Nie Weiping on Go The Art of Positional Judgment By Nie Weiping 9 danPublished by Yutopian Enterprises 2255 29th Street Santa Monica, CA 90405 1-800-Y UTOGO-3 yutopian@netcom.com © Copyright 1995 in the U.S.A. by Yutopian Enterprises All rights reserved according to international law. This book or any parts thereof may not be reproduced in any printed form, nor stored in any electronic retrieval system, nor recorded in any other medium without the written permission from the publishers, except for short excerpts as a part of a written review. Translated by Dr. Sidney W.K. Yuan. Originally published in Chinese by the Shanghai Cultural Publishing Company under the title of Nie Weiping's Talks on Weigi. Translator's notes are given within[ ] brackets. Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment. John 7:2:4 NIV First printing May 1995Table of Contents Prehace sees iiccc cies ctosteasssietsscetestessssemstuasctuascessssevascens 7 Introduction... cece esesessesesescsesesesesssescscaesseeeee 9 Chapter One — The Opening [Fuseki].. 1—The Chinese Opening 2—Countering the Chinese Opening. 3 —Effectiveness of Stone: 4—Taking the Initiative.... Chapter Two — Positional Judgment............s.cssssse02, 1 —Analyzing the Full Board Position. 63 2 —Initiating a Fight. 3 —An Example of a Well-Planned Strategy Based on Positional Judgment... 4 — Avoid Greed Regarding Small Local Profits / Stabilizing GroupS........c.ssssssssseeseessessessseeseeeseeesee 88 Chapter Three — Timeliness in Initiating Battles.......95 1 —Initiating an Attack When One is Behind..............00.96 2 —Basing Attacking Plans on Careful Positional Judgment... cceccessssesesseseesesesesesneseseeeeneneanees 101Chapter Four — Finesse and Trade-off Decisions......106 1 — Sacrificing Stones to Take the Initiative and Forcing an Attack. 2—An Example of a Large Scale Attack Initiated by Sacrificing Stomes..........ccsccseceseeeeseeneeneeenes 113 Chapter Five—Forcing Moves 1 —Two-Pronged Attacks. 2 —Taking the Initiative and Consistency in Attacking.........sccssesesssessesesseenseeeesneneeneeneeeeees 126 Chapter Six— Utilizing Thickness. 1 —Developing Thickness. 2— Avoiding Weaknesses [Aj Chapter Seven — Defense of Weak Stones [Shinogil]..........+00+0143 1 —Counterattacks.........cccccessescessesssseesesseeeeeeneneeneeeenes 143 2—AVOId Greed......seresecesseseeeeeneeeenensensneeeeneseseeeneneenseses 153| Chapter Eight — Applications Shown in Fully I II Annotated Games. Versus: Hashimoto Utaro 9 dan.....sssccsscssssseessenees 158 1 —Mutual Disruption. sees 2— Weighing Pluses and Minuses. 3 —Inevitable Developments... 4—An Alert and Exquisite Move. 5 —A Slack Move. 6—A Stubborn Invasion. 7 —Initiating a Battle. 8—A Ko Fight... 9 —Competing in the Endgame. 10—Defending Weak Stones... Versus: Kajiwara Takeo 9 dan.. 176 1 —The Shusaku Opening. 2—Unconventional Move: 3 —Sacrifice Strategy. 4—A Strong Attack... 5 —Taking Outward Influenc 6—Correct Responses. 7 —Slack Moves On Both Side: 8— Weighing Pluses and Minuses. 9 —The Key to Victory... 10—Two-Pronged Attack.Nie Weiping on Go PREFACE China is famous for the ancient arts of its culture, and weiqi is one of the most important examples. Collectively, weiqi, music, calligraphy and paint- ing are known as the Four Ancient Arts of China. Weiqi is a game of strategy, science, and art. It is a fascinating game which has captured the interest of the Chinese for thousands of years. As early as the Chunqiu Dynasty, the art of weiqi was very popular already. That was followed by the Han Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms, the Jin Dynasties, and the Nanbei Dynasty. The popularity of weiqi bloomed explosively during the Tang Dynasty. After that, from the Sung to the Ming and Qing Dynasty, there was a marked improvement in skill at weigi. Unfortunately, beginning around the time of the “Opium War” in 1840, China became a semi-feudal and semi-colonial society. The national culture of the country was completely destroyed, and the weiqi skills of China dropped to their lowest level. After the communist takeover of China in 1949, this ancient art was reborn due to a tremendous effort by the government in promoting weiqi. Yet in the 1950’s the level of skill of our weiqi was far behind that of the Japanese. Most of our players couldn’t beat the Japanese 9 dans, even with a two stone handicap. This was inconsistent with our reputation as the inventors of weiqi. There is a saying, “If a country prospers, the weiqi movement should also pros- per as well.” Vice Prime Minister Chen Yi obtained permission from Chair- man Mao Zedong and Prime Minister Zhou Enlai to assume the responsibility to help our country surpass the weiqi level of the Japanese in ten years. From that time on, the Chinese weiqi scene has produced new talent continuaily. T started to learn weiqi when I was nine, and was lucky to be influ- enced by Vice Prime Minister Chen Yi. He inspired me with the unshakable conviction that “the Chinese should surpass the Japanese in weiqi skill.” There- fore, I was determined to achieve this goal. Under the guidance and training of the older players, I painstakingly studied and analyzed weiqi skills. There were quite a few setbacks, especially during the “Cultural Revolution”. Weiqi was identified as one of the “Old Four”. Although I was puzzled and scared, my determination to study weiqi could not be altered. Regardless of the tur- moil in the country and the hard work required on collective farms; I would always find time to study weiqi. I analyzed the games of the high dan Japanese players and the famous Chinese players alike, in order to improve my level of playing. I hoped that I would manage to beat the Japanese 9 dans one day. 7After prolonged efforts, I finally defeated a few 9 dans starting in 1974. In recent years, I have played against more than 20 Japanese 9 dans and learned quite a bit from the experience. At the same time, my own weaknesses have come to light. In order to further improve my skill, I would like to summarize my experiences in studying weiqi. Here, I have grouped the topics of discus- sion into seven major categories. They are the Opening [Fuseki], Positional Judgment, Timeliness in Initiating Battles, Forcing Moves, Utilizing Thick- ness, Finesse and Trade-off Decisions, and Defending Weak Stones. In the context of my games with Japanese 9 dan players, I will analyze and discuss these topics in detail. The discussion here is quite elementary. Any feedback from the reader will be deeply appreciated. Nie Weiping September 20, 1980.Nie Weiping on Go INTRODUCTION One On a cold and rainy day in Shanghai on December 9, 1974, the inside of the HePing Hotel was filled with an atmosphere of warm friendship between the Chinese and Japanese Go players gathered there. This was the site for the 7th China-Japan Go Tournament. The Japanese team was headed by their captain, Miyamoto Naoki 9 dan. The referee announced the schedule for the tournament: “The first game, Miyamoto Naoki versus Nie Weiping...” The entire audience responded by applauding enthusiastically. Nie stood up with a smile on his face and politely greeted the crowd and the Japa- nese team. He then warmly shook the hand of Miyamoto, who was facing him. Nie is of medium height, with a well-built body; he has short neat hair and was wearing a pair of black framed glasses. His eyes were shining and sparkling, and he looked spirited and vigorous. His eyes showed evidence of his unbend- ing, firm personality, which gave people the impression that he was full of energy. He had just turned 21. In the short history of his young weiqi career, this was the first time he ever played against a Japanese 9 dan opponent. He had longed for this day, and had trained painstakingly, with determined hard work for months. How much effort had he invested in this! He sat in front of Miyamoto seemingly calm, but huge waves of emotion surged within him. He knew that his adversary was a renowned Japanese 9 dan with great attainments and experience. In this tournament, Miyamoto had 6 wins in 6 games and seemed to be unstoppable. There was a lot of speculation before the game on who would come out the winner. Most people criticized Nie as “an expert against fellow Chinese and a layman against foreigners.” He always tried to suppress his feelings when he heard such comments. If they were true, how could he carry out the wishes of Zhou Enlai (Prime Minister) and Chen Yi (Vice Prime Minister) in overtaking the Japanese 9 dan players within ten years? However, one cannot blame people for making those comments. Indeed, he had a sparkling record against Chi- nese, crushing everyone, but had little or no achievement against the Japanese. In a tournament which took place in Gulin, Nie was matched up against one of Miyamoto’s students. Afterwards, Miyamoto analyzed the game for Nie and the student. In front of Miyamoto, Nie seemed like an elementary school stu- 9dent. Thinking silently, Nie reminded himself: “I must bring honor to China! I will not give up until I have beaten the Japanese 9 dan players!” His belief in his chances of winning was like a huge rock that cannot be moved. It was decided that Nie would take black. He lighted a cigarette and drew a few leisurely puffs, before picking up a black stone and playing on the upper right corner star point with determination. After a moment of brief consideration, Miyamoto picked up a white stone and placed it on the 3-4 point in the upper left corner. Considering his strategy for a moment, Nie then played on the lower left corner star point to form an opening of diagonally opposed star points. This was a favorite opening of Nie’s. His intention was to initiate fierce battles throughout the board by way of coordination of these two stones. Ina short while, the table where the game was being played was surrounded by observers closely packed together. They were all curious to find out if this young player could defeat the Japanese 9 dan. Observing the fight that Nie was engineering, everyone’s face expressed their approval. In order to initiate large scale skirmishes, Nie played the Taisha joseki and complicated the game. The Taisha is notorious for being one of the most difficult josekis, as is apparent in the popular saying that “the Taisha has a thousand variations.” After Nie played move 39, black already secured the upper left, the lower left, and the upper right corners. At this stage, white only had the lower right corner and some weak stones in the center of the board. Just as all the observers thought that black was in the driver’s seat, Miyamoto abruptly attacked some unsettled black stones in the center with a capping move. The black group was suddenly surrounded. Whether Nie would win this game or not depended on the fate of this black group. The observers were all very worried. However, Nie remained composed. He did not run for his life with his tail between his legs, nor did he put up a desperate fight. Instead, he probed the weaknesses of his opponent. In a few moves he had made his oppo- nent realize that it would be a difficult task to eliminate the black group. At this point most of the observers let out sighs of relief, and quietly praised Nie’s finesse and exquisitely skillful moves [tesuji]. Seeing that he could not kill this black group right away, Miyamoto tried to initiate a battle elsewhere. How- ever, regardless of all the measures tried by Miyamoto, Nie managed to main- tain the lead. Without no other choice, Miyamoto focused his aim once again at the unsettled central black group, and intended to pull out all the stops. “Can Nie stand up to the test?” the audience wondered, staring with excite- ment. Faced with this serious challenge, possible variations following a num- ber of responses quickly came into his mind. After weighing the pluses and minuses, he firmly believed that the exquisite move which he had already pre- pared to settle this black group would undoubtedly work, and that white would be rebuffed regardless of what measure Miyamoto would adopt. Seeing the move played, Miyamoto was stunned. He shook his head and sighed. White’s final attack had completely collapsed. 10Nie Weiping on Go The charge that Nie was “an expert against fellow Chinese, and a layman against foreigners” had been disproved. “You played well. You are tremendous!” Miyamoto said with respect. He stood up to shake Nie’s hand and said, “I made a bad move in the very beginning and could not recover from it.” The whole audience regarded Nie with approval. When Nie entered the press room, the reporters and the audience show- ered him with congratulations. One older player clasped Nie’s hand and said, “If Vice Prime Minister Chen were still alive, he would be overjoyed to see you beat a Japanese 9 dan player.” The mention of Vice Prime Minister Chen touched an emotion that had been buried within Nie for many years. Tears rushed to his eyes as he replied with feeling, “Yes, Vice Prime Minister Chen said that he would take me to see Chairman Mao if I beat a Japanese 9 dan! Chen was meticulous in his treatment of me in every possible way. That kind of caring is hard to come by. Ihave always reminded myself that the only way I can ever repay his kindness is by beating the Japanese 9 dan players, and I won’t give up until I succeed!” The older player replied, “You have defeated the Japanese 9 dan today and have made Prime Minister Chen’s dream come true!” “Still a long way to go!” Nie said. “I only beat one of the 9 dans. There are a lot of 9 dans in Japan. Not to mention the Honinbo, Meijin and Tengen, etc., who are the strongest of the Japanese 9 dans.” The older player was encouraging: “We believe that you will defeat them one by one.” Nie replied with confidence, “The victory today is only the tip of the iceberg. Personally. I will try my best to beat all the Japanese 9 dans, but this is not good enough. We must train more Chinese players to surpass the top Japa- nese players, raise the level of our weiqi skill above that of Japan and become number one in the world. Only in doing so will we live up to our reputation as one of the strongest nations in the world and fulfill the wishes of Prime Minis- ter Zhou Enlai and Chen Yi.” Two In the still of the night, long before the arrival of the Japanese team the next day, Nie was alone. He felt a sudden onrushing surge of emotion when he thought about the game between himself and Miyamoto 9 dan. Past memo- ties appeared before his eyes like scenes in a movie: 11It was a hot summer evening in 1962. Waves of heat chased everyone out onto balconies, into gardens and onto sidewalks, with paper fans in their hands. Nie, who was nine years old at that time, was playing an exciting game of weiqi along with other young players at the Cultural Center. They were so absorbed by the intensity of the game that they forgot about eating, the fierce heat, or the surrounding environment. Suddenly, Nie’s sister barged into the game room like a whirlwind, and yelled with a voice that rang out like a silver bell, “Hurry, brother! Dinner is ready, come home and take a bath!” A few of the young players turned around simultaneously to take a look. However, Nie behaved as if he did not hear his sister and continued to stare at the board in a preoccupied manner. “Brother! Hurry home...” his sister urged again in a high-pitched voice. Nie slapped a stone on the board and looked up at his sister saying, “Tt’s still early!” “Dad said you need to get home early and get some rest and prepara- tion. He will take you to play a game with Vice Prime Minister Chen tomor- row.” The young players in the game room jumped up and down with joy and looked at Nie enviously. Nie was overjoyed and said, “Great! Why don’t you go home first, sister. I will go home as soon as I finish this game.” Ina short while, Nie wrapped up the game. He was happy that he had won and he quickly ran home. On the road, he thought to himself, “Why does the Vice Prime Minister want to play weiqi with me? How does he know that I play weiqi?” When he came home, his grandfather, father, mother, and sister were outside in the front yard because of the hot weather. Nie asked immediately, “Why does Vice Prime Minister Chen want to play weiqi with me?” Father replied, “Although Chen has never met you, he has heard a lot about you already.” Standing firmly in front of his father, Nie blinked his big brown eyes and looked surprised. His dad proceeded to explain the situation to him in the following way: Not too long ago, Nie and his brother Jibo had followed their grandfa- ther to the People’s Cultural Center for a visit. When they walked past the game room, they heard loud slapping sounds of weiqi stones coming from in- side. Nie peeked in and saw pairs of youngsters absorbed in games of weiqi. With great interest, Nie and his brother dragged their grandfather into the game room. Grandfather was crazy about weiqi and wanted to test the strength 12Nie Weiping on Go of the Nie brothers against these young players in the class. He told the instruc- tor who was there about this intention. The instructor warmly welcomed them and arranged for a few players to match up with Nie and his brother. Nie was nine years old and Jibo was seven. The players paid no respect to the two unexpected guests and played very fast. After a short while, the players were defeated by the Nie brothers. Nie and his brother were very skillful in the opening, and also had a strong middlegame. They were actually quite knowl- edgeable in every aspect of the game. By the middlegame, their opponents had already begun to fall behind, and finally ended up losing the games. The instructor praised Nie and his brother and arranged for stronger players to play with them. However, the Nie brothers still won. Just like that, they won game after game until they had defeated everyone in the game room. The instructor was very pleased and expressed the wish to their grandfather that Nie and Jibo would join the class and receive further training. Afterwards, the instructor reported the matter to higher authorities. Vice Prime Minister Chen heard about this. He was extremely happy, and called Nie’s father to arrange an appointment to play weiqi with the Nie brothers. The following morning, father brought Nie and Jibo to play weiqi with Chen. Chen noticed that Nie and his brother looked alike and they were about the same height. Not being able to tell who was the older brother, Chen patted Nie on the head and asked, “Which one of you is older?” Nie answered shyly, “I am.” “His name is Weiping,” his father said “And he is nine. The younger one is Jibo and he is seven,” he added. Chen asked Nie, “Can you beat your brother?” Nie blushed and lowered his head without a reply. His father was well aware of Nie’s proclivity for not wanting to admit that he was not as good as his brother, and replied for him, “No, he can’t.” “Oh?” Chen said with surprise. He rubbed his hand on Nie’s head encouraging, “Older brothers should win. You should try your best to beat him, okay?” Nie was glad to hear Chen’s remark and he replied immediately, “I will beat him!” Chen then patted Jibo on the head asking, “Did you hear that? Your brother vows to beat you! You should also try your best not to be beaten. This way, both of you can improve together by competing.” Both Nie and Jibo nodded while smiling. After this short conversation, they started to play weiqi. Present were a few government appointed leaders who were weiqi loving elders. Older play- ers like Guo Tisheng and Guo Xuchu were also invited to join in. For the first round, Chen played Jibo while Nie played one of the elders. Chen and Nie were the winners of the first round. In the second round, the players switched partners; Chen played Nie while Jibo played the elder. Again this time, both 13Nie and Jibo won. Afterwards, Chen invited everyone to lunch. During the meal, they started to discuss the strength of Nie and his brother. Chen praised them saying, “Both of you played well. How long have you been playing weiqi?” Nie answered, “Less than one year.” Chen was both glad and surprised, say- ing, “Oh! Less than one year? You have been advancing pretty quickly!” The elder who lost both games sighed, “I have been playing weiqi for more than 30 years, and they beat me with less than one year’s experience. One year’s expe- rience beat that of 30 years? They are geniuses!” Alll the elder players praised Nie and Jibo, saying that they would have tremendous success in weiqi if they tried hard. After listening to everyone’s opinion, Chen offered some sincere ad- vice and earnest wishes, saying that “weiqi is a unique skill of the Chinese with a long history. As early as the Chunqiu period, weiqi was already very popular with top players (equivalent to Goushou nowadays) like Yiqui. At the time of the Three Kingdoms, weiqi became even more popular. Historical figures like Cao Cao, Sun Ce, Lu Xun, Lu Fan, Zhu Gejin and Fei Wei were all weiqi lovers. Among them, Cao Cao was seemingly the strongest and was as strong as the four best players of the time, Feng Ling, Shan Zidao, Wang Jiuzhen, and Guo Kai. During the Nanbei Dynasty, the weiqi skill of China reached new heights. Later, even Emperors liked to play weiqi. Emperor Song Ming, Em- peror Qigao and Emperor Liangwu were extremely skillful players. Weigi was generally regarded by the public as a topic for study and research. The govern- ment established special positions for weigi players known as ‘weigi Zhouyi’. A ranking system with nine levels known as the ‘Nine Ping’ [Dan] was also instituted. During the Tang, Song, Ming and Qing Dynasties, there was marked advancement of weiqi skill, surpassing that of the Nanbei Dynasty. Unfortu- nately, after the ‘Opium War’ of 1840, China became a half feudal and half colonial society. Together with various disasters suffered by the Chinese, weiqi skill declined rapidly.” After hearing what Chen had to say, the older player Guo Tisheng was deeply moved and said, “In the old days in China, a lot of promising players with great talent were not given proper opportunities. They had to worry about making a living and couldn’t concentrate on studying weiqi. Thus skill in weiqi declined to its lowest level. For instance, Go Seigen 9 dan, who now resides in Japan, was already an outstanding player when he was twelve or thirteen. However, in the old China, he could not receive the kind of training he needed. When Go Seigen was fourteen, he played two games against Inoue Kohei 5 dan in Beijing. (Go took black without giving komi.) The result was one win and one loss. Afterward, Inoue gave the game records to Segoe Kensaku 7 dan. Segoe was impressed with Go Seigen’s talent. Through the appropriate channels, he invited the fifteen year old Go Seigen to Japan for further train- ing. Later, Go dominated the Japanese go scene and was known as a genius. Most older players are quite emotional about this issue.” 14Nie Weiping on Go Chen continued, saying that “weigqi was invented in China. It was introduced into Japan before the Tang Dynasty. In Japan, weiqi skill blos- somed and even surpassed that of the Chinese. There are now dozens of Japa- nese 9 dan players. They have defeated our Chinese players with ease, even giving a two stone handicap. This clashes with our international status. I once asked a Japanese 9 dan, ‘In your opinion, how soon do you think the Chinese can catch up with you guys? In ten years?’ He replied, ‘China has a lot of people, so that might be possible.’ However, when that same player came to Hong Kong later, he said, ‘There is no way that the Chinese can catch up with the Japanese in twenty years.’ ” Chen sighed, and then continued, “China is the birthplace of weiqi, with a long history and a lot of people. Today, we represent the new China under Socialism. As our country prospers, our weiqi skill should also blossom. We must develop our weiqi skill quickly, and catch up with Japan. I have asked for permission from Chairman Mao and Prime Minister Zhou Enlai to pursue this, and both of them approve.” Chen then stroked Nie’s head with a smile and asked, “Can we sur- pass the Japanese?” Nie replied, “We can. We must!” Chen then asked the older players, “Do you think we can catch up with them in ten years?” Alll the older players nodded, agreeing with Chen. Guo Tisheng an- swered, “If we try hard, we can do it in ten years, but we need to train the young players.” Chen turned to Nie and Jibo saying, “The job of carrying on and de- veloping weiqi skill lies on your shoulders! You should study hard, beat the Japanese 9 dans and bring honor to your country!” Chen’s remarks left an indelible memory in Nie’s young mind. He began to believe them; he must surpass the Japanese! He expressed his resolve to Chen by saying, “I will study hard and bring honor to China.” “Go for it,” Chen said, giving a thumbs up sign to Nie, and adding encouragingly, “I will take you to see Chairman Mao after you beat a Japanese 9 dan.” Nie glanced at his brother, feeling that he was the luckiest person on earth. Chen proceeded to talk to Guo Tisheng and Guo Xuchu, “Both of you should help these two young players. In order to surpass Japan, we must care- fully analyze and study the top Japanese players’ games. Try your best to get all their game records. We should concentrate on their strategy. We have to know our opponents before we can hope for victory.” Three After listening to the earnest advice of Chen, Nie inwardly set the goal 15for himself of becoming the best weiqi player. He knew that he couldn’t reach the top in a single bound, that he could only take one step at a time. Therefore, he would do as Chen had suggested, and beat his own brother first. Then he would proceed to beat all the local young players before becoming the best player in China; striving to surpass the Japanese 9 dans in ten years or less. To convert his wish into reality, he challenged Jibo to a game early one Sunday saying, “Let’s have a multi-game match and see who wins more games.” Jibo replied with confidence, “Don’t even think about winning a game from me.” “Oh! You arrogant fellow!” Nie said unyieldingly, “I will beat you today!” “Ha! Ha...” Jibo laughed with a sneer, and said proudly, “You will be lucky if you can even take one game from me. You might end up like Confucius moving - with all losses.” [The Chinese word for losses has the same pronun- ciation as books.] Hearing what his brother said, the urge for Nie to defeat him was stronger than ever. Without making any further comment, Nie put the board and bowls on the table and said, “Come on!” Jibo was confident that Nie could not beat him. He wanted to show off by taking white the whole time, saying, “After the first game, whoever wins will take white in the following game.” “Okay,” Nie agreed in a straightforward manner. The game began. Both of them played very fast, and in less than half an hour the game arrived at the endgame stage. Nie was behind in territory. Knowing for sure that he would win, Jibo told Nie, “You're bound to lose. Why don’t you resign?” Nie realized that he was behind, but he would not give in. Controlling his temper, Nie said, “No, I will stick it out to the very end.” Although Jibo was very young, he was rather smart. He had well- planned strategies for both the opening and the middlegame. Nie pressed for the win, but although he was brave, he lacked insight. Nie stubbornly followed Jibo’s every move, fighting and attacking, and often fell into Jibo’s traps. After a while, Jibo had won three games in a row and proudly said, “How about it? I told you that you are going to ‘help Confucius move’!” Nie refusing to take defeat lying down, said, “Don’t celebrate too soon. That’s only three games. We have to play 30 games today, at least.” “Good!”, Jibo smiled, “If you don’t concede, I will defeat you thor- oughly.” The match proceeded. The games took an average of twenty minutes apiece. One game after another, and noontime arrived before they knew it, but Nie still hadn’t won a game. Their mother had prepared lunch and yelled from the kitchen, “Lunch is ready!” Jibo heard his mom and told Nie in a victorious tone of voice, “Brother, we've played half a day of weiqi, so why don’t you 16Nie Weiping on Go concede?” He then stood up and started to walk to the kitchen. Nie couldn't win a game and was burning inside with chagrin. He didn’t want to quit and said, “Why don’t you go and have lunch? I’ll wait for you.” “You're not going to have lunch?” Jibo asked. “No, I'll skip it. Hurry! Go eat! I'll wait for you,” Nie replied. Jibo walked quickly to the kitchen and yelled, “Brother lost. He’s decided to skip lunch!” With this, the story of Nie skipping lunch became the laughingstock of the family. First Nie’s sister tried to convince him to have lunch, but without success; then it was his mom’s turn, who also failed. Reading Nie’s mind and knowing that he wouldn’t concede, his dad said to him, “Energy and emotion are two major factors in playing weiqi. It is important to be energetic and of high spirit. It’s okay if you have been losing the entire morning. Eat your lunch and try again, but don’t skip lunch. Your brother is going to be all charged up. With an empty stomach, you are going to lack energy. How can you beat him? Go, hurry up and eat lunch. You might win with a full stom- ach.” Nie felt that what his father had said was very reasonable. He immedi- ately ran to the lunch table, and started to wolf down the food. The whole family laughed at him. A little while later, Nie was the first one to finish. He put down his bowl and chopsticks and urged Jibo, “Hurry up. I’ll be waiting for you!” He then returned to the weiqi board and waited patiently for his brother. After Nie left, Jibo said, “Nie won’t concede. He wants to keep on playing until he wins. It’s annoying!” His sister said, “He will never concede!” Jibo said, “He should, if he is not as good as I am.” His dad sensed Jibo’s arrogance and how he looked down upon his brother, so he warned him, saying, “Jibo, you are smarter than your brother. That is your strong point, but don’t be overconfident. Nie refuses to give up. That is his strong point. If you get too arrogant and don’t work hard, Nie will soon surpass you. Don’t be arrogant when you win, and don’t give up when you lose. Only in that way can one continue to improve.” Jibo blushed, after listening to his dad’s advice. His dad then urged Jibo on, “Hurry up. Nie’s waiting for you!” After lunch, the brothers proceeded with their games. One game after another they played on, into the evening. Nie suffered total defeat. Then, all of a sudden, Nie fainted and fell to the floor. His mom and dad quickly put him to bed and attended to him. In less than half an hour, Nie woke up. His dad asked him, “How are you?” Nie stared at his father with surprise and asked, “What happened to me?” “You fainted while you were playing weigi. “That’s not possible,” Nie said shakily. “The match is still not over 17yet.” He tried to get up to continue the game with Jibo. But his dad stopped him and advised, “You've played the whole day. Now get some rest!” Nie said with determination, “I will never concede!” “Why won’t you concede, my son?” his father asked. “Because I want to surpass the Japanese and bring honor to our coun- try,” Nie bluntly replied. His dad took out a copy of the Liberation Army Magazine. There was an article inside it entitled “Never Concede”. Nie’s dad said, “This is about a soldier who never conceded. He was hard working and persistent. He eventually overcame his enemies for the final victory. You should be like this soldier. Didn’t Vice Prime Minister Chen tell you to study hard? With hard work, you will beat your brother!” From that day on, the family dubbed Nie with the nickname “Never Concede”. Four This nickname served as a good reminder for Nie. He thought to himself: if I can’t even beat my brother, how can I win over Japanese 9 dans? Chen’s cordial advice began to echo in his mind: “You should ask the older players for instruction.” While Nie was longing for a teacher, an older player named Lei Fuhua unexpectedly visited his family one day. Nie was overjoyed and said, “You have come at just the right time. I was about to pay you a visit to ask you to teach me weiqi!” “Good; it seems that we both have the same idea in mind,” Lei said excitedly. “However, Chen is even more thoughtful. He’s the one who instructed me to come.” Nie couldn’t imagine that Chen would pay so much attention to him, providing such timely help. He was both happy and surprised, saying grate- fully, “Mr. Chen is a great man. Although he is so busy himself, he is still so thoughtful in thinking about us.” Lei patted Nie on the shoulder and said, “Then you must study hard so that you won't disappoint him.” “Yes!” Nie said full-heartedly. “If I don’t shape up, I will disappoint him.” Nie’s commitment toward weiqi deeply moved Lei. He told Nie, “Start- ing from today, I will come to your school twice a week. How’s that?” Nie jumped up and down with joy, saying, “That’s great. That’s really great!” From that time on, Nie stayed at school and got together with Lei twice a week regardless of rain or stormy weather. Nie would be fully prepared 18Nie Weiping on Go for each lesson before Lei showed up. When the teacher came, Nie would focus his concentration on listening to the lecture. He learned something new and valuable every time. But Nie did not stop there. Whenever he had time, he would visit the Xian Nong Tan Beijing Weiqi Team and the Government Association Cultural Club and ask the older players, Guo Tisheng and Guo Xuchu for instruction. These two older players were brothers. People called Guo Xuchu, “Big Guo” and Guo Tisheng, “Little Guo”. In those days, Little Guo was the instructor of the Beijing Weiqi Team and Big Guo worked at the Government Association Cultural Club. Nie’s house was very close to the Cultural Club but was quite far away from Xian Nong Tan. Nie was so devoted towards improving his skill at weiqi that he didn’t mind traveling that distance. Everyday after school, Nie would go to the Cultural Club to take lessons from Big Guo after finishing his homework. During weekends, he would run to Xian Nong Tan and wait at the door for Little Guo to get off from work. He would then invite Little Guo to his house. For Nie, the fun in spending his weekends studying weiqi surpassed anything else. These two older players, as directed by Chen, assiduously helped the Nie brothers to get stronger. They paid particular attention to the traditional Chinese weiqi texts and game records, for example, the “Weigi Shi Jue” by Wang Jixin of the Tang Dynasty, the “Qi Jing Shi San Pian” by Zhang Yi of the Song Dynasty, the “Xuan Xuan Qi Jing” by Yan Defu and Yan Tianzhang of the Yuan Dynasty, the “Xian Ji Wu Ku” by Lu Yuanyu, the “Shi Shi Xian Ji” by Xu Guji, the “Wan Hui Xian Ji” by Lu Wangji, and the “Guan Zi Pu” by Guo Bailing, all written during the Ming Dynasty, the “Yi Li Zhi Gui” and the “Yi Li Zhi Gui Xu Pian” by Shi Xiangxia of the Qing Dynasty, etc. Chen also acquired, through the famous Japanese player Segoe Kensaku (Go Seigen’s teacher), more than a hundred publications from Japan, for instance, the “Weiqi Jing Hua Lu”, “Shuei’s Game Collection”, “Wu Qingyuan’s (Go Seigen’s Chi- nese name) Weiqi” and game records of the Four Houses of Japan (Bi Sheng Hui), etc. The collection was possibly the most complete of weiqi publications on earth. Chen also asked the Government Association Cultural Club to sub- scribe to Kido and Kido Xin Chao magazines. Before his lectures, Little Guo would play a few handicap games with Nie. In the beginning, when Nie found himself in a passive situation, he would spend a lot of time thinking, and was indecisive about where to play. Little Guo advised, “Play faster and don’t think too much. Too much thinking won’t help. After we finish, I will go over the game with you.” Nie accepted this advice. In order to guide Nie and make him understand the weakness he had of emphasizing the importance of capturing too much, which lead him to initiate unnecessary battles and neglect viewing the board from a full board perspec- tive, Little Guo would intentionally give up a few stones and pursue bigger territory elsewhere; or else, he would use two-pronged attacks that left Nie 19unable to attend to both attacked groups. One time, Little Guo had a few stones in a corner lacking a base. Nie concentrated all his resources towards attacking this corner. After responding a few times, Little Guo left the corner as it was. Nie was determined to capture the corner, so he made three consecutive moves there to kill the group. However, the territory that Little Guo secured by play- ing his own three moves elsewhere was much bigger than the corner. More- over, the full board coordination of his stones was excellent for Little Guo. Nie didn’t understand how the situation actually stood and was content to kill the corner. But Little Guo then directed his aim at Nie’s group on the right side, all the time, however, going through the motions of attacking his group on the left. Not knowing what Guo was up to, Nie carefully defended on the left. Conse- quently, Guo built up a thick wall on the left before turning to attack Nie’s group on the right. Nie realized at once how things stood, but his group was utterly isolated and hopelessly vulnerable. It was not even the endgame at that point, but Nie had been completely routed. He blushed and felt discouraged. Little Guo said, “You lost the game. Let’s analyze it!” Nie brusquely push the stones aside on the board and said, “Please tell me why I lost the game. I’m confused!” With a smile on his face, little Guo started to replay the game from the very beginning. When he got to the capturing of the few stones in the corner, Guo said, “Didn’t you realize what was happening? I intentionally let you capture those stones. It was a sacrifice strategy. You let me play three crucial moves elsewhere on the board in sente.” He then pointed to the three moves and said, “The territory that I gained was more than 20 points, but by capturing my corner, you only got ten points or so. Not only that, but the three big moves I played created ideal shapes which coordinated well with the over- all board position.” Nie nodded and said, “Yes indeed. I was worried that if I didn’t cap- ture this group right away, you might make it live later on. I didn’t consider the price I'd have to pay by capturing it.” Little Guo continued, “Your weakness is going all out to capture stones constantly and failing to see things using a full board perspective. There is a famous proverb: ‘Prefer to lose a stone than the initiative.’ When there are other big points on the board, don’t be concerned about the life and death of a few stones. Take big territorial points with finesse in doing so. I could have made the group in the corner live, but I would have lost sente. That’s why I temporarily gave up the group and played elsewhere, and planned to try to revive it if I got a chance later on.” Little Guo then demonstrated how he set up the two-pronged attack and said, “I pretended to attack your group on the left, but my real intention was to kill your group on the right. However, if I attacked that group directly, you would have escaped and I wouldn’t have killed it. Therefore, I worked up the two-pronged attack, building magnificent outward influence that cut off your escape route.” 20Nie Weiping on Go Nie objected, “When you attacked my group on the left, I couldn’t just sit there without doing anything!” Little Guo said, “Your group on the left was alive already. The only thing you would have sacrificed was incremental territory. The key to the situation was settling your group on the right. What you should have done was to counterattack, and force me to respond... Because my groups had weak- nesses too. That way, you could have settled your weak stones naturally, and prevented your group on the left from being attacked.” For Nie it was a revelation, and he said, “Oh, I see!” Little Guo felt encouraged and said, “It’s okay, you are just a beginner. With more experience and the knowledge from weiqi books and famous game records you will make quantum leaps in advancement.” After every game with him, the older players would share Qijings [weiqi strategy books] and famous game records with Nie. And he always listened carefully. The ancient Qijings of China summarize the acquired prac- tical experience of past players, and traditional Chinese weiqi theory. They also illustrate, in a simple way, the dialectical materialist point of view. For example, in the chapter entitled “He Zhan Pian” in the “Qi Jing Shi San Pian”, it is advised that, “Prefer to give up one stone than to give up the initiative. Look to your left before striking out to your right, look to your front before striking out behind you [two-pronged attacks]. Because there is a first move there is a last move, and vice versa [emphasizing the importance of following the correct sequence of moves]. Don’t initiate unnecessary fights. Players who have good positions don’t need to enter into battles to win games. If you have to go into battle, devote enough consideration ahead of time to assure victory. If you are losing, don’t be provoked to initiate a chaotic turn of events, wait for an opportunity to turn the tide. When the enemy makes defensive moves with- out cause, remember to check if he is planning on an invasion; sacrificing small profits is the act of a player with big ambitions; impulsively responding to the opponent’s move is a sign of thoughtlessness. It’s one sure way to lose...” De Suanpian said: “One must have an inside plan before one can develop out- side influence. A player who knows that he will win the battle ahead of time, has made much planning. A player who knows that he will lose the battle, has not planned sufficiently. A player who goes into a battle without knowing the result, has made no planning. ‘Much planning wins; little planning cannot win; not to mention no planning at all!’ Military strategy says.” This kind of theory deeply inspired Nie. In the past, the reason why he had always lost to his brother was because of a lack of planning and impulsive responses. In studying the game records of the top Japanese players, Nie thoroughly under- stood the careful planning behind each game. Every move they played was the result of careful consideration. Some moves even took more than half an hour of thinking. They made farsighted and long-range plans, analyzed the full board situation, and weighed the pluses and minuses before placing their stones 21in ideal locations. The ways they positioned their stones showed incredible accuracy and conformed to strategies devised beforehand. Reading analysis of the games and looking at developments on the board, Nie sometimes would be inspired with high spirits, rubbing his fist in his palm, just as if he were playing the game himself. At other times he would be relaxed, surveying the board and occasionally letting out sighs of exclamation. After every game analysis, Nie would replay and study the game on his own, looking for the key reasons for winning or losing. He tirelessly ana- lyzed these games and was completely absorbed in the process. A lot of times there were movies and dancing parties at the Cultural Club. Listening to the echoes of the singing and the roaring of the music, Jibo was distracted and could not continue to play weigi. However, Nie behaved like he didn’t hear anything and continued to concentrate on the game intensely. Chen liked to play weiqi at the Cultural Club. Besides playing with Nie, Chen also listened to game analysis. Later on, the Guo brothers edited the book “Weigi Ming Pu Jing Xuan”. In the winter of 1962 Chen dedicated a poem for the book: Sitting in front of the board and discussing strategy, Of profound and broad knowledge is weigi. Though a game, it teaches us how to be; This Chinese artistry with such a long history. To carry on the tradition relies on new blood, Respectfully we await for the capable one to claim world victory. The Guo brothers gave a copy of the book to Nie, who treasured it greatly and used Chen’s poem as a spur to progress. One evening after listening to game analysis, Chen and the Guo brothers started talking about the strategy of warfare. They each used historical ex- amples to illustrate the importance of actively taking the initiative and employ- ing finesse in strategy. After the discussion, they turned the subject to weiqi and Chen said earnestly, “The strategy of weiqi is the same as in an actual battle. One must have a full board view, size up the current situation, and accurately analyze the conditions on both sides. In that way one can know one’s enemy like oneself. In any battle, one must never proceed blindly with a reckless attitude, but should be well prepared, by performing careful positional analysis, judging the terrain, emphasizing strategy, setting up military forma- tions and carefully deploying troops. In order to capture a certain city, one must first surround it and cut off its supplies. In weiqi, one should also sur- round a group and isolate the stones before moving to capture. One must also judge the position carefully, and explore the possibility of a variety of strate- gies, e.g., concentrating all one’s ammunition in a single attack; a two-pronged 22Nie Weiping on Go attack; luring the enemy to enter deeply into one’s territory; separating and surrounding; attacking from both inside and outside a group; attacking a weak link; and always being unpredictable. One should absolutely avoid a lack of vigilance, underestimating one’s enemy, playing impulsively or with brute force without sufficient analysis. Sometimes, sacrificing in certain areas, such as giving up decoy stones, can help to capture the final victory.” Chen continued, “An outstanding game is like a book of strategy. If one carefully studies it, one can extract great resources that can be adapted and applied.” After listening to Chen, Nie related his words to the various strategies used in the famous game records and benefited greatly. Chen afterward looked upon Nie and Jibo with affection, and offered fruit for thought by asking, “Which one of the two brothers do you think will accomplish greater achievements?” The older players smilingly looked at each other while pondering the matter deeply. No one wanted to be the first to express an opinion. Nie’s dad finally spoke up saying, “I think Jibo is smarter than his brother. He works out his strategy from the very beginning. Nie usually responds passively and is no match for his brother.” Chen said with a smile on his face, “So you think the younger brother will have greater success.” Nie’s dad replied with a smile, “Yes indeed.” Chen looked at the older players intensely, and asked for their opin- ions. “I have a different point of view,” Little Guo said frankly. “Jibo is certainly smarter, but he likes to play around too much. His efforts in studying weigi is far from equal to the painstaking work of Nie’s. Hanyu once said, ‘Excellence comes from hard work while slackness is the result of laziness. Success comes from careful consideration while failure is a result of thought- lessness.’ This is very meaningful.” “That's right,” Big Guo interrupted. “Nie’s tireless efforts, his con- centration and consistency, are invaluable assets.” Everyone agreed. They all began to praise Nie’s painstaking efforts in studying weiqi. After listening to everyone’s opinion, Chen said, “Nie and Jibo are still young. No one can draw conclusions now. However, genius emerges from hard work. Whoever makes determined efforts in studying weiqi, strives for consistency and practices tirelessly, will have a bright future. With Nie’s spirit and hard work, I am confident that he will one day defeat the Japanese 9 dans and reach new heights in weiqi skill. That is, if he can keep up the good work.” 23Five Indeed, in less than a year Nie had surpassed Jibo’s skill in weiqi. It was once again a Sunday when Nie challenged Jibo again, saying, “Jibo, let’s play another match.” Jibo knew that Nie had become much stronger and he could not take him as lightly as he had a year ago. However, he was still quite confident and replied, “Sure, but I don’t think you will help Confucius move (i.e., lose all the games) this time.” Nie laughed, “I don’t know who will help Confucius move. Let’s see, Jibo said jokingly, “Are you going to skip lunch again if you lose?” “T'll skip lunch if I lose,” Nie replied. “Will you?” “Why should I?” Jibo asked. “I’m not silly like you. If I lose, I’ll still eat.” “Okay!” Nie took out the board and they started to play. This time they did not play as fast. It might be because their skills had further matured. Both analyzed the position carefully as they planned their strategies. It took more than two hours to finish one game. When they reached the middlegame, Jibo felt that every move Nie played occupied a more impor- tant position than his. That put a lot of pressure on him and he found it diffi- cult to respond. Slowly Jibo was falling behind. A year ago, it was Jibo who had taken the initiative effortlessly and forced Nie to respond passively. Jibo thought to himself, “Nie has improved a lot. I think I am going to lose to him today.” Since he felt it difficult to respond, he often held onto his stone and was uncertain where to play. Nie urged, “Please hurry up, or we won't even be able to finish two games this morning!” Jibo replied with a wry smile, “Your moves make it difficult for me to respond. I have to give it more thought or I'll lose.” Nie crossed his arms and said, “Go ahead, take your time!” After two hours, Jibo finally lost the game. He racked his brain and used every possible means at his disposal, but still couldn’t turn the game around. Nie said, “I might have won this first game by luck. Let’s try another one!” Jibo hadn’t wanted to concede in the first place, and so was quick to accept the challenge. The second game began. Jibo thought that he must take initiative this time and couldn’t allow Nie to get the upper hand. However, against his wishes, a group of his became sealed into the corner during the opening. Nie got magnificent outward influence, making the two corners on the left and the right work in coordination, and was ready to form a large territorial framework {moyo]. Jibo impetuously infiltrated the area. But Nie did not attack the weak stones immediately. Instead, he started to attack elsewhere, applying pressure to Jibo’s territory on both sides of the board and forming even more overwhelm- 24Nie Weiping on Go ing outward influence. Nie then set out to attack Jibo’s weak invading stones. In doing so, he settled his positions on both sides and turned them into terri- tory. Although Jibo’s weak stones were able to escape, from a full board per- spective he had failed, and was far behind in territory. Nie had the game won. Jibo sighed, “It’s hopeless. I lost again!” When it was lunch time, their mom yelled, “Lunch is ready!” They put the game aside. Their dad came over and asked, “Who won?” Jibo an- swered, “I lost two games in row.” His dad said, “Oh, you couldn’t beat Nie?” Jibo replied, “No indeed. Nie was awesome. He was always pressuring me, making things difficult.” Dad asked, “So, are you ready to concede his superi- ority?” Jibo replied, “Why not? If I lost, I lost!” His dad shook his head and sighed, “This was all predicted by Chen...” He patted Nie on the head and said, “Don’t be overconfident; continue to work hard.” Nie promptly replied, “I will; beating my own brother is only the tip of the iceberg that I have to deal with. It is still a long way before the expectations of Prime Minister Zhou Enlai and Chen Yi can be satisfied.” His dad smiled, “Yes, yes, you are right.” Two days later, his mom received a call from his school during noon- time, saying that Nie had not shown up in two days. “What could have happened?” his mom said in surprise. She remem- bered Nie mentioning a weiqi tournament and added, “Maybe he went to a tournament.” Putting down the telephone, his mom went to the National Cultural Center to look for Nie. Nie was observing games played by some Japanese 9 dans in the main playing room. Hearing somebody calling his name, Nie looked up and saw his mother. He quickly hid in the restroom. After looking around and not finding Nie, his mom left disappointed. Nie made sure that his mom was gone before he continued watching the games. When the 9 dan games were over, it was already 6 o’clock in the evening. Nie admired the advanced skill of those players. At the same time he was sad that none of the Chinese players were a match for them. That night Nie couldn’t help expressing his impression of the games. His mom asked furiously, “The school called and said that you have not shown up for two days. What happened?” Nie could only tell the truth, “I went to watch the games at the Cul- tural Center these past two days!” “You didn’t get permission from your teacher to skip classes? What is this?” Nie explained, “The Sino-Japanese Tournament only takes place once a year. I just wanted to watch the games of the 9 dan players...” His mom said severely, “That is against the regulations of the school, don’t you understand?” 25Nie blushed and said nothing. His dad understood what was in Nie’s mind and advised, “It’s okay to watch the games, but you need to ask your teacher for permission.” Nie replied, “I was afraid that he wouldn’t let me, that’s why...” “What do you plan to do now?” his dad asked. “Apologize to the teacher!” “That’s right. You’ ve got the right attitude,” his dad agreed. “But you also need to make up the classes.” “No problem,” Nie replied frankly. When Nie apologized to the teacher and handed in the missing class work, his teacher smiled with affection. The teacher understood Nie’s feelings, not to mention the fact that Nie was always a great student. This was only a rare lapse. His teacher was quick to accept Nie’s apology. In the Beijing Youth Tournament of 1963, Nie won first place after facing keen competition. In 1965, he garnered first place in the National Youth Tournament. Vice Prime Minister Chen handed out the prizes. When Nie went up to the stage to accept his trophy, Chen clasped his hand tightly and said, “My old friend, congratulations! However, this trophy should go to your school. Do you know why? Because the school gave you the training. If the trophy is awarded to the school, I would hope to see more youths encouraged.” Nie held the trophy in both hands and said sincerely, “I will do as you say.” And he thought to himself, “The reason I could get so strong in such a short time was because of Chen’s concern, the training I got from the school and the older players.” To Nie, becoming the National Youth Champion was only the first step of a long and winding road to the peak of a high mountain. More difficult parts of the journey were yet to come. In the spring of 1966, the first wave of the Cultural Revolution swept the entire country. Nie could not seclude himself from the raucous movement. He wore the symbol of the Red Army on his sleeve while saluting Chairman Mao and Prime Minister Zhou Enlai in Tiananmen Square. In November of the same year, a Japanese go team headed by Shimamura Toshihiro 9 dan visited China. A Friendship Tournament took place on the 7th floor of the Beijing Hotel. Chen came to greet the Japanese visitors and asked, “Has Nie arrived?” Guo Tisheng sent for Nie right away. Chen introduced Nie to the Japanese players, who studied the fourteen year old boy with interest. Chen half jokingly said, “In a few years, he will beat your 9 dans!” One of the Japanese visitors said doubtfully, “Maybe, maybe!” Chen wanted to test how strong Nie was and see what equivalent (Japa- nese) dan level his strength was. He therefore invited a Japanese journalist 5 dan to play a few games with Nie. Nie was in very high spirits. He was determined to demonstrate his progress to Chen by beating this 5 dan player. Because of Nie’s age, the Japanese player underestimated his strength 26Nie Weiping on Go in the beginning. However, after a few moves, he began to feel the pressure and was thrown into a passive position. Nie easily took two of the first three games played. The Japanese player did not seem ready to concede. Chen suggested that they played another three game set. The contest started again. This time the 5 dan tried his best. Every move he played was after careful consideration. Not only did he defend against Nie’s attacks, he also grabbed opportunities to counterattack weaknesses of Nie’s. But Nie used finesse against his opponent with two-pronged attacks that left the 5 dan helpless. As a result, Nie won the three consecutive games. The 5 dan player could only stand up, shake Nie’s hand and say with both embarrassment and admiration, “You played well. You played very well.” Chen was overjoyed to see Nie defeat the 5 dan, and asked him, “What do you think about our young player?” “Good, great!” the Japanese visitor replied. Chen turned and said to Nie, “You have been progressing quickly. In a few years, I want to see you match up against the 9 dans! I hope that then you will win as you did today.” Afterward, in order to encourage Nie, Chen gave him a weiqi set which was a gift from the Japanese. This cordial encouragement gave Nie tremendous spiritual support. He made a special cover to protect the valued present. He longed for the day when he could play against a Japanese 9 dan in front of Chen. He hoped to see a warm and satisfied smile on Chen’s face when he won the game. Six As Nie’s weiqi skill was ready to take another giant step towards that peak, the fury of the Cultural Revolution erupted. A number of old officials came under attack. Chen was among them and he fell from power. Even Nie’s parents were jailed. This disaster was a tremendous shock to the young Nie. He couldn’t comprehend what had happened. Since his brothers and sisters were quite young, life was difficult without their parents to care for them. They started to blame each other for the mishap. During these difficult times, Nie still didn’t abandon his study of weiqi or trying to improve his skill. He played out professional games whenever he had a chance. But his sister was very much against this, and scolded, “It’s all because of your playing weiqi that disaster struck our family. Haven’t you learned your lesson? I refuse to allow you to play weiqi from now on!” “That’s a strange idea!” Nie retorted. “What does that have to do with my playing weiqi? My goal is to defeat Japanese 9 dans and bring honor to our country. Is that wrong?” “Give me a break! Who is going to believe that you are doing this for 27our country?” his sister asked with annoyance. “Don’t you understand that dad and mom have been jailed because you are associated with Vice Prime Minister Chen and the old party by playing weiqi with them? They say that we are part of the ‘Black Gang’.” “I don’t believe that!” Nie contradicted again. “We didn’t do anything wrong. People will eventually find out whether we are part of the ‘Black Gang’ or not.” The political tempest gained momentum everyday, to the point that posters which read “Weiqi belongs to the ‘Old Four’ and must be completely destroyed” were pasted on the outside walls of Nie’s house. Nie felt deeply hurt. A number of questions started to swirl around in his young mind: “With all that’s going on, how can we catch up with the Japanese (in weiqi)? Weiqi is our national treasure. It has a history of thousands of years. Both Chairman Mao and Prime Minister Zhou Enlai agreed that we have to develop our skill at weiqi. How can this be wrong? If everything passed on from our ancestors is considered to be a part of the ‘Old Four’, then how about ourselves? We are all descendants of our ancestors. Should we all be destroyed then, too? Are we to give up all our culture for socialism?” Nie had no answers to these questions. There was no one to help him answer these questions either. His sister strongly opposed Nie’s playing weiqi. Their parents’ salaries had been reduced and everyday life became a source of concern. Nie felt puzzled, scared and lost. At this time, a propaganda movement of the Red Army swept the country. Nie saw a lot of his schoolmates and neighbors leave home for the movement. Nie wanted to go also. Little Guo once told him, “You should travel and explore other places, broaden your view. This will help you to im- prove your strength and will benefit your thinking ability.” Nie thought to himself, “This is a good opportunity for me. I can get the chance to travel around the country, visiting famous mountains and rivers and broaden my knowl- edge. I can also play weiqi with people around the nation.” But he was afraid that his sister wouldn’t let him go. Therefore, he hopped onto a truck of the Red Army and left Beijing without saying good-bye to his parents. Becoming worried when Nie disappeared, his sister and Jibo went and told their parents. Their father was granted temporary release from jail to search for Nie. After two weeks, Nie was still nowhere to be found. His dad had to return to jail when the temporary release expired. After one month had passed, the family received a letter from Nie saying that he was staying at a weiqi player’s house in Taiyuan, playing weiqi everyday. He wanted to return home but had no money, and that he would appreciate it if the family would send him some. With the approval of those guarding him, Nie’s dad sent some money to him. However, a few months passed and Nie still did not return. Then one day Jibo met Nie on Changan Street and was overjoyed. They came home hand in hand and the whole family was happy. Both parents were given temporary release this time to see Nie. At the request of the family, Nie talked 28