In the 2024 Massachusetts State Go Championship, Xiaodi Huang (4-1) claims the state championship title. Xiaodi is currently one of the strongest female amateur players in America. In the 2023 Chinese Pro Qualification she was the runner-up in the adult women's division and got the 2nd place. Interview coordinator: Edward Zhang Interviewer: Leshan Feng Interviewee: Xiaodi Huang Q: How did you learn go? And in the early years, what did you love about go? A：I started learning locally in Hefei when I was young. After achieving some results in provincial and national competitions, I spent a year studying at the Wu Zhaoyi Go Dojo in Beijing before junior high school. During university, I mainly trained with the Nankai Go team and represented Nankai University in competitions such as the Ing Cup for college students. While in the United States, after the pandemic ended, I started targeted training and had the opportunity to learn Go with Hyeyeon Cho sensei and Yoonyoung Kim sensei. My motivation was to achieve results in competitions and probably to become a professional Go player. Q: Did you ever consider going pro? A: I had this idea when I was young, but my level was limited at the time. Considering the balance between studying Go and academic courses, I didn't have the courage to pursue it further. Q: Overall, how do you like the Mass go tournament? A: I think it was organized very well, and there were quite a few strong players. I could feel that everyone is progressing and practicing regularly. It's a pity that I found out about this competition last year after it had ended. Q: In the Mass. go tournament, which game do you feel most impressive and why? A: It should be the games against Alan and Michael. The skill levels were similar in both games, and the competition was quite intense. In the game against Alan, I made a mistake in a local area in the middle game, losing several points at once, making it difficult to catch up. Because other local areas were similar, and the point difference was subtle, losing in one area made it challenging to recover. In the game against Michael, we were in a battle from the beginning, fighting from the bottom of my side of the board towards the center and top. I gained some advantage in a local area, making me relatively thicker and more advantageous in the fight, which made it a bit easier. Q: What are your goals for 2024? A: I may return to China to participate in various amateur competitions and then aim for the pro qualification. Last year was regrettable (missed by one rank). Q: Can you give some tips to kyu players to reach 1D? A: First, basic knowledge and solving problems are essential. Then, reviewing games regularly, as it's very convenient to study game records now. Most people have limited resources for learning Go, and AI provides everyone with an opportunity to learn Go and gives clear answers. We can use it to analyze and find the most suitable moves for certain style, as well as to verify the feasibility of our ideas. Q: Some beginners feel that Go isn't as free-spirited since the advent of AI. Do we need to follow AI's recommended moves? A: This might vary from person to person. When I play, I don't feel the need to strictly follow AI's best moves because sometimes the moves AI suggests a few steps later are too hard for me. In such cases, there's no need to force oneself to play a move that's hard to understand; choosing a move that makes sense may be more sufficient. Q: The American Go Association (AGA) provided the following data. How do you interpret it? Alan has a record of 3 wins and 6 losses against Michael, 2 wins and 0 losses against Xiaodi, but Xiaodi has a record of 2 wins and 1 loss against Michael. A: I am close in skill level to both players, so it's normal for each of us to win or lose against each other. I think the reference value of such small data is not significant. I hope to continue learning from both of them in the future.
