望月正行
Masayuki Mochizuki 'Mochy'
世界大師專訪 Interview with Grand Masters


望月正行 Mochy 現時是被全世界公認為雙陸棋首屈一指的棋王，也是全球唯一一名享譽「超級大師」的專業雙陸棋棋手。他曾經贏過兩屆蒙地卡羅世界錦標賽冠軍、兩屆日本「盤聖」國家錦標賽冠軍、三屆全球 UBC 棋王寶座，全都為史無前例。他是日本雙陸棋協社社長，在日本以及在全世界推廣及教育雙陸棋學術不遺餘力。他是 “Masterclass”「大師班」一書的兩位作者之一，此書對雙陸棋學術有前所未有的貢獻，論及有幾個雙陸棋裡從未有人探索過的、極高深的局勢、策略及戰術。
Mochy is considered the world’s best backgammon player, and the only player categorised as a “Super Grandmaster” amongst professional backgammon players. He has won the Backgammon World Championship title twice, and the Japanese national championship Bansei also twice. He held the champion title to UBC for 3 years in a row. He is the president of the Japan Backgammon Society, and is active in educating and promoting backgammon in Japan and around the world. He is the co-author of “Masterclass”, an advanced level backgammon book, with a pioneering in-depth treatment of back-games.


問：Mochy-san, 你是怎樣認識雙陸棋的呢？幾時開始玩的？
Q: So Mochy-san, How did you know this game? How did you start?

答：我在高中時其實是很著迷玩日本將棋 (Shogi) 的，每天在玩，就是那將棋小子哈哈哈；高中畢業時，考不進好的大學。對日本人來說，考進一家好大學是一件大事，你考不進的話，就得再多補修一年，再考。我那時候就是這狀態，不用上學了，本應在補修大考，但其實我不在乎，我在想，可能我這一輩子要做另一樣事情，而不是上大學，因為我根本不想上大學。有一天，一個朋友跟我說：喂，有一個遊戲叫雙陸棋，比將棋好玩，又時髦又有型.....我們就這樣玩起來了。我很喜歡玩，馬上愛上了，就上癮啦.....
A: So I was playing Japanese chess, Shogi, in high school. I was the Shogi guy playing Shogi everyday hahaha. When I finished high school, I failed the entry exams to a good university. Now, getting into a good university is a big deal for the Japanese. So when you fail, you study one more year and try again, right. So I was in that spot, I was off-study, but I should be studying, and I didn’t care. I was thinking, maybe I have something else in my life, you know, rather than just going to a university which I didn’t want to.  
Then, one day, one of my classmates in high school called me, and said: “hey, there’s a game called backgammon, way better than Shogi. It’s more fun, and more fashionable.” So, yeah, so we played, and I was hooked. I liked it so much, OMG…

問：你多大？
Q: How old were you?

答：我那時候.....19 歲？不，18 歲，是的。我就非常著迷雙陸棋這遊戲嘛.....那時在日本雙陸棋不多人玩，我有時就自己跟自己玩，好像左手跟右手玩，那種.....那年我不是本來要補修的嗎，我父母就每一天在盯著我。有時候我在房間在看雙陸棋的書，然後我媽進來的話，我就馬上把教科書蓋住我的雙陸棋書，她看見了就罵我一頓，哈哈哈.....
A: I was like, er, 19 years old? No 18 years old, 18. So anyway, I liked backgammon so much, you know, and I played backgammon… In Japan, backgammon was not so popular, so sometimes, er, I had to play by myself, hahaha, playing right hand against left hand, something like that…  So that year I was supposed to be studying, and my parents were watching. Sometimes I would be reading a backgammon book in my room, right, and then my mom would come into my room, and then I had to put my textbook on top of the backgammon book, and she would be like: “what’s going on?” you know, hahaha…

問：哈哈哈 你看哪一本書？
Q: …so which backgammon book were you reading?

答：好像是 Bill Robertie 的 “Advanced Backgammon”…..那我是還要去上課學習，不是上高中因為我中學已經畢業了，而是一間為補修而設的特別學院。我本應每天去上課的，但我根本沒去上學，跑到這雙陸棋會所去了，哈哈哈.....那後，很神奇的，我考進大學了，一家很好的大學，但我就是沒有上大學，因為我不管，你懂嗎，我只想着雙陸棋。最後我只去了大學兩天，第一天去註冊登記，第二天去辦退學.....
A: I think it was “Advanced Backgammon” by Bill Robertie…Also, I had to go to school to study, not high school, because high school is finished, but I had to go to a special school to study. So I had to go to school, but I didn’t go to school to study at all, I went to the backgammon club, you know, hahaha… anyhow, miraculously, it was just a miracle, I got into university, a good university too okay, but I never went to university, you know, because I didn’t care, you know what I mean. I cared more about backgammon. So I went to university for 2 days: the first day to enrol and enter, the second day to quit…

問：哈哈哈（捧腹大笑）是哪家大學呢？
Q: Hahahahahaha (laughing hilariously) Which university was it?

答：是早稻田大學，這在日本是排頭十名的好大學.....就是很神奇。
A: It’s called Waseda University…it’s like a top-10 university, a good school…it was a miracle.

問：哇啊 Mochy-san，你就這樣放棄了.....
Q: Oh waaaaah Mochy-san…and you quit…

答：是的，我退學了。我可能有點後悔吧.....當時我還要跟教授解釋我為什麼要退學，那時候我很緊張，第一次去見一個教授嘛，是的，我就乾脆告訴他，我喜歡玩雙陸棋、我做分析研究、我玩的很好.....我那時候已經是日本冠軍了.....我想當一位職業棋手等等。沒想到，這教授覺得非常有意思，跟我說：「你這樣很好.....繼續呀，我支持你的決定！」他告訴我，其實我沒有必要退學，是可以申請暫時休學，有 7 年的時間可以重返大學，給自己一點時間看看怎樣。我退了學以後就當然沒有再回去了。我和雙陸棋的故事是這樣開始的，就一直玩到現在了。
A: And I quit. I guess I was sorry about that…I actually had to meet a professor to explain why I needed to quit, so I was a little bit nervous, you know, the first time to meet with a professor, right, so I told him, hey, I like backgammon, I am doing this, and I’m very good…I was already, like, a champion, I was already the Japanese champion then…that I wanted to be a professional, and so on. To my surprise, the professor was very impressed, he was like; “oh great, you have a good thing…I support you!”…well, he meant, moral and emotional support. He told me that I didn’t have to quit university, that I could just suspend, for a maximum of 7 years, entrance to the university, and see later. Of course now I am quitting, not going back. So this is how I met backgammon, and I have been playing ever since.

問：你說你當時玩了兩三年，就成為了日本冠軍.....?
Q: So you played for a couple of years, and you already became champion…?

答：是的，我玩了一年以後，不，一年半吧，便贏了全國錦標賽冠軍。
A: Yep. So after the first year, no, after a year and a half maybe, I won the national title.

問：怎麼可能的呢？這遊戲，一般來說，玩一年、一年半，還不算什麼呀.....
Q: How is that possible? I mean, this game, you play for a year and a half, you are still nowhere…

答：那我是玩得很多，有時候一天玩 10 小時.....
A: Well, one, I played backgammon a lot, a lot, like…10 hours a day everyday…  

問：.....跟你自己玩，左手對右手.....？
Q: …With yourself, left hand against right hand…?

答：...不，也有看書、跟朋友玩、跟強手玩、電腦程式、等。我玩得很多，這是第一。第二呢，可能更加重要的是，那個年頭日本雙陸棋協會的水平並不是很高。你若打出 PR 6（走棋錯誤率）的話你已經是神級的了，懂嗎，但這是 25 年前了。現在當然不可能。
​A: …No, also reading books, playing with friends, playing with strong players, computer software and stuff like that. I played a lot, so that’s one reason. The second reason, and probably the biggest reason, is that the level of the Japanese Backgammon Association back then, was very low. If you play a PR 6, you are like god. You know what I mean? It was like that, 25 years ago. But now, of course, it is not possible at all.

問：25 年前.....那是 199.....
Q: 25 years ago…that was 199….

答：是 199…..7 吧。那後我 1998、1999 年也贏了日本「盤聖」國家錦標賽。
A: Yeah I think I started 199…7. Then I won the national championship, Bansei, in 1998, and also in 1999.

問：你的故事真夠瘋，奇人也。之後你就沒有回過頭了嗎？就是雙陸棋、雙陸棋、雙陸棋。
Q: Amazing story Mochy. Absolutely amazing. And you never looked back? Just backgammon, backgammon, backgammon.

答：對，是的。
A: Right, yeah.