Archive: An interview with "uchanga", 9-dan on Tygem (2004)

Source: Tygem website, 2004

 

Uchanga, 9-dan became Tygem ranking #1 in 2004 and got the special prize from Yoo Chunyoul, Tygem director (on photo). Uchanga is still very active on Tygem and still one of the best players on this server.

According to our information, he is Lee Jaeung, 6-dan pro. If it’s true, he is my former classmate.

We studied few years together in Yangchun Baduk Schooland he was always stronger than me. I beat him only once in our school league, I think.

 

The interview was quite long, and I decided to translate some questions only

 

Q. When did you start to play Go?

A. At the age of 7 I saw it on TV and thought, that the game is very interesting. I asked my mother to allow me to enter the Go school, but it was too far from our home. She decided to buy Go lessons on video by Kim Suyoung, 7-dan instead. 1 year later I asked my mother again and she agreed to show me the Go school. Go school director tested me and said that I am 13-kyu. I was accepted as a student and became 1-kyu (A.D: 1-kyu is the highest amateur rank in Korea, which is equal to EGF 5-dan, or even 6-dan) in 1 year.

 

Q. When did you start to play Go by internet?

A. I started at the age of 10. Chollian was the only Go server that time in Korea (A.D: near 1995-1996). Later I tried lot of other servers, including Neostone, Dashn and Lifebaduk.

 

Q. How many games do you usually play online?

A. Near 20-30 games per week. Usually I try to play maximum 3 games per day, but sometimes it’s very hard to stop.

 

Q. How do you find the opponents to play?

A. I sort the users by rank and start to invite 9-dan players from the top of the list. Usually I don’t play more than 2 games with the same user within 1 day.

 

Q. Do you think that Internet Go helps you to improve?

A. Yes, I am sure. I am weak at blitz (A.D. hmm… he is joking maybe, he was one of the best blitz players in our school), so I can improve my ability to play blitz games

 

Q. What do you think about the average strength of Tygem 9-dan?

A. It’s me. I am ranking #1 currently, but I know lot of Tygem players, who are much stronger than me. All 9-dans are usually very good players, so it’s hard to show good results as 9-dan even for professionals and top inseis

 

Q. How do you think, what is the best way of improving in Go?

A. You have to play more! Especially blitz games! They help a lot! Also it’s useful to read books and watch Go lectures on TV or internet

 

You can check few of his Tygem games here:

http://gosensations.com/index.php?id=2&server_id=4&new_id=130

http://gosensations.com/index.php?id=2&server_id=4&new_id=218

http://gosensations.com/index.php?id=2&server_id=4&new_id=251