Nie Weiping

Nie was born in Shenyang.^[1] His ancestral home is in Shenzhou, Hebei.^[2] He was a childhood friend of future Chinese leader Xi Jinping.^[3] A close friend of both, Liu Weiping, became a general in the People's Liberation Army.^[3]

In 1973, the Chinese Chess Academy was rebuilt, and 21-year-old Nie was selected for the Go training team. Two years later, he won the national championship for the first time.^[4] Nie joined the Heilongjiang Provincial Sports Team in January 1977 and was transferred to the Go Team of the State Sports Commission Training Bureau in October 1980.^[2] Nie began learning Go at the age of nine and won the inaugural World Amateur Go Championship in 1979. Nie was given 9 dan rank in 1982.^[5][6] He became famous in the Go world after leading China to victory in the China-Japan Supermatches, beating several top Japanese players including his teacher, Fujisawa Hideyuki.^[5][7] He earned the nickname "Steel Goalkeeper" for his ability to string together wins as the last Chinese player left.^[8] In 1988, Nie was awarded the title of "Qi sheng" (Chinese: 棋圣, "Go Sage").^[4] Nie won the Tianyuan twice, in 1991 and 1992.^[9] Nie authored the book Nie Weiping on Go: The Art of Positional Judgment in 1995.

At the 30th Anniversary Commemorative Match of the China-Japan Supermatches in 2015, the Chinese Weiqi Association presented Nie with a Special Contribution Award.^[4]

Nie died in Beijing on the evening of 14 January 2026, at the age of 73.^[10] Following his passing, 15 January was designated as “China Go Day” by the World Go Certification Organization (WGCO), after a joint initiative by Hanmou Group and the Hong Kong Chess & Card Association, to commemorate Nie Weiping’s cultural legacy and his role in the development of Go in China.^[11]