On August 22, the Beijing News reported on teenagers battling to become professional players of weiqi, also known as "Chinese go."

The 2005 national weiqi dan competition, through which 20 new players were ranked, concluded in Ningbo City of Zhejiang Province in July, with over 430 participants.

One Chinese Weiqi Academy official described the dan competition as a threshold in players' careers: "Once across it, a player will be eligible for league matches. Otherwise, remaining an amateur, he or she has few chances to become known."

Since its inauguration in 1982, competition has produced nearly 300 professionals. The official estimated that around 50,000 children hope to one day join their ranks, mostly grouped in major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Chongqing and Harbin.

Peng Liyao

Thirteen-year-old Peng Liyao, of Yueyang City in Hunan Province, now lives with his parents in a 1,600-yuan-a-month three-bedroom apartment in Beijing.

"We share it with another mother who is also accompanying her child to study weiqi here," said Peng's father, Peng Jiuhua.

Even today he is still amazed at his child's obsession. "I was quite keen on weiqi, and often invited friends after work to play at home," he recalled. "The little kid, just several years old then, always watched, sometimes throughout the night. Not long after, with nobody's instruction, he learned to play."

In 2000, Peng Liyao was recruited into Nie Weiping's Weiqi Training Center, a Beijing-based boarding school established the year before by a 9th-dan master (level 9 is the highest). Tuition, board and lodging cost 1,000 yuan a month, and Peng Jiuhua's then monthly wage was just a little over that, while his wife had no regular income at all.

A year later, Peng Jiuhua decided to resign his job and go to Beijing to become his son's "training partner."

In the beginning, to make both ends meet and recommended by friends, he worked for a company a couple of hours' drive from the school, and could only see his son every two weeks or so. Peng's wife borrowed 50,000 yuan in March 2002 to run an internet bar in Hunan.

But less than a month later a call from the school saying Peng Liyao had "made little progress" forced his mother to make over the bar at a discount and come to Beijing. The reunited family rented a house close to the school and since then she has not looked for other work.

Peng Liyao became a 1st-dan amateur last year, and 11 consecutive victories in last month's national dan competition have significantly increased his rating points and made him a hopeful candidate for the national juvenile team.

"We have spent over 100,000 yuan on the child's training and got heavily into debt," said Peng Jiuhua. "However, as he has the talent, we'll continue to aid him financially. Then it's a matter of luck whether or not he is eventually successful."

The state allows 5th-dan and above amateurs an extra 20 points when taking the national university entrance examination and tens of thousands of families have sent their children to weiqi training schools.

According to Jiang Hong, vice president of Nie Weiping's school, tuition and living costs for children at weiqi boarding schools in Beijing currently average 40,000 yuan a year, not including accompanying parents' expenses.

Piao Wenyao   

Piao Wenyao, 17, an ethnic Korean from Harbin City in Heilongjiang Province, is now a 4th-dan player and a member of the national youth team.

In 1995 he joined a weiqi club in Harbin for regular training and two years later became a professional player.

The year 2000 marked an important turning point in his life: first he was chosen by the national juvenile team, then his father, who initiated Piao into the world of weiqi, was robbed and murdered on a summer night.

Despite the disaster, Piao's mother accompanied him to Beijing and lived in a house paying 500 yuan a month.

The following year Piao was dismissed from the juvenile team due to his unsatisfactory results, and his mother began work as a hired servant.

"Besides earning a living, I managed to seek more chances for Piao to play weiqi, so that he would not be out of practice," she recalled. "Besides, his father's case wasn't yet settled and I had to be in constant touch with the police."

After learning of his experiences, Cho Hoon-hyun, a South Korean 9th-dan master nicknamed "weiqi emperor," donated 5,000 yuan for him in 2003. He also received aid from many other Korean friends. Even so, his mother said "we still owe a debt of several ten thousand yuan."

When asked about his career, Piao said, "The situation has improved a lot. I signed with Dalian Shangfang to play in Division A league matches. I should feel satisfied even if I cannot become a world champion some day."

After a pause, he added, "Of course it's every player's dream to win the world championship."

Luo Xihe

Luo Xihe, 28, of Hengyang City in Hunan Province, a 9th-dan player and member of the national team, has often been cited as a successful example by many parents hoping their children to have a bright future. "When I was in the juvenile team, the state took charge of our daily life," Luo said. "Today's children players have to study at their own expense, and many families became debt-ridden."

Becoming world champion remains a distant dream to most players, and earning a living by playing weiqi is a more realistic expectation for many. Since he signed with Beijing Xinxing to play this year's Division A league matches, Luo revealed that his yearly earnings are expected to reach 300,000 yuan.

However, he advised those hoping to become rich through playing weiqi that they would be "better to give it up."

"A grand weiqi master must remain indifferent to worldly concerns," he said.

(China.org.cn by Shao Da, August 29, 2005)