Do you know the ancient parable, ‘Defeat or Victory in Nine Moves’? It’s the story of an ancient chess master by the name of Zhao Qiao who travelled over land and sea, over the entire realm, all in search of a worthy opponent. Finally, on the banks of the River Wei, at the foot of Phoenix Mountain, he encountered a woman with long, glistening black hair. The woman’s husband had enlisted in the army and was far away at the frontier. Her house was barren and empty, without even a bowl of rice, and she made a living by playing go. So by the banks of the river and in the shadow of the mountain, the two sat down to play. After Zhao had made nine moves, the woman conceded defeat and began to gather in her pieces. Zhao did not believe her, and so the woman explained: each game of go is quite clear and logical, from up in the mountains water begins to flow, unceasingly it makes its way down, but there is only one outcome. Zhao listened to her explanation and humbly conceded defeat: the woman was his master. In other words, since Father was able to determine the outcome of the game after his first nineteen moves, it meant he possessed a far-reaching insight; he was able to see across and into the board. I realized then that the man who had come to play him would ultimately lose, for the most important ability when playing go, regardless of the quality of the opposition, is to be able to see your moves in advance, to know what you are going to do before you do it. As expected, Father won the next five matches. Ah-bing’s friend couldn’t believe it when we told him it was only last night that Father had learnt how to play.

I think I can say that Father’s sensitivity for the game was amazing. It was like … love at first sight. They seemed to share an implicit mutual understanding. The game of go saved my father, and helped us immeasurably. For a long time after this, Father was fascinated with everything related to it. If he wasn’t reading some book or other on the game, he would be searching for an opponent. His life was finally satisfying; he was his old, vigorous self again. People’s minds are not easy to understand … We had expended so much energy and thought on trying to solve Father’s problems, without success, but then, in one night, everything seemed to be resolved – all because of a game.