The Sino-Japanese Go Tournament is really a long time gone for Li Xiaoqiang.

So far, a total of 8 China-Japan Go tournaments have been held, and the 9th will start soon. After the Chinese team won 5 consecutive games, it was followed by a wave of 3 consecutive defeats, and the total score so far is 5-3.

In the last 3 competitions, Li Xiaoqiang did not participate. There is no other reason, that is, the seating is not easy to arrange. Because Li Xiaoqiang is the only world champion in China, he is barely justified as a deputy coach after Nie Whirlwind, as if even if he is ranked in the position of "three generals", it seems a little aggrieved. At that time, Li Xiaoqiang was still young, and as long as he participated, he was almost the junior of all the participating chess players. The strength does not match the age, and this is the difficulty of the organizers. Li Xiaoqiang himself understands this, so in the later sessions, he did not show a strong desire to participate in this competition. Therefore, the management is also as good as a stream, and Li Xiaoqiang was not ranked in the Chinese squad in the 6th, 7th, and 8th sessions.

But this time it was different. Nie Xuanfeng, who has served as the coach for 8 terms, made it clear that he would not participate. This year, the China-Japan Go Tournament is also in its 10th year. Exactly 10 years! It seems to represent the end of an era. In any case, this competition has a special significance for Chinese Go. Although the status of the tournament is declining, the sentiment of many chess fans towards the tournament has not declined.

How so? The current ring tournament seems to have a bit of a "tour" flavor, and everywhere the ring match goes, it can still arouse great enthusiasm among local chess fans. It should be said that any competition needs a "star effect". In order to ensure the grade of the game, but also to make the game more eye-catching. Since Nie Whirlwind has decided not to participate, the Japanese sponsor has made it clear this time that he hopes that Li Xiaoqiang can play in the 9th China-Japan Go Tournament.

"Will Mr. Ma also participate this time? If Mr. Ma is also interested in participating, then I am willing to serve as the deputy coach of our Chinese team. ”

Li Xiaoqiang understood what the management meant, and they came to ask for their opinions. It's nothing more than a false name. After Nie Whirlwind withdrew, the qualifications to serve as the coach of the Chinese team were none other than himself and Ma Xiaofei. To say that one of the characteristics of our Chinese is that we attach great importance to this ranking problem, and sometimes even if we eat a meal, we are very particular about the number of seats.

On qualifications. Ma Xiaofei is his predecessor. round strength, Li Xiaoqiang does not think that he can completely suppress Ma Xiaofei now. His biggest advantage may be because he is "an expert in foreign wars", and this image is more flattering to chess fans and the media. Therefore, Li Xiaoqiang believes that there is no need for him to compete with others for fame now.

"Okay, then it's decided, you are the deputy coach, and this time the coach is Ma Xiaofei. Ma Xiao, this guy, should also let him take on more pressure now. ”

Coach Luo was very satisfied with Li Xiaoqiang's attitude. In fact, in the eyes of management. If Nie Whirlwind withdraws, the Chinese team really lacks a qualified coach. Li Xiaoqiang's disadvantage is that he is too young, and Ma Xiaofei still lacks the temperament of a leader. Since both of them are lacking, then it is better to let the two of them go together. Since Li Xiaoqiang took the initiative not to be the commander, then the problem of China's troop arrangement can be smoothly resolved.

"Who is the Japanese side in charge this time?"

"Who else could they be? It's not just those 3 who turn over and over, but this time I heard that it's the heroes of Otake. ”

"Hey, hey." Li Xiaoqiang understood what Coach Luo meant. Also to guarantee the specifications of the competition. Then in the Japanese lineup, it will also ensure that there is a super-first-class player to play.

Lin Haifeng and Zhao Zhixun are foreign chess players, and these two can be ignored. Kobayashi Koji participated in the 1st post. Please don't move how you ask for it, so you can also ignore it. Hence the choice of the coach of the Japanese team. In fact, it can only be produced between the three super-first-class heroes of Otake, Masao Kato and Masaki Takemiya. In fact, in the last few ring matches, the Japanese coach has turned over and over again.

"What about our pioneers? Are their tryouts over? ”

"It's over, this time it's Chang Rensheng. However, Xiao Chang is not a pioneer, and this time the two countries agreed to add another female chess player in front of them......"

Speaking of which. Coach Luo also paused deliberately, and he glanced at Li Xiaoqiang with a smile:

"The female pioneer of the Japanese side has been determined, it is their freshly baked "Female Stream Honinbo", the first stage of Yukari Umezawa who was trained by you. ”

“……”

Soon after this conversation, China and Japan announced the lineup of participants for the new China-Japan Go Tournament. Nie Whirlwind's first exit and Li Xiaoqiang's re-election have attracted heated discussions.

A lot of things are like that. If Li Xiaoqiang is the coach, then there must be people who are aggrieved for Ma Xiaofei. And now that Ma Xiaofei is the coach, as Coach Luo said: "He needs to bear more pressure".

After Nie Whirlwind's gradual withdrawal, the question of "who is more qualified to be the next Chinese Go leader" has been hotly debated in the media. Seeing this situation, Li Xiaoqiang said that it was fortunate that it was not the Internet era. If this is left in the future generations, I don't know what kind of quarrel it will be.

In April and May, the domestic "Top Ten Battle" and "Chess King Battle" started at the same time. coincided with the "battle of the leaders", so these two competitions also inexplicably attracted a lot of attention, because some people once again mentioned the topic of "total champions".

When it comes to the number of domestic titles, Li Xiaoqiang naturally can't be compared with Ma Xiaofei. Over the years since his debut, Li Xiaoqiang has won the domestic championship many times, and it is not even the same level as Ma Xiaofei. But there seems to be a place that can be compared, and that is the concept of "full champion".

Ma Xiaofei won all the titles except for the "Top Ten Battle", which everyone knows. But after looking at Li Xiaoqiang's resume, I suddenly found that Li Xiaoqiang didn't seem to be bad.

He won China's first "celebrity" at the age of 13, and later won "Tianyuan" once, won the championship of the "Top Ten Battle", and is now the reigning "national player". Even the national individual championship was made up by him last year.

"Chess King"! Li Xiaoqiang is now short of a "chess king", and he is very likely to become the "all-champion champion" in China.

It coincides with the "Top Ten Battle" is in the middle of the war, and it coincides with Li Xiaoqiang's soaring progress in the "Chess King Battle", and he is likely to get the right to challenge. Therefore, the "battle of the leaders" cannot be lively.

At the end of April, a group stage of the "Top 10 Battle" of Chinese Go was played at the China Chess Academy. Although it is only a group qualifying round, there are not many people who pay attention to this game, because the two sides of the game are Li Xiaoqiang and Ma Xiaofei.

Because Nie Whirlwind is the "ticket king" of this competition, Li Xiaoqiang and Ma Xiaofei, who are ranked 2nd and 3rd, can only be divided into the same group, and today's game will determine who is the top of the group, so as to further compete for the championship of the "Top Ten Battle".

At around 5 p.m., Liu Dazhui's hearty laughter had already sounded in the game room:

"Okay, the two monsters fought, and in the end, it was the little demon king who defeated the big and small demons. I said Ma Xiao, I said a long time ago that you are not qualified to play chess with me this time, you want to become the champion, and you don't care if other Xiaoqiang agrees. ”

Liu Dazhui was the group leader of the other group. Since winning the "Ying's Cup" championship, Nie Whirlwind has indeed put more energy into other aspects. He uses his deep connections to now travel around the country to cheer for Go. For example, this time, he finished the group stage early, and then ran to a southern city to implement this year's promotion and fixed stage competitions. And before Nie Whirlwind left, he said excitedly that he had found a few good seedlings this year, and a few good seedlings were likely to be not inferior to Li Xiaoqiang, so he must take a few apprentices with his heart this time......

"I said that Xiaoqiang, this guy is too unkind, you are throwing me to roast in the position of the coach, and at the same time you will hack me. If you win like this, won't I be scolded again? ”

"Hehe, who the hell isn't kind? From the second half of last year to the present, Mr. Ma, you don't want to think about how many plates you have ravaged me. It's rare to win a game against you this time, and you have such a big opinion......"

Although the "battle of leaders" in the outside world is noisy, in fact, it has not been affected at all within the Go team. Because the arrogant Ma Xiaofei knows very well that if he wants to become a real leader, he must perform well in the international arena.

In other words, Ma Xiaofei's real opponent is not Li Xiaoqiang at all, but other super-first-class foreign countries. For example, in today's game of chess, what if Li Xiaoqiang wins? If you really become the "champion" in China, and if you don't perform well in international competitions, you may be scolded by others even more fiercely.

Of course, Li Xiaoqiang also knows this, so he and Ma Xiaofei will not be polite.

The atmosphere inside the Go team is quite harmonious, but the reaction from the outside world may not be.

In mid-May, in his hometown of Ganyuan, Li Xiaoqiang defeated Liu Dazhui and won the championship of the "Top Ten Battles" of Chinese Go for the second time.

In late May, Li Xiaoqiang defeated Yu Bin in the decisive battle of the challengers of the "Chess King Battle", and he finally got the opportunity to challenge Ma Xiaofei again.

During this time, Li Xiaoqiang's state picked up, which also made the topic of "full champion" mentioned again. Of course, the current situation seems to be more favorable to Li Xiaoqiang. Because if Li Xiaoqiang's challenge is successful, he will take the lead in becoming the "total champion". And Ma Xiaofei wants to become the "all-champion champion", he will have to wait at least until next year.

But the discussion didn't last long.

At the beginning of June, the Chinese Chess Academy.

"Li Sang, we meet again."

Li Xiaoqiang looked back, and the bright Umezawa Yukari was smiling like a flower, followed by a huge delegation of Japanese Go.

The new China-Japan Go Tournament and the top 8 of the 7th "Fujitsu Cup" were played almost simultaneously at the Chinese Chess Academy. (To be continued......)