Hu (left) playing Shikshin

Ranka: Please tell us something about your career.
Yuqing: I learned go at age six. My father played, so he sent me to a go class for children, and I immediately liked the game. Now I teach at a go school for children in Shanghai, and I write magazine articles about go, trying to spread knowledge about the game. But my main occupation is working as a sales manager for China Mobile. Go is a hobby, something I do when I have time, which is not every day. In particular, I don’t have time to train. I’m always too busy. The only training I get is by actually playing in tournaments.

Ranka: Please tell us about your game against the Korean player here.
Yuqing: In the opening I thought I was doing well, so for a while I relaxed a little. Then I got into overtime, began to feel under pressure, and made an endgame mistake. I still regret that mistake. But despite losing that game and coming in second, and despite the much greater pressure of the doping test, I’m pretty satisfied with the tournament as a whole.

Ranka: What changes have you seen in the World Amateur Championship, and in go in China.
Yuqing: In the past, China, Japan, and Korea were by far the strongest countries at the World Amateur Championship, but recently the North American and European players have been closing the distance. As for China, over the years we have developed good ways of teaching go, and now the Internet is here. For those reasons, a lot of young people are getting into the game. They compete with each other, they try to outdo each other, and that makes them stronger. This is very good for go.

Ranka: Thank you.