Kim Jiseok’s comments on the whole saga: “Ke Jie and the Chinese Weiqi Association are not the victims”
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Also I find it funny how AGA is using this to try to promote AGA rules lol
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Is the whole blog down for anyone else?
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Yeah I just realised it has been suspended and I don’t know why. Anyway I posted it also on reddit.
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As a player, not being familiar with the rules is something to be ashamed of, and the association that failed to ensure that the player was fully aware of them cannot be free from responsibility.
Oooooof.
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As me and @Sadaharu had been talking about the possible political struggle behind the scenes. If we just treat it like investigating purpose like a crime, who in the end gets the benefit or receives damage in reputation from their statements? The Korean players and referees might actually be on the same side (they were pros after all), and clearly can tell it feels as though the referees are one of them (did as they should and as their jobs), but the associations are not.
If you think about it, this is a bit odd, and they are not in the same camp trying to protect KBA’s reputation but a distance between them. If we look back on so many KBA and KB pro associations disputes, lawsuits, and all those events many didn’t get resolved in the past but were suppressed. I really feel there is a power struggle behind the scenes with stakes way higher than what we see on the surface.
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Ke Jie’s comments during his stream after the LG Cup: “I feel like they were laughing at me.”
Also, I saw the below photo. I don’t know whether it’s real or not, but if it’s real then it’s really too much… Many news channels are also reporting on this matter. Byun Sangil won’t even dare to step into China anymore.
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That’s easy to fake today. So first before reposting, good idea to check the source.
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Someone made a game, apparently:
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This is the source of the images and videos
https://www.douyin.com/zhuanti/7463620477030975542
And it was posted on douyin by @宁波镇海吾悦广场 the name of the place in the picture. So it is likely it was played on the ad billboard at some point in the past two days.
And there are more than one picture taken.
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I think we need to remember the human and be careful of online bullying and the effect it could have on the players here. Let’s not forget top Chinese pro Fan Yunruo killed himself a few years ago. Being a pro can be a lonely and stressful life, and Byun has been devoted to Go from a very young age (I remember him, and Shin Jinseo and Shin Minjun in some youngsters vs legend Lee Changho match when they would have been around 12 years old) and the reports of his social awkwardness make me worry he may not have the skills and support networks to help him through this difficult time.
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What does it say?
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Agreed. I feel like the Korean Go Association / referee team should take most of the blame here. Byun’s behavior was lack of sportsmanship to some extent, but he was put in a difficult situation.
The real issues are:
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This rule was added Nov 2024, right after Ke Jie won the semi-final in Oct 2024 and will be playing the final. You could tell from past recordings Ke Jie doesn’t have the habit of putting dead stones in the lid, and forcing a top player to change his 20-year-old habit in a couple months is very hard. That’s assuming Ke Jie knew about the rule and the severe consequence if he doesn’t follow it, which I think he probably wasn’t even aware of it (at least not how strict the referee would be imposing the rule) until the first penalty of 2 points.
At this point, it’s very hard to ask Ke Jie to suddenly remember putting the dead stone in the lid every time, when 20 yrs of muscle memory is there to do the opposite, especially when he is super focused on the game itself.
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Ke Jie’s main argument is the referee interfered every time when Byun is thinking about his next move, and pausing the clock there gives Byun lots of free thinking time. Especially in the 3rd game, the referee paused the game when Byun has been thinking about his next move for 20 mins and is low on time. He was clearly having trouble with the situation and might make a bad choice there. That was Ke Jie’s only chance of turning things around, but pausing the game gives Byun the chance to calm down and think without time pressure.
This led to Ke Jie’s quitting of the game. I personally think this was suspicious, because you don’t really need to pause the game for 30+ mins just to tell Ke Jie he got a 2-point penalty. It’ll suffice to just walk up to him and let him know, without pausing the clock there. That’d be more fair on time. Alternatively, if pausing is really needed, the referee could’ve asked for Byun’s next move, write it on a paper without telling Ke Jie, and then pause the clock. Then both players won’t get extra thinking time without knowing their opponent’s next move.
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The rule only says “dead stone must be put on the lid” but NOT when it has to be put there. In the 3rd game, Ke Jie realized a dead stone was misplaced after a couple minutes and puts it back on the lid, but the referee still interfered to give the penalty. When Ke Jie argued for it, the referee said “I have the final explanation of the rule here, and I say it’s a violation.” This is kinda unfair given the rule book doesn’t mention the timing.
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Doesn’t negate
Just a note in case people interpret this as “protect my bias but open season for referees”.
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Yep. I’m not saying any individual person should take the blame here.
I’m saying this is a problem with the rules and how they were imposed.
I see this argument a lot, but honestly if I were Ke Jie and people used this excuse on my behalf I would probably cry from shame.
It’s really not that hard.
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It’s not hard for us amateurs playing a friendly game.
Ke Jie is a world champion in a game that’s all about focus. He practiced years to be able to focus on just the game and nothing else for 6+ hours. If he could be easily distracted, he probably won’t have won 8 world champions.
Also this was his chance to win the 9th world champion and become the first person in China that ever won 9 world championships, so he’s probably more focused on the game than ever to win.
If it’s really not hard, why would he make the mistake again when he has been penalized for 2 points in the 2nd game? He was still in the lead even after the penalty according to AI, so any conspiracy of losing on purpose probably won’t hold.
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I hope you realise why this isn’t an argument.
He’s a professional, the rule is part of his job. It’s a nice game and all, and I love my hobby, but at the end of the day it’s his job, it’s on him to do it.
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Not saying it’s not his job or he shouldn’t do it.
The argument is given the repeated mistakes, it’s obviously not that easy for him to change the habit when focused on the game.
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for him is the important part here.
It’s on him to be on his best mental and physical shape, he’s a world champion.
He’s human and he made a mistake, it can happen, but he wasn’t asked to do something extraordinarily difficult.
It’s such a silly and avoidable mistake, it’s a pity such unpleasantness has come from it.
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