"Xiangping Xiaoyou, after determining the opponent in the past, you always had to tell me a detailed introduction to the opponent, but why didn't you introduce it today?"

Li Xiangping smiled bitterly: "Brother Ding'an, it's not that I don't want to introduce it, it's just that the situation of this opponent is a bit special, I'm afraid that my description is not accurate, and in the end I will mislead Brother Ding'an." ”

"Oh? Why? ”

Li Xiangping didn't immediately reply to his plug-in question, because he didn't talk nonsense just now, and in the face of his next opponent, Masao Kato, he really doesn't know how to describe it now.

Mr. Kato, who was born in 1947, is now 53 years old, well, if this is placed in the later era of "20s called veterans, 30s began to play "happy Go"", then there is nothing to say about encountering such an opponent, and it is absolutely a top sign.

However, Li Xiangping knows that such a view or idea is not suitable for this era, especially for an important label in the history of Japanese Go and even in the world Go calendar---- it seems even more inappropriate for Japan's "Six Supers".

It is difficult for chess fans in later generations to understand why the professional life span of Japanese chess players in this era is so long, especially Japan's six super-first-class, from the eldest Otake hero who can still win the world championship at the age of 50, to the youngest Zhao Zhixun who can still win the title in China in his 60s.

Later generations have a theory that the reason why Japanese chess players have lived so long is mainly due to the low level of Go in the past era and the lack of fierce competition.

But to be honest, Li Xiangping doesn't agree with this statement at all, he thinks that this statement is a bit too taken for granted, just like the "evolution theory" and "technology accumulation" in the Go world, which have no basis at all.

You have 100 reasons to think that the level of later generations is higher, but opponents may be able to find 101 reasons to argue that the level of later generations is lower---- anyway, whose reasons are said by himself, and no one can prove that the reasons he said must be true.

In fact, the competition in the Japanese chess world has been fierce since the late 70s of the 20th century, when there were more than 90 Kudan alone, and at its peak there were nearly 400 professional players.

Or is it the same sentence, the overall level does not care about it, so many chess players compete for only a few titles, such competition is not fierce enough?

Mr. Lin Haifeng once said that every time he plays a "two-day" game, he almost loses several pounds---- please pay attention! He's talking about every set, not every series, and will there be a lot of competition?

Therefore, to be honest, compared with the "past era", Li Xiangping thinks that the competition in the chess world in later generations is really not fierce enough. The reason is very simple, because the phenomenon of "premature aging" of chess players in later generations is too serious.

Because of premature aging, many talented chess players immediately retreated to the second line of the profession as soon as they had a little understanding of Go, and because of premature aging, it made Go, an intellectual game, simply a game of physical strength and energy in later generations.

Of course, the competition of physical strength is also sweating, and to a certain extent, it can be called hard, but the competition of physical strength must be fiercer than the competition of intelligence?

Therefore, it is precisely for this reason that Li Xiangping has never believed in any "evolutionary theory".

He believes that the "premature aging" of chess players in later generations is not because of the more fierce competition, but because the conditions in later generations are better, and many chess players do not need to adhere to the practice of chess after becoming famous, and they do not need to rely on winning chess to live a good life.

This is actually the main cause of Progeria!

From Chang Hao to Gu Dali, and even South Korea's Li Canghao, in fact, they gave up first in their own hearts, which caused them to be unable to persist on the front line. The so-called more fierce competition is just an excuse for these people to make for their premature aging.

Well, maybe Li Xiangping's views belong to the "non-mainstream", but it is precisely his "non-mainstream" views that make him really dare not underestimate Mr. Kato, the opponent of the next round.

Although among the Japanese "six supers", Mr. Kato is the only non-world champion winner, and seems to be the weakest one.

Although Mr. Kato's peak seems to be in the late 70s to the first half of the 80s, it has been 20 years now.

Although Mr. Kato is a well-known "green leaf" in the Go world, the most famous games of his career seem to be acting as someone else's background. For example, in the fifth game of the final of Japan's second "Chess Holy War", he was slaughtered by his opponent with a 3-1 lead, and in one fell swoop, he achieved Fujisawa's "Hundred Eyes Killing Chess Famous Game".

For example, in the 3rd Sino-Japanese Go Tournament, he was defeated by Lao Nie as the main general, which achieved Lao Nie's historical status in one fell swoop, and even achieved Chinese Go in one fell swoop.

Although Mr. Kato has now served as the director of the Japan Chess Academy, he has put a lot of energy into promoting the reform of the Japanese Chess Academy, and even his current health is not good, because in real history, he died of a cerebral hemorrhage in only 4 years.

However, despite so many "although", Li Xiangping still does not dare to underestimate the current Mr. Kato.

The reason is very simple, because of Mr. Kato, his competitive form is really good.

Li Xiangping is right, in real history, in the last few years of Mr. Kato's life, it was really a small climax of his career, although it can't be compared with the peak of his "throne" nine consecutive hegemony, but it can be regarded as a highlight moment of his career.

Needless to say, Gu Dali, the "newcomer king" who has just defeated China, has just won the right to challenge in Japan's oldest "Ben Yin Fang Battle", and Li Xiangping knows that if history has not changed, he will become next year's "Ben Yin Fang", a "Ben Yin Fang" in his 50s.

Not only that, in recent years, Li Canghao has dominated the world chess world, which can be said to be a complete posture of dominating the world, but he once lost a game to Masao Kato in last year's "Fujitsu Cup".

It's the kind of real defeat! Because Li Xiangping was still learning chess at that time, he was very impressed, in that game at that time, Kato seemed to be back to the top, completely recovering the style of the "Heavenly Star", in the fierce attack, the old Kato step very concealed cold, cleverly killed Li Canghao a few chess elites, forcing him to admit defeat in less than 150 hands.

"That's right, Brother Ding'an, this opponent likes to attack and kill in his early years, and his ability to calculate the road in a straight line is super strong, and when he was young, he was known as the "executioner" of the Dongying chess world, "Tiansha Xing", and after entering middle age, this person's chess style has changed, becoming delicate, and a certain domestic chess decisive battle, this person won 3 to 2, and he won 3 games, adding up to only one and a half wins, so it is also called "Guanzi Kato" and "Half Eyes Kato". In the face of such an opponent, I don't know how to give you advice, Brother Ding'an will do everything himself. ”

"Oh? Hehe, such an opponent is also interesting, that's okay, I'll watch it myself. ”

After a day of rest, the round of 16 of the "Samsung Cup" continued to be played in the Chinese Chess Academy.

What kind of chess games will the hundreds of years old Shi Da chess saint and Mr. Kato, who is in his 50s, create?