At a very young age, the Chinese Weiqi Association was able to perform an IQ test on many of its young professionals during the late '80s to early '90s, and Luo was able to score higher than all of his compatriots, which included the likes of Chang Hao, Zhou Heyang, Shao Weigang and Wang Lei.

Although Luo's gift was recognized, domestically and internationally he was not able to perform very well and did not gain any significant titles.

In this tournament, he faced Cho Han-seung, Song Tae-kon in the first 2 rounds, before playing defending champion Lee Sedol in the quarterfinals.

Experts showed the final variations as Lee losing 1 of 2 very large territories on the board.

After this match, Luo was able to reach the semi-finals of an international tournament for the first time in his career.