Zhou Heyang (

Traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

: 周鶴洋; Simplified: 周鹤洋;

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

: Zhōu Hèyáng; born June 18, 1976) is a Chinese professional Go player.

Biography

Zhou Heyang was born in

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

, Henan, China. He is a Chinese professional Go player. He turned professional in 1988, and advanced to 9 dan in 2001. He started learning how to play Go at the age of 8. When he was 11, he joined the National Wei-qi Youth Team.

As A Child

Zhou was described as being a mischievous, boisterous, opinionated and pugnacious child. He learnt Go because his father thought he'd change his behavior. He quickly progressed and improved quickly. He hated losing, and it could be seen. At the age of 10, he already achieved 4th place at the National Youth Championships. Since he was 4th in the tournament, he left home and joined the National Youth Squad in Beijing. Now he could learn about the deeper facts of Go. The team was an outstanding squad of

Shao Weigang Shao Weigang (, born February 21, 1973) is a Chinese professional Go player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in ...

, Lui Jing, Chang Hao,

Luo Xihe Luo Xihe (; born November 23, 1977) is a Chinese professional Go player. Playe ...

, Wang Lei, and Zhou himself. The problem Zhou had was that he was not like the other players. He did not go through the normal system of city or province squads. He never had those training methods. He slowly matured up after joining the team. It took him a long 18 months to finally reach the average strength of the group. He was still a very unconfident player. There was harsh criticism in the training system the team used. This is the one part Zhou had an advantage, and that was his stubbornness. Zhou was very lucky because the squad teacher,

Wu Yulin Wu may refer to: States and regions on modern China's territory *Wu (state) (; och, *, italic=yes, links=no), a kingdom during the Spring and Autumn Period 771–476 BCE ** Suzhou or Wu (), its eponymous capital ** Wu County (), a former county i ...

, kept him with the team even though he was progressing much slower than the other teammates. Zhou would gain patience from the criticism. Now he could count a game accurately.

Growing Up

Zhou was getting much stronger now. It was said that if he ever got ahead in a game, not even

Lee Chang-ho Lee Chang-ho ( ko, 이창호; born 29 July 1975 in Jeonju, North Jeolla) is a South Korean professional Go player of 9-dan rank. He is regarded by many as the best Go player of the late 1990s and early 2000s. He was a student of Cho Hun ...

could come back and win. This became true when he beat Lee in the 10th

Fujitsu Cup The Fujitsu Cup (富士通杯) was an international Go competition that ran from 1988-2011. Outline The Fujitsu Cup was an international Go competition hosted by Fujitsu and Yomiuri Shimbun. The players were selected as follows: * The top 3 playe ...

before following up on beating him again in the 13th Fujitsu Cup. He is not like Lee, but he claims that both their abilities to count in the yose (end game) is above others. Zhou finally won his first major tournament when he won the 1996

National Go Individual The Chinese Go Championship is a Go competition which determines the national champion of China. Outline The Chinese Go Championship is held with the Swiss system A Swiss-system tournament is a non-eliminating tournament format that features a fi ...

. He would then get entry into the next year's Fujitsu Cup, but he was blocked off by

Kobayashi Koichi is a Japanese Go player. He is one of the 'Six Supers' who championed Japanese Go in the last three decades of Japanese Go. Biography Koichi Kobayashi was born in Asahikawa, Japan. In 1965, he came to Tokyo to be a disciple of Minoru Kitani. ...

after beating

Choi Myung-Hoon Choi Myung-hoon (born May 12, 1975) is a professional Go player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Playe ...

Takemiya Masaki is a professional Go (board game), Go Go players, player. Biography Masaki Takemiya was born in Japan. He became one of the many disciples of the Minoru Kitani school. His rise to fame began when he was only 15 years old. He earned the nickna ...

, and Lee Chang-ho.

Promotion record

Titles & Runners-up

Ranks ninth in the total number of titles in China.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhou, Heyang 1976 births Living people Chinese Go players Sportspeople from Luoyang