While many students are hot on playing computer games or exercising outside, Wang Chen, 20, prefers sitting quietly in an empty classroom with his peers. The only sound is when a playing piece is moved on the wooden board. They are playing weiqi, called “Go” in English.
许多学生都热衷于电脑游戏和户外运动，而20岁的王琛却喜欢和同伴们坐在空荡荡的教室下围棋。教室里安静得只能听见棋盘上棋子移动的声音。英文中，围棋的名字叫“Go”。

Compared with the busy sports ground, it seems a bit dull, but Wang and his peers enjoy an intense brain workout.
尽管与喧嚣的操场相比，这种场景看上去有些乏味，但是王琛和伙伴们却很喜欢进行这种高强度的“脑力劳动”。

Wang, a junior majoring in economic news at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, is an amateur seventh-degree master player – the highest degree amateur players can attain.
王琛是一名来自上海财经大学经济新闻系的大三学生。作为一名围棋业余爱好者，他已经达到了业余7段——这已是业余围棋选手的最高段位。

This July, he won the International University WEICHI Tournament 2013 in Shanghai, which saw competitors from 54 universities around the world, including Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
在今年7月在上海举办的2013世界大学生围棋邀请赛中，王琛一举夺冠。该赛事云集了来自全球54所高校的选手，其中包括哈佛大学和麻省理工学院。

“I was familiar with my opponent and we were equally matched, but I was still surprised about the result. I had hopes to win first place, but when it came true, I couldn’t believe it,” says Wang.
王琛说：“我很了解自己的对手，我们水平相当。但比赛结果仍让我感到意外。夺冠是我的梦想，但当梦想成真时，一切都难以置信。”

Giving up
放弃，为了华丽的开始

Wang began studying weiqi when he was 7 years old. “I was a quiet boy and my parents thought weiqi would help develop my logical thinking ability,” he says.
王琛7岁时便就开始学习围棋。他说：“我生性好静，父母觉得围棋有助于培养我的逻辑思维能力。”

He began to attend the Chinese Rank Promotion from the age of 10. Thousands of children take part in it every year, but only the top 20 are accepted to become professional players. It was a great source of pressure for Wang.
他从10岁起就开始参加中国围棋段位赛。尽管每年有成千上万的小选手前来参赛，但是只有前20名选手有资格被授予职业初段称号。这让王琛倍感压力。

“I failed for nine years, and then I gave up. I entered university and became an amateur player,” says Wang.
王琛说：“在连续九年冲段失败后，最终我选择了放弃。后来我上了大学，成了一名业余围棋选手。”

Another path
另辟蹊径

The tempo of playing weiqi on campus was slow, which gave Wang more time to explore his skills.
在校园里下围棋的节奏很慢，这让王琛有更多的时间探索技巧。

Wang now sees playing weiqi as a hobby. He is the captain of the weiqi team on campus, which has five members. He organizes them to research the latest formations once a week.
现在，王琛将下围棋看作是自己的一门爱好。他是校园围棋社团的社长，旗下有5名成员。在他的组织下，社团成员每周都会摆次棋，探讨最新的布局阵型。

“Different trends and new styles emerge all the time and we discuss how to deal with them,” says Wang. “I really enjoy this pressure-free way of playing weiqi .”
他说：“五花八门的玩法和样式总是层出不穷，而我们需要讨论如何应对。我的确很喜欢这种毫无压力的围棋玩法。”

Independence
独立

What this hobby brings Wang is not only a sense of achievement, but also independence.
围棋这门爱好不仅为王琛带来成就感，同时也让他学会独立。

He has won 10 national and international championships, which have brought the young student a handsome sum of money. When he won the national amateur competition in 2011, he received 100,000 yuan in prize money.
他先后在国内外赛事中10次夺冠。对于一名青年学生来说，奖金收入十分可观。2011年，他在全国业余围棋比赛中夺冠，获得10万元奖金。

With awards from contests, Wang covers his expenses and tuition fees all by himself.
王琛用所得的奖金，支付了在校期间的所有学费和个人开销。

Lonely hobby
注定孤独

Wang is busier than most of his peers. A look at his calendar shows that he had attend competitions in Guizhou and Taiwan at the end of August, after attending an international competition only this July. But Wang admits he has little in common with his classmates.
王琛比大多数同龄人都要忙。从他的日程表来看，七月刚刚参加完国际围棋大赛后，紧接着八月末他又奔赴贵州和台湾参加两场比赛。但是王琛也承认自己和同学没什么共同语言。

“I feel a bit lonely sometimes,” he says. “Whenever I lose, there’s nobody with whom I can share the pain.”
他说：“有时，我感到有些孤独。每当失败时，伤痛无人诉说。”

Wang says his next project is to promote weiqi among his peers on campus.
王琛说，他的下一个计划就是在校内向同学推广围棋。

“Many young people in China don’t understand this kind of sport and I want to promote it,” says Wang.
王琛说：“国内的许多年轻人都不了解围棋，所以我想大力推广这项运动。”