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10 Minutes With: Jujo Jiang & Naiwei Rui

The E-Journal caught up with Jujo Jiang 9P and his wife Rui Naiwei 9P when the two top players made a special appearance at the Jujo Cup in San Francisco this past weekend (look for a tournament report soon). Jujo is the younger brother of Mingjiu Jiang 7P; he and Rui Naiwei -- who holds most of the major women's titles in Korea -- taught in the Bay Area during the 90s and early 2000s before going to Korea for a number of years. Both Jiang and his wife recently returned to Shanghai, China to open a go school for children. They plan to spread the game of go there at all levels, from introducing go to the local elementary schools, to teaching the go instructors at those schools to improve their playing strengths, and also opening go classes for students who are more interested.  Their school, which opened in late 2011, already has 100 students, and is sure to be filled with the sound of stones hitting boards in the near future. Jiang fondly reminisced about his time in the US, saying that “It was nice to find so many go players who played because they truly loved the game.” However, for those young players who want to become strong players, he says “It’s important to study with a professional teacher,” noting that  there are more professionals in the US than when he was here, and it is also now easy to do so online as well. For the more daring youth who dream to become professional, he encourages them to stay a few years in Asia and become an insei, which he calls “an unforgettable experience.” - report/photo by Lawrence Ku