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I don’t have the Korean perspective on why the rules are the way they are.
I am Korean, a Tygem 6-dan player, and currently an after-school Go instructor for elementary school students. I have seen the problematic scene from the third game between Ke Jie and Byun Sang-il, and I would like to share my opinion on why such a rule is necessary.
I teach Go to elementary school children aged 7 to 10, most of whom are encountering Go for the first time in their lives. In the very first lesson, before they play their first game, I teach them various Go etiquette rules and how to manage Go stones properly.
The stones must always be in one of the following three places:
1. Inside the Go bowl,
2. Precisely on the intersections of the Go board,
3. Captured stones must be placed inside the lid.
If they fail to follow any of these three rules, they are not observing proper Go etiquette. I tell them that if they do not follow these etiquette rules, their friends may not want to play Go with them in the future, and I will inform their parents about it. This is how I teach them proper Go manners.
Students who cannot or do not manage captured stones properly are not allowed to advance to the next level.
Most Korean Go enthusiasts manage stones in this way, so captured stone issues rarely arise in Korean Go games. However, I have heard that when playing face-to-face with Chinese players, captured stones are often neglected. In particular, Ke Jie’s act of placing the captured stone on the table instead of in the lid, as seen in the problematic scene, can be considered a breach of Go etiquette.
Over the past 30 years, the Korea Baduk Association has likely received countless reports of such incidents. In some cases, players may have even hidden captured stones during the game to interfere with their opponent’s counting, as mentioned earlier. Given this history, it is understandable that they wanted to establish a captured stone management rule, at least for tournaments held in Korea.
The Chinese Weiqi Association argues that the timing of the referee's intervention was advantageous for Byun Sang-il. However, considering that the game situation was already 98% in favor of White, Ke Jie’s claim appears unreasonable. If the game had been 98% in favor of Black, Ke Jie would have continued playing.
After this incident, the Chinese Weiqi Association seems to be turning Go into a political or money-driven game. In such cases, the side with more money and stronger political influence usually prevails.