Tokyo, Japan.

Yukari Umezawa was staring at a set of photos in a daze.

This is a group photo of Li Xiaoqiang and Yukari Umezawa. Although one of these photos will appear in the latest issue of the magazine "Qidao", as a picture for "Research on Ancient Chinese Chess". But the time when this group of photos was taken was actually during the semi-finals of last year's "Ying's Cup".

"Well, how long has it been since I saw him? It seems like it's been almost a year. Yukari Umezawa thought stupidly.

"How long have I known him? Eight years or nine years? That weird kid ......"

Yukari Umezawa never imagined that the once eccentric child could occupy such an important place in her heart. He is so impressive that every time I am with him, I still remember it vividly. His joke can make him feel good for a long time. One look from his can make him upset. The way he gazed at the chessboard made his heart beat faster. His lonely appearance after losing chess can make him feel inexplicably distressed.

So much so that now, the soul is haunted by dreams, and lovesickness has become a disaster. My mind is full of his shadow.

Although since the last time, he boldly grabbed his arm. Although in the past six months, I have been writing to him constantly. He doesn't seem to have anything to say in the letter, he talks about his daily life, and he also mentions his thoughts on the game of Go. He will talk about his usual joys and sorrows, and occasionally show concern for himself.

However, he never seemed to say what he wanted to hear the most. Yes, not once!

After nearly a year of correspondence, the only thing I have gained is that my Chinese language has improved, because the tone of his speech is different from the Chinese he has learned. But the distance between himself and him still hasn't been narrowed by half a point. That's right, although it doesn't seem like this, but it's in your heart. That's exactly what it feels like.

"If you count the time, he should be there tomorrow at the latest......"

Yukari Umezawa put down the photo, and she flipped through a pile of newspaper clippings, which were a bunch of newspaper clippings made by Umezawa himself, and most of them were about the Chinese chess world.

"In China's XX Cup, Ma Xiaofei defeated Liu Dazhui, and he defended the title again......"

"In the just-concluded China XX battle, Ma Xiaofei defeated Yu Bin, and he won the championship again......"

"In the new China XX competition, Ma Xiaofei defeated Cao Dafang in nine sections. He ......"

Except for the news of his victory a few months ago. There have been few reports of him in recent months. Even if there is, it's basically a hasty brush. The entire Chinese chess world seems to have become a stage for Ma Xiaofei alone. Even the Nie Whirlwind is rare.

By the way, there are a few articles that think he has become a mediocre chess player. But those are basically non-nutritious words. A real expert chess player, but no one thinks so. It is said that Mr. Lin Haifeng, Mr. Masaki Takemiya and Mr. Zhao Zhixun all have great respect for him. Usually review if you encounter different opinions. They will often feel like this:

"If China's Li Xiaoqiang is here, the "chessboard wizard" will not disappoint us, and he will definitely be able to come up with refreshing insights......"

By the way, there is also his own master, Mr. Kato. Every time he sent a manuscript from China, his master would study it for a long time, and after studying it, he would close his eyes and meditate. Once, after contemplation, Mr. Kato said something like this:

"Alas...... It's a pity that I didn't listen to Mr. Xiuyuki's words at the beginning. Now it seems that Mr. Wang's opinion back then was pertinent. ”

At the time, I didn't know what this meant, but later he told himself in a letter that his master had successfully transformed. After the change from "Heavenly Evil Star" to "Hanmu Kato", the whole of Japan cheered, and only Mr. Fujisawa Hideyuki expressed a different opinion:

"Executioner" becomes "Official Kato". Kato is still a top-notch chess player. If the "Celestial Evil Star" is still the "Celestial Evil Star", then Kato is likely to become an epoch-making chess player, an epoch-making superstar. It's a pity that Kato didn't insist on ......"

“…… You laugh at my ignorance in your letter, you don't even know about your own master, but you know what? Actually, I would like to hear you tell me more about myself than my master......"

Yukari Umezawa cleaned up her mood, she stood in front of the mirror for a while, and then went out in the direction of the Japanese chess academy......

In Beijing, the dormitory of the Chinese Chess Academy, Lin Mengyu is helping Li Xiaoqiang pack his luggage.

Almost 2 months have passed since the Spring Festival in '94, and it is naturally the season of the "Fujitsu Cup". It's the beginning of April, and the 7th Fujitsu Cup is about to begin. Li Xiaoqiang is about to leave for Japan with the Chinese delegation. Lin Mengyu rarely came to the Chinese Chess Academy for this reason.

After returning to his hometown for a year, I don't know if the law of "going home to play chess" continues. However, the relationship between Li Xiaoqiang and Lin Mengyu seems to have returned to normal. Li Xiaoqiang looked at Lin Mengyu, who was busy, and was in a happy mood.

After the Spring Festival, Li Xiaoqiang still played a few games of chess. However, his form still does not seem to be improving, and he lost to Liu Da Hammer in the "Tian Yuan War" and missed the right to challenge.

Li Xiaoqiang was in a sluggish state, and Nie Whirlwind had a choice to participate in the competition. In this way, the domestic chess world has naturally become Ma Xiaofei's world. However, when the World Series approached, Li Xiaoqiang was mentioned by everyone again.

In any case, Li Xiaoqiang is the only double world champion in China.

In any case, Li Xiaoqiang is the same as Nie Whirlwind, they are both chess players with far better results in foreign wars than in civil wars.

Therefore, when the World Series is coming, everyone still has high hopes for Li Xiaoqiang. For example, in the final vote statistics of the just-released Chinese Go "Top Ten Battles", Nie Whirlwind relied on last year's "Ying's Cup" to rank first, Li Xiaoqiang ranked second, and the domestic "multi-crown champion" Ma Xiaofei could only rank third.

"Go play well this time, if you lose again, see if you are embarrassed to be in front of Mr. Ma."

"Hehe, I'm actually embarrassed this time. Ma Xiao won Kobayashi Koji at the end of last year. The current Ma Xiaofei, I think it is more difficult to deal with than the "six supers" and them. ”

"Look at your point, Mr. Ma is also a Chinese chess player, what do you always want to do with others? Okay, since you think the six supers are easy to deal with, who do you want to deal with the most this time? ”

"Cao Yanzi."

Hearing Li Xiaoqiang's unthinking answer, Lin Mengyu was obviously a little surprised: "It's really strange, I thought you would say Li Shifo, how could it be Cao Yanzi?" ”

"This ......"

Li Xiaoqiang actually had a feeling, in real history, due to the scarcity of world competitions in this era, the "Ying's Cup" is still held every 4 years. As a result, there are only 2 World Series in a normal year. 94 is the "Year of Cao Yanzi", 95 is the "Year of Ma Xiaofei", and 96 is the "Year of Li Shifo".

All three players have won two world championships in their respective years. The arrangement is very orderly, so it is impressive. And this year, it's '94. Cao Yanzi has already taken away the "Toyo Securities Cup". That's why Li Xiaoqiang blurted out just now.

"Of course, it can only be Cao Yanzi, you don't want to think about it, so far, the only double champions in the world chess world are Wu Gong, Lao Cao, and me 3. Wu Gong is now drifting away, so the opponent who is most likely to surpass me is Cao Yanzi. Besides, if he wins the Fujitsu Cup, he will become the first "total champion" in the world chess world. Tsk, this name is popular, how nice this title is. If that's the case, he'll be ahead of me. So how do you think I can possibly let him succeed? ”

"Hehe, you know bragging, maybe you will be eliminated before you meet someone."

"Otherwise, we bet that I won't be eliminated until I meet Cao Yanzi. Well, you can't say that, maybe Cao Yanzi will be eliminated before he meets me. Mengyu, do you dare to make this bet. As for the bet, hehe......"

"Go, there's nothing right......

"Hmm......"

Just when Lin Mengyu's face was red, the evil reporter Zhang Da appeared:

"Xiaoqiang, it's time, let's go."

“……”

Lin Mengyu handed the prepared suitcase to Li Xiaoqiang and said with a grin:

"Take care of yourself over there......" ......

Only 5 Chinese chess players participated in the new "Fujitsu Cup", and in addition to Nie, Ma and Li, Yu Bin won the runner-up in last year's individual competition, so he qualified for the competition. This is the Nth time he has won the runner-up, so the former "children's leader" is now gradually being called the "second millennium". ”

Obviously, Yu Bin was very unhappy with this title, and he gritted his teeth and wanted to take off the hat.

In addition, another Chinese player is last year's women's champion Hua Xuemin. Future national team leader. An interesting phenomenon is that the leader of the national Go team seems to be contracted by the surname Hua.

Compared with the Chinese team, because the Korean chess players won the championship and runner-up in the last edition, they won 2 seeds. A total of 6 players participated in this tournament. This time, they once again gathered the "Four Heavenly Kings" and two other chess players to compete. In the Fujitsu Cup, this is the first time that the number of Korean chess players has surpassed that of China.

Plus the host Japanese team. This time, the Japanese team is also at the top of their lineup. In addition to Masaki Takemiya, the other 5 super

will all appear, supplemented by Hiroshi Yamashiro, Yoshio Ishida and others. A new round of competition between the three Go powers is about to begin.

"Xiaoqiang, what is your goal this time?"

"This time, I have one goal, who loses can't lose Cao Yanzi. Fish head, what about you? "My goal, let me win Zhao Zhixun once."

"Hahahaha......"

In April 1994, Li Xiaoqiang arrived in Japan again. (To be continued......)