Another eventful week with pro visits (long!)

Information about previous trips
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Carl Johan
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Posts: 174
Joined: 07 May 2004, 12:41

Another eventful week with pro visits (long!)

Post by Carl Johan »

The last week was also eventful, if not as much so as the previous 2 weeks. On Monday, we had Huong Xiwen 6p visit. He showed great power in slamming the stones down in 7 simultanous games. I can at least boast that I beat his assistant, who was around Chinese 3-4 dan level.

The beginning of the week also meant a visit to the local go club, that many players have repeated since. I played 6 games, against Chinese 3 and 5 dans in an afternoon. Their styles were very unlike the style of the players I am used to playing, so it was quite interesting.

In the beginning of the week, we also had some local 5ds we met at the go club visit, and they seemed to enjoy playing with everyone. With events like this, our apartments feel even more like a go school, just as it should be.

Everyday lectures began Wednesday, with 2 hours of lectures every morning, and playing and reviewing sessions with some special events every week in the afternoons. The first few sessions were about life and death, invasions, and fuseki, and they were all very good.


Thursday, Gina Shi, one of the girls I met at the pair go competition in Japan paid a visit. We played a couple of games, where I won 2-1, but it seemed she was a bit rusty after a long time of not playing go. We also went to visit the go club together, and today also, some of the members of our group were playing there.

The week also held some good Chinese food, and some visits to Pizza Hut, one of the most expensive restaurants around here, and also the only place so far where you can be sure to find a waiter who speaks English.


The weekend was also spent well. On Saturday, we made a shopping trip to the Wangfujing shopping area. We were only 8 people going altogether, including our teachers Cheng Lan and Chi Chang Lo (Lo-Lo, a strong female 5d who likes fighting a lot). We had a look at the more expensive street and the games arcade first, and later we went across the Tienanmen square to another less expensive shopping street, with the biggest book store I have ever seen nearby.

In the evening, I played and lost against Lo-Lo, after a good game. I am hoping to beat the 2 girl teachers in even games (both strong 5d) before we go back home. I would like to beat the other teachers too, but they are just a bit too strong :)

During the night we went again to karaoke, and saw Sweden lose against Holland (actually, I saw only the last 4 penalties... guess what I was doing). We arrived back at 6 in the morning, and it was already light outside.

Still, we had to get up around noon on Sunday for a pre-arranged friendly game with a small private go school. We played 6-9 year-olds in a cosy little apartment in a shabby building. It was very nice, and I hope we will go there again. However, summing up the result, it unexpectedly showed that we had won 14-6, so we might send a somewhat weaker team next time.


Yesterday we had a 4th lecture on endgame, and today we start all over with life and death again. Today we will also arrange 2 pair go matches, with commentary by Cheng Lan and Bao Yun. Araldo and Eivind will play Nils and Oskar, and me and Harry will play Lasse and Lo-Lo.

Tomorrow we will have a commentary of a game from the Chinese City league, and the day after, we will go to watch some pro games live in the University district. One of the best teams, with Lee Sedol in it are playing, but as their opponents are not so strong, it seems unlikely that he will be playing. Oh well, you can't have everything...

This concludes a long report. I will try to write more frequently in the future, so I don't have to write so much, but who knows when I will find the time :)
Kawe
Posts: 151
Joined: 07 May 2004, 12:50
Location: Stockholm
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Post by Kawe »

Let's see if I can find you guys today/tomorrow :)
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