Sixteen-year-old professional go player Lin Yi-ting unexpectedly defeated fourth-dan professional Lu Yu-hua by a half-point with the black stones in the Synmosa Cup Woman Ace Player Tournament in Taipei on Friday, becoming the youngest champion in the tournament’s nine-year history.
Lin lifted the trophy and received NT$500,000 in prize money after winning her first professional title, something the new champion from Hsinchu said she had never expected in her wildest dreams. Runner-up Lu received NT$200,000. The tournament is the top event for female go players in Taiwan.
“I lost more than 10 games in a row in the first half of the year, and that made playing go not so much fun for me,” Lin said.
Photo: CNA
As a result, she spent less time playing go after finishing her daily training at HaiFong Go Association.
She said she told herself: “It is okay to play worse now I practice less.”
However, the adjustment enabled Lin to approach each game with a better mindset and propelled her past Taiwan’s Hangzhou Asian Games national team players Lu and Yang Tzu-hsuan, a fifth-dan professional and the defending Woman Ace champion.
“I used to think that I would make a big name for myself if I could beat them, but now I see each game as the same and that helps me a lot,” said Lin, who had never defeated Lu and Yang in a formal competition.
Lin, who in a pre-game interview said it would be impossible for her to win Friday’s match, said she has not decided how to spend the prize money yet.
Synmosa Biopharma Corp chairman Lin Chih-hui, the top sponsor of the tournament, said that as Lin is not yet 17, she could inspire younger local go players.
Ninth-dan professional veteran Chou Chun-hsun said that unlike Lu and Yang, who have developed their own winning formulas, Lin’s game is more comprehensive, but not yet as good.
Lin stands a chance against the two seniors if she can put them in situations they are unused to, Chou added.
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