The "Samsung Cup" has just dissipated, and the "LG Cup" will soon follow.

At the beginning of November 1997, Li Xiaoqiang, together with Ma Xiaofei and reporter Zhang Da, went to Seoul, South Korea again to participate in the semi-finals of the first "LC Cup".

"Xiaoqiang, you are now the "all-champion" in China, and now it depends on when you become the "all-champion" in the international chess world. This competition with Li Shifo should be very interesting. ”

On the plane, Li Xiaoqiang smiled and said nothing about reporter Zhang Da's remarks. Although his words were not clear, the meaning in them was still very clear. It's just to emphasize the importance of this semi-final.

At present, there are 5 major competitions in the world chess world, Li Xiaoqiang has won the "Fujitsu Cup" and "Toyo Securities Cup" before, and this year he just won the "Yingshi Cup" and "Samsung Cup".

Why does reporter Zhang Da emphasize the importance of the semi-finals? Because the matchup in this semi-final is Li Xiaoqiang VS Li Shifo, Ma Xiaofei VS Liu Changhe. On the other side, no matter who makes it to the final, the final is a five-way chess. According to their current situation, it should be said that if they meet Li Xiaoqiang, the chances of winning are not great.

In other words, if Li Xiaoqiang can make it past the semi-finals, then his prospects for winning the championship will be smooth.

The powerful relationship in this is not only clear to reporter Zhang Da, but also to Li Xiaoqiang. Not only the two of them are clear, but everyone in the world chess world is very clear.

So naturally, Li Xiaoqiang and Li Shifo's trilogy has become the focus of everyone's attention, and its attention is much greater than that of the other semi-final.

Li Shifo was last year's king, and Li Xiaoqiang was the most powerful chess player in the international chess world this year.

Li Xiaoqiang lost twice in the international arena this year, losing to Kobayashi Jue's set, which everyone thought was an accident and an accident. So what about losing to Li Shifo? Now it seems a little confusing. If Li Xiaoqiang wins this time, then everyone will think that last time was accidental, if Li Xiaoqiang continues to lose this time, it means that Li Xiaoqiang is not invincible now, and there are still people who can stop him from moving forward.

Li Xiaoqiang and Li Shifo, their historical record is currently tied at 6-6, so this time, they will temporarily divide the superiority.

It is precisely because there are so many highlights, so many gimmicks. That's why this competition has received so much attention.

So what is the final result of this competition?

The end result was a joyous and ecstatic celebration of the Korean Go community. The Chinese Go community deeply regretted it.

Two 2-1, two Korean chess players defeated Chinese chess players in the finals, thus keeping the first "LG Cup" in their country.

"The results of the semi-finals of the LG Cup show that South Korean Go is still the strongest player in the world......"

Shortly after the end of this semi-final, some Korean media couldn't wait to make such a headline. Indeed, in fact, since last year's Three Kingdoms Tournament, Korean Go is enough to be aggrieved, Li Xiaoqiang is like a mountain in front of them, and he has suppressed them to death for a long time with his strength. Therefore, Li Shifo's victory, of course, made them feel a sense of joy.

If the Koreans are happy, the Chinese will naturally not be happy. After the game, Li Xiaoqiang was questioned. And this time the situation seems to be a little different, in addition to ordinary doubts, hardcore fans like reporter Zhang Da, who usually "support you when you win, and support you when you lose", have actually joined the ranks of doubts.

"Xiaoqiang, I really don't understand you, I don't usually see that you have such a tendon. Look at the 3 games of chess you played this time, is this still played by you Li Xiaoqiang? What about the chessboard wizard who said yes? What about the variety of Karakuri that is said to be good? Don't they all say that you Li Xiaoqiang have many ways to win chess, but I just don't understand, why do you use the same routine to play chess with Li Shifo this time......"

In the face of Zhang Da's questioning, Li Xiaoqiang did not refute. In this trilogy with Li Shifo, the final wins and losses of the three games were not big, two of which were half-eye wins and losses, and the other game was one-and-a-half. It is also said that Li Xiaoqiang competed with Li Shifo for 3 sets of officials, and finally lost helplessly.

In the eyes of reporter Zhang Da and others, Li Xiaoqiang's approach is no longer a matter of wisdom or unwisdom, but a bit of self-seeking death. Therefore, after the end of the game, Li Xiaoqiang was widely questioned, including reporter Zhang Da and others.

"Alas, reporter Zhang Da, you don't understand, I didn't know until now, it turns out that there are some things that I will definitely do......"

After the game with Li Shifo, Li Xiaoqiang remained silent in the face of accusations and doubts from the outside world. Even in the face of familiar reporters such as Zhang Da, Li Xiaoqiang said something vaguely at most. But the reason why he did this, Li Xiaoqiang himself is very clear in his heart.

Li Xiaoqiang's reason for doing this is just like Li Xiaoqiang himself said:

It turns out that there are some things that must be done!

“…… Before the start of the competition, I made up my mind to compete with Li Shifo in the official field, because I felt that my competition with him was long-term, and if I could beat him in his strongest field, then I would undoubtedly have the upper hand in the future competition......

“…… Since the defeat in this game, I can no longer compete with Li Shifo in the official field, mainly because the positions of both sides have changed fundamentally. In the later games, there were some unlucky half-eye defeats that led to the losing streak that didn't stop until much later......"

These two passages are the two original words that Ma Xiaofei said in real history. These two paragraphs can also be regarded as a high summary of the tragic history of Ma Xiaofei and Li Shifo's struggle.

Li Xiaoqiang, who was a chess fan in his previous life, actually thought the same as the current reporter Zhang Da, didn't he think Ma Xiaofei was obviously stupid? This is obviously the strongest field of others, why don't you Ma Xiaofei try to find a way to give full play to your strengths, such as being light and elegant, or something, you have to hit other people's copper walls?

Even until Li Xiaoqiang embarked on the road of professional Go in this life, he took Ma Xiaofei's "lessons and lessons" as one of the guiding ideologies of his cultivation. Why did Li Xiaoqiang frantically absorb all kinds of Go ideas? Why try to be as well-rounded as possible? That's one of the reasons why it's important.

But when my Go path has come to the present, or when I have reached the current level and level. Li Xiaoqiang thinks that he really understands Ma Xiaofei now.

That is, when you reach your current level, you will definitely do some things!

He already has five crowns in his hands, and Li Shifo only has three crowns in his hand now. He is now imposing, and Li Shifo seems to be in poor shape this year, at least he can't compare with him last year.

Everyone says what Li Shifo's official level is, but his own official level is not weak. Even compared with others, his official level has been confirmed - in the "China-South Korea Hand Competition" a few years ago, didn't he win Li Shifo once in a game of official battles? But why is everyone's evaluation of their official level lower than that of Li Shifo?

To be honest, Li Xiaoqiang was a little unconvinced.

Although this may be his other advantages that overshadow the brilliance of his official level, Li Xiaoqiang is actually very reluctant to hear something like this:

"Your Li Xiaoqiang's comprehensive ability may be slightly stronger than Li Shifo's, but at the level of an official......

Yes, the question is as simple as that, and it doesn't need much explanation at all. Before the semi-finals of the "LG Cup", Li Xiaoqiang had an impulse, an impulse to compete with Li Shifo in the official field.

This impulse can be understood as Li Xiaoqiang's pride, and it can also be understood that this is Li Xiaoqiang's heart: he just wants to suppress Li Shifo in all directions, that is, he wants to crush the opponent in the opponent's strongest field, he wants to destroy Li Shifo's confidence, and he wants to make the opponent afraid when he mentions himself.

But it's a pity......

"In the official realm, I really seem to be a little inferior to him."

After the game, Li Xiaoqiang sighed in his heart.

It must be pointed out that Li Xiaoqiang has no regrets about his choice. He believes that he is different from Ma Xiaofei, who lost to Li Shifo, and he believes that "the positions of both sides have changed fundamentally." But I don't think this problem exists. Even if he loses this game, the long-term competitive relationship between himself and Li Shifo will not change fundamentally.

What really made Li Xiaoqiang depressed was that because of his own loss, this made Korean Go proud. The "LG Cup" is the last world championship of the year, and with the defeat of himself and Ma Xiaofei, if you calculate this year's total results now, it seems that this year's Korean Go has overtaken Chinese Go.

After winning the "LG Cup" championship and runner-up, in this year's five world championships, Korean Go has secured two championships and three runners-up. And Chinese Go only has two championships by Li Xiaoqiang. Although the "Asian Cup" is added, in terms of personal achievements alone, Li Xiaoqiang's results this year are still the best.

But after all, because of the loss in this game, the Koreans found a place to be stunned. This is Li Xiaoqiang's most depressed. It is precisely for this reason that when he faced the doubts of reporter Zhang Da and others, Li Xiaoqiang could only remain silent.

Li Xiaoqiang's silence continues, and so does the South Koreans' chatter. Interestingly, it was the Koreans themselves who really stopped the South Koreans.

Shortly after the semi-finals of the LG Cup, the finals began. In December 1997, the last world champion of the year was produced. Li Shifo, who had worked hard to pass Li Xiaoqiang's level, did not smile and in the end, he was defeated by Liu Changhe with a score of 1-3. Yoo Chang-hyuk finally won the championship of the first "LC Cup".

At the end of the 1997 season, Li Xiaoqiang had 5 crowns in his hands, and Li Shifo still had 3 crowns in his hand. And the runner-up of this "LG Cup" turned out to be Li Shifo's best result this year.

On the other hand, Yoo Chang-hyuk, who has reached the World Series finals for the third time this year and finally won the cup at the last minute, may be too excited. He said a sentence that made the Korean media very unhappy, but it was a real truth:

"The reason why I was able to win the cup this time, the most important thing I need to thank is China's Li Xiaoqiang......" (To be continued.) )