Interview with Europeans in Qi-Shi magazine
We are proud to present to you an interview of five European players by the Chinese Go magazine
Qi-Shi. It was brilliantly and scientifically compiled by
Jennie Shen 2p (Shen Jing 2p).
The six European players: Pavol Lisy (Slovakia), Ali Jabarin (Israel) , Lukáš Podpěra (Czech Republic), Jan Šimara (Czech Republic), Dusan Mitic (Serbia), and Andrii Kravets (Ukraine). Andrii wasn't at the interview that day.
All six are now training in Beijing under a programme sponsored by CEGO.
The programme is CEGO academic system 2014/2015.
Pavol and Ali are two new European pros.Qi-Shi: What's the status of Go in your countries?Lukas: There are about 250 active Go players in Czech [Republic], their level is getting
stronger and stronger. Like last year, [the] Czech team won European Team Championship. There are 4 European 6ds in Czech; we (Lukas and Jan) are two of them.
Pavol: I'm from Slovakia. There are about 50 active players there. There are 8 dan players.
Ali: Isreal also has about 50 players. I feel like [the]
talent level is pretty high, because I still feel our country must be stronger than... even some countries have much
(sic) more players, we can beat them, we have some promising young players.
Qi-Shi: How long have you been playing Go? What's your background?
Lukas: I started to play Go at the age of 7, my father introduced me to the game because he used to play the game in the university.
Jan: I started [to play Go] because I played Chess, then I met Go. When I was about fifteen, I switched from Chess to Go.
Qi-Shi: You switched from Chess to Go -- why is Go more ineresting to you?Jan: Go has much
(sic) more
possibilities.
Dusan: It's the same with Lukas -- I learned Go from my father.
Pavol: I started to play Go at the age of five. My father taught me.
Ali: I got introduced
(sic) the game by a friend. I just started to play when I was twelve, started going to the tournaments, then kept playing since then.
Qi-Shi: This time you came to Bejing to study at the Ge's Academy. What did you learn here? Do you have a goal?Lukas: Like very soon, the
European pro qualification which I would like to try to pass. It's like I'm qualified to the pro
Grand Slam, but if really... or otherwise I don't have any like really future planning, let's see how it will go.
Jan: What I learned here? I think I'm improving all parts [in all areas].
Pavol: I feel like I'm improving in the school because I spend lots of time on Go. I improved mostly at the endgame I think.
Qi-Shi: Do you have a plan for your future? Do you want to be a pro or want to do things related to Go?Lukas: Of course I would like to be a pro, as much as...I would like to be just work, I would like it to be from
(sic) playing [Go].
Jan: About the future plan, not exactly, come back and see, play some games..
Dusan: I have no plans for the future, except I'll try to become pro.
Pavol: My plan for the future: to get good results at the international tournaments,
win some games against Asian pros, but that's just a dream.
Ali: My plans: I was in university and I stopped before I came here, and I told myself I stopped that and I came here for a couple of years, at least two or three years, see what I can do with Go. The dream is to be able to play
competitively in Asia. It's not a plan, I would say it's a dream, but that's the end goal, I hope I can improve as well, I know it's not very easy.
Qi-Shi: What do you think is the most interesting thing about Go?Lukas: Like the
endless numbers of variations.
Qi-Shi: Which part of Go is the most difficult to improve?
Lukas: For me the most difficult thing to improve is the
endgame. It's very hard to count the points exactly, most of the games are decided by the endgame. But here they found how to improve in those Go schools with practices.
Jan: The most difficult part to improve I think is
reading.
Dusan: I agree with most of the things Jan said, I think the most difficult part of Go is reading.
Pavol: The most difficult part of Go, maybe the
judgement, I don't know.
Ali: I think something which is very important, sometimes, important loss is always
mentality. When you play also when you study. Having the will to win, the will to try hard, so you'll study a lot, staying calm while playing is very important, that's one of the things that I'm trying to improve here. Other than that, I feel like I gained a little bit of knowledge also. I always learn new moves, not just josekis, but new techniques. Then something which I learned about the game, I can just say that to me Go is very deep, just feels different from all the other games. It's not just a game.
Qi-Shi: Who is your Go idol?Lukas and Jan: Iyama Yuta
Dusan: AliPavol: Chen Yaoye
Ali: Tan Xiao
The six players played the Silk Road Amateur Tournament in Xian, China in Nov 2014.
Pavol won the first place. Ali won the second place.Qi-Shi: How did you feel after you won the tournament?Pavol: I was very happy. The tournament was very good. I enjoyed it, I think, ...for example the time setting helped me, because I'm used to playing fast games. It was not so difficult to overcome the pressure.
Ali: We (Pavol and Ali) just came back from
Japan from a
tournament, we had decent result in Japan, so definitely for both. For me I was feeling a bit more confident. And I was quite proud of some of the games I played in the [Silk Road] tournament. I regret the game I lost to Pavol. The tournament was a lot of fun, so it was good, of course I was happy with the prize money.
Qi-Shi: What's the difference between the Chinese tournament and the European tournament?Pavol: In China it's more like a
competition right now. Nobody stands up from the game, in Europe they stand up all the time. Almost... it's more like this.
Qi-Shi: People think Westerners and Asians think differently. Do you think it's the same -- that Western Go players and Asian Go players think differently?Pavol: I don't know how they think, I think there's a difference that they care more about the
beginning of the game, they know how to finish the game, that's the difference.
Qi-Shi: Some Asian pros think the feeling/instinct is very important. Do you play more with your feeling/instinct or reading and judgement?Ali: Both. I think I understand what he means. The feeling is somehow much more important. Sometimes we play much less terriorial, play more for a moyo, maybe not myself, but I think many players in Europe, they play much more moyo style. Sometimes...they... when judge a move, it's just like, Oh wow, this move looks good, feels good, not saying it like it is much more precise.
Qi-Shi: What do you want to do for European Go?Lukas: We can bring some
knowledge from China to Europe, open Go schools and teach.
Jan: We are all part of the [pro] system. So if some of us are
successful, naturally this system is also successful, that'll be good for everyone.
placed by sandmann at 17:23 Fri 30 January 2015 
The Turniej o Rubinowy Kamien , a class C tournament, played on 24-01-2015 in Torun, Poland, was won by Wojciech Malkiewicz 13k, second came Robert Oczkowski 3k and third was Marek Kunek 9k.
The Open Championship of the Dnipropetrovsk region 2015, a class A tournament, played from 17-01-2015 to 18-01-2015 in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, was won by Kostiantyn Lopatenko 2d, second came Oleksandr Vdovin 3k and third was Andrii Vdovin 1d.
The Championship of School #43, a class B tournament, played on 26-01-2015 in Petrozavodsk, Russia, was won by Darja Zabrodskaja 20k, second came Anastasia Malakhova 20k and third was Alexandr Volkov 20k.
The Torneo Citta di Treviso 2015, a class C tournament, played on 25-01-2015 in Treviso, Italy, was won by Leonardo Giuliato 5k, second came 
The National Veteran Championship, a class A tournament, played from 24-01-2015 to 25-01-2015 in RO, Romania, was won by 
The Dutch Female Championship 2015, a class A tournament, played from 24-01-2015 to 25-01-2015 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, was won by 
The Csiki Rapid Go Tournament, a class C tournament, played on 24-01-2015 in Budapest, Hungary, was won by Barnabas Kollner 8k, second came Janos Fiala 11k and third was Peter Blazovics 13k.
The Maidenhead, a class A tournament, played on 24-01-2015 in Maidenhead, United Kingdom, was won by Charles Hibbert 2d, second came Alistair Wall 1d and third was 
The Istanbul City Tournament 2015/2, a class C tournament, played on 24-01-2015 in Istanbul, Turkey, was won by Ozgur Degirmenci 3d, second came Buke Tuncel 12k and third was Fatih Ozcelik 7k.
The Galway .Warming Up. Tournament, a class C tournament, played on 18-01-2015 in Galway, Republic of Ireland, was won by Venkata Velpuri 20k, second came Philippe Renaut 2d and third was James Hutchinson 1d.
As some of you already noticed; the News search option has dramaticly improved.
The Jusandan 2015, a class A tournament, played from 17-01-2015 to 18-01-2015 in Stockholm, Sweden, was won by 
The 5th Decin Open Tournament, a class A tournament, played from 17-01-2015 to 18-01-2015 in Decin, Czech Republic, was won by Martin Jurek 5d, second came 
The Winter Tournament, a class B tournament, played from 16-01-2015 to 18-01-2015 in Kosicka Bela, Slovakia, was won by Maros Kral 3d, second came Adrian Lacko 5k and third was Michaela Poprocka 17k.
