Go studies in China

2008-05-06T02:11:00.003+08:00

2008-05-05:

Close to my departure from China I had the idea of having an interview with An Yan re his background, his go-school, his opinion re the current go-situation and re the future. I considered that it might be interesting to get his opinions and his knowledge as a professional go-player and teacher. I have really looked forward to his answers, but I need to admit that some of them surprise me, especially when talking about the current and future go-situation.

Thanks to Juan Guo who took her time and supported my idea by translating the interview.

One note: No editing was done by me towards the answers.

Background:

您的围棋简历:

十岁开始学棋，多次获得湖北省和武汉市儿童、少年围棋比赛冠军。78年进入湖北省围棋队，1982年定为职业四段，1985年获全国国棋团体赛第五名，1986年获全国新秀杯围棋赛第三名。1989年升入专业七段.1983年至1985年入选国家围棋队。

Started to learn Go at 10 years old, Won many times of HuBei province and Wuhan city youth championships, Entered HuBei province team in 78, 1982 4p. 1985 national team championship 5th place. 1986 national new talent cup 3ird place. 1989 promoted to 7p. From 1083 to 1985 in the China National Team.

- When did you start playing Weiqi, and how many years have you been playing now?

- 您是从什么时候开始下的围棋? 您下了多少年围棋?

十岁开始学棋，下了36年围棋。

Since 10 years old, played go for 36 years.

- When did you become a professional player?

- 您是从什么时候成为职业棋手的?

1982年定为职业四段，成为职业棋手的。

1982 became 4p (guojuan: before 1982 we did not have official pro ranking).

- When were you promoted, finally to 7p?

- 您是从什么时候打到职业七段的?

1989年

1989

- As a professional player, how many hours per day did you do exercises?

- 作为职业棋手, 您曾经一天花多少时间做联系?

半个小时至丨个小时。

Half an hour to one hour.

- At how many tournaments did you participate (roughly) and how many years/ games did you play in the league?

- 您大概参加了多少比赛? 大概下了多少年比赛? 大概下了多少盘比赛对局?

不清楚了。

Don’t remember anymore.

- When did you decide to become a Weiqi teacher?

- 您是什么时候决定做围棋老师的?

2001年．

2001

- What was the reason that you decided to teach Weiqi? Was it your dream to become a teacher?

- 是什么原因使您决定做围棋老师的? 做围棋老师曾是您的做梦想吗?

想培养专业棋手。梦想是培养一名世界冠军。

I want to train young players to become pro. My dream is to make a world champion.

- What did change for you after you had become a teacher?

- 做围棋老师之后, 您的人生有何改变?

跟做专业棋手一样。

Same as when I was a pro player.

Go-School:

围棋学校:

- How many Weiqi students does your school have and how many teachers do work there?

- 您的围棋学校有多少学生? 有多少老师在那里工作?

围棋学校有200多人.10名老师。

Our go school has more than 200 students, 10 teachers.

- Is your Weiqi school also active in other areas, eg promotes Weiqi at "normal" schools?

- 您的围棋学校在其他领域也有活动吗? 比如说到学校去普及围棋?

有到学校去普及围棋，目前已有8所小学开展围棋课。

Yes, we go to schools to promote Go, at this moment we started go classes in 8 elementary schools.

- How many Weiqi schools do exist here in Wuhan?

- 在武汉有多少围棋学校?

4个围棋学校，1500人上课。

4 go schools, 1500 students taking go classes.

- How come that you had the idea to offer to foreign Weiqi students to study Weiqi at

your school?

- 您是怎么想到让西方国家的围棋手到您的学校学棋的?

2005年访欧在捷克见到了老朋友郭娟五段，是郭娟老师提意策划后，是他的学校和我的学校一起合作创办的。

When I visited European Go congress in 2005, in CZ I met my old friend Guo Juan 5p, she talked with me about this, we started to work on this together.

- How is this program re foreign students developing?

- 西方国家的围棋手到您的学校学棋的发展情况如何?

西方国家棋手，通过到我的学校学棋后，对围棋理论、方法、实战应用等均能系统的掌握，一般学习3个月后能提高1段水平。

Students from western countries, then learn from our school about Go theories, skills and real game applies, normally after 3month, they can improve 1 dan.

- Do you have for every student, especially for the foreign students, an individual program?

- 对您的每一个学生, 尤其是西方国家来的学生, 您都有个别的训练计划吗?

是的。我对每个学生，尤其是西方国家来的学生都会个别制定训练计划，

Yes, for every student, especially from western countries, I all have training plans for each of them.

- How many of your students have become a professional player?

- 您的学生中有多少成为了职业棋手?

学生中有8人成为职业棋手，像严欢三段，鲁佳（女）初段已经入选中国国家少年围棋队

8 of them became pro, like Yan Huan 3p, Lu Jia (female) 1p are already entered the China national youth team.

Current situation:

目前的形势:

到目前为止，来我棋校学棋的外国学生有美国、德国、法国、捷克、荷兰、摩罗哥等国家近30人。

Up to now, there were students from USA, Germany, France, CZ, Netherlands, Morocco, total about 30 students.

- How do you judge the current situation re Weiqi in China?

- 您对目前中国的围棋形势怎么看?

中国围棋形势发展不错。

The development of Chinese Go is good.

- What do you think is the reason that Weiqi in general is so popular in Asia - compared to for example Europe, and that people start to study at a very young age?

- 和欧洲比较, 您认为是什么原因使围棋在亚洲这么流行? 而且亚洲的孩子学棋那么早.

No answer.

- There is the rumour that in China especially children from poor families seriously study Weiqi. Is this true? Is yes, what do you think is the reason for this phenomen?

- 传说在中国, 尤其是比较穷的家庭的小孩学棋特别认真, 是这样吗? 如果是, 您认为这是为什么呢?

No answer.

- If you compare China's level with the level in Korea and Japan what do you think?

- 您是如何看待中国与韩国和日本围棋水平的差距的?

No answer.

- It is said that Japan did have a lot of problems, and recently Korea is said to have big problems. According to some open sources info a lot of Weiqi schools had to close in these countries because few children went to a Weiqi school. Do you have further information re this development?

- 人们说日本棋界曾经有许多问题, 目前又说韩国棋界问题很大. 具一些公开的信息渠道说在这两个国家很多围棋学校都关了门, 因为生源不够. 您对此有更多的信息吗?

不知

I don’t know.

- Is it possible that this development could also arise here in China?

- 上面所说的问题也可能在中国发生吗?

不知

I don’t know

- In which way does the Chinese Weiqi Federation support and promote the game within China?

- 中国围棋协会是如何在国内支持和普及围棋的?

I don’t know.

- Is the Chinese Weiqi Federation interested in supporting and promoting Weiqi outside China?

- 中国围棋协会对在国外支持和普及围棋有兴趣吗?

不知。

I don’t know

- In Seoul/ Korea there is the only Weiqi university in the world. What is your opinion re this university? If you compare this university with a "normal" Weiqi school what is your judgement? Can you imagine that China is going to have also a Weiqi university?

- 韩国首都首尔有世界上唯一的围棋大学. 您对这所大学有什么看法? 如果将这所围棋大学和一般的围棋学校作比较, 您的判断是什么? 您认为中国也会有一所围棋大学吗?

不清楚。

I don’t know.

2008-04-29T03:43:00.006+08:00

2008-04-28:

Today I have a "special" request:

I am looking for training partners. Ideally you are around my rank (I am 1 dan China). You should be - in a positive way - crazy about go and would like to improve.

My idea is to play together and to learn from each other. The weekend is family time, but why not to play during the week - if possible - one, two games per day, and to discuss problems?

What else? We could play on any server (KGS, IGS etc). I would prefer if we could play during the day, and not at the late evening (Moscow time).

Anyone interested? Just leave a comment here...

2008-04-28T02:27:00.002+08:00

2008-04-27:

What has happened during the last 2 months?

Well,

first I played a tournament immediately when I returned. Not a good decision. The tournament was just a disaster. I simply played badly.

Secondly, I am continuing to exercise. My training plan has changed a little bit compared to China. In China I did mainly Life&Death problems and played games that afterwards were reviewed. Back, I am extending the pillar "Basic Technics" by learning a lot about josekis and I am working hard on fusekis.

It has taken some time to be "really" back, but now I am enjoying my daily training and especially I have fun when I can play with real people.

2008-02-27T04:42:00.007+08:00

2008-02-26:

Let's have a look at the problem of game 1:

I frustrated my opponent by playing at 1, this moves enables Black to link up his groups, and therefore to win the game. Whatever White does it doesn't help.

If White plays here (2) Black simply plays 3 and wins the capturing race.

White 2 here looses, too; Black wins the capturing race by 1 move.

For Black it is more elegant in this variation to play like this, it takes some of White's liberties:

2008-02-18T21:51:00.004+08:00

2008-02-18:
It is time to say good-bye to Wuhan . Suitcases are packed. Tomorrow morning at 06.00 An Yan is driving me to the airport.
It has been a hard work, and An Yan has put a lot of pressure on me. But, all the time I have had a lot of fun. This is for me the most important.

I want to thank Alexander Dinerchtein for being my teacher and for his advise when we discussed this project; Juan Guo for her kind support, advise and translations; An Yan's family and friends for their hospitality, I appreciate a lot their efforts to make me feel comfortable; kids and teachers in the go-school, they showed and taught me a lot; An Yan for being my teacher and mentor here in Wuhan, it has been a pleasure to learn with him as teacher; friends for their interest and feedback; my family for their love and understanding.

Is there already a next goal? Yes, EGC 2008 in Leksand, and I hope that I can improve until then a little bit ;-)

I hope that the other foreign students who are going to come here have fun and eventually share their experiences.

PS: As mentioned this blog will be continued, but probably not on a daily basis. Interview with An Yan and solutions for whole board positions will be published within next days.

2008-02-17T22:17:00.004+08:00

2008-02-17:
It's done!
Today I have been the last time in the go-school and have played my last two games there. In my first game I made a big mistake, and the game was quite fast. I took the opportunity to go the haircutter earlier. Unfortunately, the person who cut my hair the last time had just started with another person. A woman wanted to have her long hair short. I was told the famous: "Wait a minute."... I "explained" them that also another person can cut my hair, no problem. So, the master himself cut my hair. I had to pay a premium of 33%, compared to when a normal employee works. I paid 20 RMB (appr. 2 EUR), instead of 15 RMB (appr. 1.5 EUR)... ;-). For this premium I look now so hot, just wow!
I still had some time, had a walk, and by accident I found a bookshop that had some interesting go-books. I bought one; the original price was 75 RMB (7.5 EUR) but it was reduced to 15 RMB (1.5 EUR). Good deal!

Then in the evening An Yan gave me the feedback re my studies here in Wuhan:
- I am 1 dan (China)
- I have improved during these 3 months by 7-9 grades

That could lead now to an academic discussion about different ranking systems...
As I said earlier I played at the EGC 2007 with 7 kyu an even result. If we are now prudent and say that I have not improved between EGC and the begin of my studies here in Wuhan (or alternatively I was 8 kyu and improved a little bit) then it would match. According to the ranking comparison published on "Sensei's Library" ( http://senseis.xmp.net/?RankWorldwideComparison) a 7 kyu player in Europe is a 8 kyu player in China.

What remains?
- The circle is closing; even the weather is cooperating. When I came here it was a phantastic weather, and the weather forecast for Wuhan is between 5 and 15 degrees (Celsius). Springweather!
- Tomorrow is my free day, and I need it to pack my suitcase, buy some remaining stuff, and then I relax a little bit,
- I am going to continue this blog,
- I had an interview with An Yan, and I am going to publish it,
- I hope that this blog might have given you an impression about daily life here in Wuhan/ China (from my point of view),
- I still need to publish the solutions for the 2 whole board problems,

- And last but not least:
I am looking forward to seeing my family again.

2008-02-16T22:44:00.002+08:00

2008-02-16:
Today I have said "Good bye" to MacDonalds. Though it has been a wonderful day I had to go there and to have my last cup of coffee.
The weather has changed completely. Sunshine, and considerably warm. Amazing, if I think about the weather a couple of days ago...
I am already thinking about the additional bag I need to buy on Monday for all the books I bought here. Hopefully I can convince the clerk at the check-in at the airport that it is "just" a small bag with some presents I got, and very light ;-).

2008-02-15T22:11:00.009+08:00

2008-02-15:

Chinese people are crazy!!!

They start with fireworks before 8 o'clock in the morning. And with all these places here, surrounded by houses you have a perfect echo... And don't believe that they are modest and take only small and silent stuff; no, they think: "The bigger the better! The noisier the better!".

An Yan and I arrived at the go-school quite early today, around 9 o'clock. Unfortunately! We arrived just on time to get greated by another firework; and then my dream became true: Life concert. They did it with love and encouragement... Ahhhh!!! The good news: After this concert I was awake ;-).

Today I have two nice whole board problems. Both positions are from my today's games. Black to play in both problems.

In the first game I had a huge attack and I gained an imposing thickness. The last "small" detail of this attack: I need to assure that my groups, wall and center group, are alive... Provided that I can give these groups life my victory is - let's say - a formal issue. With this thickness there is nothing happening on the remaining board without my "approval".

In the second game I was sleepy and started in dreamland. I gave my opponent some nice presents (hm, spring festival has already passed, hasn't it?), upper and lower right corner and the five stones on the left. But then, finally, I woke up and fought back. Provided that my center group can live - at this moment I have only one eye at B9 - it looks quite good for me.

Enjoy reading!

Game 1:

Game 2:

2008-02-15T00:50:00.003+08:00

2008-02-14:
Today again a "normal" day at the go-school with two games against the kids. During the lunch break I went to MacDonalds and enjoyed a coffee; I really couldn't resist... ;-)
Slowly I am starting to count the remaining days, three months can become pretty long at the end. My final counting:
- 5 nights
- 3 days at go-school
- 6 games
- 2 coffees at Mac
- 1 haircut; during lunch break on Sunday; yes, I know but what to do? ;-)
- 1 final shopping
- more than 120 problems; huh, too much...
- maybe 50 pages with josekis; hm, also too much...

2008-02-13T18:32:00.011+08:00

2008-02-13:
I came back yesterday late evening from a nice and relaxing trip to some beautiful places outside Wuhan city.

We started our trip on Sunday morning around 10.00. We - this is An Yan's family, some friends and classmates with their children, and me.
First we drove to Mulan. We met some more friends and - right: we had lunch, a proper lunch. After lunch we continued, and we drove to Mulan mountains that is roughly 30 km from Wuhan. On the way to the mountains we eyewitnessed an accident. The driver of the motorbike had his lucky day, his very lucky day. If he had entered the main street half a second later or if the driver of the car hadn't had such a good reaction he would have been killed.
What stroke me most in the Mulan mountains was the clean and fresh air. We had a nice walk, I was told the sad story about Mulan's history (a woman commited suicide), and we continued our trip to Mulan lake. A really luxurious villa was our home there, with a phantastic view over the lake. After a proper dinner we made a good firework.
On the next morning we drove to the Tangchi Hotsprings. We arrived on time for lunch. After lunch we all were somehow tired, maybe due to the fresh air. So, it was decided to rest a little bit. I went to bed to take a nap around 15.00, and I got up at 16.00. At a quarter past four somebody knocked at my door, I was told to "wait a minute", and after half an hour, I got some tea with the remark: "wait a minute", and then finally at 17.30 we went for - dinner. Well, I was somehow prepared for that kind of afternoon, so I was not really surprised; but still: it would have been somehow pragmatic to announce it in advance clearly... But maybe this is only my preception ;-).
After dinner we went to the hotspring to take a bath. The hotspring was huge, I was told that it had more than 100 pools. It was a really relaxing experience...
I had my fun: At the entrance we received a big towel and slippers. Inside the hotspring I learnt how Chinese take care of their towels and slippers. They simply don't take care at all! If someone should take their towel or slippers they just take someone's else ones... So, I changed "my" towel and "my" slippers more than 10 times.
Close to midnight we were back in the hotel.
Yesterday morning we left around 11, met in the next city some friends, had a good lunch and continued our way back to Wuhan. A friend of An Yan invited all of us for dinner and late evening I arrived at the flat.
I am still amazed that everything seems to be organized around food...

Mulan Mountain:

Mulan Lake:

Tangchi Hotspring:

2008-02-09T23:36:00.000+08:00

2008-02-09:

Today I have had a go-free day. An Yan's niece and a friend of hers showed me another part of Wuhan. Wuhan is divided by rivers into three parts. I saw the bay of Yangtze river, some interesting buildings, a TV-show (fish-dance), the main pedestrian zone, the turtle mountain, an exhibition with a lot of handcrafted items - really amazing -, and a nice park. And on top we had really good weather...

I am invited by An Yan to spend the next 2 or 3 days with him and his family outside. It is "Spring Festival"-time.

Some impressions from today:

2008-02-08T21:02:00.000+08:00

2008-02-08:

A new adventure:

Early morning someone knocked at the door. I opened, and a Chinese man said something, I didn't have a clue. But he seemed to be nervous or exited. I only understood "No Problems" when he left. Hmm?! What was going on?

A few minutes later one of An Yan's relatives popped up. What I understood (body language) was that there was a big water problem with the tank on the roof. We went together on the roof, and correct: A huge piece of ice/ snow slided into the fresh-water-pipes that are connected with the tank. Pipes were broken and water ran out...

Needless to say that shower doesn't work, right?!

Later the day such a piece fell down from the roof down to the ground. It was such a noise when it smashed on the ground. WOW! I can tell you, I was close to an heart attack.

first picture: hane and then san-san

second picture: kozumi on first line and Black is alive

Wholeboard-position: after Black 7 White is in trouble...

expedition on the roof

2008-02-07T23:41:00.000+08:00

2008-02-07:
A rather quite day.
I slept as much as I could and then in the morning I played my first game against An Yan and in the afternoon the second one. Now I feel just exhausted and want to go to bed...
Tomorrow, on Saturday and on Sunday I have again two games each day against An Yan, and somehow these games are more exhausting than against the kids in the school. Dunno why...

Solutions to previous problems I want to post tomorrow.

2008-02-07T00:14:00.001+08:00

2008-02-06:
Happy New Year!
Actually I wanted to post a video here, but this was obviously too much.
It started at a quarter to midnight; suddenly it became so loud, unbelievable! I grabbed my jacket and went out. When I was out my body was shaken by detonations of millions and billions of fireworks. Crazy! The sky blue, green, yellow, red. It was bright as during the day. Smell of fire is in the air. You cannot hear anything because of the fireworks' noise.
New Year in China, a unique experience!

2008-02-05T21:02:00.000+08:00

2008-02-05:

Some good news:

- The shower is again working

- The washing machine is again working

- I won my last game in the go-school before vacation period

The weather change seems to be stable, sunshine, no snow anymore, temperature around +2 - +5 Celsius.
On Sunday evening, after go-school all teachers and some invited guests, eg the president of the go-federation of the Hubei-province had a big dinner. Yesterday evening again big dinner, this time within An Yan's family. The go-school is now closed for the upcoming spring festival. Instead of playing in the go-school I am going to play the next 10 days against An Yan.

The following part is dedicated to Ludmila:

Food is important in China and for Chinese. As I have already described so-called hotel-restaurants are quite common. You can book a big room that - despite table - also has a second part where you have arm chairs and a TV. On Sunday we were 19 people and had such a big room. According to my opinion quite luxurious, waitresses well educated.

It seems to me that a lot of people bring their own drinks, rice wine or soft drinks. Tea is served. So, we had some soft drinks, three bottles of rice wine and two bottles of red wine.

I was told that the women usually drink soft drinks or red wine, the men rice wine (sometimes red wine). At the end of a dinner or lunch usually and only men smoke. Important are the toasts, they can be done individually, meaning from one person to another person or within the entire group. Very important: if glasses touch each other you need to drink all, meaning bottom up. That means that especially at the beginning men pay attention that their glasses do not touch. Food is put on a rotating table. We had different kind of vegetables, different kind of meat, different kind of fish, two soups, duck etc etc and different kind of desert. Yammi!

The following pictures are a selection of what was served, please enjoy:

2008-02-03T07:36:00.000+08:00

2008-02-02:
Yesterday evening I wrote some emails, felt tired and said to myself: "5 minutes break." I fell asleep and woke up hours later :-).

You see people with suitcases, a lot of people with suitcases. It is just amazing. And then at some central points, eg train station or main bus stations it is a total chaos. People with suitcases are chaising taxis. Earlier yesterday evening I had a walk. At one big crossing close to the flat the travellers and the taxis even created a traffic jam. Taxis stopped in the middle of the crossing, their drivers and the travellers spoke, negotiated and eventually had a deal.

The weather is also amazing. Before yesterday snow storm, yesterday the full day sun, and the sun was strong enough that almost all snow has disappeared. It was really nice to be out during the lunchbreak and to catch some sun.

Wuhan is preparing for the "Spring Festival", the main festival here in China.

2008-02-01T21:24:00.000+08:00

2008-02-01:

A crazy weather here. Around noon we had a snow storm, and within one hour Wuhan has become white. The "street workers" who clean the streets from ice, mud and snow work in a strange way, according to my opinion. They take the dirt and snow and ice from areas of the street where no cars drive and put it there where cars drive. Maybe the people who gave the order think that the snow melts faster if it is in the middle of the street because a lot of cars pass over it (heat), cars squeeze it and the wheels grab it (take away). For me it looks rather like "Hm, we need to keep them busy. What else can they do?". Strange, strange. On the photo I tried to catch such a situation.

An Yan's student Huan Yan, 3p, has come today again to the go-school. He played simultaneously against two kids, strong 5 dans, from the go-school. Time limit: 90 minutes sudden death.

For lunch I was invited to join - among others - An Yan, two teachers, Huan Yan. The main "attraction" was a bird that was served on a tablet. On this tablet there was also a glass, and steam came continuously out of this glass. It really looked fascinating. I have not yet discovered how, why, and what for.

Bird and steam

An Yan, 7p, Huan Yan, 3p and me

Wuhan is white

"Street workers" putting snow etc again on the street

2008-01-31T21:25:00.000+08:00

2008-01-31 (2):
I have just read on the Internet a German newspaper (FAZ). To have an impression what is going on in big parts of southern and central China have a look at the pictures and the video. A friend of mine who works here in Wuhan was on Tuesday stuck in Beijing; no train, no plane back to Wuhan. And tomorrow he would like to leave for vacation.
He is one of millions of people who are stuck due to the exceptional winter. The reason why so many people travel is the Chinese New Year, the main festival here in China. And a lot of so-called migrant workers have only once a year the opportunity to visit their family.
http://www.faz.net/s/RubB08CD9E6B08746679EDCF370F87A4512/Doc~E658850C07CD542109B68106BCC56B75E~ATpl~Ecommon~SMed.html#1D666B36AB574FABA55935F019C17077

2008-01-31T20:21:00.000+08:00

2008-01-31:

Yesterday I was challenged by the lady who cooks here and keeps the flat tidied. I accepted, and I had to give her 9 stones. It has been her very first time that she played. Though I won I was positively surprised how well she played, considering that this has been her first time. And even though I am much stronger than her, 9 stones still look impressive...

And the end of today's schedule in the go-school two of Yan An's students came to visit us. One is a strong 6 Dan, the other one a 3 Pro. I remembered that I had seen the 3 Pro during the DSC Tournament. When school was over An Yan, his students, their fathers and I went for dinner. One of the students speaks a little bit of English, so we had a nice conversation.

Today I am finishing the "Tour De Flat" by showing how it looks like when you look out of the windows:

When you look out of "my" bedroom you see the following:

When you look out of the studyroom you see this:

And this is the inner courtyard:

Two more problems, Black to play in both problems, enjoy:
The whole board situation is a position that arised during my game today, I had 3 stones handicap. I made a joseki mistake in the upper left corner, but used in this position my chance to attack White.

2008-01-30T23:24:00.000+08:00

2008-01-30:

It has again started to melt. Let's see how the weather is developing in the next days. For some time you could even spot the sun, not clear, rather dusty and dirty, but still. People used immediately the opportunity to hang their clothes out for drying. Due to space problems this is quite common here. And traditionally on Saturday and on Sunday all people seem to wash simultaneously. If you then look at houses you have rather the impression to be a shop for clothes ;-).

As you can on the photos in front of the windows there is some kind of metal bar. In most cases rusty, but this doesn't matter. Then you take long bamboos, and on those bamboos you hang your clothes. Alternatively, people use their balcony - if available -, or I also saw people who put their stuff in trees, next to the street.

For go-players I have this time two nice problems.

White to play, an interesting problem.

Black to play, this is a funny problem. Since there aren't so many points it should be quite easy to solve it, shouldn't it? Actually you need to check only four points because the position is symmetrical.

2008-01-30T00:45:00.000+08:00

2008-01-29:
Today a short blog.
I have played today a "normal" game against An Yan. In case that the other student from the go-school had not come then I would have played simultaneously two games against An Yan.

On the Internet I read in German and Russian newspapers about the chaotic situation here in China. Quite interesting that even abroad this issue is reported.
People here have the strong concern that this weather impacts significantly the Chinese New Year activities that are going to start very soon.

2008-01-28T21:16:00.000+08:00

2008-01-28:

Today is my free day. After lunch I had nice walk enjoying the snow. I detected some kind of park, and it was really nice to escape from the streets. During the day I have done many L&D-problems.

After dinner An Yan introduced me to his plan for tomorrow. If I understood him correctly I am going to play simultaneously two games. Well, this would be the first time that I play two or more games at the same time. Exciting!

It is cold in the go-school. Wearing warm clothes is needed.

2008-01-27T20:52:00.000+08:00

2008-01-27:
It is now certain, washing machine's pipe is frozen. I didn't know that a part of this pipe is outside. As as you can see on the picture, the part of the pipe that is outside has the form of a "U" where at the deepest point always some water remains. This water is now frozen.

How to protect your car from snow? This car driver was creative. To park as close as possible to the building, and then to cover the car properly.

"Street-workers" in action. These people are at this moment everywhere and fight a hopeless battle. It hasn't stopped snowing. Today I have even seen this kind of special car with which you clean the streets. An Yan told me that there were not so many in Wuhan.

Unfortunately I was too late to take a picture from the following scene:
A van/ truck is standing on the street. The driver collected some wood (honestly I have no clue where he got it from) , put it on the snow under the tank. The tank is on the left side of the vehicles, outside. And he started a nice fire... I could easily see it when An Yan passed this van/ truck. Either he used fuel of (very) bad quality, or some connections are frozen?! Hmmmm....

Camille who has stayed here in Wuhan for some time and has moved on to another city also has a blog. Her blog is in French. This is the link:
http://camille-en-chine.over-blog.com/

2008-01-26T21:35:00.000+08:00

2008-01-26:

Winter in Wuhan. An Yan told me that Wuhan had had the last time that amount of snow in 1991. Car drivers hate it, and kids love it.

I belong almost to Mac's inventory. In the go-book there was one problem where I had a different solution that the proposed one. I checked again and again, and I was sure that mine is correct. Back at school I showed the problem An Yan, and he agreed on my solution. ;-)Nevertheless, my reading in my two games was poor - to be polite. Let's call it "Black Saturday"!

An Yan made me a nice present: A book with almost 1000 L&D-problems, level: 5-dan...

It is still beyond my level, but still..., encouraging

Wuhan's streets this morning. A surface out of plain snow, and partly ice under. So, it was half driving, half sliding. On the campus where I live it was even worse. An Yan and I had some trouble to leave.

Children built a snowman in front of a shop.

2008-01-25T23:15:00.000+08:00

2008-01-25:
No news, despite one small issue:
It seems that also the washing machine's pipes are frozen. I wanted to wash, and when I came back from An Yan's neighbour - taking shower, you certainly recall - all water still in the washing machine, and the water was ice cold. So I grabbed the stuff out of the water, wrung it out with my hands and now they are drying in front of the air-conditioner. Actually I have now enough underwear for the remaining period, provided I change only each second or third day...

For me it is a miracle how the lady who cooks here and keeps the flat tidied is able to prepare lunch or dinner with only two hotplates. For dinner she serves often different kind of vegetables, fish, meat, soup, rice (prepared in special device). Next to the stove is still a small sink. The fridge is in the hall.

Left side of the kitchen

Right side

The stove

2008-01-24T23:16:00.000+08:00

2008-01-24 (2):
A new adventure:
Suddenly no electricity anymore. No light, no air-conditioner, no teapot, nothing. I went to neighbours on 4th floor and explained them in English-Chinese-body language my problem (they had electricity). We went together to the ground floor where the main device for electricity is located. Everything normal. Back to 4th floor. She made some phone calls, and her daughter was able to translate the main point: "Wait a moment. Someone will come and repair it."
Wait a moment can mean anything, 1 minute, 30 minutes, 4 hours.
After 30 minutes some noise in the floor. We again to the ground floor, an electrician has arrived and tried to fix the problem. While going downstairs I noticed that in the meantime also the other flats did not have electricity anymore. Some people were sitting there with candles, and blankets around the shoulders. 30 minutes without heating/ air-conditioners and it is ice cold inside.
Another 30 minutes later, I was cosily sitting in my bed under my blanket, we had again electricity.

2008-01-24T19:46:00.000+08:00

2008-01-24:

Vacation period has started. Now I am going four times during the week to the go-school. On Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Each day two games.

This morning before we started to play all children had been given a broom, a shovel or something similar and then the children have cleaned the sidewalk for some minutes. As a thank you they received a textbook.

In the morning when An Yan and I arrive in the go-school it is cold there. After some time you can bear the temperature, thinking people produce enough heat. But then during the lunch break when all kids are out it is again chilly. I have discovered a MacDonalds, 10 minutes walking distance from the school. So, today after lunch I went there with a go-book (tesuji-problems), grabbed a coffee and enjoyed my lunch break solving problems at MacDonalds where it is warm inside. Quite comfortable! Most likely I am going to do so also in the future.

Today I have been able to see An Yan as a really rough and tough teacher. A kid overlooked an invasion, had a terrible shape, let his opponent live where was no life. An Yan got angry. I am sure this has been the first and the last time this kid has made these mistakes...

2008-01-23T23:13:00.000+08:00

2008-01-23:

I feel much better. Things are developing well.

But for a change shower's pipes are again frozen ;-). And the weather forecast promises low temperatures in the next days. Maybe I am taking again a shower at An Yan's neighbour?!

Today I am showing the bathroom:

1) Bathroom from the entrance

2) Toilet with important pipe in lower left corner

This pipe in the lower left corner on the second picture is connected to the washing machine. In case you are "busy" and the washing machine is running you need to pay attention. It might be that you get wet feet, unless you lift them fast enough ;-).

2008-01-22T23:40:00.000+08:00

2008-01-22:
I try to recover. Slept a lot. Though I had a light headache I played a very good game against An Yan, "just forgot" to win a won game.

In the morning I got to know how to approach a problem from a different perspective. I got up and went to the bathroom, just wearing a pullover and no jacket. When the cook saw me she told (ok, better showed) me: "Markus, it is cold in the flat. Put on your jacket!". Hm...
This flat is on the campus, it is a students' flat. I am glad that I am not a student who lives in such a flat for a longer period. As long as it is outside warm it is ok, but this flat (no isolation, windows not properly fixed, no heating) is an adventure when it is cold outside.

After dinner I had a nice walk, and I had the impression that it is outside warmer than in the flat. But it might be that I had this impression due to walking.

2008-01-21T22:42:00.000+08:00

2008-01-21:

Finally! I got a cold. Had somehow this kind of feeling some days ago. I have stayed until afternoon in bed - at my free day!. Let's hope that I am soon back on track!

Then an English speaking student came to support me with negotiating power. This student was told by An Yan that I wanted to buy boots. If you go as a foreigner in a small shop, it seems that some kind of magic make the prices increase considerably ;-).

I was told that this winter here is absolutely an exception, and the stuff I have with me is not really for this kind of weather.

We found in a small shop these boots for unbeatable 38 RMB (app. 3.80 EUR); they have even fur inside. And now I have warm and dry feet. Good feeling!

We had dinner outside and then I saw that they offer in this restaurant normal coffee. Real, good coffee! I couldn't resist. My first coffee after two months.

When arriving at the flat we experienced a small problem. Obviously this student and the cook had a misunderstanding. When we knocked at the door nobody opened, the cook had already left. The student left her mobile phone in the flat; BUT she had the cook's mobile phone number written down. Knocking at the neighbour's door we were told to use a cell phone on the street. The student went to the next cell phone, but it didn't work. Then to the campus' entrance. The guards were kind. Of course cook's mobile phone was switched off; so she phoned her mother who had An Yan's telephone number...

Let me continue to introduce the flat. This time you see the study room. In the foreground there are two more tables where An Yan plays against his students.

2008-01-20T21:37:00.000+08:00

2008-01-20:

Two good news:

In the go-school I played against a 3-dan with 3H, and until the late middle game I could keep the game at least even. Then I made an overplay, lost quite some points and lost again in the endgame between 10-15 points. Nevertheless, I won. This makes me quite confident for the remaining four weeks.

We went with An Yan's neighbours to dinner, and their son plays also go. How come? ;-) An Yan had the idea that their son and I could have a game on the way to the restaurant. Magnetic board out, and we started in the car our game. He is 3-dan, and we played even. Maybe he was tired, maybe annoyed, maybe he didn't pay attention, I don't know. He made in the opening some slack moves, I said politely thank you - and when we arrived at the restaurant my victory was certain.

The corner position from yesterday is safe, provided a proper defense. White can get only one eye.

And here are the solutions from previous week. I sincerely hope you enjoyed...

One remark: Often there are variations possible, I show only one. But I think that - when you get the main idea - you are able to read out the other variations on your own.

Problem 1: more than a ko is not possible

Problem 2:

Problem 3:

Problem 4:

Problem 5: Under the stones

And now:

I am sure that you find the last move on your own...

Problem 6:

Problem 7:

Problem 8: Take some time and read out the variation in case that White descends instead of playing kozumi (2nd move)

Problem 9:

Problem 10:

And this is the second bedroom, it reminds me somehow at a youth hostel:

2008-01-19T20:44:00.000+08:00

2008-01-19:

You might be surprised that not me but Katya answers comments. There is a very easy explanation: Here in China certain websites are blocked, including all "blogspot"-sites. I can post a blog, but not view it. That means also that I cannot reply on any comment. So, Katya sends me the comment via email, I reply to her, and then she answers.

Wuhan is white, at least it was in the morning. Then during the day it has become a little bit warmer, exactly so much that the streets and sidewalks are a disaster. Muddy! But it has continued snowing and drizzling all day. During the lunch break I had a walk and a bypassing car offered me a shower free of charge. I was lucky, only the lower part of my trousers got wet. A couple walking in front of me was not so lucky as me...

Actually the sidewalks are so muddy that a lot of people prefer walking on the street.

I have never seen it before: In the morning several men with long bamboos went from tree to tree and shook them. Their intention: to free them from the snow.

And also quite interesting: Here in Wuhan people remove with brooms snow, mud and ice from the streets; at least I haven't seen so far any special car that removes it.

The solutions of the 5 life& death and 5 tesuji-problems I am going to post tomorrow. In the endgame-position Black makes the monkey jump to D, White plays at C and Black jumps back to A, keeping sente, while playing at B is gote.

Today I want to show an example re corner enclosure/ invasion. When I was weaker I thought that a corner is mine and was annoyed when the stronger player invaded. Or vice verse the corner was safe and I made an unnecessary move. This position is from yesterday's game between An Yan and me. Check it out if Black's corner is safe or not. In case that White plays at A first, Black naturally defends at B. White has then two potential follow-ups: C and D.

The same tank you saw yesterday, this morning:

Muddy streets and sidewalks (and how to protect your shoes):

Clean window screens are important:

"My" master-bedroom:

2008-01-18T22:57:00.000+08:00

2008-01-18:
Disgusting weather! The temperature dropped again. Today it has been drizzling all the time, half rain, half snow. You are just looking out of the window and you are already freezing. But pipes are ok. On the picture you can see a tank on the roof. It is very common for the houses in this area to have the tanks on the roof.
This house has five floors, and when the snow melted big pieces of ice and snow fell down and smashed with a terrible noise on the ground. When I heard it the first time I was like paralysed. What was that? And then you start to overhear it. As far as I am concerned no one was hurt by pieces falling down...

Today I have studied a lot "endgame". And I discover more and more that endgame is a quite sophisticated part of the game. And you can easily win or loose half a stone or even a full stone there. It takes a lot of time to go through the details. I still remember when I learnt the monkey jump. Now I have a much closer look if to play keima or the monkey jump. All these efforts for just ONE point and especially for sente ;-).

Tank on the roof:

Monkey Jump or keima? And if monkey jump how to continue?:

How many points is this position worth?

And how should Black play? In case Black plays at C, White answers at D.

2008-01-17T21:18:00.001+08:00

2008-01-17:
No sun today, but still warm enough that it keeps on melting. And then really, in the late afternoon also the shower pipes are again free.
You may guess what I am doing later...

Yesterday evening I watched on KGS a game between two 3-kyu players. Exiting game, capturing races, ko-fights! But I was amazed by the amount of crude moves and reading-mistakes. One example that really stroke me:

Position is in lower right corner
Black to play
Black had a very comfortable lead
No time-pressure, both players have plenty of time

Black started at S3 and started a ko-fight (after he played at later stage T3) instead of playing at R4 with easy life...

2008-01-16T20:05:00.000+08:00

2008-01-16:
Finally! It has become warmer and the snow has started to melt. The flat is on the highest floor of the house and the tank on the roof. Sunshine; so, I had some hope that the pipes would be free again in the evening. And then, in the late afternoon, warm water is coming out of the tap. HAPPINESS! I had pictures in my mind of taking a long and hot shower in the evening.
But I didn't make my calculation with Chinese creativity. The pipes coming from the tank for the tap are different ones than for the shower, and these were (and are) still frozen :-(.

OK, one step back, my options:
- Swimming bath
- Massage saloon
- Hotel
- Dirt ball
- Cold shower
- To wash at the tap

I forgot one option: After the game review with An Yan he told me that we are now going to his friend and neighbour and that I could take the shower there... Good feeling!

2008-01-15T18:20:00.000+08:00

2008-01-15:
A quiz:
The floor is cleaned with too much and cold water. It is cold in the flat. What time does it take to dry?
a) 5 minutes
b) 1 hour
c) 3 hours

The cold weather keeps on. This morning I have done my reading exercises wearing the warm jacket and having the blanket around my legs.
The Chinese have their own way to deal with it. Quite populare are small bags containing water, AND having a socket so the water can be heated. When hot they put it under their jacket.
In the go-school there were only 3 kids, the others stayed at home, either due to the temperature or the street conditions. Total desaster! Icy, slippery and/ or muddy.

2008-01-14T20:16:00.000+08:00

2008-01-14:

No worries, I am not yet presenting the solutions. You still have time to enjoy the problems...

When I looked this morning out of the window I saw snow, a lot of snow. Several centimeters of fresh snow, and it was still snowing. On top this icy, sharp and humid wind that goes through and through.
2 years ago we had in Moscow a cold winter, up to -35 C. But these -35 C feel warm compared to this here, brrrr.

Today it is my free day, so I went to one of these shopping centers and bought a "polar-proofed" jacket. I can tell you: it is a cosy feeling.

The second topic: My transformation is not yet completed. First I am transformed from a European "Markus" into a Chinese "Maks", now I am even transformed into a skunk - not yet decided whether European or Chinese ;-). Due to this sharp temperature drop the water pipes for warm water are frozen (the tank is outside). But maybe I find a swimming bath or another place where I can take shower?!

Just compare these two pictures. The first one shows us at the end of November; warm, sunny, nice weather, the second one shows me in my new jacket:

from left to right:
Martin (China/ Sweden), Markus (Germany/ Russia), Ulf (Sweden), Camille (France/for 1 year in China), Omar (Morocco/ China), Pal (Norway); first country indicates origin, second one (current) residence

with these clothings I am currently sitting in front of the computer and writing this blog - ah, I forgot the blanket I put around the legs and feet...

2008-01-13T20:31:00.000+08:00

2008-01-13:

It has become bloody cold, practically over night. Today we have even snow what does not happen so often in Wuhan. The problem with the cold here is its humidity. Here are two big rivers. It feels like Arctics. I deal with it with the onion principle: Undershirt, thick cotton shirt, THREE pullovers and a warm jacket. Sitting all day long in an even colder go-school you need to protect yourself.

The architecture in China is a big issue. There are a lot of flats erected in the 70s or 80s that are badly isolated - if at all. This problem was recognized and the Government has done some steps, but still there are a lot of poorly isolated buildings and flats, including the flat I am living in right now. It seems to me that the flat collects all the cold from outside and gives it to the inside in a concentrated way. The air-conditioners do what they can do...

On the streets it has been this morning icy and slippery, much more accidents than usual. I have just come back from a nice walk, and on the sidewalks we pedestrians moved like pinguins.

My schedule has been changed a little bit. Instead of playing twice against a teacher from the go-school and twice against An Yan I play now one time against a teacher from the school and three times against An Yan. I like it.

This week I have bought books. Many! I only hope that the airline doesn't charge me for overweight... The books are very cheap compared to e.g. Germany. The "bible" of joseki is around EUR 4.20, a book with 220 life&death- and 360 tesuji-problems and many endgame situations is around EUR 2.40. The problems are at all levels available, starting from beginner up to professional.

For those who like to see what do I do - among others - I have chosen 10 problems, 5 L&D and 5 tesuji. Black to play in all problems. The tricky detail: Put the timer on 10 minutes...

(Solutions in next blog)

While you are enjoying reading I have a cup of tea and some chocolate. ;-)

Problem 1:

Problem 2:

Problem 3:

Problem 4:

Problem 5:

Problem 6:

Problem 7:

Problem 8:

Problem 9:

Problem 10:

Winter in Wuhan (1), An Yan:

Winter in Wuhan (2), my "outdoor-fitness-studio":

2008-01-05T22:52:00.000+08:00

2008-01-05：
Half-time, I am now here for 6.5 weeks. Time for a quick review:

When I came I had two main goals, in this priority:
- to get a feeling if I really want to focus on go. Three months of very intensive training is a good opportunity to figure this out.
- to improve my skills (reading, joseki etc, but NOT to dive into go-psychology or history)

If we look at the results: two times "Yes".
Though I study 10 hours+ per day I have a lot of fun. And fun is the crucial point, according to my opinion. I am enjoying, and if you can do what you like to do, perfect.
I started with go one year ago. During 2007 I started to take lessons with Alexander Dinerchtein, 1p. At the EGC 2007 I played with 7 kyu, and I came here with maybe 5 kyu (my best guess). On the way from the airport An Yan asked me about my strength etc, and I told him. I sensed that he has for me (and I am sure also for the other students) an individual learning plan. Nevertheless, the beginning was difficult. Maybe due to new environment, maybe due to new teacher, maybe because you want to attack instead of defending. So, it took me some time to accept and then also to follow his advise, his plan. But it seems that it has paid off: My playing experience is now 1/2 kyu, my reading is 1/2 dan. I think it is good that my reading is better than my playing experience, to improve the later is a "technical" question; and I recognise how much I learnt in the last few games, much more than in the beginning. My play has become much faster, more efficient, smoother, more structured. Last, but not least, when I came here I hardly could memorize 20, 30 moves of my games. In the meantime I memorize my games easily.

What were/ are the main obstacles and how did/ do I handle them (to be fair, I need to say we):
One main issues is the language. I started to learn to Chinese what is actually fun, but I am far, far away to have a normal conversation. Nevertheless, I understand enough to follow a game review. I am going to continue to learn Chinese.

The second point is "isolation". Unfortunately the other foreign go students left quite early, meaning I am on my own. In these 6.5 weeks I have seen 6 foreigners (despite the other foreign go-students). I have with me some books that are not related to go, music. And the internet enables me to follow news and to stay in touch with my family.

Relationship/ Family: I have a girl-friend, and to be separated for three months is not an easy task. I may say that it is for her more difficult than for me. I am busy all day, 7 days a week. She has her daily routine. We miss each other, evenings/ weekends together. We handle this situation by emailing a lot and by using skype. It gives some comfort, but it doesnt replace the other person. A BIG thank-you to my beloved ones.
My advise: if you have family and you want to go for a period of three months you should have the strong commitment of your family/ partner.

Ok, enough about the review. Let me tell you something about Chinese tradition:
I, and also my girl-friend, have a new family. According to Chinese tradition you treat your teacher as your father (in old days a teacher was always a man), and the teacher's wife as your mother. So, my girl-friend and I are now adopted by An Yan and his wife...
Secondly, the teacher is to be tough and rough, and his wife kind and nice.

2008-01-02T20:54:00.000+08:00

2008-01-02：
Yesterday I had the opportunity to celebrate New Year in China. Actually, the "European" New Year is not so important here in China; also X-mas. Nevertheless, the people like to celebrate, and why not to take the opportunity?
In the morning I solved problems, not yet knowing what is waiting for me. I only knew that An Yan is picking me up for lunch. Suddenly I realize that we pick up all the people with whom I had dinner at the weekend. We go to another "hotel-restaurant" and have BIG lunch.
I live in Moscow and somehow people have the opinion that I (can) drink a lot - maybe due to worldwide famous russian drinking habits. Yesterday they really tried hard, but without success; in contrary to my Chinese friends...
After lunch we went to the apartment of one of An Yan's friends. The men played cards, the women enjoyed tea and a chat. Luckily I had a go book with me, I solved LD- and tesuji-problems. In the evening - you may guess - we went to another restaurant. Again a lot of food and alcohol. I slowly start to wonder how come that most of the Chinese are slim though they LOVE food.

I feel very well integrated, it is alomost like a "family". It is really nice. The communication is a little bit complicated, but it works. At lunch there was also a person speaking English; they placed this person immediately next to me, kind gesture.
Here is maybe a further explanation needed if I say "family": To avoid any misunderstanding, I as a ordinary go-student - like all other foreign students - paid money, for the lessons, for accomodation etc. It is normal business. But you can do business in different ways. An Yan's style seems to me kind, warm; he really takes care. This is my point that he tries to treat his students in a nice home sort of way, they are from different countries but they feel comfortable in China far away from their homes. I personally like his attitude.

My name is Markus, this creates some problems here in China. Chinese is built on syllables, but there are no Chinese syllables matching my name in a European way: "Mar" and "kus".
A problem? No:
We take the syllables (in a spoken way) "ma", "k" and "s".
That means that the European "Markus" has been transformed to a Chinese "Maks". It really sounds cute.
Another example? Lets take the German city "Frankfurt". Again there are no Chinese syllables that match the German city: Frankfurt becomes in Chinese "Fran" + "kfu" (say: Falankefu).

In the evening I was quite tired, lets assume from solving of more than 200 problems; but I still had enough energy to learn a little bit Chinese before going to bed.

Happy New Year!

2007-12-31T21:38:00.000+08:00

2007-12-31：

My schedule was changed. Saturday was my free day; I slept a lot, made in an easy going way some reading exercises and then in the evening I was invited for dinner. A former classmate of An Yan's wife is in town what needed to be celebrated.

We went to a "hotel-restaurant". Why do I say hotel-restaurant? Well, if you go out you usually imagine some kind of restaurant where you book a table. Not here. At this place you book a room (usually). There are also a few tables, and there is a BIG hall downstairs where BIG parties are celebrated, like weddings. But the main business are rooms for dining. Different sizes. I didnt count how many rooms this hotel-restaurant has, but I guess at least 100. Our room was for 14 people. In China round tables are quite common. And usually you dont order "your" dish but many different things are ordered that are put on another rotating table. That means that everybody can taste everything.

One word about fish: Fish is served with bones and everything ("Look into my eyes, baby"). It is an adventure to poke with the chopsticks the fish, to try to get some fish-meat, but to try not to get the bones. Forks, knives? No way!

Food in China plays an important role. Three warm dishes per day are not rejected. A normal person is unable to perform that kind of daily cooking-marathon, so there is a huge food-industry. At each corner you can get some kind of noodles, rice or any other delicious dish. "Wuhan-noodles", a speciality here in Wuhan you get for roughly 0.20 - 0.30 EUR. You can eat it for breakfast, in-between, as a snack.

Yesterday and today I have played against kids in the school; and today I have had a very annoying and unpleasant experience. I played against a kid - maybe 10 or 11 - I havent played against so far. During the game he started suddenly to read in a go-magazine, to play with his drinking bottle etc. I have some hope that this has been the first and also the last time. I noticed that after the game An Yan had a serious discussion with this boy.

Breakfast:

The big hall:

The entrance to a room:

The dining table:

Fish served in customer oriented way:

Without comments...:

2007-12-28T20:20:00.000+08:00

2007-12-28:

I had the opportunity to visit the DSC-cup in Wuhan that has taken place from Dec. 25th until 27th. I sat at each round next to one one player and recorded the game.

24 professional teenagers + 6 strong dan-players participated. The teams are from different cities. Each team consists of 4 pros + 1 dan-player. Altogether 5 rounds. 1 hour + 5*1min for the pros, 1,5 hours sudden death for the dans.

Prize: Altogether 10,000 EUR. 5 TEUR for the 1st, 3 TEUR for the 2nd, 2 TEUR for the 3rd.

It started on Tuesday afternoon. "Hot" atmosphere, and of course a lot of prestige.

One game that offered everything but to be boring. HUGE ko-fight, using existing ko-threats, creating new ones - out of the blue so to say -, capturing race and all this in byoyomi. The players showed poker-face, but you could sense how tensed they were under the mask.

It surprised me how "cool" the players were. Most of them had during the entire game just poker-face; no emotions; no hint if they judge the game, a certain position as good or bad. Amazing!

The second round started on Wednesday morning at 8.30 o'clock. It seemed to be quite early for some of the players. I sat next to Li He, 1p (w) and Zhang Ce, 3p (b). After move 88 main time is used, and only one quarter of the board is played. Move 137, last byoyomi for the players. Move 320, Li He resigned. The game totalled 4 hours, meaning the players played 2 hours in byoyomi...

Position after move 88:

Position after move 137:

Game over:

In the evening I was so tired, so exhausted; unbelievable! I would have never imagined that recording games can be SO exhausting. It is quite stressful to get all the moves, especially in the later stage of the game. The board is full, you need to catch the move, find the same position on your pocket PC, but be careful that you dont miss the opponent's immediate answer. You easily can get lost...

Nevertheless, after dinner teachers and students from the go-school and I go through some of the games, play some on our own, do some exercises and fall asleep like a stone.

Thursday, final day with round 4 and 5. Some of the players are sick, running nose. Yawning everywhere. If I am already tired as non-participant, how do the players feel?

After the forth round theoretically 4 teams still have chances. 2 teams scored 3-1, 2 teams 2-2. And in the last round the two teams that scored 3-1 play against the ones with the 2-2 score. At the end of the day the team Beijing-1 wins the cup with 4-1. Congratulations! And many thanks for the opportunity to watch fantastic games and fights.

I learnt a lot.

The winner:

Go-studies in China

2007-12-24T22:06:00.000+08:00

2007-12-24:
I have just set up this website. I am thinking how to summarize the first 4.5 weeks I have been here in Wuhan (Hubei province/ China) so far.

I started with Go a year ago, at the 2007 EGC I played with 7k, and when I came here I had - best guess - 4k or 5k. The contact to this go-school I got via Juan Guo's go-school (http://www.guojuangoschool.com/). I also considered other options, eg to apply at the Baduk-university in Seoul.

I arrived here in Wuhan on Nov. 20th to study Go for 3 months in a Chinese go-school. Besides me there were 5 other foreign students, 2 from Sweden, 1 from Norway, 1 from France, and 1 from Morocco who actually lives in China.

Flat, food, driving etc is completely organized. The environment is designed in such a way that you can focus on Go. At the beginning I shared the flat with two other students. The remaining 3 wanted to stay in a hotel. Nevertheless, lunch and dinner we all have together at our "home".

4 out of the other 5 students have stayed here for a shorter period, 1 month; the fifth one who stays in China for a full year has moved to another city. That means that I am now the only foreign student.

Our (or shall I now say: My?) weekly schedule:
At two days studies and then in the afternoon I play against An Yan, 7p, my teacher.
At two days studies and then in the afternoon I play in the go-school against teachers, 5D.
At the weekend I play in the go-school each day two games against opponents from my group.
In the evenings game analysis and afterwards studies and/ or playing on KGS; all games - including the ones I play on KGS - are reviewed by An Yan.
The seventh day is free.

An Yan decided that I play in the school's top-group, 4D+. This has pros and cons. These kids play more seriously, you learn a lot about defence and shapes what - at a later stage - you can use when you need to attack. The main disadvantage is of course that I do not play even games. I compensate this by playing on KGS in the evening.

In the meantime I have "officially" improved by two stones.

The go-school:
Here in Wuhan are several go-schools. An Yan's has 9 groups, each one of about 10 children. A kid can improve to the higher group by winning within its group, and of course vice versa. Besides the kids coming to the go-school, there are a lot of activities in "normal" schools. The kids' age range from 4,5 to 13. One teenager has already participated twice at the qualification tournament to become professional. A second one, 12, is going to do so in January. One of the challenges is if course to play against kids. BUT: during the game they are just opponents who have a "whole-board-killing-vision"! The school's equipment is rather pragmatic.

The flat:
The flat is ok. There are two bedrooms, and due to the fact that I am now alone I have the pleasure to stay in the "master" bedroom. Shower, toilet, washing machine, notebook with webcam (-> communication via Skype) are available. The third room is the study room where I play against An Yan or study. There is one lady who cooks and keeps the flat clean. Her way of cooking - the other students' and my impression - is adopted to "European" stomaghs. Changing, delicious, spicy.

"Life":
It's different (from a European point of point)!
Culture, traffic, shopping, food, everything. Traffic is just chaotic, it seems to me even that there are no rules - at least no one seems to follow any - but still somehow careful compared to eg Moscow where they are extremely aggressive. Forget coffee - or bring your own one. Unless you like "Nescafe" and that kind of. But if you like tea, you feel like in paradise. The average salary is said to be 200 - 250 EUR here in Wuhan. I was told that this is even exaggerated. Whether true or not you spot a huge discrepancy between poverty and luxurious life. Beggars everywhere. On one of the main streets here you see a public haircutter, next to a hotel, next to a shop where they trade old and rusty metal stuff, next to a beauty-saloon (including plastic surgery). There are several shopping centers where the top 5 or 10% can buy quite exclusive labels. Mac-Index: BigMc-Menue (including small portion of french fries and one small drink) is 1.65 EUR. A haircut (by the way: good one) is 1.50 EUR. The weather has changed. When I arrived it was quite warm and sunny. Now, it is often grey, depressive, cold; it rains more often.

Studies:
When I arrived An Yan told me: "You lack basic technique. Your reading is bad." A lot of players in Europe read a lot of books and learn a lot about strategy and theory; but their reading skills are not at the same level as their theory. So me.
It meant that I started with reading exercises. I did them whenever I could, even in the car on the way to the go-school I solved life-and-death or tesuji-problems. This intensive problem-solving has paid off. An Yan made me a kind compliment when he said some days ago that my reading skills are now on the level of roughly 1/2 Dan. To increase my reading speed I am now to solve a certain amount of problems - within given time frames. At the same time you should score as good as possible. Once you solve 9 out of 10 correctly the available time is decreased. In parallel I started to study joseki and endgame. Fuseki is covered with game reviews. What lacks now is a lot of playing experience...

Fotos:
to be added soon