How about that for a title? For go bums everywhere!
I have often been intrigued why so many top go (and chess) players appear to decline, though never by very much - just enough to disappear from the limelight. Is it physical? Is it psychological - made my fortune, don't care any more? Is it family life? Is it because younger players just get better every generation? It's probably a mixture of all these and other factors, though from my own experience I'd say it's the "I don't care any more" element that counts most. Sure, there is some physical loss, but experience (or acquired wisdom) can sometimes make up for that.
Given that frame of mind, you'll understand why I latched with great interest onto a series of games by the great Seo Pong-su, in which he played five games against Korea's current best players, adjusting the handicap after every game. The games were labelled as games of "fiery zeal" (yeol-hyeol 熱血), which is not a term you normally associate with a 69-year-old as Seo is! And certainly I don't, as I've met him and he had the clammiest handshake of anyone I've ever met. But he was once known as the Panther for his wild style, which, however, was also likened to weeds growing in a garden. And he was also known for his love of the most nerve-wracking fights. His title battles as the fans' favourite - the Korean boy who stayed at home - with Cho Hun-hyeon - the Korean who fans felt had defected to Japan - became the stuff of legend.
So much so, that these players barely rate a mention on L19, the site for Anti-Heroes, Anti-Legends, Anti-Humans - and (in desperation) prostate adverts
. The games in question were sponsored by the makers of Sawpalcosanol, a treatment for prostate care. It could have been worse, I suppose. It could have been haemorrhoid pills. A cynic (who - moi?) may assume the choice of a 69-year-old as the object of sponsorship was not coincidental, but Sawpalcosanol do also sponsor the Top Pros Tournament (a league) with all the best current players. It can maybe be seen as the Korean equivalent of the Kisei. So piles of praise for them!
The sponsorship in the Seo (pronounced something like Suh, BTW) series was not great even though it made each winner a millionaire: 3 million won for each winner, and 1 million for each loser. That's about US$2,000 for a win.
To state the result first: Seo scored 1-4, and was beaten down to a 3-stone handicap.
How come? The first game was held on 7 September, and the fifth on 13 September. This was cited (in retrospect) as too tight a schedule for the old man. The time limits were 30 minutes each, then three periods of 1-minute overtime. This seems to have been the biggest factor, at least in Seo's eyes. He said he got into overtime in the middle-game fighting and thereafter made an accumulation of mistakes in overtime.
The full results were:
Game 1 - Even (Seo as White) vs Kim Chi-seok. Seo lost.
Game 2 - Seo as -B- (Black, no komi) vs Shgin Min-chun. Seo lost.
Game 3 - 2 stones vs Kang Tong-yun. Seo WON!!.
Game 4 - Seo as -B- vs Pyeon Sang-il. Seo lost.
Game 5 - 2 stones vs Pak Cheong-hwan. Seo lost.
Seo apologised to his supporters for "not being able to produce games of good content" but said he would like the opportunity to try again.
(No computers were harmed in the making of this post.)