An interview with Kim Okkon, the creator of Batoo

Q. I heard that the budget of Batoo Invitational is $200.000. Who is
the main sponsor and was it easy to find him?

A. We don't have a main sponsor yet. Batoo Invitational was sponsored by 3-5 small companies and was also supported by Baduk TV. We are still searching for other sponsors.

Q. I saw the tournament table of Batoo Invitational and noticed that
stronger Baduk players, according to KBA ranking are usually winning
their games. Can we say, that they have an advantage, because they
play Baduk better?

A. Of course, is there is a huge difference in Baduk skills, stronger Baduk player has advantage in Batoo. But if the difference in Baduk level is not big, it's hard to imagine, who will be better player in Batoo. In the qulification stage of the Batoo Invitational we saw such examples. Batoo is a different game and usually more experienced player has an advantage - both games need reading ability, but in Batoo it's necessary to consider Hidden moves-related possibilities, so the reading is also different.

Q. How do you think, who is currently the strongest Batoo player in Korea?

A. Park Yeunhun, 9-dan is probably the strongest. He is very good at using Hidden moves and he usually plays in very thick style, so his opponents cannot use Hidden moves well. Also, he is good at using plus-minus zones in yose. Yose is also his strongest feature in Baduk and it helps him. Other good Batoo players are Ha Youngho and Park Chinseol - both are young Baduk profesionals

Q. There are lot of English words in Batoo, such as "hidden move" or
"base building". Do you plan to allow Eng-speaking players to try the
game on batoo.com. If so, when will we have a chance?

A. It's a global project and we will not stop on Korean market. Next year we plan to start the Chinese version. We will also work on attracting Japanese and Taiwanese players. We would like to make the game popular in other countries - USA, Europe, Russia ...
The English version will be ready soon, but if you would to try Batoo right now, please contact us by e-mail and we will help you to create accounts: zini@eplayon.com or zini415@naver.com

Q. What do you think about the future of Batoo? Is it true, that you
created it for making Baduk more popular in Korea among teenagers?

A. Not only in Korea. We think, that Batoo can make Baduk more popular in other countries too. I believe, that players, who know Baduk already can enjoy both games together. Also, those, who cannot play Baduk yet, may start from Batoo and switch to Baduk later.
We tried to make our service as attractive as possible - spent lot of efforts on design.

Q.Do you plan to change the rules one day? I feel, that "scanner"
option can be skipped. I did not even explained about it to our
readers.

A. Yes, the rules can be changed. Maybe we will try new board sizes, new places for plus/minus zones. We will think about it in future

Source: gogame.info