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My "quick" translation of an article posted to weiqi.tom.com.
The "eighteen-dan couple" once more returns to their homeland's embrace. You should immediately know this couple's names, even if you are unfamiliar with Go. They are Go scholars and world travelers, and they have published two books. On the afternoon of July 15, they went to the business college of Shanxi University. The couple was warm and enthusiastic. From the beginning, an unending stream of Go fans met them and asked for group photos and autographs.
Jiang Zhujiu was dressed in his usual tee shirt and casual pants. <snip> Rui Naiwei's persistence was on display: Every Go friend who asked for an autograph received a carefully written "芮迺伟". Regarding the 迺 character, Rui Naiwai was unsure when it started, but at some point reporters began using the character "乃", which is similar in both meaning and sound. She said that this causes problems every time she goes to the post office.
In May, Rui Naiwei qualified to join the Chinese delegation for the Asian Games. This is the first time the Asian Games has included Go in the competition. This became a hot topic for conversation.
Q: What are you expecting from the Asian Games?
Rui Naiwei: Naturally, my objective is to become champion. Right now in preparation for the Asian Games the Chinese Qiyuan is organizing training.
Q: Has the training had an impact on your playing strength?
Rui Naiwei: Regarding the training, actually the other players commonly train together, and I am the only outsider to join them. Good players have gathered to do research, and I have certainly profited from it. Of course, this study does not guarantee victory. (At this point the line for autographs became too long, so Jiang Zhujiu took over the interview.)
Q: Right now the University Ing Cup is underway, but in China, university students and professionals have little interaction. Is the situation the same in South Korea?
Jiang Zhujiu: In 1996, South Korea's Myeongji University began offering specialization in Go, and now they are beginning to recruit graduate students. One great point of success is that their job placement rate is 100%. For people who want to study Go, this is an extremely good advertisement. On Chinese university campuses, though, Go must be taken as an elective course. To gain recognition as a formal field of study, the Department of Education must act. I think this is essential. Right now China has many people who would like to pursue Go as a career.
Q: What kind of relationship should college student Go players have with professional Go players? Should we have a system similar to the NBA, with teams of talented athletes?
Jiang Zhujiu: I am not terribly familiar with the NBA model. However, college student players could play a role in the sport, especially in spreading and popularizing Go. Professionals would have the task of competing in tournaments.
Q: Why have Chinese players become so strong recently?
Jiang Zhujiu: There are two reasons. One reason is that we select professionals from a large pool of candidates. Every year only twenty players earn professional status, but many, many players participate in the tournament. The other reason is that our national squad's training regimen is so good. Yu Bin, head coach of the national team, has had a tremendous impact on this.
Q: Why have Japan's results been so poor recently?
Jiang Zhujiu: Not many people study Go, and this is fatal. This problem emerged in the Japanese Go world twenty years ago. Right now studying Go is not an attractive occupation. The nature of specializing in Go is very severe; if you are not successful as a child, it is hard to move on.
Q: What is the situation in South Korea?
Jiang Zhujiu: South Korea has the same problem with training future players. This is closely related to Go players' income. When Lee Changho was on top he collected one billion South Korean won in annual income. In South Korea this was a level of income few could match. Today, soccer players' income exceeds that of Go players. This disparity continues to grow. In China, Go players are treated very well. The Chinese Weiqi League has raised income levels. More and more parents are seeing this and thinking that raising the next Gu Li or Chang Hao would not be an impossibility.
Q: In your home, do you two often study Go together? Who is stronger?
Jiang Zhujiu: We often study together, but we do not play matches against one another.
Q: Are you accepting students into your family?
Jiang Zhujiu: We will consider this as our playing strength declines and we are thoroughly done with tournaments. This would be better for the students.
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The Go-playing couple is not an isolated event in the Chinese Go World. Other famous couples include Chang Hao and Zhang Xuan, Cao Dayuan and Yang Hui, Luo Xihe and Liang Yadi. Also, the wives of Yu Bin, Huang Yizhong, and Ding Wei are all strong amateur players. If there were a husband-wife pairs tournament, it would be difficult to say which pair would win.
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I am Tartuffe from GoDiscussions.com
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Peter Hansmeier
