By the time Keum had finished his story up to the fourth day of the tournament, I was almost done with congee and the shrimp dish, so I waved at one of the waiters at the corner table and ordered a plate of fried turnip cake with minced pork meat and scallions and I added two bottles of Tsing Tao. Yes, I knew it was early in the morning and I wasn't much of a drinker, but it was Saturday, which meant I didn't have to go to work, also too much of snow to do anything at all anyways. And, most of all, the story Keum had been telling me to have a drink or two.
Whenever he told me the story, Keum always did it in steady low voice, and in spite of the story's exciting contents, he did it almost as if there were no emotions attached. But it was different on that morning.
He was in full emotion, his voice quivered and cracked often and even raised his voice often when he told me the followings.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Keum went up to his room immediately after the game and stayed there. He didn't eat his dinner. He called for a room service only once during the night for bottles of water. He sat at the small desk by his bed and stared at the white wall above the bed for a long time. He opened his suitcase and took out a small book.
It was the very book that Mrs. Baik gave him when he was little, a copy of ancient Sa-hwal-jib (Life and Death collections) written by master Lee from Yi Dynasty. He opened the page he marked and looked at the diagram. It was the only problem he couldn't solve from the book. Hundreds times he tried, but each time when he thought he finally solved it, right next day, he found out that the answer was not correct. It was like a curse. It was a rather large one for Sa-Hwal problem, need to answer it with 58 moves and each move had to be precise and in right order, the book said.
Whenever Keum had to think about things he couldn't help, he always opened the book to the page and tried to solve the problem. Tonight, Keum's thoughts were focused on his father. The man who abandoned his family. The man who hurt his mother so much. The man appeared and then disappeared in front of him like a ghost. The man Keum had missed so much for all his life. And hated for all his life.
He once more placed the stones one by one carefully in his mind. Over the years of practicing the same problem without succeed had created another problem; he always thought that the moves up to 39 were correct, he placed the first moves automatically without thinking.
Keum didn't know how long he dozed off when he woke up by a loud siren from outside. The clock on the wall said three fifteen and he saw that he dropped the book. On the floor, the book was opened at the page Keum was studying in such way the diagram was seen upside down. That was when Keum saw the mistake he had made for hundreds of times. The key was the second move of black. Not at the 39th. Keum left the book on the floor, stood up slowly, and placed the stones in his mind again, and clearly he could see the entire 58 moves with no mistakes.
There was a commotion in hallway, people running, shouting and more running, but Keum paid no attention to it. He was happy that he finally could solve all the problems in the book. He went to sleep and he dreamt of the sea, his mother and his hometown.
The following morning, when Keum stepped into the tournament room, the pro greeted him then said that there was a small accident last night. A man who had been working for the mob boss, Mr. Ku for many years, tried to rob the hotel's bank then escaped without taking any money. Keum also learned that at the beginning of the tournament, all guests were asked and told not to leave the hotel until the end of tournament in fear of someone might report the biggest illegal gambling event in Korea's history to the authority.
The room now had only one table in the center.
The fat man with a pink tie made the announcement to over 200 spectators that the final game was about to begin and asked all gamblers to place their final bets. Keum saw Nalle among the gamblers. He had two large bags with him, and saw him placing them on the table. Keum couldn't find his father.
Keum sat and faced his opponent. From what he saw, his opponent was a slender, but little shorter than himself. His opponent grabbed a handful of stones and Keum placed a single black stone on the Baduk-pan. When the counting was done, the fat man announced that Keum would play with black. Keum took a deep breath before he placed his first stone at Hwa-jum (4.4). The opponent answered with Oe-mok (5.3), followed by Keum's another Hwa-jum. The opponent placed his second move at Sam-sam (3.3). The room was in total silence. No one dared to talk. The game was played slowly with finesse of ballet dancers'. Then became a fight between a bear and a tiger. Then became two master swordmen's fight. The two were dancing, fighting, pushing and pulling for more than 6 hours.
At move 215, Keum suddenly saw that there was something strange about the top left corner's shape. He looked at the shape for a long time, then realized that it had the striking resemblance to that very last Sa-hwal problem he solved the previous night. He read and played over fifty moves in his mind before placing his move. Keum's opponent froze.
He took more than 40 minutes for his next move then the rest moves followed rather quickly. At 273rd move, it became clear that Keum's opponent's corner was dead. After every dame was filled and counted, Keum had 32 points more. The room became an instant Hell and Heaven. The winners were laughing (Nalle was one of them), losers were sad and angry.
Keum's opponent stood up and took off his mask. When he did that, he became she. She was about Keum's age, and stunningly beautiful. Keum stayed in his seat, took off his own mask, looked at her like she was some kind of alien from another planet.
She extended her arm and said that it was the greatest game she had ever played and thanked him. Keum took her hand and said nothing: he couldn't say anything. Then she whispered so only Keum could hear. "Do you remember me?"
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
A Boy: Part VII
It snowed. Snowed all day and all night for three days. The news reporters said it was the biggest snow storm in decades. The streets of New York were covered with innocence hiding city's dark side when I took a cab to the congee place where Keum worked. Despite the bad weather, I had to hear what happened to the tournament in Kwang Joo.
When I arrived at the restaurant, the place was empty as I expected except a few waiters sitting at a corner table playing majong. I ordered the usual dish, a bowl of steaming congee and fried shrimp wanton. While I was eating, Keum sat across the table and told me the story I was dying to hear.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The night before the biggest underground Baduk gambling in Korea's history, each player was given a black overall robe complete with a head mask also in black with small openings for eyes, nose and mouth. The fabric used was light cotton for easy to breathe and so players wouldn't feel uncomfortable while playing. It has two large intertwined golden dragons embroidered in front and a large number in Chinese on back. Keum was told that it was necessary to make gamblers not to bet heavily on some obvious winners such as himself. Keum's robe had number 4.
For next five days, the entire hotel turned into some sort of a dungeon of pleasure and agony. During the day, the players played, and the gamblers gambled. So much money involved, most games lasted more than 8 hours. All players' strength were close to each other, they played to the end. Even when the result was clear, since the gamblers bet their money based on points (bang-nae-gi), the unwritten rule was set as no-resign. Most of players also betted their own money. It seemed that only person who wasn't betting was Keum.
On the first day, Keum saw his father producing bundles of cash from his bag and placing bets. Keum had the thoughts of introducing himself to the man and told him that he was the man's son. He, at one point, considered telling the pro that there was his father he was looking for all these years in the same room. But then, he gave up on the idea simply because he got too involved with his first game.
Keum's opponent seemed an old man by listening his frequent sighs. Almost on every move, right before he placed his stone, he made a strange noise sounded much like distant foghorn. Keum played with his moves accuracy of well trained sushi chef. Every move becomes a slice, every move turned into a chop. He didn't hurry. He took his time until the fish was ready to skin and cut and open and dice. When the game ended, Keum's opponent's dragons were all dead except two in the middle. The counting was finished at 85. 6 hours and 20 minutes passed since the start. When Keum looked up, he saw his father standing right behind him laughing with joy. Obviously, the father made the right choice and won large sum of money betting on the player number 4.
As a rule, the loser should unmask himself after the game's over. When his opponent took off the mask, Keum saw an old man about 70 years old, with a small opening right below his chin right above his Adam's apple, his breath hole might have been the result of years of heavy smoking. Keum noticed that the old man was crying and the breathe hole made rapid wheezing sound. Keum stood up, held the old man's hands for a long time before left the table.
At night, the 12th floor of the hotel turned into the Pleasure Island. At the center stage, topless dancers danced to fast beats of popular Hip Hop music, at tables occupied by gamblers, expensive champagne and cognac were consumed. Winners and losers all got drunk dreaming the same dream for tomorrow; winning. Players, however, weren't there. They were invited to a separate room and after the fancy dinner and brief announcement of winners and losers by the fat man with a pink tie, sixteen of them were sent out through the back door.
The second day came.
The room had only 16 of previous day's winners but still crowded with now all sober gamblers.
Among them, Keum's father was standing at a table betting at a player who carried number 19.
Keum's own opponent played strongly at first. He played smart moves on Posuk (Fuseki) stage. The game looked even when it was well into Joongban-jun (mid-game). Keum played at steady pace and his stones made almost no sound.
At move 209, Keum saw the momentum of opening to his opponent's big Se-ryuk (Moyo) on the left. His moves danced once again like a chef's knife. It jabbed through the opening and cut a large part of Dae-ma (Dragon) and killed it. It was a quick death, it took Keum's opponent a few minutes before he realized that he lost the game. Again, Keum won by big score by 43. When the man took off and revealed his face, Keum saw a familiar face through magazines and newspapers, once famous professional player in Japan.
It wasn't until the fourth day, Keum finally met someone at his own strength. By looking at the size black robe, Keum thought his opponent must be a small person. His sleeves were too long for his arms, he frequently rolled them up throughout the whole game. His robe carried number 19. Keum smiled faintly thinking his father had been lucky.
It was a tough game from start to finish. Both players spent long time before each move as if each move was the final move. Neither of them talked, and the gamblers around their table became totally silent. Little after the beginning of the Joong-ban-jun (midgame), Keum heard a big cheering from the gamblers at now the only other table left. Keum looked over and noticed the loser of the table was no one but Nalle himself standing and laughing his big laugh. His opponent was still sitting without a move. The person, Keum thought, resembled the quiet sea from his hometown. Keum somehow knew then, he would play with the person at the final. The game lasted a long time. There were Pae (Ko) after Pae. There was no death of Dae-ma. It was like a competition of two well-made computers calculating. After the sixth Pae was settled, the two played painful but precise Ggut-nae-gi (Yose). When the game was finally over, Keum had two points more. Keum's opponent was a boy with a set of bright eyes with apple like cheeks, from China's Sendeung Province, a son of a farmer father and a teacher mother.
Keum looked around to see his father but he couldn't find him. His father lost the bet, Keum thought.
When I arrived at the restaurant, the place was empty as I expected except a few waiters sitting at a corner table playing majong. I ordered the usual dish, a bowl of steaming congee and fried shrimp wanton. While I was eating, Keum sat across the table and told me the story I was dying to hear.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The night before the biggest underground Baduk gambling in Korea's history, each player was given a black overall robe complete with a head mask also in black with small openings for eyes, nose and mouth. The fabric used was light cotton for easy to breathe and so players wouldn't feel uncomfortable while playing. It has two large intertwined golden dragons embroidered in front and a large number in Chinese on back. Keum was told that it was necessary to make gamblers not to bet heavily on some obvious winners such as himself. Keum's robe had number 4.
For next five days, the entire hotel turned into some sort of a dungeon of pleasure and agony. During the day, the players played, and the gamblers gambled. So much money involved, most games lasted more than 8 hours. All players' strength were close to each other, they played to the end. Even when the result was clear, since the gamblers bet their money based on points (bang-nae-gi), the unwritten rule was set as no-resign. Most of players also betted their own money. It seemed that only person who wasn't betting was Keum.
On the first day, Keum saw his father producing bundles of cash from his bag and placing bets. Keum had the thoughts of introducing himself to the man and told him that he was the man's son. He, at one point, considered telling the pro that there was his father he was looking for all these years in the same room. But then, he gave up on the idea simply because he got too involved with his first game.
Keum's opponent seemed an old man by listening his frequent sighs. Almost on every move, right before he placed his stone, he made a strange noise sounded much like distant foghorn. Keum played with his moves accuracy of well trained sushi chef. Every move becomes a slice, every move turned into a chop. He didn't hurry. He took his time until the fish was ready to skin and cut and open and dice. When the game ended, Keum's opponent's dragons were all dead except two in the middle. The counting was finished at 85. 6 hours and 20 minutes passed since the start. When Keum looked up, he saw his father standing right behind him laughing with joy. Obviously, the father made the right choice and won large sum of money betting on the player number 4.
As a rule, the loser should unmask himself after the game's over. When his opponent took off the mask, Keum saw an old man about 70 years old, with a small opening right below his chin right above his Adam's apple, his breath hole might have been the result of years of heavy smoking. Keum noticed that the old man was crying and the breathe hole made rapid wheezing sound. Keum stood up, held the old man's hands for a long time before left the table.
At night, the 12th floor of the hotel turned into the Pleasure Island. At the center stage, topless dancers danced to fast beats of popular Hip Hop music, at tables occupied by gamblers, expensive champagne and cognac were consumed. Winners and losers all got drunk dreaming the same dream for tomorrow; winning. Players, however, weren't there. They were invited to a separate room and after the fancy dinner and brief announcement of winners and losers by the fat man with a pink tie, sixteen of them were sent out through the back door.
The second day came.
The room had only 16 of previous day's winners but still crowded with now all sober gamblers.
Among them, Keum's father was standing at a table betting at a player who carried number 19.
Keum's own opponent played strongly at first. He played smart moves on Posuk (Fuseki) stage. The game looked even when it was well into Joongban-jun (mid-game). Keum played at steady pace and his stones made almost no sound.
At move 209, Keum saw the momentum of opening to his opponent's big Se-ryuk (Moyo) on the left. His moves danced once again like a chef's knife. It jabbed through the opening and cut a large part of Dae-ma (Dragon) and killed it. It was a quick death, it took Keum's opponent a few minutes before he realized that he lost the game. Again, Keum won by big score by 43. When the man took off and revealed his face, Keum saw a familiar face through magazines and newspapers, once famous professional player in Japan.
It wasn't until the fourth day, Keum finally met someone at his own strength. By looking at the size black robe, Keum thought his opponent must be a small person. His sleeves were too long for his arms, he frequently rolled them up throughout the whole game. His robe carried number 19. Keum smiled faintly thinking his father had been lucky.
It was a tough game from start to finish. Both players spent long time before each move as if each move was the final move. Neither of them talked, and the gamblers around their table became totally silent. Little after the beginning of the Joong-ban-jun (midgame), Keum heard a big cheering from the gamblers at now the only other table left. Keum looked over and noticed the loser of the table was no one but Nalle himself standing and laughing his big laugh. His opponent was still sitting without a move. The person, Keum thought, resembled the quiet sea from his hometown. Keum somehow knew then, he would play with the person at the final. The game lasted a long time. There were Pae (Ko) after Pae. There was no death of Dae-ma. It was like a competition of two well-made computers calculating. After the sixth Pae was settled, the two played painful but precise Ggut-nae-gi (Yose). When the game was finally over, Keum had two points more. Keum's opponent was a boy with a set of bright eyes with apple like cheeks, from China's Sendeung Province, a son of a farmer father and a teacher mother.
Keum looked around to see his father but he couldn't find him. His father lost the bet, Keum thought.
Friday, June 20, 2008
A Boy: Part VI
Nalle's response to Keum's first play at Chun-won (Tengen) was a long pause. He didn't play the move. Instead, Nalle studied Keum's face for good 15 minutes like he was searching for the right answer from Keum asking "Friend, are you serious or are you joking?" Taking 15 minutes for the second move at Sok-ki (blitz) was almost fatal, he knew, but he couldn't help himself. Nalle placed his second stone at Hwa-jum, Keum followed his at Hwa-jum diagonally at no time. It was 17th move that Nalle realized Keum was playing mirror-Go. Nell spent more than 40 minutes already, while Keum spent mere 30 seconds of his time. Nalle's face glowed in bright red and he suddenly exploded with a burst of laughter. He knew that he couldn't beat Keum by skill only by the experience he had from the first game. He took another 7 minutes before attaching his stone to the Chun-won, which was one of the moves he could come up with to break the Mirror-Go. Keum and Nalle both knew, then, the game was over. If you play a move to just avoid your opponent's strategy, the move becomes a failure. Immediately after the move, Nalle resigned.
The third game which was played the following morning was somewhat entertaining for both players. They agreed to play on no time setting this time. Keum played White. The play was relaxed, and friendly. Nalle talked a lot in heavy accented Korean, and Keum nodded and smiled a lot. Nalle said he wanted to be a friend of Keum, and at one point he jokingly said that he wanted to be a student of Keum. It seemed that Nalle didn't care about winning or losing, nor did Keum. The final game lasted for more than three hours and at the end, Keum won by 18 points. There was no Deum (Komi). Before they parted, Nalle gave him a piece of paper with his private phone number and his address back home in Finland. While the pro and the two in black suits settled the betting money at the corner of the room, Nalle said in whisper to Keum that he wasn't supposed to give out the informations to anyone, especially to his opponent, but he was making an exception for Keum.
A year and half passed, and during that time, Keum's games were simply brilliant. Not a single loss. Master Yi's opponents went crazy to look for better players to beat Keum.
Some of them got real angry, and the stake got higher and higher after each game played. Keum met many players; few of them were brought from Japan and China, and one of them was even borrowed from prison cell after bribing the warden. He was the champion of inter-prison tournaments for many years. (In Korea, Baduk became the most popular game inside of prison system) None of them were strong enough to win against Keum.
One of the oddest players Keum met was a blind man. He became blind at age 12 after a terrible car accident. He was a prodigy and one of the Yun-Gu-Saeng (Insei) of HanKook Ghiwon (Korean Go Association) at the time of the accident. Knowing that he had to live as a blind for the rest of his life, but couldn't trash the love for Baduk, he kept studying Baduk by memorizing the coordinates of the board with help from his father. He calls his move and his father would place the stone. After his opponent's move, his father calls the move by alphabet and the number. His play style was extremely aggressive obviously showing his inner anger through the tool of Baduk. It was odd sight that his father was acting like a servant, didn't say a word except calling moves. It seemed that the blind son was abusing his father. Later Keum heard that at the time of car accident, the father was driving drunk with his son at the back seat and his wife at the passenger seat. The mother died at the scene, the son lost his eyes, and the father came out with no scratches. The blind man was no match to Keum though.
It was at the end of the year, around Christmas, when the pro came into Keum's room without knocking.
At the time, Keum was looking out the window where he could see the tree branches curved with heavy snow from previous night. He was thinking of his mother, his hometown and the strange man who gave him the dictionary at the graduation. It was rare that the pro came to visit Keum's room without sending the butler Seung first. Keum sensed something very important was about to happen. The pro approached Keum with two large steps, and said that they had to leave for Kwang-Joo immediately.
He said that the biggest Baduk Gambling in Korea's history was about to begin. There would be 32 players from 32 masters and crime family bosses, the tournament would be held in Kwang-Joo for the entire week between Christmas and New Year. The betting money was set at 20-Eok-Won (about 2 million US dollars), and the winner would get all. He said there was no time to delay, and the car was ready to drive them to Kwang-Joo at that moment. The pro took Keum's arm and led to the car, engine running at the back door. It was a large black limousine this time and the butler Seung was driving.
After four hours of driving through heavy snow, they arrived in Kwng-Joo. The city's streets were full of cars and people busy shopping for Christmas. They looked strangely far away to Keum's eyes. The car parked at a basement garage after passing a gate where the pro showed his identification card. There was a large sign by the gate and the sign said in red bold letters: "The entire hotel is closed from Christmas and New Year for Renovation"
They took the elevator from the garage to the top floor penthouse suite and there, they were greeted by the same two with black suits Keum met at the games he played with Little Uncle and Nalle. The pro said to Keum in whisper that the whole tournament was arranged by the same mob boss while they were being led to one of the rooms.
After the shower and brief snacks, the pro and Keum went down to 57th floor. It was the biggest hotel in Kwang-Joo, and owned by the mob boss, Keum was told. The fact that the mob boss shut down the entire hotel for the tournament showed how angry he became.
On the 57th floor, there was a large conference room full with people talking and drinking. They were players, body guards, sponsors, and gamblers who were making bets their own money. There were 32 floor boards set in four rows in the middle. Keum went to see the boards and found that all of them were genuine Biza-Mok boards (Kaya boards). "Pretty impressive, huh?" A husky voice came from Keum back. When Keum turned around, he saw a man of mid forties wearing crisp white Hanbok (traditional Korean costume) smiling a broad smile. He extended his left arm and said,"I am Ku Joong-Su. I own this hotel. Please accept my sincere apology about offering my left arm, but my right became useless long time ago. I heard lot about you for last two years and I am so glad that we met." After Keum shook Ku's hand, Ku abruptly left without saying anything.
A short man with a pink neck-tie came up to a make shift stage and made an announcement for the tournament and the rules. The tournament would be single knock down, and the betting money would be handed to the hotel's bank until the end. The winner would get all 68-Eok-Won (68 million dollars) and wished good luck to all players.
After the announcement, the short man told all to go down to 12th floor to enjoy the real party.
People immediately formed a line to leave.
Keum was standing at the end of the line, and he saw someone whom he never expected to meet again in his life.
The strange man who gave Keum a dictionary at the graduation was in the middle of the line talking to a woman next to him. He had more gray hair and looked thinner than few years ago, but Keum was sure that was him.
The third game which was played the following morning was somewhat entertaining for both players. They agreed to play on no time setting this time. Keum played White. The play was relaxed, and friendly. Nalle talked a lot in heavy accented Korean, and Keum nodded and smiled a lot. Nalle said he wanted to be a friend of Keum, and at one point he jokingly said that he wanted to be a student of Keum. It seemed that Nalle didn't care about winning or losing, nor did Keum. The final game lasted for more than three hours and at the end, Keum won by 18 points. There was no Deum (Komi). Before they parted, Nalle gave him a piece of paper with his private phone number and his address back home in Finland. While the pro and the two in black suits settled the betting money at the corner of the room, Nalle said in whisper to Keum that he wasn't supposed to give out the informations to anyone, especially to his opponent, but he was making an exception for Keum.
A year and half passed, and during that time, Keum's games were simply brilliant. Not a single loss. Master Yi's opponents went crazy to look for better players to beat Keum.
Some of them got real angry, and the stake got higher and higher after each game played. Keum met many players; few of them were brought from Japan and China, and one of them was even borrowed from prison cell after bribing the warden. He was the champion of inter-prison tournaments for many years. (In Korea, Baduk became the most popular game inside of prison system) None of them were strong enough to win against Keum.
One of the oddest players Keum met was a blind man. He became blind at age 12 after a terrible car accident. He was a prodigy and one of the Yun-Gu-Saeng (Insei) of HanKook Ghiwon (Korean Go Association) at the time of the accident. Knowing that he had to live as a blind for the rest of his life, but couldn't trash the love for Baduk, he kept studying Baduk by memorizing the coordinates of the board with help from his father. He calls his move and his father would place the stone. After his opponent's move, his father calls the move by alphabet and the number. His play style was extremely aggressive obviously showing his inner anger through the tool of Baduk. It was odd sight that his father was acting like a servant, didn't say a word except calling moves. It seemed that the blind son was abusing his father. Later Keum heard that at the time of car accident, the father was driving drunk with his son at the back seat and his wife at the passenger seat. The mother died at the scene, the son lost his eyes, and the father came out with no scratches. The blind man was no match to Keum though.
It was at the end of the year, around Christmas, when the pro came into Keum's room without knocking.
At the time, Keum was looking out the window where he could see the tree branches curved with heavy snow from previous night. He was thinking of his mother, his hometown and the strange man who gave him the dictionary at the graduation. It was rare that the pro came to visit Keum's room without sending the butler Seung first. Keum sensed something very important was about to happen. The pro approached Keum with two large steps, and said that they had to leave for Kwang-Joo immediately.
He said that the biggest Baduk Gambling in Korea's history was about to begin. There would be 32 players from 32 masters and crime family bosses, the tournament would be held in Kwang-Joo for the entire week between Christmas and New Year. The betting money was set at 20-Eok-Won (about 2 million US dollars), and the winner would get all. He said there was no time to delay, and the car was ready to drive them to Kwang-Joo at that moment. The pro took Keum's arm and led to the car, engine running at the back door. It was a large black limousine this time and the butler Seung was driving.
After four hours of driving through heavy snow, they arrived in Kwng-Joo. The city's streets were full of cars and people busy shopping for Christmas. They looked strangely far away to Keum's eyes. The car parked at a basement garage after passing a gate where the pro showed his identification card. There was a large sign by the gate and the sign said in red bold letters: "The entire hotel is closed from Christmas and New Year for Renovation"
They took the elevator from the garage to the top floor penthouse suite and there, they were greeted by the same two with black suits Keum met at the games he played with Little Uncle and Nalle. The pro said to Keum in whisper that the whole tournament was arranged by the same mob boss while they were being led to one of the rooms.
After the shower and brief snacks, the pro and Keum went down to 57th floor. It was the biggest hotel in Kwang-Joo, and owned by the mob boss, Keum was told. The fact that the mob boss shut down the entire hotel for the tournament showed how angry he became.
On the 57th floor, there was a large conference room full with people talking and drinking. They were players, body guards, sponsors, and gamblers who were making bets their own money. There were 32 floor boards set in four rows in the middle. Keum went to see the boards and found that all of them were genuine Biza-Mok boards (Kaya boards). "Pretty impressive, huh?" A husky voice came from Keum back. When Keum turned around, he saw a man of mid forties wearing crisp white Hanbok (traditional Korean costume) smiling a broad smile. He extended his left arm and said,"I am Ku Joong-Su. I own this hotel. Please accept my sincere apology about offering my left arm, but my right became useless long time ago. I heard lot about you for last two years and I am so glad that we met." After Keum shook Ku's hand, Ku abruptly left without saying anything.
A short man with a pink neck-tie came up to a make shift stage and made an announcement for the tournament and the rules. The tournament would be single knock down, and the betting money would be handed to the hotel's bank until the end. The winner would get all 68-Eok-Won (68 million dollars) and wished good luck to all players.
After the announcement, the short man told all to go down to 12th floor to enjoy the real party.
People immediately formed a line to leave.
Keum was standing at the end of the line, and he saw someone whom he never expected to meet again in his life.
The strange man who gave Keum a dictionary at the graduation was in the middle of the line talking to a woman next to him. He had more gray hair and looked thinner than few years ago, but Keum was sure that was him.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
A Boy: Part V
The very first game Keum played was a spectacular one, you might say.
There was no Posuk (Fuseki) stage. The fight started from one corner then spreaded like a disease much similar to the great epidemic of syphilis swept Europe during Henry the 8th in England. When the large dragon of the thin, long haired man died, the other three corners were still empty. The thin man offered Keum his hand then said it was a hardest game he had ever played.
A week later, the pro took Keum to the same place in Insadong for another match. This time it was a short middle-aged man with red plump face and he smelled alchohol. The man who introuced himself to Keum as Mr. Chang was very talktive. He kept talking, joking, laughing and humming songs during the whole game. Until 202nd move, which Keum placed his white stone ever-so-gently. Mr. Chang, the jolly fat man froze all his actions. His singing, talking and laughing halted at once. He, then, stared at the badukpan for good 20 minutes. His group, he thought lived at upper left corner, found dead with Keum's 1.2 point play. The fat man's jaw dropped. The redness from his plump face was gone. The fat man stood up and walked away without saying anything.
The third game Keum played was an easy one. He heard his opponent's nickname was Little Uncle. His sponsor was a famous mob boss in Kwang Joo. With a pair of small mouse-like eyes, Little Uncle looked friendly at first. But if the playing style of baduk tells the personality of the player, he wasn't friendly at all. His play was unorthodox and filled with tricks. Maybe he never studied baduk in proper way. Maybe he learned his baduk only by playing 'Bangnaegi-baduk'. Thanks to the years of study of the book Keum was given by Mrs. Paik, the old book from Yi Dynasty, Keum could read deep and far enough of those trick moves. Trick moves are like an arrow with heads on both ends with poison. One false move, one false reading can lead you to your own grave. Little Uncle resigned at move 125. Keum's Sae-ryuk (Moyo) was too large and solid to invade.
Keum later heard from the pro that after the loss, Little Uncle disappeared with no trace. People only could speculate that the angry mob boss ordered his army to get rid of Little Uncle.
For next six months, Keum played a total of two dosen games and delivered himself twenty four wins. Each time he was congratulated by Mr. Yi, and was given a large sum of cash.
Keum never counted the money.
It was in the middle of rain season when the pro came to Keum's room and asked him to get ready for a short trip. The pro said they will be leaving for Jejudo, an Island located in South part of Korea and it would be a three-day trip. They drove to Kimpo airport through pouring rain and got on DC-10. After little more than an hour of flying, they arrived at Jeju Airport and greeted by two men who both wore identical formal black suites, and drove them in a black limousine to Jeju Casino Hotel.
The next day, after breakfast, the pro took Keum to the main floor of Casino. There, they met the same two men. The two led Keum and the pro to the small room at the back of casino.
It was an odd sight to Keum at first; There was a large oak table in the middle of the room, and on far side of the table, a man was sitting. The man was huge. And blonde. And skin was white as snow. The two men introduced him to Keum as 'Nalle'. Keum later learned that he was brought in from Finland to fight Keum by the same mob boss in Kwang Joo. Also he learned that 'Nalle' means 'big and friendly' in Finnish and the word was short for 'Metsän Kuningas Ja Nalle', brown bear. Keum was told that they will play three games for next two days and whoever wins two games will be the winner. Nalle said 'Annyunghasyo. Bangapsumnida' (Hello, nice to meet you) in heavy accented Korean and smiled a broad smile. For some odd reasons, Keum liked him at the first sight. Before the game started, the two men said there will be a time limit; thirty minutes for each each player plus five times of thirty seconds cho-il-gi (byo-yomi).
Since Keum had never played with time limit, and with the fear of losing, the pro angrily protested saying that he never heard of such rules when the match was scheduled. After much arguing, and phone calls to Mr Yi and the mob boss, they decided that the decision must be up to Keum.
Without much thoughts, Keum accepted the condition.
Nalle played black on the first game. He, unlike his body size, played lightly.
He must be good at Sok-ki (blitz). Keum thought of a documentary he saw once about the bears catching salmons on the stream. The bears never hesitated in the picture. Nalle played like those bears. His moves were slick and fluent and fast. His opening seemed at first leaving too many spots opened to attacks, but he was well prepared. Keum's effort to capture a group failed. Keum's Sae-ryuck got invaded by Nalle's small but fast army, then disappeared. It was a close game at the end, but Keum's sense of timing failed at the end. He ran out of time, then he ran out of cho-il-ki five times. The win by time was declared at the end. It was the first loss by Keum.
Nalle stood up and tapped Keum's shoulder lightly with his fist. 'Jalduotsumnida' (It was a great game) and smiled. Keum didn't feel sad. Somehow, Keum liked this huge blonde Finn with a broad smile. The pro said 'At eight tonight for the second match, then.' in a low voice.
There was no Posuk (Fuseki) stage. The fight started from one corner then spreaded like a disease much similar to the great epidemic of syphilis swept Europe during Henry the 8th in England. When the large dragon of the thin, long haired man died, the other three corners were still empty. The thin man offered Keum his hand then said it was a hardest game he had ever played.
A week later, the pro took Keum to the same place in Insadong for another match. This time it was a short middle-aged man with red plump face and he smelled alchohol. The man who introuced himself to Keum as Mr. Chang was very talktive. He kept talking, joking, laughing and humming songs during the whole game. Until 202nd move, which Keum placed his white stone ever-so-gently. Mr. Chang, the jolly fat man froze all his actions. His singing, talking and laughing halted at once. He, then, stared at the badukpan for good 20 minutes. His group, he thought lived at upper left corner, found dead with Keum's 1.2 point play. The fat man's jaw dropped. The redness from his plump face was gone. The fat man stood up and walked away without saying anything.
The third game Keum played was an easy one. He heard his opponent's nickname was Little Uncle. His sponsor was a famous mob boss in Kwang Joo. With a pair of small mouse-like eyes, Little Uncle looked friendly at first. But if the playing style of baduk tells the personality of the player, he wasn't friendly at all. His play was unorthodox and filled with tricks. Maybe he never studied baduk in proper way. Maybe he learned his baduk only by playing 'Bangnaegi-baduk'. Thanks to the years of study of the book Keum was given by Mrs. Paik, the old book from Yi Dynasty, Keum could read deep and far enough of those trick moves. Trick moves are like an arrow with heads on both ends with poison. One false move, one false reading can lead you to your own grave. Little Uncle resigned at move 125. Keum's Sae-ryuk (Moyo) was too large and solid to invade.
Keum later heard from the pro that after the loss, Little Uncle disappeared with no trace. People only could speculate that the angry mob boss ordered his army to get rid of Little Uncle.
For next six months, Keum played a total of two dosen games and delivered himself twenty four wins. Each time he was congratulated by Mr. Yi, and was given a large sum of cash.
Keum never counted the money.
It was in the middle of rain season when the pro came to Keum's room and asked him to get ready for a short trip. The pro said they will be leaving for Jejudo, an Island located in South part of Korea and it would be a three-day trip. They drove to Kimpo airport through pouring rain and got on DC-10. After little more than an hour of flying, they arrived at Jeju Airport and greeted by two men who both wore identical formal black suites, and drove them in a black limousine to Jeju Casino Hotel.
The next day, after breakfast, the pro took Keum to the main floor of Casino. There, they met the same two men. The two led Keum and the pro to the small room at the back of casino.
It was an odd sight to Keum at first; There was a large oak table in the middle of the room, and on far side of the table, a man was sitting. The man was huge. And blonde. And skin was white as snow. The two men introduced him to Keum as 'Nalle'. Keum later learned that he was brought in from Finland to fight Keum by the same mob boss in Kwang Joo. Also he learned that 'Nalle' means 'big and friendly' in Finnish and the word was short for 'Metsän Kuningas Ja Nalle', brown bear. Keum was told that they will play three games for next two days and whoever wins two games will be the winner. Nalle said 'Annyunghasyo. Bangapsumnida' (Hello, nice to meet you) in heavy accented Korean and smiled a broad smile. For some odd reasons, Keum liked him at the first sight. Before the game started, the two men said there will be a time limit; thirty minutes for each each player plus five times of thirty seconds cho-il-gi (byo-yomi).
Since Keum had never played with time limit, and with the fear of losing, the pro angrily protested saying that he never heard of such rules when the match was scheduled. After much arguing, and phone calls to Mr Yi and the mob boss, they decided that the decision must be up to Keum.
Without much thoughts, Keum accepted the condition.
Nalle played black on the first game. He, unlike his body size, played lightly.
He must be good at Sok-ki (blitz). Keum thought of a documentary he saw once about the bears catching salmons on the stream. The bears never hesitated in the picture. Nalle played like those bears. His moves were slick and fluent and fast. His opening seemed at first leaving too many spots opened to attacks, but he was well prepared. Keum's effort to capture a group failed. Keum's Sae-ryuck got invaded by Nalle's small but fast army, then disappeared. It was a close game at the end, but Keum's sense of timing failed at the end. He ran out of time, then he ran out of cho-il-ki five times. The win by time was declared at the end. It was the first loss by Keum.
Nalle stood up and tapped Keum's shoulder lightly with his fist. 'Jalduotsumnida' (It was a great game) and smiled. Keum didn't feel sad. Somehow, Keum liked this huge blonde Finn with a broad smile. The pro said 'At eight tonight for the second match, then.' in a low voice.
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