At the beginning of 88, the Chinese chess scene suddenly seemed very lively.

The Tianyuan Race is already the second edition, and for a long time, the China Tianyuan Race has been an annual "open-door event". Generally, the competition starts as soon as New Year's Day passes.

Compared with the 1st Tian Yuan Competition, the scale of the 2nd edition has expanded a lot, and it also seems to be much more formal. At the very least, three of the top four players are "seeded". Qualifiers have already begun, which gives a lot of local players the opportunity to compete. At this time, Li Xiaoqiang is of course a "local chess player". However, he is not a player in the qualifiers.

What are you kidding, "Top 4 in the First Tianyuan Competition", "5 consecutive wins in the ring competition", and become a new generation of "anti-Japanese heroes". With such a signboard, Li Xiaoqiang certainly does not have to participate in the qualifiers. He was seeded and went straight to the round of 16. In the world of victory and defeat, performance is the last word. Li Xiaoqiang was seeded in the third dan, and of course no one objected.

In addition to the Tianyuan Competition, the Chinese celebrity battle also appeared. The backstage of the Tianyuan Competition is Shencheng Newspaper Group, what about the celebrity battle? Its backstage is even bigger, and its backstage is the national newspaper "Mass Daily". It is because of the "big backstage" of these two competitions that they have become one of the few "traditional events" in the Chinese chess world.

Well, there is also a "traditional event" in China, that is, "TV rapid chess tournament". The TV rapid chess tournament did not have any special features, and the name was often changed. This year, it's this, next year it's that. It can be maintained forever, and it is also big enough to win in the background. Its backstage is the famous imperial court.

Of course, the only one who can stabilize the "national newspaper" is the imperial court.

It is rumored that the establishment of China's celebrity war was the "mass daily" to celebrate the establishment of their "overseas edition". Since it is an "overseas version", of course, it is necessary to promote traditional Chinese culture. Of course, piano, chess, calligraphy and painting are in the scope of consideration. It just so happens that the "Go fever" in China has reached a critical point, and it seems that holding a Go competition is indeed a very ideal choice.

Since the backstage of the celebrity war is bigger than the backstage of the Tianyuan war, when it first started. I definitely want to make the "pomp" a little bigger. So compared to the Tianyuan Competition. The first edition of the China Celebrity Tournament had a larger number of participants and a more complex format, with a "double-elimination tournament" and a five-way chess match in the final to determine China's first "celebrity".

Li Xiaoqiang also participated in the celebrity battle. Not only did Li Xiaoqiang have a share, but the organizers also invited the new champion of the Chess Boys Cup. Chang Rensheng, who is one year younger than Li Xiaoqiang, participated in the celebrity battle.

In real history, Chang Rensheng once left a more famous sentence for Chang Rensheng's participation in the celebrity battle:

He will definitely not be able to win a "celebrity" in this competition, but he will definitely become a "celebrity" in Chinese Go in the future. ”

When I heard this sentence at the time, everyone took it for granted. Chang Rensheng really lives up to expectations. After Ma Xiaofei, he became the leading figure of Chinese Go.

But...... If you look closely, this sentence still has a bit of a "crow's mouth" flavor. Chang Rensheng has basically won any domestic championship. Only in the celebrity battle, he has not won a single championship. This cannot but be said to be a strange thing.

Before the Spring Festival in '88, the two domestic title battles were suddenly crowded together. The Chinese chess world suddenly seemed to be very lively. Of course, this is not the most lively, the most lively is the ring match.

The 3rd Ring Tournament is also at its juncture. Both China and Japan still have the last two players left. Theoretically, the ring could be over after 2 matches. However, not many people thought this way at the time, and the Chinese and Japanese chess circles all agreed that the game was likely to have a "master showdown". That leaves 3 games left.

Soon it was the Chinese New Year again, so Ma Xiaofei's match against Wugong was held a year ago. It doesn't matter who wins or loses. The final battle will be held in Japan after the year.

In this way, from New Year's Day to the Spring Festival, there are 3 more important Go events crowded together. Li Xiaoqiang, who has been "in seclusion" for more than 4 months, also appeared in front of the world again.

After Li Xiaoqiang came to the capital. Once again, it is the center of attention. This time, there are many chess players who came to the capital, not only members of the national team, but also players from many local teams. Many people have seen Li Xiaoqiang for the first time, and they are the "superstar" who suddenly appeared in the Chinese chess world. That, of course, is full of curiosity.

The saying that "Li Xiaoqiang plays chess once every 5 months" has been transmitted back to China from Japan, and now it is almost about 5 months again. How far has Li Xiaoqiang progressed? Everyone is full of anticipation.

Li Xiaoqiang himself is also looking forward to it, and he has found another way to take the unusual road. Is it effective? Li Xiaoqiang also wants to review it through the official competition.

"Ha Luha, I said Xiaoqiang, I haven't seen you for a while. How is your "Higher and Deeper Go" cultivation? You have to show well in the game to open my eyes. ”

This was at the scene of the draw ceremony of the Tianyuan Competition, and the person who said this was of course Zhang Zhidong and Zhang Da. Through Li Xiaoqiang's long-term and unremitting efforts, reporter Zhang Da has been almost "transformed".

In this era, most chess fans' attitude towards ancient Chinese chess is verbal respect, but in their hearts they don't think so. For example, chess fans like Lu Fanyun have ready-made textbooks there. Not many people would doubt the content of a textbook. And the Chinese Go textbook is basically copying the Japanese Go set.

The easiest to accept Chinese ancient chess is actually an amateur master like Zhang Zhidong. Their level of Go is already good, and the gap between them and professional players is actually poor in the "refinement" of Go. And the "refinement" of Go seems to be exactly what Japanese Go is good at, at least on the surface. In fact, Japanese Go is still not "refined" enough, and compared with Li Shifo's Go, the Go of this era has obviously not achieved the ultimate in this aspect.

Compared with the refined professional Go, an amateur master like Zhang Zhidong seems a bit thick. Players with thick lines, of course, prefer mid-game battles. Naturally, they have a natural affinity for ancient Chinese chess.

There is a sense of closeness, but in the visible history of Go. The "thick lines" of ancient Chinese chess seem to have been beaten all over the ground by Japanese Go. People with ideas like Zhang Zhidong will of course think that "refinement" is the development direction of Go. Of course, I would think that the Japanese theory of Go is more advanced. Before you know it, you will be ashamed of the "thick lines". For a long time, the "fighting power" in Go seemed to be on the table at all.

Li Xiaoqiang's appearance made Zhang Zhidong overjoyed.

"It turns out that what I want to be close to in my heart may really be able to get on the stage......"

Zhang Zhidong is full of expectations for Li Xiaoqiang's performance, and in his opinion, Li Xiaoqiang is the same as himself. It can also be regarded as a "thick line" chess player.

Of course, Li Xiaoqiang will not admit such a view. Li Xiaoqiang believes that his Go must be "refined" enough. I have not given up my efforts in this regard. It's just that "refinement" is more difficult to practice than "thick lines" and "thick lines". So I think that the "thick line" is more profound, and that's it.

"It's pretty much the same to meet anyone in a game, if you have to ask who I would least like to bump into. Of course, that is the most reluctant to meet Xiaoqiang's child. As everyone knows, after the New Year, I will go to Japan to play the last game of the ring. I have congenital heart disease, so I need to recuperate. There may be some people who don't know the way, and playing chess with Xiaoqiang must be very tiring. He's too good at tossing around on the board, well, I'd better not touch him. Otherwise, my heart disease may worsen ......"

"Ha Luha, you ask me who will get the right to challenge? Of course, anyone can do it, and everyone is very good at chess. Among them, the most powerful is of course Li Xiaoqiang. Hehe, what I'm most worried about is that he comes up to challenge. Last year, I just bullied him for his lack of experience, so I got lucky enough to win this championship. Now that he has experience, he is holding back his strength to seek revenge on me. If he is allowed to get this right to challenge, my "Tian Yuan" will probably not be able to keep it. So I also ask everyone to help me block Xiaoqiang earlier. Otherwise, when I play chess with Mr. Takemiya, I will definitely be restless......"

"Hahaha."

Nie Ma Shuangxiong's ridicule made Li Xiaoqiang low-key even if he wanted to be low-key.

After the lottery ceremony, Li Xiaoqiang also smiled bitterly in his heart. The atmosphere at the scene became lively again.

"Ha Luha, it's a sledgehammer, Xiaoqiang drew a sledgehammer. Sledgehammer must be holding back a lot of strength right now. Last year, he played a "eleventh stage of magic moves" and did not win Xiaoqiang. So what about this time? Is it a successful revenge, or is it "an old hatred that has not been settled and a new hatred"? Anyway, there must be a good show to watch......"

"Yes, yes, let's see which of the two of them has the harder fist......"

"Hehe, a wild cow met a little demon king......"

What's even more bizarre is still to come, the Tianyuan Tournament has not yet started, and the draw ceremony for the celebrity battle has also been carried out.

Li Xiaoqiang drew Liu Da Hammer again in the first round.

By this time, everyone was in no mood to ridicule. Everyone was just ready to watch the show with great interest.

Liu Da Hammer did a dejected look:

"I must have done something wrong this year, otherwise I wouldn't have run into this little monster twice in a row. Well, tomorrow I must find a place to burn high incense and worship ......"

Li Xiaoqiang couldn't cry or laugh.

Li Xiaoqiang felt that he was the real teacher. In real history, the winner of both competitions was Liu Da Hammer. As a result, he became China's first "Tian Yuan plus celebrity". It was from this time that Liu Da Hammer ushered in the peak of his career.

"It's a good choice to have Liu Dazhui to review himself......"

Li Xiaoqiang started his new journey. (To be continued......)