2017年7月3日 棋友文采
万精油对Keith文章的评论-Keith：李立言的胜利，把美国职棋旗帜插上了世界围棋版面
万精油——经典围棋AI小说《墨绿》一文作者
今天的美国围棋协会电子杂志有一篇文章比较有趣，摘要转一下。文章题目叫：停钟，对李立言历史性胜利的反思。文章说，从前，美国的围棋在世界棋坛上一直都是看客身份，对中日韩的职业棋手都只能仰望，不可企及。1986年的围棋大会，日本的坂田来下指导棋，当时的全美第一被让两子仍然找不到北。那时的坂田早已不在巅峰状态，更有甚者，那盘棋大部分时候他都在室外抽烟，胜得毫不费力。差距不可谓不大。90年代以来，美国围棋取得长足进步（得益于中日韩前职业棋手移居美国的指导，更得益于网络的发展），开始有机会偶尔战胜一些职业棋手了。但是这些胜利是有水分的。一方面被战胜的职业棋手都不在他们的巅峰状态，不能代表世界先进水平，另一方面，那些战胜职业棋手的人基本上都是在国外接受围棋教育的。李立言这次的胜利之所以说是历史性的胜利，因为上面两点都被破了。首先陈耀烨是两次世界冠军得主，正处在巅峰状态，可以代表世界顶尖水平，更重要的是，李立言是本土培养起来的棋手。他的这次胜利，把美国职业棋手的旗帜插上了世界围棋版面，我们不可忽视！
万精油评：从中国棋手的立场来说，李立言在百合杯中胜陈耀烨有一些偶然成分。估计陈有些轻敌。如果认真下多盘点话，相信中国有一大批棋手可以胜李立言。但是，从美国棋手的立场来看，不管什么偶然因素，第一次的胜利就是历史性的突破。而且，李胜陈发生在本赛的第二轮，他第一轮已经战胜过另一个职业棋手，而这个棋手也是通过选拔赛打出来的，不是一般的职业棋手。从这个意义上来说，他确实是有一定实力的。美国人把这个事件大书特书还是有道理的。
题外话：作者Keith Arnold 是我朋友，30+ 年前我刚到美国的时候就经常一起下棋。作为美国本土白人而且是成年以后才学棋，能够下到美国围棋协会的5段，很不容易了。不过，他们这些人受日本围棋影响比较大，走棋过于教条。遇到我这种野路杀手，他还是招架不住[哈哈]。去年在波士顿召开的美国围棋大会期间与他下过一盘，他还是不行。现在新学棋的小孩子成天都在网上下棋，这种书本教条的情况已经有很多改变。
题外话2，美国的羽毛球现在也是同样的局面。对亚洲的高手只能瞻仰，不可企及。美国的男子双打曾经在2005年世界杯中击败中日韩印尼丹麦拿过世界冠军。不过，双打队员之一的吴俊明来自印尼，他是双打奇才，是世界上唯一一个与三个不同人搭配都拿到世界冠军的人。另一个队员是Howard Bach，是美国本土选手，也算是一个突破。最近代表美国出战的张蓓文战绩也很好（连续多次在超级系列赛上打进前4名，中国女子已经好久不进前四了）。不过，张蓓文不是本土运动员。真正的本土运动员还是差很大一截。上界奥运会，全美土生土长的第一高手第一轮碰见林丹，只拿到6分。而且，林丹没使什么全力。美国羽毛球要走的路还很长。
小编：附《Pause the Clock》原文，文中还提到了“我们不能忘记迈克尔·雷德蒙德9P的重大成就，但是由于他在日本接受培训，所以我认为雷德蒙德的成功是西方人的成功，而不是西方的成功。”
Pause the Clock: Reflections on Ryan Li’s historic victory
——by Keith L. Arnold
The American Go Association has come a long way since I first became active in 1985. In those days the place to be was on the East Coast with far more events and tournaments. But now, we have wonderful broadcasts of top professional games, and if you live on the East Coast, as I do, they don’t start until 1:30 in the morning, making the West Coast the place to be. Bleary-eyed bitterness aside, it is a great time to be a Western go fan, with access to world news, live streaming events and global opponents as close as your nearest screen.
Having just finished my Kickstarter download of “The Surrounding Game” documentary, which focuses its wonderful introduction to the world of go on the birth of our professional system, being confronted almost immediately with Ryan Li 1P’s victory over two-time world champion Chen Yaoye 9p last week was pure serendipity. There is a moment in the film where I express my skepticism about our pro system effort. I should explain, as I swallow some crow, that my main objection was always concern that we could not provide our new pros a living. I would sarcastically urge players to “keep your day job” at meetings when the topic came up, but I should confess that I also had concerns about how strong our pros would be.
Now, as we celebrate Ryan’s win, it’s a good time to take a moment to appreciate the route we have taken to get here, and why this is such an amazing accomplishment. Those of us used to the bullet train of the modern internet go world might benefit from a little history from the guy still riding the rusty bus several stops behind.
For decades, American players had no chance to play a professional at all, certainly not in a serious game. Apart from occasional, usually Japanese, pro tours, we could only look at their game records, on paper, received months after the games were played. We s2017.06.28_ryan-li-close-uptudied, and we played as much as we could – usually once a week at our local clubs.
The US Go Congress was the first change. Beginning in 1985, American go players, at least for a week, once a year, could grab a simul or three from professional go players. But this only made the gap seem all the more vast. In 1986 at the first Seattle Go Congress, our strongest player Charles Huh played Sakata 9 dan in a two stone one-on-one exhibition game. Sakata, one of the greatest players in history, was no longer at his peak form, yet Huh was helpless at two stones, and that was with Sakata outside most of the time on smoking breaks.
In the 1990s, Western players started to have chances to play professionals in serious matches during the annual Fujitsu Qualifiers. Still the gap seemed evident – as Michael Redmond 9P played for a decade without a loss to an amateur player. But the 1990s also brought the internet. Access to news, sgfs, opponents and unlimited chances to play began to increase the Western level of play. While I do not mean to diminish the efforts of our early professional teachers — Feng Yun, Yilun Yang, Zhujiu Jiang, Ming-jiu Jiang, James Kerwin and others — the steady shrinking of time and distance provided by the internet has broadened, amplified and, arguably, exceeded their efforts.
More and more opportunities to play pros arrived, and Western players started to win. On the one hand, I do not think this was a matter of percentages — more games does not guarantee more wins — I think we were actually getting stronger. However, the wins were often against non-active pros, certainly not against current top international players.
All that changed last week. In a serious international event, a Western pro defeated, not just a pro, not just a 9 dan, but a 9 dan world champion in his prime. It is an accomplishment for Western go that is simply unequaled. Before this week, I would argue that our greatest accomplishment was Eric Lui’s third place in the World Amateur Championship. We cannot forget the significant accomplishments of Michael Redmond 9P, but because he trained in Japan, I submit that Redmond’s success is the success of a Westerner, not the success of Western go.
Ryan Li 1P, homegrown and homemade, has announced to the world that we are more than a grateful recipient of support and a vacation opportunity; we are now a force to be reckoned with. We also owe an enormous debt of thanks to Myungwan Kim 9 dan. Without his vision, help and guidance we would not have been able to put Ryan where he clearly deserved to be. |
