1st “Wu Qingyuan Cup” World Women’s Go Game kicks off in Fuzhou

A bunch of Go masters gathered together in Fuzhou: the strongest lineup led by many world champions such as Nie Weiping, Ma Xiaochun, Chang Hao, and Ke Jie; Go representatives from Japan and South Korea such as Yoo Changhyuk and Ko Reibun; the best female players of the World Go Game; Tian ZhuangZhuang, a famous director; Lin Haifeng, disciple of Wu Qingyuan; Niu Lili, former assistant of Wu Qingyuan...

The first “Wu Qingyuan Cup” World Women’s Go Game & “Berry Genomics Cup” 2018 World AI Go Game kicked off in Fuzhou on April 26. This competition as the highest level women’s Go game in the world attracted a dozen of Go masters in China largely because of the charm of Master Wu Qingyuan.

Tian Zhuangzhuang presented a special chess pier

Handing over the chess pier was an emotional moment at the ceremony yesterday. Tian Zhuangzhuang, a famous director of the film Wu Qingyuan, presented a special chess pier. It was given by Master Wu Qingyuan when he filmed Wu Qingyuan 13 years ago.

Tian Zhuangzhuang said that yesterday was his 66-year-old birthday and was also the opening day of the “Wu Qingyuan Cup” World Women’s Go Game. “I think I’ve got it. Master Wu has entrusted one thing to me long before - he hoped that the Finals of the Go Game could be played on this chess pier. I feel excited and hope this Go Game can achieve more and continue on.” Yu Zhiying represented the female players to send flowers and wishes to Tian Zhuangzhuang.

Father VS Son Mother VS Daughter

On April 26, qualifying competition of the first “Wu Qingyuan Cup” World Women’s Go Game kicked off. 8 players including nine dan Go player Feng Yun, shodan Yin Mingming, six dan Yu Jin and Su Geping, and five dan Natalia were on behalf of European countries and the United States to fight for the qualification.

Among the 8 players, Feng Yun is Su Geping’s mother. It is rare to see a mother and her daughter at the opposite ends of a game. “We may draw lots to decide our rivals in advance. If we are competitors, we’ll have a competition at home before coming here.”

Grandmaster Nie Weiping and his son Ko Reibun also appeared on the same stage yesterday and became the focus of media.

Shoushan Stone made its debut in a special way

The flag handing over ceremony of the start-up Fuzhou Juvenile Go Team was also held at the opening ceremony of this Game. Nie Weiping, vice president of Chinese Weiqi Association, handed over the flag to the 28 young flagmen.

Later, the players and 8 top-notch AI players respectively took out their Shoushan Stone seals inscribed with their own names, and sealed.

A Children’s Choir named “Little Jasmine” sang a song Uncle Returns Home, which is the theme song of the Wu Qingyuan Sculpture Memorial Park composed by the local musician Lai Dongfang and arranged by Jiang Yang. The affection and innocence from the children’s singing touched everyone on the scene.

Go masters gathered to salute Master Wu

The opening ceremony last night brought together the most important figures in the Chinese Go community. They were Chairman Lin Jianchao of the Chinese Weiqi Association(CWA), former CWA Chairman Wang Ru’nan, CWA Vice Presidents Nie Weiping, Chang Hao and Lei Xiang, Honorary Chairman Dai Binhui of Fujian Weiqi Association, China’s national Go team leader Hua Xueming and Go players HuaYiGang, Ko Reibun, Yoo Changhyuk, Lin HaiFeng (RinKaiho), Yubin, Ma Xiaochun, and Ke Jie. By participating in the “Wu Qingyuan Cup”, World Women’s Go Game, they paid tribute to Go master Wu Qingyuan.

The competition held in the hometown of Master Wu was committed to his wish and was Fuzhou’s contributions to Go, according to Lin Jianchao. It was hosted by Chinese Weiqi Association and Fuzhou Municipal People's Government, and was organized by Fuzhou Sports Administration, People's Government of Changle District and Fuzhou Weiqi Association.

Today’s Highlights

One: Ke Jie vs Golaxy

The biggest highlight today is beyond doubt the competition between Ke Jie and Golaxy. It will be live-streamed on several platforms.

When it came to the topic who had a better chance to win the competition, Ma Xiaochun told the reporter yesterday that it depended on both Golaxy’s capacity and whether Ke Jie was in a good state. “It may be a tough game if Golaxy plays better than Alpha Go.”

“I will be in my best state in the competition”, Ke Jie said. He compared playing Go as climbing mountains and he considered it a goal to climb every tough one. S

Two: Famous Go player Zhang Xuan will turn up in the competition

The first round of “Wu Qingyuan Cup” began today and 16 players were paired as rivals. According to the match table, the game between Zhang Xuan from Fuzhou and Rita Pocsai from Hungary is well worth of attention. Yu Zhiying, the spokesperson for the competition, will face American player Yin Mingming.

Three: Machine VS Machine

Another highlight is 2018 World AI Go Competition of “Berry Genomics Cup”. Eight top-level AI programs from China, Japan, Korea, Belgium, and France are going to have rounds of games. The first round starts at 9 am today.

Match table:

Leela Zero (Belgium) vs Golois (France)

Fina Ar (China) vs BADUKi (Korea)

HEROZKishin (Japan) vs DolBaram (Korea)

TS Go (China) vs Phoenix Go(China)

Reported by Chen Jian  Photographed by Zhang Xuyang