Recently, the hottest topic in China's sports industry is Koshen Jubanqi. It can be said that since the end of the final between Ke Jie and Shen Zhenchen in February 2022, this topic has not cooled down. This topic has always been a hot topic in the Go world, and even out of the Go circle, Koshen Juban has become a topic of common concern for Go lovers in China, Japan and South Korea. With the Korean Chess Academy officially submitting its application to the Chinese Chess Academy, Keshen Juban quickly became the focus of China's sports community. Both Ke Jie and Shin Jin-tan showed a strong willingness to fight, but the Chinese Chess Academy eventually rejected the Application of the Korean Chess Academy on the grounds that the Asian Games were busy with events. This disappointed China's domestic chess fans, like a bunch of fires about to burn, suddenly extinguished by a basin of cold water.
This reminds me of a sensational 150-meter showdown more than 20 years ago, which was called a genius commercial sports planning case that can go down in human history.
On May 31, 1997, the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Champion and World Record Holder Pele and the Atlanta Olympics Men's 200m/400m Champion and 200m World Record Holder Michael Johnson played a 150m crossover matchup. The reason is interesting, although The Canadian Pele set a world record of 9.84 seconds at the Atlanta Olympics, he is not the fastest runner in the Hearts of Americans. The previous 100-meter sprint champions were all Americans, so Americans think that the fastest runner in the world must be americans. Because Michael Johnson of the United States ran 19.32 seconds in the 200 meters of the Atlanta Olympic Games, each 100 meters took 9.66 seconds, so americans believe that Johnson ran faster than Bailey. But the Canadians were reluctant, so canadians and Americans began to argue to quarrel.
Who is faster, Pele or Johnson? Athletic enthusiasts all over the world and people all over the world were curious, so the world sports fans who supported Johnson and supported Bailey began to discuss and quarrel, and quickly took sides. Johnson and Bailey also began to add fuel to the fire of an open verbal battle in the media. Johnson and Pele, numerous Americans and Canadians, quickly attracted the attention of sports enthusiasts around the world through the introduction of the battle. Talented men who are well versed in sports and business have lost no time in starting to play the role of Johnson and Pele in the world media, which quickly became the most talked about world hot topic that year. When the world was talking about this topic, the 150-meter race between Johnson and Pele was created. The race captured the attention of almost all sports enthusiasts around the world, and anyone who lived through 1997 will still remember the 150-meter flying man race vividly.
The final result of the two flyers' battle is also known, Pele won with a time of 14.99 seconds, Michael Johnson left the game with a left quadriceps strain, and ended the protracted duel that attracted the attention of sports fans around the world without losing face.
The planning of this 150-meter race can be called the business world and the sports world: God's operation. All participants are winners. Through this competition, the IAAF has greatly enhanced its popularity and position and voice in the world sports world. The business tycoons who planned and participated in this protracted duel made a lot of money. Bailey and Johnson not only received huge appearance fees, but also greatly exposed themselves in the center of the world stage, which made their popularity a big step. And sports fans around the world enjoyed a big showdown between two trapezers and enjoyed it.
Chinese Go is currently facing many difficulties, such as the chess team can not find a sponsor, professional chess players have no chess to play. Even the Chinese Weijia strongman Jiangsu Weiqi team is facing the doom of disbanding in 2022 because it has not attracted sponsors. Where do these problems come from? The main reason is that Chinese Go currently lacks business thinking and business planning for the big picture. Keshen Juban chess can attract the attention of the whole country, indicating that the number of Go enthusiasts in China is already very large. Go can no longer be simply seen as a niche game.
As a competitive sport, it is impossible to do a good job without a mature commercial operation. Compared with the man-machine war between IBM Deep Blue and Kasparov; the human-machine war between Google Alpha Dog and Lee Sedol and Ke Jie, these are all genius moves of business planning. There is no reason why American business and sports are so developed. So what Chinese Go needs to change is the way of thinking. Ideas determine the way out, and opportunities such as Koshin Juban can operate as sporting events that the world is concerned about. If it is successful, it will be a great publicity and promotion for Go to the world. So I don't think Koshin Juban will be ended so easily. China has never lacked business planning genius, and based on my confidence in Chinese culture and the Chinese nation, I am still very optimistic about the development prospects of Chinese Go.