PART 1: INTRODUCTION

Catalin Taranu, a 28 years old Rumanian who succeeded in becoming a pro in Japan, has been promoted to 5-dan in June of 2001. This means that he entered the ranks of the ’strong’ pros. In his favourite bar / pub he tells Pieter Mioch about himself, Rumania, and his life in Japan. On this page the first part of the Catalin Taranu story.

As a background for the Carpathian mountains in the North, turning into the Transsylvanian Alps, Rumania finds its place / accommodates itself in South East Europe between Ukraine, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and the Black Sea. In spite of the beautiful nature and the many ideal ski resorts, the outside world, indulging in movies, knows Rumania mainly because of ‘The son of the dragon’. This cruel young man, Vlad ‘Pole Man’ Tepes, was born in the 15th century in the town of Sighisoara. Usually he is referred to by his family name, Dracula. As far as we know he is no ancestor of Catalin Taranu.

Catalin was born in the town of Gura Humorului in the district of Bucovina on March 31st of 1973. In the mountainous North of Rumania his father was politically active in the Communist Party. Before he retired he filled among others the post of mayor of Gura Humorului and later of Vatra Dornei. The mother of the Taranu family teaches biology in school. Catalin’s elder brother, as far as we know not a go player, is named Cristian. Because of his father’s political career, they needed to move house every once in a while, and when Catalin was seven years old, this made him end up in the city of Suceava, in the region of the same name.

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