The Younger Generation

[Kirby]

There's an article on Tygem featuring two young pros, Shin MinJun 1d and Shin JinSeo 2d. The article is kind of interesting, but what struck me the most was seeing how young these kids look:



I guess it makes sense that they seem like middle schoolers! It also makes me feel old!

Also from the article, we can see Lee Sedol reviewing their game:

The game record is here, for anyone who wants to see these kids play:

I guess there comes a time when the younger generation starts to replace the old. This makes me more anxious to accomplish more before it's too late!

[DrStraw]

I saw the subject line and your name as the author and thought you were going to be saying something about yourself.

[Kirby]

I saw the subject line and your name as the author and thought you were going to be saying something about yourself.

Nah, looks like I'm past my prime, now.

[DrStraw]

I saw the subject line and your name as the author and thought you were going to be saying something about yourself.

Nah, looks like I'm past my prime, now.

Wow! I always had the impression you were much younger than I am.

[paK0]

No matter what you do, there will always be an asian kid that does it better^^.

Quite impressive, they are maybe 10 years younger than me and have probably played more games than I ever will.

[Kirby]

Wow! I always had the impression you were much younger than I am.

Oh, that's probably true. I'll refrain from making any more comments on age for the time being

[trout]

These 2 kids are future of Korean Baduk. They became pro late 2012. Shin Minjoon is 1p and was born in 1999. Shin Jinseo is 2p and was born in 2000.

[DrStraw]

These 2 kids are future of Korean Baduk. They became pro late 2012. Shin Hyunjoon is 1p and was born in 1999. Shin Jinseo is 2p and was born in 2000.

I really have to believe that they are missing out on so much that is a normal part of life when they commit to the game at a professional level when so young. Of course, many have done it before them, but I guess they missed out also.

It is kind of like getting married to you high school sweetheart at eighteen, before getting to see or experience the world.

[goTony]

Less than half my age and dbl my IQ.... Good luck to both of them in the future.

[Subotai]

These children are essentially slaves and we profit from their hard work.

Go is a game that should be studied and enjoyed over a life time while experiencing other things at the same time. These children are forced to study for ridiculous amounts of time so that we can better understand the game. While I appreciate their hard work as they help make go interesting and easier to study but they certainly do miss out on a lot of things. I often wonder if it is right to force children to do this. This concept can be applied to a lot of other activities as well.

[trout]

These children are essentially slaves and we profit from their hard work.

Go is a game that should be studied and enjoyed over a life time while experiencing other things at the same time. These children are forced to study for ridiculous amounts of time so that we can better understand the game. While I appreciate their hard work as they help make go interesting and easier to study but they certainly do miss out on a lot of things. I often wonder if it is right to force children to do this. This concept can be applied to a lot of other activities as well.

They are not slave. Certainly they spend more time than ordinary go lover. But they go to normal school then they go to baduk dojang or get lesson from some pro. They are not forced to study go. Do you think you can force kid to study things they are not interested in ? You try.

PS, Shin Jinseo defeated Shin Minjoon 2:0 and winning this tournament.

[paK0]

These 2 kids are future of Korean Baduk. They became pro late 2012. Shin Hyunjoon is 1p and was born in 1999. Shin Jinseo is 2p and was born in 2000.

I really have to believe that they are missing out on so much that is a normal part of life when they commit to the game at a professional level when so young. Of course, many have done it before them, but I guess they missed out also.

Just because they are professional go players doesn't mean they can't have a personal life. Also they get to do the thing they love as a job, I'd say they are pretty lucky.
What are they missing out on, a crappy retail part-time job?

[daal]

These children are essentially slaves and we profit from their hard work.

Say what??! What gives you the idea that they are forced to play go, and what gives you the even stranger idea that they are forced to play for our (whose?) benefit? Does somebody own them? Do they not want to play go? Do they not earn money? C'mon, don't be ridiculous!

Just because they are professional go players doesn't mean they can't have a personal life. Also they get to do the thing they love as a job, I'd say they are pretty lucky.
What are they missing out on, a crappy retail part-time job?

While it is taking things too far to compare them with slaves, there are issues to be considered when children start a career at 15. Although trout has also pointed out that they are still in school, being a professional go player does surely and severely limit the amount of time spent on other things. Do you really think a crappy retail part-time job is the only other option for these kids? Yet how will they explore the possibilities that for example a higher education might offer if they are spending 12 hours a day on go? (made up figure - but their regimen has to be pretty rigorous for their career to be viable in such a competitive field).

[paK0]

Just because they are professional go players doesn't mean they can't have a personal life. Also they get to do the thing they love as a job, I'd say they are pretty lucky.
What are they missing out on, a crappy retail part-time job?

While it is taking things too far to compare them with slaves, there are issues to be considered when children start a career at 15. Although trout has also pointed out that they are still in school, being a professional go player does surely and severely limit the amount of time spent on other things. Do you really think a crappy retail part-time job is the only other option for these kids? Yet how will they explore the possibilities that for example a higher education might offer if they are spending 12 hours a day on go? (made up figure - but their regimen has to be pretty rigorous for their career to be viable in such a competitive field).

Yeah, I don't doubt that go takes up a lot of their time. On the other hand they already got a career, so they won't have to worry about that anymore and from what I hear the asian job market for higher jobs is quite competetive. If they need more time, they can always just drop out of school, as it probably won't contribute to their income much. Yes, maybe the higher education is somewhat locked off from them (unless they are extremely smart and can just breeze through school) but in return they get a higher education in go. You could also argue that for the average student studying is preventing them from playing go 12 hours a day.

When you strife for excellence(or whatever you wanna call it) in a field there is bound to be some collateral damage in other fields that you could spend time on instead.

But saying something definite is almost impossible, we don't know the kids training and school schedule, so its hard to say how much free time they have compared to "normal" kids. And if they had more spare time, maybe they would spend it playing go anyway, because they just like it that much. We would really need to ask them personally if they enjoy their life right now to say something about their personal happiness.

[nabya]

I saw the beginning of this game on Baduk TV a couple of days ago, but I fell asleep before it ended. The commentators kept mentioning Lee Sedol, I didn't know why. I guess he was watching the game. Thanks for the sgf, I couldn't find it on go4go.