The explanation I think is that so much of his prime was lost to the Cultural Revolution. So, he had in a sense, a short career, which in turn made him seem younger than he is. He also learned go a little later than most top players, at age 9.
For the young whippersnappers here, Nie is the only player to get promoted from 0-dan to 9-dan (in 1982, when China adopted pro grades). He had first come to prominence domestically in youth events in 1963, but internationally he became familiar for winning the 1st World Amateur title in 1976. In those days professionals could be amateurs, too
.He had the benefit of being groomed by the Chinese Communist Party, through the personal intervention of Deputy PM Chen Yi, the first Chinese to be indicted into the Nihon Ki-in's Hall of Fame. He was also lucky in being singled out for special instruction by Fujisawa Hideyuki of Japan.
The Party help was partly in the form of being instructed by the veteran master Guo Tisheng, who was the first national champion in 1956. Guo moved in with the Nie family, so may be the most celebrated case of a live-in teacher!
At age 19, Nie suffered badly during the Cultural Revolution, probably because of his association Chen Yi, who also suffered cruelly. Nie was sent to a farm in remote Heilongjiang, on the Soviet border. He kept his go alive by playing over games in his head. He studied old Chinese games and copies of Japanese Kido Yearbooks. He only was allowed to return to Beijing in 1972, where he was admitted to the national training squad and started studying under Chen Zude. who was eight years older.
His defeat of the Japanese 9-dan Miyamoto Naoki soon after, in 1974, was the turning point in his career and made him nationally famous. He has suffered from a heart condition, exacerbated by the harsh farm work in exile. It often forced him to take oxygen during a game. Clearly this also had an impact on his career, especially internationally, but he did win close to 40 titles (ironically including the Physical Education Cup!). He was given the lifetime honorific title of Go Sage by the Chinese Weiqi Association in 1988. He still maintains a high-quality school in Beijing. His long friendship with President Deng Xiaopeng (they were also bridge partners) obviously did him no harm, but we can perhaps say that was compensation for Mao Zedong's time.
His son Ko Reibun is a 7-dan pro in Japan, and he was the product of Nie's marriage to Kong Xiangming, who was the first pro I ever played. A lovely lady, who apparently has a proven lineage to Confucius (the Con bit = Kong). I've also met Reibun but I wouldn't say he'd be first name on my Christmas card list. But Reibun (incidentally, a pupil of Kikuchi Yasuro rather than his father or mother, from the time his mother settled in Japan) married Sayaka, daughter of Kobayashi Satoru.
I always like to remember the above acts of friendship and closeness between Japan and China whenever the politicians start their annual sabre-rattling.
Nie's nickname of Mister Three Ears from the old version of the character with which his family name is written: 聶.
Anyway, three cheers for Three Ears on his 70th, and lang may his lum reek.
