Interview: Pal Balogh (macisajt on KGS)

The full version of the interview will be published in Goama magazine #123

Q: I know your current level and think that it’s good enough for getting
1p in Japan. Why did you return back after staying in Japan as insei
for several years?

A:I have had the oppotunity to play a number of online games with
two of my insei 'rivals' who have become 1p last year and I could
hardly win a game, so I am not too confident about my strength.
I also think that to reach professional level I need to learn to
respect the game and the players.
I have played in the insei league at the Nihon Kiin's Osaka
Branch for 2 and a half years, and my best result in the year-
long qualification was 4th. In the end I was sent back home
by my sensei, Hirano Masaaski 7p (who discussed everything with
Ishii Kunio 9p) and Hirano sensei's friend, who was my sponsor.

Q:You have extremely good score against Korean ex-inseis, currently
staying in Europe, Cho Seok-bin, 7-dan, for example. Can you tell us
the secret? How do you beat Koreans regularly?

A:My score against Cho Seokbin is 4-1, against Hong Seul-ki 1-2,
and against Oh Chimin 0-1. I think I was behind most of the time
in every single game, so perhaps they let their guard down
against an unheralded opponent, so that I could stage upsets.

Q: We often see you playing with rapyuta, 9-dan on KGS. Can you tell us
more about him and your
relations?

A:I only met him in person a couple of times, and I have only
played online games with him. I don't want to reveal his identity,
beacuse I don't know if he would agree with it.

Q: What is your favorite Go server and why?

A: I have experience using IGS,KGS,Orobaduk.
My favorite at the moment is Orobaduk.