原文地址：https://www.worldothello.org/news/419/interview-with-jonathan-cerf
Written by WOF Othello News
After Hiroshi Inoue won his second world title at the 1979 World Othello Championship in Rome, he praised his finals opponent, Jonathan Cerf, saying the US champion was one of the toughest players he had ever faced. Jonathan had come very close to winning the first game of the finals, an early sign of what was to come the following year…
Hiroshi Inoue(井上博)在1979年罗马黑白棋世锦赛上第二次加冕世界冠军后，曾如此评价决赛对手、美国冠军Jonathan Cerf：“他是我遭遇过最难缠的对手之一”。这场决赛首局Jonathan一度无限接近胜利，这预示着次年将上演的传奇…
At the 1980 WOC in London,Jonathan Cerf won the finals in two straight games against the Japanese champion Takuya Mimura, becoming the first world Othello champion from outside Japan. This was a major turning point in the history of our game, in an era when the Japanese had until then always won the WOC undefeated.
1980年伦敦世锦赛上，Jonathan Cerf以两局全胜的战绩击败日本冠军Takuya Mimura，成为首位非日本籍的世界黑白棋冠军。这标志着赛事历史的重大转折——此前日本选手始终保持着世锦赛不败金身。
The WOF News team was delighted to catch up with Jonathan for an interview.
WOF新闻团队有幸对乔纳森进行了独家专访：
WOF: Thanks Jonathan for taking the time for this interview. So let’s start at the beginning, can you tell us how you discovered the game of Othello and how you got involved with the US Othello Association ?
WOF ：感谢您接受采访。让我们从起点开始，您是如何接触黑白棋并加入美国黑白棋协会的？
Jonathan: I have always liked games, particularly the sort of games where there are no hidden or secret elements. As a young adult, I took a non-credit course at The New School in New York City. It was delightful. They taught us a new game in every session, and they encouraged us students to play each game several times against our fellow students so that we could begin to guess how to think about it strategically. One of the games they taught us was Reversi, which has a great deal in common with Othello. Later, I got a freelance writing job for Games Magazine reporting on the 1978 U.S. National Othello Championship Tournament and the subsequent World Championship Tournament. The magazine wanted me to actually play in the U.S. National Tournament so that I could report on the proceedings from a player’s perspective.I was by no means an expert Othello player at the time, and I didn’t get very far in the tournament, but I had a lot of fun, and I liked several of the people I met along the way. A group of us decided to stay in touch and ultimately to form the United States Othello Association. We all hoped that participating in the USOA would help us get better at the game. Over the next few months, we organized several small Othello tournaments, and we began publishing a magazine called Othello Quarterly. It turned out that writing and editing articles for that magazine was a very good way to learn. By the time the following year’s U.S. National Tournament came around, I had spent a lot of time thinking about Othello and had gotten quite good. Not great, but good enough to win the U.S. national championship.
Jonathan ：我一直钟爱策略透明、无需隐藏信息的棋类游戏。青年时期，我在纽约新学院参加了一门不计学分的游戏课程，每堂课都教授新游戏并鼓励学员互相对弈以领悟战略思维。其中就包含与黑白棋高度相似的"翻转棋"（Reversi）。后来我为《Games Magazine》报道1978年美国锦标赛及世锦赛时，杂志要求我以选手身份参赛以获得第一视角。尽管当时棋艺不精、成绩平平，但这段经历让我结识了一批志同道合的棋友。我们决定成立美国黑白棋协会，通过定期举办赛事和创办《Othello Quarterly（黑白棋季刊）》提升水平。为杂志撰稿的过程本身就是绝佳的学习机会，当次年全美锦标赛来临时，我已通过大量研究显著提升实力，最终成功问鼎冠军。
WOF: In 1979 after winning the US Nationals you played at your first World Othello Championship (WOC) in Rome. In the first game of the finals against Hiroshi Inoue you had very good position in the midgame but then Inoue came back to win in the endgame. Do you still remember that first final game in Rome ?
WOF ：1979年罗马世锦赛决赛首局对阵Hiroshi Inoue(井上博)时，您曾在中盘建立优势却最终被翻盘。对那场历史性对局是否记忆犹新？
black：Hiroshi INOUE Japan
white：Jonathan CERF USA
Jonathan: Yes, I certainly do. It was my feeling that the best 500 players in the world at that time were all Japanese, but according to the rules of the tournament, each participating country could send only one contestant. As a result, I was able to advance to the finals against Hiroshi Inoue, even though I was by no means the second best player in the world. I have enormous respect for Hiroshi Inoue. I have never spoken to him about our match, and I can only speculate why I was able to achieve a decent midgame position against him. My best guess at how this could have happened is that Hiroshi enjoyed making experimental early moves even in important games. Perhaps he correctly guessed that with his superior knowledge of the game, he could well afford to assume an early disadvantageous position, knowing that he would have plenty of time to recover against a relatively inexperienced international opponent such as myself.
Jonathan ：当然记得。当时全球顶尖的500名棋手几乎都是日本人，但根据赛制每个参赛国只能派出一名代表。正因如此，我才能与Hiroshi Inoue(井上博)会师决赛——尽管我绝非世界第二强的棋手。我对井上先生始终心怀敬意。虽未曾与他探讨过那场对局，但我推测中盘优势可能源于他的战术实验：即便在重大赛事中，他也乐于尝试非常规开局。或许他自信凭借深厚的棋理底蕴，即使前期处于劣势，也有足够能力在我这样国际赛经验不足的对手面前翻盘。
WOF: At the 1980 WOC in London you became the first world Othello champion from outside Japan. Can you take us back to that moment? Did you realise at that time that your victory would still be talked about decades later?
WOF ：1980年伦敦世锦赛您成为首位非日籍世界冠军。能否带我们重回那个历史时刻？当时是否预见到这场胜利会被后世传颂数十年？
black：Jonathan CERF USA
white：Takuya MIMURA Japan
black：Takuya MIMURA Japan
white：Jonathan CERF USA
Jonathan : I am completely charmed by your question. I am not acquainted with anyone except for me who is still talking about my victory in 1980. You need to keep in mind that back in those days, we all still had a lot to learn about Othello. Most of us were clever but not deeply knowledgeable.
Even so, I believe that Takuya Mimura knew a lot more about the game than I did. However, he was very young and under enormous pressure to win. No Japanese player had ever lost even a single game in international competition, and there was a Japanese television crew on site in London to cover Mimura’s expected victory. It seemed to me that he might have underestimated me. I was fairly sure that in our first game in the finals, he had a winning midgame position, but he seemed either to miss the winning play, or to believe that I could be counted upon to misplay the opportunity that he gave me. And I think he might have been so shaken by losing that first game, that he was unable to give our second game his very best effort.
Jonathan :您的问题让我倍感荣幸。除了我自己，如今恐怕已无人再谈论1980年的胜利了。须知在那个年代，黑白棋的战术体系尚处萌芽阶段，多数棋手空有天赋却缺乏系统知识。
即便当时，Takuya Mimura的棋理造诣也远胜于我。但他太过年轻，肩负着整个日本棋坛"外战不败"的沉重压力——更有日本电视台专程赴伦敦报道这场"预定胜利"。或许正是这种压力导致他轻敌：决赛首局他本已掌控中盘胜势，却要么未能察觉制胜妙手，要么自信能通过诱饵令我失误。而当首局失利后，他显然陷入心理震荡，次局难以发挥真正实力。
WOF: You retired from Othello tournaments in 1981, shortly after becoming world champion. Can you tell us the reasons for that decision? Did you ever consider making a comeback?
WOF ：您在1981年夺冠后选择急流勇退，背后有何考量？是否考虑过复出？
Jonathan : I never for a moment felt that I was a great Othello player. I felt I’d be kidding myself if I thought I could successfully defend my world championship. But I felt I couldn’t retire immediately after winning in London, even though that’s what I most wanted to do. I had made a lot of friends in the U.S. Othello Association, and I felt a strong obligation to give my friends the fun of playing against the reigning world champion. So, I played in several small tournaments before retiring. I have never been tempted to try a comeback. I’ve kept up with the game enough to know that I am not in the same class with the best contemporary players.
Jonathan ：我从未觉得自己是一名伟大的黑白棋手。 我觉得如果我认为自己能成功卫冕世界冠军，那是在自欺欺人。 但我觉得我不能在伦敦夺冠后立即退役，尽管这是我最想做的事。 我在美国黑白棋协会结识了很多朋友，我觉得自己有强烈的义务让我的朋友们感受到与卫冕世界冠军对弈的乐趣。 因此，我在退休前参加了几次小型比赛。 我从未想过卷土重来。 我一直关注着比赛，知道自己与当代最优秀的选手不在一个档次上。
WOF: In 1983 you took part in a match against the computer program ODIN (written by Peter Frey and Larry Atkin) which you defeated in two straight games (both by wipe-out!). Do you remember that match and why you decided to take part in it ?
WOF ：1983年您曾对战计算机程序ODIN（由Peter Frey与Larry Atkin开发）并以双杀取胜。对此有何回忆？
Jonathan : I do not remember that match. But I do remember losing a public game against a computer program. I immediately regretted having agreed to play that game, because I felt I was letting other human players down.
Jonathan ：我不记得那场比赛了。 但我记得自己在一场公开比赛中输给了一个电脑程序。 我立刻后悔答应参加那场比赛，因为我觉得我让其他人类棋手失望了。
WOF : Young Othello players today find it hard to imagine how it was possible to improve at Othello before the advent of strong computer programs that are now used as tools to study and practice all phases of the game. Can you tell us how you used to prepare for tournaments back in the early 1980s and do you think computers have dramatically changed the game ?
WOF :现在的年轻黑白棋棋手很难想象，在强大的计算机程序出现之前，如何能够提高黑白棋水平。您能告诉我们您在 20 世纪 80 年代初是如何准备比赛的吗？
Jonathan : Yes, computers have dramatically changed Othello. And in my opinion, computers have taken some of the fun out of the game. Nowadays, you would need to really do your homework, playing against a good computer program, before you could hope to do well against human opponents in a tournament setting. You’d need to do that work, because in any tournament, you’d be sure to encounter human opponents schooled by computers. Back when I played, I had an unfair advantage against my opponents. I had a home computer, and I knew how to program it. I wasn’t a good enough programmer to write a program that would play interesting practice games against me, but I was able to write code that could find interesting insights from human game transcripts (such as finding missed winning plays).
Jonathan :是的，电脑极大地改变了黑白棋。 在我看来，电脑让游戏失去了一些乐趣。 如今，你需要做足功课，先与优秀的电脑程序对弈，然后才有希望在比赛中与人类对手一决高下。 你需要做这些工作，因为在任何比赛中，你都肯定会遇到被电脑训练过的人类对手。 在我玩游戏的时候，我有一个不公平的优势。 我有一台家用电脑，我知道如何编程。 我不是一个好程序员，无法编写出一个能与我进行有趣的练习赛的程序，但我能编写出能从人类比赛记录中找到有趣见解的代码（例如找到失误的制胜战术）。
WOF : Do you still keep up at all with what’s going on in the Othello world ?
WOF :你还在关注黑白棋世界里发生的一切吗？
Jonathan : I don’t keep up as much as I used to. Immediately after I retired, I enjoyed following the exploits of all the people I had met when I was an active player. But now, I know very few of the best players, so I do not have much of a rooting interest in current tournament play.
Jonathan :我不像以前那样经常关注了。 退役后，我很喜欢关注我在活跃棋手时期认识的所有棋手的战绩。 但现在，我认识的高手很少，所以我对当前的比赛兴趣不大。
WOF :Jonathan, before we end this interview, we have to ask you a very important question that could help us solve Othello’s biggest mystery…
Who named this edge configuration a “Boscov”? And more importantly, why ?
WOF :Jonathan，在我们结束采访之前，我们必须问你一个非常重要的问题，这个问题可以帮助我们解开奥赛罗最大的谜团…
是谁把这个边形命名为 “Boscov ”的？ 更重要的是，为什么？
Jonathan : What a wonderful question! And it delights me that I happen to know the answer. For many, many years my friend George Sullivan and I co-edited Othello Quarterly. Writing articles for that magazine gave George and me many opportunities to invent names for various Othello “openings” and positions. George grew up in Reading, Pennsylvania. That town’s leading merchant for many years was a man named Al Boscov, who was chairman of a department store chain called Boscov’s. George and I gave the name “Boscov” to an Othello edge position on a whim, as something of an “in” or personal joke. We thought the position should have a name, but our choice for that name was completely arbitrary. Later, when George ran into Al Boscov at a party, he was pleased to be able to tell Mr. Boscov that we’d named an Othello position after him. Mr. Boscov had no idea what George was talking about.
Jonathan :多么美妙的问题！ 让我高兴的是，我碰巧知道答案。 多年来，我和我的朋友George Sullivan一直合编《Othello Quarterly(黑白棋季刊)》。 为该杂志撰写文章让我和乔治有很多机会为黑白棋的各种 “空缺 ”和棋型取名字。George在宾夕法尼亚州雷丁长大。 该镇多年来的主要商人是一位名叫Al Boscov的人，他是一家名为Boscov的连锁百货公司的董事长。 George和我一时兴起，将 “Boscov”这个名字赋予了一个黑白棋边角位置，作为一种 “in ”或个人玩笑。 我们认为这个位置应该有一个名字，但我们对这个名字的选择完全是随意的。 后来，George在一次聚会上遇到了Al Boscov，他很高兴地告诉Boscov先生，我们用他的名字命名了一个黑白棋棋型。 而Boscov先生完全不知道George在说什么。
WOF : Thanks Jonathan for the interview. Is there anything else you would like to add ?
WOF :感谢Jonathan接受采访。您还有什么要补充的吗？
Jonathan :Not at all. In fact I apologize for going on at such length in response to questions that could have been answered with far fewer words.
Jonathan :完全没有。 事实上，我很抱歉用这么长的篇幅来回答那些本可以用更少的文字来回答的问题。
WOF : Your responses were fantastic and never too long, it’s exactly what we had hoped for, taking us back to those pioneering days of Othello and you even helped us solve a 45 year long mystery in the process! Thanks again.
WOF : 您的回复非常精彩，而且从不会太长，这正是我们所希望的，带我们回到了黑白棋的先驱时代，在这个过程中，您甚至帮我们解开了一个长达 45 年之久的谜团！再次感谢。
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