Xu Guanglin was born in Anshan, Liaoning Province, with a serious visual impairment. As a child, he could perceive a faint glimmer of light, but due to retinal detachment his eyesight deteriorated rapidly, leaving him completely blind. While other children played with toys or ran outdoors, Xu often withdrew from physical activities. He preferred listening to familiar shows and stories repeatedly, memorizing details with remarkable precision. His extraordinary memory would later become the foundation of his gift for Go.

Discovering Go

In 2016, when Xu was around ten years old, a local teacher introduced him to the ancient board game of Go. For most, Go is an intensely visual pursuit, with black and white stones spreading across a nineteen-by-nineteen grid. But Xu played by touch. Using a specially designed tactile board—where black stones had raised bumps and white stones were smooth—he learned to imagine entire board positions in his mind.

Only a year and a half after he began, Xu entered a provincial competition. To the astonishment of players and coaches alike, he won nine games in a row, defeating opponents far older and more experienced. The blind boy who could not see a single stone had suddenly become one of the brightest young talents in his region.

A Father’s Sacrifice

Xu’s father, Xu Rongsheng, believed fiercely in his son’s gift. Once a bus driver, he gave up his job to accompany his boy full time. The family had little savings, and life quickly became difficult. Relatives and Xu’s grandmother pooled their modest pensions to support the dream. In Beijing, they lived in rented rooms provided by kind educators who recognized Xu’s potential. Coaches trained him free of charge. For several years, Xu progressed steadily, reaching amateur 4-dan strength, guided at one point by professional player Gui Wenbo.

But the road was never easy. Travel, training, and daily expenses weighed heavily on the family. Xu’s father, already aging, developed serious health problems. He suffered a stroke, leaving him too weak to continue the constant routine of guiding his son through tournaments and online practice.

The Waning Dream

For a blind Go player, online games had once been a vital lifeline. Xu’s father would sit beside him, describing moves, placing stones according to Xu’s instructions, and reading back the board position for Xu to memorize. This teamwork allowed Xu to train against distant opponents. But when his father fell ill, even this door closed. Without someone to serve as his hands and eyes, Xu could no longer compete online.

In China’s highly competitive Go world, consistent training is essential. But for Xu, the greatest obstacle is the pace of professional competition. His style of play is slow, since he must carefully memorize board positions and confirm moves without sight. Under strict time limits in official tournaments, this disadvantage makes it extremely difficult for him to keep up, no matter how talented he is.

A Painful Choice

Today, Xu Guanglin finds himself at a crossroads. His grandmother is frail, his father’s health has collapsed, and his family can no longer carry the costs of a professional Go pursuit. The most practical option left for him is to attend a special education school and learn massage, the path that many blind youth in China take. It offers security, independence, and the possibility of supporting his family.

Yet for Xu, whose mind once dazzled the Go world with clarity and creativity, the idea of leaving behind the game feels like surrendering a part of himself. His story is both inspiring and heartbreaking—a reminder of human resilience, but also of the heavy weight of circumstance.