SQJ Taipei

I’m sure you are already aware of this news… as I’m sure that you follow the sport of Go with unrivaled passion… but I’ll go ahead and post the news anyway.

Seriously, who knew there were big “GO” tourneys? Not me.

But I do now because Taiwan is officially ON the GO map because of the new LG Cup champion Zhou Jun Xun.

This is Zhou’s page on the Go Database website GoBase.org

From The Taipei Times:

Chou, 27, started learning how to play go with his father at the tender age of six finding joy in the intellectually challenging game.

Taiwanese go player Chou Chun-hsun yesterday holds up his trophy in Seoul, South Korea, after winning the world championship.

During his elementary school years, playing go was a major source of comfort for Chou, who was often mocked by classmates because of the prominent scarlet birthmark on his face.

Over the years, Chou learned to ignore comments about his birthmark while cultivating the concentration and precocious calm which have helped him to the top rank of the tree in the highly competitive game of go.

During his formative years, Chou recalled in a recent interview, he chose an energetic way to work off his frustrations.

“When I was a junior high school student, I ran for three hours every day, circling the school’s sports ground about 70 times and covering some 28km,” he said.

This punishing exercise regime may have helped give him the stamina to endure lengthy go competitions.

keep reading Champ says playing go is his life

If you want some more info… look here and here.

My favorite quote from the second link is:

Chou noted that there are not many incentives for Go players in Taiwan, as there are not enough competitions, and prizes are relatively low. Taiwan currently has about 2 million Go players, but only 45 out of them are professional, a staff member of the TCYCF told the Liberty Times, adding that making a living from playing Go was not easy in Taiwan, unlike other East Asian countries.

Making a living from playing Go is easy somewhere? Wow… maybe I should take up the game!