics and sgf-viewer files, load times can be significant, especially for non-broadband connections - yes, there still are people out there with dial-up. Personally, I like very simple but visually appealing sites that don’t take forever to load. Anyway, I would like your feedback on what you like about the site, what you don’t like, what you would like to see, what bugs you about the content, the color, the fonts, anything really.
In the next several weeks, I’m planning to add some new features and most importantly some new content. I’m very excited about this but can’t let the cat out of the bag just yet. Having said that, the core mission of JustPlayGo is not going to change. I get quite a bit of positive feedback from readers via email, which is what keeps me going - seriously. The fact that folks like you enjoy this site is the whole point of doing it. I really get a kick out of hearing from y’all.
Also, I’m going to do another Vendor Spotlight piece in the next week or so. I’ve received some great responses for future Vendor Spotlight candidates but could use some more. If you’ve already suggested someone or some company who you think should be recognized, there’s no need to renominate. I keep all nominations in consideration regardless of when they were nominated.
Best wishes, JPG