Time flies, and it's almost the end of April.

Li Xiaoqiang's "test hand" has not yet come out. On this day, Xiong Guotao and Jiang Chenghua came to Cuiwei County together. This day is the day of the final of the 2nd Ring Tournament.

Xiong Guotao's first sentence when he saw Li Xiaoqiang was:

"Xiaoqiang, how are you preparing now?"

Li Xiaoqiang smiled, he could only smile:

"Old Xiong, Uncle Jiang, let's go find a TV to watch the live broadcast of the game together......"

Of course, Li Xiaoqiang knew what Xiong Guotao meant. The match between Nie Whirlwind and Otake Hero was held in Japan. On the third day after their race, the third edition of the tournament started immediately. First of all, the women's pioneers of the two countries will appear, and in another month, the arena will be transferred to China. At that time, Li Xiaoqiang is likely to appear in the ring.

As a Go person, as an old-timer who regards Go as his career. It is natural that Xiong Guotao can't sit still in Hongcheng. Although Zhilu Dao couldn't help much at this time, he always wanted to come and see, and it was unsteady if he didn't come to see it.

Li Xiaoqiang understands Xiong Lao's mood very well, but there is no way. What can be said at this time?

Li Xiaoqiang certainly understands the general mentality of people at this time about their appearance. It's impossible to say that you didn't think you could win, and if you think that the chances of winning are too small, then it's impossible to let yourself play. It's too stressful to make this decision. However, everyone calmly analyzed and still believed that their strength was at a disadvantage.

"Well, this kid can resist the pressure of the game and be able to play at his level completely. In this way, the purpose of sending him out will be achieved. Of course, it's best if he can ......."

In this entanglement of reason and expectation, Xiong Guotao certainly couldn't sit still.

Xiong Guotao and his entourage came to Cuiwei County and received Lu Fanyun, the president of the Cuiwei County Weiqi Association. In 87, there were not many color TVs, and only some units had better color TVs in Cuiwei County. The group found a place to watch the telecast of the "decisive war".

This Go tournament has attracted a lot of attention in China. Many people who don't know how to play Go are also paying attention to this "Sino-Japanese match" and who will win the most difficult game. All of you here are "Go people". That's even more conceivable. As the TV broadcast began, everyone was quickly attracted by the process of the game and the content of the chess game. For a while, no one paid attention to Li Xiaoqiang anymore.

Li Xiaoqiang watched dozens of moves and walked out quietly. He didn't want to disturb people's interest in watching the live broadcast.

To say that due to his rebirth of "flapping wings", the course of the ring match has been changed by himself, and the final result is really hard to say. However, after watching the first dozens of chess moves, most of his mind relaxed.

Li Xiaoqiang still has an impression of this game of chess, and of course he can't remember the whole process. However, the first dozens of moves at the beginning of the game still have an impression of the key points of victory and defeat in the next few games. The first dozens of hands are exactly the same as they remember. At this time, Li Xiaoqiang was sure that the result of this game could not be changed. There is no reason for this. Li Xiaoqiang is convinced that the Nie whirlwind at this time is unstoppable. The "chess luck" of Chinese Go is unstoppable.

"What's my chess game like?"

Li Xiaoqiang walked out alone.

No one is more eager for the stage of the ring than Li Xiaoqiang. No one cares more about this stage than he does.

Yes, Li Xiaoqiang regards "participating in the ring" as an important part of his career planning. So he must make good use of this opportunity.

Li Xiaoqiang knew that the 3rd Ring Tournament was the highest stage of Go in the world after Lu was the last time. Starting next year, it will be replaced by the world's professional Go competitions such as the "Yingshi Cup" and the "Fujitsu Cup".

I have the opportunity to participate in the tournament because in the personnel arrangement of the tournament, sometimes representative players such as female chess players or young chess players are deliberately arranged. So, what about the later World Realm Competition?

In the initial stage of the World Championship, there were few competitions. There are few participants. If China forms a team, it must be an elite team, and will they have the opportunity to participate in the competition? Li Xiaoqiang soberly knew that it was difficult! It's very hard!

Step by step, it's not impossible to wait for your strength to improve. But Li Xiaoqiang was unwilling. He didn't agree.

He didn't agree for other reasons, but because of the "six supers".

As a chess fan who grew up listening to the name "Liuchao". Li Xiaoqiang is very eager to have the opportunity to play against the six supers on an equal footing. Yes, just to have an equal chance to fight. Of course, Li Xiaoqiang's conditions are a little harsh. He hopes to meet the six supers at his peak, preferably the six supers before 93, rather than the six supers that will naturally age after 95 years.

"On the stage of the World Championship. encountered the six supers at their peak. ”

It's as simple as that, it's as simple as that.

"Is there such an opportunity?

Li Xiaoqiang knew that there was still an opportunity. But it's hard, and you have to fight for the opportunity.

For a long time, Li Xiaoqiang's competition opportunities have been based on the "gifts" of others. Do you keep letting people "gift" it? Li Xiaoqiang knew that this was impossible and unrealistic. Li Xiaoqiang's own pride in his heart is not willing to accept the gifts of others all the time.

So, where are the opportunities?

Li Xiaoqiang aimed at the domestic "Chinese Men's Go National Individual Competition".

According to the Chinese system, this tournament seems to be the most important Go competition in China. However, from the perspective of Li Xiaoqiang's later generations, such a game cannot be called a professional competition at all. There is no interest in such a tournament at all, a tournament without prize money, can it be called a professional tournament?

Now it is different, Li Xiaoqiang suddenly became interested in this competition, this is because, for a while, this competition was actually a selection competition, participating in the annual "Fujitsu Cup" selection competition. The top 2 finishers in this competition will qualify for the Fujitsu Cup.

Participate in the selection with dignity and participate in the World Championship with dignity. This is Li Xiaoqiang's wish.

Wishes are wishes, which is more sad to say. Even in this competition, Li Xiaoqiang doesn't seem to be eligible to participate. Before the implementation of the grading system in China, players with more than five dan were generally required to participate in the national individual competition. Li Xiaoqiang, now it's only a third paragraph.

If Li Xiaoqiang rises to five stages according to the normal ascending speed, the daylily will be cold. This year, the system of the promotion competition is basically the same as that of Japan. Requiring both the "number of responsible sets" and the "winning rate" is similar to the network promotion system in later generations. The problem is, you can play as many disks a day as you like on the Internet. As long as you have that stamina.

As for the promotion tournament, it's about 10 games a year. Therefore, Li Xiaoqiang wants to move up from the third dan to the fifth dan in the rank competition. It takes about 3 years under normal conditions, and even 4 years for a mistake.

Of course, Li Xiaoqiang is not willing to follow the steps, of course he wants to find a shortcut.

This shortcut is the ring competition that is about to start.

There is a precedent for China to "rank reward" players who perform well in the ring, for example, in the first time, Jiang Zhujiu won five consecutive victories and jumped two or three dan directly. Due to the irrationality of the promotion competition system, there are many examples of such "skipping sections", and Li Shishi simply promoted to the ninth stage directly in the third section. In later generations, the "straight ascension to the ninth stage" formed a set of systems.

Li Xiaoqiang attaches great importance to the ring competition. People don't want to be in the limelight at all. People just see the ring competition as an important part of their career planning.

The attitude is very good, and the next step is to prepare for the game. In Li Xiaoqiang's view, the format of the ring competition is simply too much for his appetite, and it is simply tailor-made for a reborn person like himself. If he doesn't seize such an opportunity, then he will really become the "fool" that Lin Mengyu said.

Ring matches are usually played two sets at a time, and then there is an interval in between. There is another one, there is no need to guess the first in each game of chess in the ring match, and the pioneer has guessed the order. Then the succession is carried out by nationality. That is to say, whether you play black or white in each game of chess, you can know the Tao very early.

In this way, the pre-match preparation is very good. Li Xiaoqiang said. "Information asymmetry" is my biggest advantage.

This advantage must be brought into full play no matter what.

First of all, there is the basic information and materials of the opponent.

The 3rd Ring Tournament will produce 9 people from each side. Li Xiaoqiang was not ambitious, the last three chess players in Japan did not think about him, and the female pioneer did not consider her. Then there are five people left. Of these five chess players, Li Xiaoqiang still pondered it carefully.

The first place is Japan's Goro Miyazawa 7th dan. This is the most likely opponent for Li Xiaoqiang, in fact, more than half of Li Xiaoqiang's energy is spent preparing to deal with this opponent. If you can't pass this level, you won't talk about it later. Although Miyazawa Shichidan is the second appearance of the Japanese team, he is not young. He was born in 49 and was also a disciple of Mutani. Known as Japan's "hero of chaos", he also likes to rely on his strength to fight. It's a bit of a "copycat cosmic flow" flavor.

Li Xiaoqiang said that the maturity period of Japanese chess players is generally late, and their peak period is around 40 years old. In fact, Goro Miyazawa had a brilliant performance in the later "Three Kingdoms Tournament", and once won 4 consecutive victories.

Li Xiaoqiang calmly analyzed, the strength of Miyazawa's seventh stage in the mature stage may be a little stronger than himself. However, it must be realistic, his talent in Go is not very high. As long as you prepare carefully, the strategy is right. I can fight it myself. The key to victory or defeat lies in whether his strength overwhelms his own strategy, or whether his own strategy overwhelms his strength.

Li Xiaoqiang has no way at this stage, if he wants to win chess, he can't do it without "tricks". In fact, in order to deal with the seventh section of Miyazawa, Li Xiaoqiang did prepare a "trick". Li Xiaoqiang is very confident in his tricks, and he believes that after using them, the probability of winning chess is more than 5%.

If you pass the level of Miyazawa Goro, you will meet Ishii Kunio Kudan. Ishii Kudan is older, and he should be the weakest of Li Xiaoqiang's possible opponents. He was selected for the Japanese squad because he was a player belonging to the Japanese "Kansai Chess Academy".

Since Utaro Hashimoto "broke the ground" and founded the Kansai Chess Academy, the Japanese Go community has established the Kansai Chess Academy. They have always had a conflict with the Japanese chess academy. For international competitions such as the ring match, in order to achieve balance. The Kansai Chess Academy usually produces one or two players.

Although Ishii Kudan is not even a "backbone chess player" in Japan, he has a famous apprentice, that is, Iyama Yuta, who swept the Japanese chess scene in the future. The dominance he showed in the Japanese chess world was dwarfed even by Sakata Eio back then.

Li Xiaoqiang often thinks that when the author of "Chess Soul" created the character of "Hikaru Shinto", no matter how YY she was, she didn't dare to imagine that Hikaru Shinto could achieve the same achievements as Yuta Iyama in the Japanese chess world.

Li Xiaoqiang thinks that if he passes the first level. The self who is in full swing has nothing to say about Yuta Uiiyama's master, and he must be crushed. Otherwise, in the future, he will face Japan to "strengthen the YY version of Shinto Hikaru", and he will leave a psychological shadow. So. Must be crushed!

It's not enough to pass two levels in the ring, if you want to meet the conditions for "skipping". At the very least, it has to be a three-game winning streak. Li Xiaoqiang continued to analyze.

In the third level, he will meet Japan's Norio Kudo. In the ring, if Li Xiaoqiang is asked to choose a Japanese chess player he most wants to meet. Then Li Xiaoqiang must pick Kudo Kudo.

Yes, because he is Norio Kudo, the "ruler" Norio Kudo Kudan.

Kudo is now 47 years old, but his level has been consistent. His highest peak has not even arrived. Ten years later, in '97, he also won the title of "Tengen" in Japan. But that's not all of it. Li Xiaoqiang wants to fight with others because of his nickname, ruler Norio Kudo! Or rather. He is the yardstick to measure whether it is nine dan or not!

This year, there are already nearly 100 Kudan in Japan. Like the 9D on the Internet in later generations, the Japanese nine dan is also divided into three, six, nine and so on. In fact, the Japanese in these years know this way. All of this is due to the unreasonable promotion system. To say that the promotion system is actually quite strict, but it has continued for decades. Its ills are manifested.

One is that the high level has risen, so the difficulty of the process of "rushing" in the middle has decreased. Second, in the long process of "rushing", it provided the soil for the survival of "fake chess" and "tacit chess".

Everyone knows all this. The Japanese also knew it, so there were good people in Japan at that time. It also divides the Japanese nine dan into 5 levels, which is similar to the 9d on the network in later generations.

First class, of course, super first-class. The second class is the strong nine. The Japanese set a standard for Qiangjiu. I can often enter the "Big Triple Crown" loop or be able to go on the stage of the finals of 4 small competitions. In Japan, it can be called the strong nine. The third class is called "standard nine" by the Japanese, and compared with strong nine, the word "often" is missing. The last two are the face nine and the false nine.

In the eyes of the Japanese. Only above the "standard nine" can be called nine paragraphs. And Norio Kudo is the standard nine of the standard nine. To be selected as a ruler, the characteristics of Kudo's nine dans can be imagined.

Simple induction. He is characterized by three words. The first is "stability", there are no big ups and downs. The second is "balance", the characteristics of the technique are very average, there is no technique that is very good, and there is no technique that is very weak. Third, of course, it is very "Japanese", and his chess is the standard "Japanese stream".

Li Xiaoqiang at this stage, of course, hopes to measure himself with such a "ruler".

Li Xiaoqiang is at home, and the focus is on analyzing and studying these three opponents. For the first opponent, the corresponding strategy has been prepared. The latter two have also prepared corresponding plans. The opponents behind him don't think so much about it for the time being. At this time, I think too much, and I am suspected of being ambitious. Our Li Xiaoqiang is definitely a down-to-earth person.

However, Li Xiaoqiang has the conditions to cheat after all. He also knows the basic characteristics of the next two Japanese players, but he hasn't figured out how to deal with them yet. Therefore, Li Xiaoqiang believes that the competition system like the ring competition simply creates conditions for his cheating.

The fourth opponent is Kobayashi Satoru Kudan, who is one of the representatives of Japan's "post-six super era". Later, he won Japan's "chess master", and he won 5 consecutive victories in the 2nd ring tournament. Now he is still on the rise, and he is one of Japan's top nine. If you want to talk about his weakness, maybe he plays chess a little "emotionally" and plays not very consistently. He also has an identity, and he later became in-laws with Nie Whirlwind. Nie Whirlwind's eldest son married his daughter.

The fifth opponent is another veteran, the "strange wrist" Ohei Shusanjiudan. He is basically a chess player of the same generation as Fujisawa Hideyuki, a few years younger than Fujisawa Hideyuki. As you can tell from his nickname, he is a powerful chess player. Not only does he have a lot of strength, but it seems that his strength is still highly rated in Japan.

Japan once asked the "six supers" to evaluate the characteristics of their own chess players. When it comes to "strength", of course, it is Masao Kato, who is known as the "Heavenly Star", who seems to have the most right to speak. Kato once said that among the active Japanese chess players, it is not him who has the greatest strength, but Ohera Shusanjiudan.

Although Kato may be polite, it is only his family words. However, Ohira Shu's 39th dan can be valued so much by Kato. There must be something unique about his strength.

Li Xiaoqiang analyzed the opponents he might encounter one by one in his heart. After analyzing, he breathed a sigh of relief, and he knew that the ring competition must be the highest stage of this year. I have a chance to catch the tail of this stage, so I can't give up no matter what.

This stage is related to his career and affects his future Go path.

Li Xiaoqiang is highly motivated.

The "Decision War" is coming to an end, and Li Xiaoqiang went back to watch TV with the guests again. Although some people are surprised by Li Xiaoqiang's departure. But no one cares so much about it now, and they are all attracted to the intense competition.

"Since ancient times, there has been no name in chess"

This game of chess Nie Whirlwind won more difficult than expected. To a certain extent, it is more difficult than winning the "War of the Century" against Takemiya. In the end, though, he won.

The TV was finally watched. Lu Fanyun: It took them a long time to calm down their excitement. At this time, they had the heart to care about Li Xiaoqiang. Of course, they saw Li Xiaoqiang, who was "like a stop of water". admiration and admiration in my heart......

Li Xiaoqiang was secretly funny.

They didn't stay long. After seeing Li Xiaoqiang, they think that their goal has been achieved, and they think that they are a lot more down-to-earth.

When Xiong Guotao and the others left, they came to visit Li Xiaoqiang again. They still didn't say anything, but so everything was overflowing.

Li Xiaoqiang slowly raised his head and said firmly:

"Old Xiong, look at me......"

Yes, look at me! I, Li Xiaoqiang, have no way to say a lot of things, but, "Look at me!" "I'd rather carry more expectations and more pressure. We must do a good job in this competition.

If you are a man, you must have a greater commitment.

In the following month, Li Xiaoqiang continued to prepare in his own way.

Of course, no one can see how he prepares. On the surface, at least, he was the same as a normal middle school student. He goes to and from school normally. When I was in class, I often stared at the back of Lin Mengyu's head. Of course, at this time, he still didn't think about how to "try his hand". That's for sure, man, if you have a career, will love be far away?

The day of the competition is approaching. Li Xiaoqiang will leave soon, and Li Xiaoqiang is very satisfied with his preparations. He thinks he's well prepared.

This is the last day before Li Xiaoqiang's departure. At school, he stared at the back of Lin Mengyu's head again in a daze:

"This strategy of mine is something that most people would never have thought of. Even if Ma Xiaofei had suffered a loss in my hands, he would definitely not have imagined that I would use such a method to deal with Miyazawa Qidan. Hehe, you're very smart on the chessboard. I just want you to know what kung fu is outside of chess! Of course, this method is still a bit sinister. But there is nothing, just the so-called wealth and danger in seeking. If you don't have something special, how can you show my ability to be a genius of Li Da. Of course, I must be calm and not make myself panicked......"

Fortunately, Li Xiaoqiang's panic came early and did not appear in the game.

Lin Mengyu turned her head again, this time she didn't give Li Xiaoqiang a roll of her eyes, this time she smiled:

"Li Xiaoqiang, what do you mean by rats stealing oil? Can you tell me? ”

"Ahem......"

To say that Li Xiaoqiang's class now has two Go stars, Li Xiaoqiang and Zhao Dabao. Even the worst know what it means to be a "knife handle five". For the intermediate Go tesuji like "rats stealing oil", many people in the class know that it is normal to know the way. It is normal for Lin Mengyu to want to know about the Dao.

However, Li Xiaoqiang, the number one master in the class now, is a little confused.

"What do rats steal oil......

Li Xiaoqiang embarked on the journey again. (To be continued......)