By David Li, bostonese.com
Cambridge, Mass. April 2, 2014, — Go, also known as Weiqi, is an ancient Chinese board game that attracts some of the smartest players. When you look for the best US collegiate Go players, look no further than Harvard and MIT.
Group picture of ACGA organizers, Ing Ming Hao (fourth from right in back row) and members of the Chinese delegation at Go Expo (provided by Min Xiao).
The American Collegiate Go Association (ACGA), in conjunction with the Ing Foundation, hosted its second annual Spring Go Expo on March 29 at MIT. Mr. Ing Ming Hao, president of Ing Chang-Ki Weiqi Foundation, led a delegation from China to join this year’s Go Expo, which was well attended by over 100 players
Chang Hao, 9p, who was the first Chinese GO player to win the Ing Cup World Championship in 2005, made return visit to Boston. Mr. Chang appeared at the first ACGA Spring Go Expo at Harvard University last year.
“Go is the only board game that supercomputers have not yet been able to beat professional players,” said Mr. Chang, who was selected to Chinese National Go Team at only age 11, and was taught by head coach Nie Weiping.
Hua Xueming, 7p, coach of Chinese GO National Team, mentioned that the purpose of this a week-long US visit, first from the west coast then to east coast was to promote GO and cross-cultural education in the younger generation in America. Other members of the delegation included Ni Yaoliang, the Secretary-General of the Shanghai Ing Foundation, Ms. Lu Wen Zhen, Director of the Shanghai Ing Foundation, John Xiao, former Chinese University Tournament champion, and Zhang Jian Dong, reporter from the Xinmin Evening News.
On March 27, Mr. Ing Ming Hao visited Harvard Yenching Library. He donated and signed his father’s biography of his father Ing Chiang-Ki, who was the founder of the Ing Chiang-Ki Weiqi Education Foundations in Taiwan and Shanghai. Mr. Ing Ming Hao also donated Weiqi boards to Brown, Harvard, MIT and other US colleges on behalf of Ing Chiang-Ki Weiqi Education Foundation.
During the West Coast visit, the delegation visited UC Berkeley, and meeting with the school official and discuss promoting GO at the campus. Chang Hao was very impressed by the beautiful campuses of Stanford and UC Berkeley. Boston is the last stop of the delegation’s US visit.
Mr. Chang’s return flight on March 30 was canceled, and his trip back to Beijing was delayed. As a result, he missed the Spring Silkworm Cup tournament on April 1 in Beijing.