Chinese Go Legend Nie Weiping Dies at 73

Nie Weiping, one of the most influential figures in the history of Chinese go and widely revered as the game's "Go Sage," died yesterday after a sudden illness. He passed away at 10:55pm at a hospital, aged 73, his family announced today.

Born on August 17, 1952, in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, Nie joined China's national go training team in 1973. His career would go on to reshape the fate of Chinese go at a time when the game was struggling to reclaim its standing on the world stage.

Nie rose to national hero status during the China–Japan Go Challenge Matches in the 1980s, the most high-profile and intense international go competitions ever held between the two countries. Between 1984 and 1987, he delivered an astonishing 11 consecutive victories against Japan's top-tier players, including Kobayashi Koichi and Kato Masao, leading China to three championship wins and breaking Japan's long dominance of the game. The feat electrified the country, ignited a nationwide go boom, and earned Nie the nickname "The Nie Whirlwind."

At the time of his most famous comeback, China had only one player left standing — Nie himself — while Japan still had three elite players in reserve. Then 33, Nie famously wore a borrowed Chinese national table tennis team uniform to the match, saying he wanted to draw strength from the words of Rong Guotuan, China’s first world championship winner: "How many times in life do you truly get to fight with everything you have?" He went on to defeat all three remaining Japanese opponents.

In 1988, Nie was officially awarded the title "Go Sage," a rare honor recognizing not only his extraordinary skill but also his character and influence. He later served as vice chairman and honorary chairman of the Chinese Weiqi Association and was named one of the "Top 10 Outstanding Figures of China's Go World" in 1999.

Despite serious health challenges, Nie never left the game. In 2013, he was diagnosed with advanced rectal cancer. Treating the illness like a bad move on the board, he chose surgery decisively. He later said his ability to endure illness came from the mental discipline forged through decades of playing go.

In March 2025, Nie suffered a cerebral infarction and was in a coma for 12 days. After regaining consciousness, he worked steadily on rehabilitation, maintaining the calm resilience that defined his life, his family said.

In his later years, Nie devoted himself almost entirely to promoting go — serving as chief referee at tournaments, engaging with fans online, and commentating major matches. In 2016, he was one of China's commentators for the historic AlphaGo versus Lee Sedol match, helping the public understand a new era of human–machine competition.

Nie's family said his passing is a profound loss to the Chinese go community and an irreplaceable sorrow for those closest to him. For generations of players and fans, however, his legacy remains alive — etched into black and white stones, and into a defining chapter of China's modern sporting history.