China's losing record on the soccer field seems to be mirrored in the world of Go, with rising chess star Ke Jie taking a cue from the men's soccer team. In a live broadcast, Ke Jie confessed that she was deeply concerned that fan fervor and work pressures had led to a recent decline in her chess skills, with four consecutive losses. However, with chess victory seemingly within her grasp in life, Ke Jie vowed to reclaim the title immediately.
The fanatical perspective of the fans seems to have reached a new extreme. The fanatical fans of the Chinese men's soccer team, who are overly loud, have brought tremendous public pressure on the players. Ke Jie believes that fans should not be overly urged, which is a new perspective.
So, was it an over-exertion that brought down Kojak's form? This is not the case. Despite his recent losing streak, Ke Jie had a decent first half. Ke Jie failed to win the match mainly because of the second half, like Nie Weiping, was error-prone. While Nie had a poor second half due to age and health reasons, Ke Jie, the young player, who is fit and healthy, made frequent but unexplainable blunders.
Ke Jie can't rely on encouragement from fans to boost his form. The slump in the second half was clearly due to a prolonged inability to concentrate. The prolonged inability to concentrate was due in large part to Ke Jie's distraction from his many side projects. Go master Wu Qingyuan once admonished Nie Weiping to focus on Go rather than chasing bridge. Ke Jie, the leading chess player, seems to be chasing many "rabbits" at the same time!
Besides, chess is just one of the many challenges. How can Ke Jie be convinced that he can win the next title quickly? With Shen Zhen's talent and Park Tinghuan's old age, domestic world champions and newcomers alike are unwilling to let Ke Jie fall off the map so easily. Although Ke Jie can still get a wild card thanks to his scoring advantage and past accomplishments, in a year or two, Ke may only be able to start from the draft. At that time, it will be unknown whether Ke Jie can participate in the World Championship again. Therefore, if Ke Jie aspires to win her ninth title, she needs to focus on Go and reduce side distractions without worrying about qualification.
