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I immediately took the chance of asking him for an interview and a small impression of this year's French Championship, his impressions can be found within the interview. Besides that he also sent me some pictures and his games from the semi-final and the final of this year's championship.
The Interview with Benjamin Dréan Guénaïzia:
When were you born?
I was born in a small city in the South of France but I moved very early in my life to the North West of France and lived in another small city called Concarneau, which was where I first learned Go.
When did you learn go?
When I was 13 years old in… 2005, it already has been 12 years... Oddly enough, there was a Go club in Concarneau and my mother was a friend of the president of the club at the time. Therefore, when I was going at his place he was showing me Atari-Go and asked me if I wanted to join the club. I could actually have started much earlier but the club was in a bar and it was still legal to smoke inside so I could not go.
Who was your first teacher?
Paul Piriou, 8k, he taught me from 30k to 8k, he made me play a lot on 9*9 which I think is a good way of improving. Before moving to 19*19, it is good to know what is happening on the first, second and third line of a board! He brought me to many tournaments, I was playing a lot (and I mean, a lot) on KGS also.
And who is you teacher at this moment?
Well, after Paul, I had two other very important teachers, François Mizessyn, 5d. The first time we met, I was 8k and we had a tournament game together, I lost by 0.5 after a silly mistake in the endgame, he thought perhaps that I am not entirely hopeless and started to teach me. We played many times on KGS and in tournaments after that. My other important teacher, who also happens to be a God, is Motoki Noguchi 7d. We played hundreds of games on KGS and I learned a lot from him and his very stylish way of playing. Being extremely polite, he never says that a move is bad, but rather that it is “rare” or “interesting”. At first you think you played so good because you only get compliments, then you realize you played crap all game long.
Actually my current teacher is Kim Seungjun 9p who is the co-director of BIBA with Kőszegi Diána 1p. I went to BIBA twice over the last 3 years and I sometimes join the online league they created. I remember asking him once to show me some new stuff in the openings (before Alphago), I was already 6d at the time so he thought I knew most of the current fashion. He started showing me some variations, which obviously I had never seen before. After a few minutes, he said: “It is very easy to teach Ben because he doesn’t know anything”. That sums up pretty much everything about my Go style.
When did you become shodan (2d, 3d, 4d, 5d and 6d)?
Shodan was quite fast, after 2 years, 3d, 3 years and 4d after 5 years, after that I stopped for almost 2 years and played very few tournaments. When I came back, I became 5d in 2012 and 6d in 2014, the road to 7d will be a bit harder but I will get there eventually!
What goals do you have in go?
Nothing much, becoming 7d would be nice, besides that, I already had my fair share of fun with the game.
What do you study/work?
I just got a Master’s Degree in Marketing and I am now looking for a job!
Did you also win other tournaments?
That was actually one classic joke about me; I never won anything meaningful like a Youth Championship or a major European tournament. However, the second place has no secrets for me anymore. However, my best memory remains the European Team Championship in Liberec, 2015. That night was unforgettable and yet I managed to forget a good bit of it.
In a private chat after this interview Benjamin told me he won some smaller tournaments and besides becoming European Team Champion in Liberec (which was not a personal achievement), the French Amateur Championship is the first major tournament he won.
How do you study go (game analysis, books)?
Well, I never really studied hard, I just played online a lot and had wonderful teachers. I think getting your games reviewed is the most important. Blitz games are very good for instincts; I just created this reason not to feel bad to play blitz on the net. Ah, also… I do not like AlphaGo, well ironically enough; its last version Zero looks more human than the previous one. It does make sense, 0 always has been the sign of wonderful players.
How did you prepare for the French Championship?
I didn’t? But, I cannot say that can I? Well I think my style changed over the last 3 years, I play much more flexible in my games and I was feeling good.
A small impression of the 2017 French Amateur Championship by Benjamin Dréan Guénaïzia:
The tournament itself was very nice, 16 players qualified either from their ranking or by some prior tournaments which served as qualifiers. Then it is the classic knock-out system. My first game was easy but from the quarterfinals, it became quite hard. I played Antoine Fenech 5d in the ¼, Tanguy Le Calvé, 6d in the ½ and Thomas Debarre 6d in the Final. I know their styles very well and they know mine… Especially with Tanguy, we played hundreds of games together. So I tried in each game to play a “counter” style but it was not always successful. Overall the tournament was really nice with many strong young players. I hope the next generation will kick our butts !
Who is/are your favorite go player(s)?
I do enjoy watching Takemiya’s games as well as Go Seigen’s ones. However, the best player on earth is Motoki Noguchi, that is obvious and your question makes no sense.
How and in what way did go change your life?
Everything, the people, the travels, the parties. Discovering new cultures, new countries. It just opens your mind so much; all the rest becomes quite non-important.
Do you have other hobbies besides go?
Nothing original, Movies (Fincher, Kubrick, The Wachowskis, etc.), Literature (French Literature, trying some British one at the moment, etc.), Visual Arts (Velasquez, Kandinsky, Magritte, etc.) and Parties (Prague, Seoul, Tokyo, etc.).
I saw you play and study with BIBA at the moment like me.
How do you like playing and studying online?
I used to play like crazy, hundreds of games per month… I was young and foolish… Well, as I said studying online for me means playing a lot. Right now I am joining BIBA Online League so I can play some serious games and get reviews, that is where my “studying” stops.
