Park Junghwan interview

[Peter Hansmeier]

On July 13, Park Junghwan defeated Chen Yaoye by 1.5 points to win the China-Korea Tianyuan-Chunwon match. The revised record between the two players is now 2-4 in favor of Chen Yaoye. The following interview is after Park Junghwan won his second and decisive game.

Q: Congratulations on your win. Please briefly comment about the game.
Park Junghwan: This was a very difficult win; I am very pleased about it. Because my record against Chen Yaoye has not been good, I very much wanted to succeed.

Q: Before the match you said that you had played through many of Chen Yaoye's games. Was this effective?
Park Junghwan: Yes, I played through about eighty games. Though I did not review them completely, my research was of some assistance.

Q: After you lost the first match, did you feel any pressure?
Park Junghwan: I did not cease to strive my hardest. I could not allow myself to get distracted. Also, I absolutely wanted to avoid a consecutive loss.

Q: You cared deeply about losing two in a row?
Park Junghwan: Yes. The fear of losing becomes a habit. Now with two straight wins I have regained my confidence.

Q: What is your reaction to winning the China-Korea Tianyuan-Chunwon match?
Park Junghwan: From the beginning of the match I was fatigued from catching a cold. Now that the match is over it is as though a burden has been lifted; now I will have a good rest. (laugh)

Q: The previous winners of the China-Korea Tianyuan-Chunwon match have been regarded as the world's strongest Go players. How do you feel about this?
Park Junghwan: There is still a gap between those players and myself, but I still have some time to reach a high level.

Q: How would you assess your opponent, Chen Yaoye?
Park Junghwan: He made almost no mistakes; his style is very thick.

Q: What is your biggest goal for the year?
Park Junghwan: Winning a gold medal at the Asian Games so I can avoid military service.

----

As an aside, Park Junghwan and Chen Yaoye were "interviewed" at the opening banquet--but with special conditions. Reporters asked the two players questions, and the players had three seconds to provide a satisfactory answer. Failure to comply resulted in a penalty drink for that player's national delegation. The most interesting question was: "Which three players would you rather avoid in international tournaments?" Park's answer was: "Lee Sedol, Kong Jie, and Gu Li." Chen Yaoye's answer was "Only Kong Jie."

[Jonas]

Thanks for the translation : )


Does a "normal" Go-pro have to do the military service? I thought they'd get some kind of carte blanche.

[Hushfield]

I think you could compare this to the problems facing some of the top StarCraft players in South Korea. Lim Yo-Hwan (or SlayerS_`BoxeR`), the world's best StarCraft player at the time, who also happened to be an absolute pop-idol with over a million loyal fans, had to quit playing StarCraft in his prime to join the Airforce. That's like saying Lee Sedol has to quit playing for two years to wear the uniform. Seems a little fame and a few titles won't prevent you from doing military service in South Korea, no sir.

[edit:] Though wikipedia does have a nice piece of info on how he handled that situation. Leave it to a mindsport player to think his way out of that situation.

After Lim joined the Air Force, he started putting his fame to work. After a month and a half an Air Force pro-gaming team was created. Lim found some retired pro-gamers who joined the Air Force before him, including H.O.T-Forever, CLon, ChRh, fOru, Rage, Qoo) Sunny and MuMyung. Together they formed the first military pro-gaming team. After 2 months the team was announced, ACE (Airforce Challenge E-sports) was official. ACE first played in the 2008 ShinHan Proleague, and has participated ever since.

[LokBuddha]

Only Kong Jie? so Kong Jie the top dog now lol? I am too weak to distinguish top people.

[Peter Hansmeier]

Over the last year or so (ever since I started reading Chinese sources for news), Chen Yaoye has frequently commented on Kong Jie's superior skill. Chen Yaoye does not have the same praise for Gu Li, probably because of Chen's excellent results against the former Chinese #1.

Personally, I think it is hard to dispute Kong Jie's claim for the #1 spot. He currently holds four(!) international titles as well as a couple domestic titles. Lee Sedol did have a great winning streak upon his return, but BC Card Cup games aside he did not play against top competition.

[LokBuddha]

Lol at Chen aka Kong Jie's fanboy.

[John Fairbairn]

Ah, but Kong has just got married (or registered, anyway) so his career has gone for a Burton

It's interesting that the current top players in Japan (Cho U) and China (Kong) are known as tsume-go fanatics. It hasn't impinged on me who the top tsume-go fan is in Korea - anyone know?

It's always difficult to know whether to assess top player at a moment in time or over a period of time. In the former case, Kong comes out top. In the latter case, it seems Yi Se-tol still holds the roost, though I didn't look at the table in detail.

[Tryphon]

It's interesting that the current top players in Japan (Cho U) and China (Kong) are known as tsume-go fanatics.

Are there top pro players who do not like tsumegos ? Or who confess they're not good at it ?

[LokBuddha]

Ah, but Kong has just got married (or registered, anyway) so his career has gone for a Burton

It's interesting that the current top players in Japan (Cho U) and China (Kong) are known as tsume-go fanatics. It hasn't impinged on me who the top tsume-go fan is in Korea - anyone know?

It's always difficult to know whether to assess top player at a moment in time or over a period of time. In the former case, Kong comes out top. In the latter case, it seems Yi Se-tol still holds the roost, though I didn't look at the table in detail.

Interesting, I remembered a story when Cho U was in China; he went to Kong Jie for some Tsumego session . I think Yisedol record against Kong Jie is still favorable no?

[hyperpape]

Are there top pro players who do not like tsumegos ? Or who confess they're not good at it ?

No. Well, at least no top player doesn't do a lot of tsumego, and none who are not very very good at them. But there are still players who are even better than the others, and there are tsumego that are challenging for the pros, so the ability to solve them rapidly is not common (edit: I missed that I was recalling this from Cho U's senseis' page http://senseis.xmp.net/?ChoU). And there are players who enjoy composing tsumego--that's not universal.

I recall hearing that Cho U has terrible handwriting, so he began to compose mini-tsumego on the spot when signing fans for fans (I can't figure out how to avoid the pun...). He can compose interesting tsumego on the spot, which is notable even by pro standards. And of course, there is his book: http://senseis.xmp.net/?ChoUsTsumego.

[LokBuddha]

Cho U, the current Honinbo, is a very territory-oriented player, and it's almost like his weak groups are charmed, they don't die: it's almost impossible to kill a group of his. I actually beat him once, when he had two weak groups on the board, both of them lived but I managed to win that game. His reading is extremely deep, better than most of the top players. His specialty is creating small tsume-go problems that are very difficult for even the pros to solve, and he can make them very quickly

I don't see Cho U on the international stage anymore? Given that he is that strong like in the description. How well do you guys think Cho U can hold against other pros internationally?

[Vesa]

I don't see Cho U on the international stage anymore? Given that he is that strong like in the description. How well do you guys think Cho U can hold against other pros internationally?

I think Cho U will be topping the earnings list this year again.

Cheers,
Vesa

[LokBuddha]

you mean Cho U only focus on big money on domestic tournament and international fame is just stupid?

[hyperpape]

you mean Cho U only focus on big money on domestic tournament and international fame is just stupid?

It's commonly thought that these financial considerations are one reason that Japanese professionals are less successful on the international stage. Whether it is the most important reason is, well...more debatable.

Cho did win a major international title--something almost no Japanese pro currently under 40 has done. Aside from that, his results have been decent, but not amazing. He was 8-2 in international play in 2006, for instance. But he's been appearing a little less often, so I think he is focusing on domestic tournaments.