Shin Jin-chan (right) and Ke Jie clashed at the Nongshim Cup on the 25th of last month. Because of Ke Jie's reckless words and deeds, the situation lasted for a week with questions from South Korea and explanations from China. Korean Chess Academy Diagram
Although more than a week has passed since Shen Zhenchen's "Nongshim Cup Victory", the sequelae of Ke Jie's excessive remarks at that time continue to ferment. After South Korea's national Go team coach Mue Jin-suk raised the need to take a stand on the issue, a video conference of relevant people from the two countries was held on March 4, and a chaotic week was spent.
The reason for this problem is the 13th game of the 23rd Nongshim Cup World Go Tournament, which was played online on the 25th of last month. After losing to Shin, Ke Jie conducted a live broadcast of about 30 minutes on the social platform bilibili and repeatedly made statements hinting at the possibility of cheating by his opponents.
The biggest problem is the "bathroom". Ke Jie presupposed that "the rumors of acquaintances" said: "After seeing my 77th hand, Shen Zhenchen did not sit down, but went to the bathroom", "violated the rules of going to the bathroom before the other party fell".
But Ke Jie's statement is not true. The video confirmation results of the game showed that Shen Zhenchen's white chess piece left the table after falling the 76th hand, and Ke Jie's black chess piece fell 54 seconds after the 77th hand, and Shen Zhenchen returned to his seat. At this time, only 1 minute and 4 seconds after the white 76th hand, and Shin Zhenchen fell behind the white 78 after 5 minutes and 42 seconds.
After Shen Zhenchen dropped 76 hands and flew, he immediately got up
Ke Jie repeatedly expressed his admiration for Shen Zhen's recitation of the Fa. Especially for Bai 108, he said: "This is the recommendation of AI masterpieces, which is a move that I can't imagine at all, it's amazing." Ke Jie also lamented on his social platform account that "stronger than the Alpha Dog, no one is Shen Zhenchen's opponent now." Through the mention of artificial intelligence, we can question Shen Zhenchen's "superpowers".
It is reported that Ke Jie's speech dynamics spread rapidly through online news, and Shen Zhenchen was greatly impacted after learning about it. The next day, Shin Shin-chan was in a bitter fight with the Japanese team for the last time, also because he had barely slept the night before due to anger. South Korean national team coaches confirmed that some Chinese chess players said more serious things than Ke Jie, which made Shin Jin-chan feel very tired.
In this regard, the head coach of the South Korean national team, Mu Jinshuo, once prepared a statement urging the Chinese side to reflect, but it was replaced by a video conference of the two countries' Go associations on the afternoon of the 4th. After The Director general of the Korean Chess Academy, Liang Jae-ho, expressed regret, Hua Xueming, vice chairman of the Chinese Weiqi Association, said: "This is not our official position on the Chinese side, this is Ke Jie's personal behavior", "We warned the chess players to pay attention to words and deeds".
The central figure of this incident, Shen Zhenchen, was criticized by the Chinese chess players for being unfoundedly slandered and ridiculed, and still calmly and with character. At the post-match press conference of South Korea's Nongshim Cup victory on February 26, Shin Jin-chan said: "Yesterday Ke Jie Jiudan's state did not seem to be very good. The more famous chess players are, the more they must pay attention to words and deeds. Even if it's not intentional, avoid making Chinese fans feel differently. ”
It was not the first time that Ke Jie had made rude remarks about Shen Zhenchen. When the two first met in the 4th Lark Cup final in 2019, Ke Jie once said that "Shin Jin-chan's chess is very jerky and not very good", which triggered the anger of Korean chess fans. After winning the final of the 25th Samsung Cup in November 2020, Ke Jie said: "Thank you Shin Jin-chan for always bringing me the championship, he should work harder." Ke Jie's blatant taunts brought harm to Shin Jin-chan.
As Shin becomes the active World Series double champion and wins 23 consecutive victories over Chinese players, the Chinese Go community's constraints on Shin are also further improving. Liang Jae-ho, director of the ROK Chess Academy, said: "The two countries propose to work together to achieve the common goal of the development of Go in the world." But the atmosphere of confrontation between the two countries over the hegemony of Go does not seem to improve easily.
(Saury compiled from a column by Chosun Ilbo reporter Lee Hong-yeol)