Source: CCTV.com

06-07-2008 17:39

It was cloudy and cold in the morning of November the 20th, 1985. In a few hours' time, an important go match was due to begin at the Beijing Workers' Gymnasium. The contestants were Nie Weiping, a young Chinese player, and Fujisawa Hideyuki, a grand master from Japan.

China and Japan had held their first official go supermatch a year earlier. Most of the Chinese players were easily defeated. However, Nie Weiping beat one Japanese player after another. Eventually, he would face the top Japanese player in the decisive match.

Chinese and Japanese go players first played individual matches in the early 20th century. In 1919, Japanese go player Hoinbo Hideotoshi came to China to take on his Chinese counterparts. In the course of nearly a month of matches, the Chinese players did not win even once. They set themselves a target; before the century was out, China would defeat Japan at go.

 

Editor:Du Xiaodan