Exclusive: Ke Jie wants you to know weiqi is fun -- and easy to learn

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By CGTN's Gong Zhe

Ke Jie, the world's best weiqi (Go) player, cried after losing 0-3 to the artificial intelligence program AlphaGo.

He took off his glasses and wiped his eyes. But he's happy to see the world focus on his beloved sport.

"AlphaGo is so perfect," Ke said during an exclusive interview with CGTN on Saturday. "It's just flawless, and merciless."

Ke Jie appears frustrated during the match. /CGTN Photo

However, Ke appeared regretful when talking about Saturday's match -- his third consecutive defeat.

"My start to today's game was horrible, and I've no way to fix that up," Ke said. "The gap between me and AlphaGo is too huge -- I can't catch it up in my lifetime."

The AlphaGo team has released 10 matches the machine played with itself. The matches made Ke exasperated.

"I saw the 10 matches AlphaGo played with itself. First impression: I don't understand it," Ke told CGTN.

The star player did not talk much about future. He needed some rest, after the high-profile matches.

Ke Jie shares his thoughts on this match. /CGTN Photo

"I need some time to recover from the shock. I collapsed. Not the collapse people joke about on the Internet. It's a real collapse," Ke said.

"Let AlphaGo explore the weiqi universe. I'll just sit in my own world and have fun."

But the top weiqi player won't give up.

"I know no one who has experienced this much before 20 years old like me. I had a good beginning in my life. I'm happy with that," Ke told CGTN.

Ke's passion for weiqi has not wavered. He wants to tell everyone that weiqi is fun, and contrary to the stereotype, it's easy to learn.

"Weiqi is not only for smart people. You can see clearly that I'm not a smart person. No smart person will bluff on the Internet like me, right?"