Chinese Go player Ke Jie analyses the game after the second match against artificial intelligence program AlphaGo in Wuzhen, east China's Zhejiang province, May 25, 2017.(Xinhua/Xu Yu)

An essay question on how to play Go chess, or weiqi as is known in Chinese, for the ongoing gaokao was widely discussed upon its release on Tuesday. The essay question for China's biggest exam of the year mentions three types of moves in Go - a normal move, a banal move and a sublime move. Some Go masters also interpreted the question from their own perspectives and expressed their appreciation for this traditional activity being mentioned in the college entrance examinations.

"I'm very happy to know that weiqi appeared in the essay question at gaokao," said Nie Weiping, one of China's most Go players in a video interview on Tuesday. "It's a great step forward for our contemporary culture in China."

In the past, the general public didn't know enough about Go, and it was good enough to let our nation know about it. Now to have Go in gaokao is a huge step forward, Nie said.

"People often say that Go is like life. I think this topic is very popular and very good," said the 70-year-old Go master. 

A normal move is a regular move that is in accordance with the principles of Go; a sublime move is a brilliant one that is unexpected; and a banal move is a move that seems reasonable but usually has negative impact when viewed from an overall perspective, the essay question reads.

"Beginners should start with normal moves, and only when they become solid players at the normal level than they will improve. Some beginners are so eager to pursue sublime moves that they neglect the more common ones. The normal move is the foundation, and a sublime move is a kind of original creation. Generally speaking, a deep understanding of normal moves makes a high-risk move possible; otherwise, it is inevitable that you will play a banal move, and it is not easy to improve."

Most of the time in life we are in a state of "normal moves", but everyone has their own moments of high-risk, "wonderful" moves, the highlight of their lives, Nie said.

Nie shared a very impressive insight of his own, speaking of when he was viewing the beauty of the famous wonder Huangguoshu Falls in Southwest China's Guizhou Province. "The waterfall is very spectacular as it leaps off the cliff, yet once it hits the ground, it merges into a gurgling stream and peace is restored. This is the state of returning from the occasional sublime move to the usual normal moves."


Ke Jie, 25, who is a world champion of Go chess, also took to social media to share his interpretation of the essay question.

"The literal meaning of the word 'normal move' is a right move, the 'middle of the road' in a game situation, but middle of the road is not the same as mediocre," Ke wrote. "A banal move is derogatory in most cases, but in some cases it may be the best choice."

The sublime move itself is extremely concealed and unique. Many people can get too caught up in the game and play false good moves at the expense of overall thinking. One must have some accumulation and training on a regular basis to accomplish a variety of moves, he said.

On China's Twitter-like platform Sina Weibo, the essay question made it to the top of the trending hashtags, with tens of thousands of netizens expressing their views. Some praised the traditional activity of Go as a masterpiece of intellectual games, and the essay topic was a small angle to see the big picture. Others thought that the essay topic might give an extra advantage to test takers who play Go chess.

Global Times