The honorary chairman of the Chinese Go Association, Nie Weiping, has passed away, as announced by his daughter in a funeral notice. The news quickly made its way to the top trending list.
According to reports by The Paper, the Chinese Go Association confirmed that Nie Weiping, the honorary chairman and “Go Saint” with a rank of nine dan, passed away in Beijing on the evening of January 14, at the age of 74.
Nie Weiping was a pivotal figure in Chinese Go history. In the 1980s, he achieved multiple victories against top Japanese Go players during the China-Japan Go matches. At that time, he was honored with the title of “Go Saint” by the State Sports Commission and the Chinese Go Association.
Nie Weiping once served as the head coach of the national Go team, coaching players like Chang Hao to become world champions.
Born on August 17, 1952, in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, Nie Weiping was originally from Hebei Province.
In the funeral notice, Nie Weiping’s daughter mentioned that her father underwent cancer surgery in November 2013. In March 2025, he fell into a coma for 12 days due to a sudden cerebral infarction. On January 14, 2026, he suffered a sudden illness in the hospital, and despite all efforts to save him, he unfortunately passed away.
The news of Nie Weiping’s passing quickly climbed to the top of the trending list on mainland Chinese social media platform Weibo. Many netizens expressed their sorrow and bid farewell to Nie Weiping with well wishes.