Chapter 63 Bright Waves and Undercurrents

Chapter 63 Bright Waves and Undercurrents

Chapter 63 Bright Waves and Undercurrents

"Vice Chairman Kong! I need your answer on this matter!"

Dajing City, Chinese Go Association, conference room.

Shang Chaotian, who is usually calm and steady, had a rare gloomy face today.

"Bai Yinhua cancelled his professional rank on the website during the May Day holiday. Even if our managers are not working during the holiday, there are still three working days left!

"You didn't tell me about such a big thing. Do you still respect me as the chairman?"

There was a reason why Shang Chaotian was so angry.

Although retirement is a common thing for professional players, the term "retirement" is extremely rare.

Simply put, retirement is actually just a verbal announcement, saying that one will not participate in first-line competitions in the future, but in fact the rank and professional identity achieved so far will still be retained.

This is the case for most inactive players in the Go world, such as Shang Chaotian and Lu Wenjie. If they really want to play professional competitions, they can participate at any time, but they are limited by their level. There is no need to humiliate themselves.

But being demoted is much more serious.

This is equivalent to professional players completely giving up their past glory and professional chess player status and returning to being amateurs.

For chess players above the mid-level, this kind of thing is unheard of. So Shang Chaotian was furious that the vice chairman in charge of rank management reported this to him at this time.

Facing Shang Chaotian's roar, Kong Zhiyong, the vice chairman of the Chess Association in charge of rank management, just kept a straight face and said without backing down:
"Chairman Shang, you are wrong.

"Think about it, who could have thought that a professional chess player in his prime would suddenly give up the professional rank he had devoted countless efforts to for decades? Any normal person would definitely think that his account was hacked or that he was impulsive, right?

"I was thinking at the time that as long as I could contact him later and confirm that it was not his true intention, and then help him recover his rank, then the matter would be over!
"You've been so busy at work lately that you didn't even have a day off during the May Day holiday, and you often worked overtime until late at night. I don't think it's necessary to bother you over such a small mistake. But young people nowadays really can't stand any setbacks..."

"That's enough! You are shirking your responsibility!"

The anger on Shang Chaotian's face had not subsided at all.

"As the vice chairman of the chess association, don't you know that the recent Luhuai team incident ended up being very frustrating? At this time, Bai Yinhua suddenly cancelled his professional rank on the website. Don't you have any sensitivity at all?"

Kong Zhiyong looked at Shang Chaotian, leaned back, and answered without any shame:
"If we want to talk about league-related matters, shouldn't the main problem be on Vice Chairman Lu? He was the one who personally negotiated the current mediation plan!

"Besides, he has had direct contact with the members of the Lu Huai team. If we talk about insensitivity, then Vice Chairman Lu has the biggest problem!"

"you……!"

"Ahem!"

Just as Shang Chaotian was about to get even more angry, Lu Wenjie beside him cleared his throat softly and spoke.

"Chairman Shang, Vice Chairman Kong, I do bear considerable responsibility for this matter, and I will take the initiative to reflect on it at the next organizational life meeting.

"But the most urgent task now is to consider how to solve the current problem.

"It is a very bad influence for a mid-level professional player in his prime to voluntarily retire and participate in amateur competitions to get prize money!

"Go fans will think that the Go Association is intentionally condoning professional Go players to squeeze out the development space of amateur Go, and it will also greatly tarnish the image of professional Go, which will in turn affect related corporate sponsorship."

“Well, Vice Chairman Lu is right!”

At this time Kong Zhiyong immediately took over the conversation, not giving Shang Chaotian any chance to interrupt.

"So for this matter, I suggest using tough measures, reporting it directly to the General Administration, issuing a red-headed document in the name of the General Administration and the Association, jointly condemning and depriving Bai Yinhua of all his previous honors and amateur ranks. At the same time, put him on the blacklist and prohibit him from participating in any formal professional and amateur competitions, to serve as a warning to others!"

After saying this, Kong Zhiyong turned to look at Shang Chaotian and said, "Chairman Shang, this matter concerns the development of Go in our country. Please pay attention to it. It is your responsibility!"

Shang Chaotian narrowed his eyes slightly, and his already extremely bad face became even more stern.

"...Uh, Vice Chairman Kong, I think this is a bit inappropriate."

It was still Lu Wenjie who spoke at this time, and his tone was still calm. "In the final analysis, the reason why this happened is that in recent years we have vigorously promoted the development of mass and amateur events, and the high prize money of amateur competitions has caused the income of amateurs and professionals to be reversed.

“Secondly, the real economy has not been doing well in recent years, and the stability of league sponsorship is poor, resulting in the lack of income security for core players.

"Third, when there were already signs of income inversion, our chess association did not promptly improve the management of post-retirement, which allowed some chess players with ideas to take advantage of the loopholes.

"Objectively speaking, although Bai Yinhua was at fault in this matter, if we simply and crudely push all the responsibility off of us, it will probably have a psychological impact on many top professional chess players."

"Hey! Vice Chairman Lu, there is something wrong with what he said!" Kong Zhiyong retorted: "I admit that your three points make sense, but the person responsible cannot be 'us'!
"Let's talk about it one by one! I was opposed to increasing the prize money for amateur competitions at the beginning. The sponsorship money we get is tight enough, and subsidizing amateur competitions that don't produce results is just a waste of money. In the end, someone still pushed it forward despite the opposition.

"As for the league sponsorship, I have never touched it at all! Needless to say!
"In theory, I am in charge of matters related to demotion, but the actual implementation must be strictly in accordance with the detailed rules for the management of the rank! If the leaders don't mention the need to amend the relevant regulations, what can I, a small soldier, do?

"So, the responsibilities for this matter need to be clearly defined! If you just try to smooth things over and say that everyone here is responsible, I don't agree! Right, everyone!"

As soon as these words were spoken, many of the chess association's senior executives present at the meeting responded in a low voice and began to discuss the matter.

Lu Wenjie pursed his lips and was about to say something else, but he heard Shang Chaotian, who was sitting at the top, groan.

"Alright! Be quiet!"

Shang Chaotian was usually calm and peaceful, but there was a deep undercurrent of power in those five short words, which made everyone stop talking.

"...Anyway, this incident happened during my tenure, so I bear leadership responsibility first, and I will explain my responsibility to the General Administration when I get back!
"Vice Chairman Lu, since you disagree with Vice Chairman Kong's opinion on how to deal with the matter, you should at least come up with one yourself!"

Seeing this, Lu Wenjie sighed, but knowing that Shang Chaotian had said so, there was no other way to go, so he immediately suggested:
"First of all, I think it's necessary to talk to Bai Yinhua first. If we can persuade him to change his mind, then everyone will be happy. He won't answer the calls from the chess association now. I plan to take the high-speed train in the afternoon and meet him in person!"

"Then thank you for your help, Vice Chairman Lu!" Shang Chaotian exhaled lightly: "If it involves the need for monetary compensation, you can also tell me directly..."

"Hey hey hey! Chairman Shang, this is inappropriate, isn't it?" Kong Zhiyong immediately said, "Public money can't be used like this!"

Shang Chaotian glared at him with his eyes wide open: "I will go out on my own!"

Kong Zhiyong was speechless for a moment, and finally said angrily: "Anyway, I think this solution of giving the other party a bad temper is not a good one! In addition, we must always consider what to do if we can't reach an agreement with Bai Yinhua!"

“I have some thoughts on this as well.”

Lu Wenjie took over the conversation almost in a second.

"According to the practice of other sports in the past, when encountering such incidents, the principle of 'no investigation this time, but punishment in the future' is generally adopted. I think the public will be more likely to accept this approach.

"On the one hand, we have to admit that Bai Yinhua's behavior this time does not violate the existing system and guarantee his right to participate. But at the same time, we must also express our strong opposition to such behavior and will immediately fill the loopholes in the rules and draw a clear line with such behavior.

"On the other hand, we must immediately implement the filling of loopholes in the relevant regulations to ensure that there is no next 'Bai Yinhua'.

"Finally, as the vice president in charge of the league and who had direct contact with the person involved, I bear an unshirkable responsibility for this matter. I think I can be punished and then apologize to the public. The chess association should have explained this to the public."

"Okay, I think this alternative plan is fine!" Kong Zhiyong immediately expressed his opinion: "Someone has to be responsible for this mess..."

"The first two are fine, let's talk about the last one later!"

Shang Chaotian glanced at Lu Wenjie, and his unquestionable words echoed in the conference room at the same time.

"Chairman Shang, this is not good!"

Kong Zhiyong reminded:

"The public really likes to be judges nowadays! If we don't give them a target, they will make a lot of noise!"

"I've already told the General Administration, am I too afraid to face the public?!"

Shang Chaotian asked back expressionlessly.

"Okay, that's enough for today's meeting! Dismissed!"

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(End of this chapter)