On the last day in Japan, Li Xiaoqiang's schedule seemed to be very tight.

However, the meeting with Master Wu Qingyuan had already been arranged. Although Li Xiaoqiang still had a little expectation, his excitement had already calmed down on the way there.

How should we evaluate Wu Qingyuan's status in Go?

The easiest way to do this is to organize a poll.

The subject of the poll is:

Who is the best Go player throughout the ages?

Please pay attention to the words "through the ages", because there is no way, he has already surpassed his own era, and in his own era, there is no need to judge.

Therefore, it is difficult to evaluate Wu Qingyuan, and it must be placed in "the past and the present" to be evaluated.

This kind of practice similar to "Guan Gong vs. Qin Qiong" is obviously a kind of technical work. For example, if Wu Qingyuan is identified as "the No. 1 Go player throughout the ages", then someone will definitely jump out, and someone will definitely be unconvinced.

Okay, let's take a step back and let's say we start with a few shortlists of candidates for this poll. If there are only 3 candidates on the list, Wu Qingyuan must be on the list.

If Wu Qingyuan is not on the list of three people, then we can basically conclude that the person who makes the list of candidates must be a brain-dead.

Similarly, if Wu Qingyuan is still on the list of 5 people, it can only mean that this selection event must be held on Mars.

In Go, the status of each Go master is different. Especially after the internationalization of Go, it is no longer appropriate to simply divide it as "super first-class" and "first-class". Later, some people liked to divide it by the champion of the world world. It is divided into "multiple crowns", "fewer crowns", "one crown" and "no crown". Indeed, in later generations, the champion of the world is indeed a hard indicator. Sometimes, though, it's not always accurate.

To give a few simple examples, such as Gu Dali and Li Shishi. The most normal view is that the two of them are evenly matched, and that they have to divide the superior and see the juban that will be held soon. Of course, there must be people who think that Li Shishi's number of world champions is much more than Gu Dali, so they believe that Li Shishi is much stronger than Gu Dali. This is obviously non-mainstream. Moreover, it is easy to make people think that they have ulterior motives.

Well, the above example is not convincing, let's make another comparison. Let's compare Ma Xiaofei and Cao Yanzi. If you don't understand, you will definitely say, do you still need to compare? It must be Cao Yanziqiang, Cao Yanzi, who is more than ten world champions. Where's your Ma Xiaofei? There are only two. How does this compare?

Is that really the case? We don't have to ask others, let's just ask Cao Yanzi herself. Does he dare to say that his level is higher than Ma Xiaofei? It should be that he didn't dare, not only did he not dare, Cao Yanzi was in a hurry because he lost to Ma Xiaofei, and another "famous saying" has been circulating in the Go world.

"It's really not fun to play Go."

Li Xiaoqiang understands Cao Yanzi's words very well. Because he often said something similar, he understood Cao Yanzi's mood very well.

In addition to Go, our "Deputy Chief Engineer Li" also likes to play mahjong. After losing money playing mahjong, my favorite sentence is:

"It's really not fun to play mahjong."

You say that the two of them are not sympathetic?

Therefore, Cao Yanzi is a little higher than the status of the rivers and lakes, but in terms of level and strength, he is a heavyweight with Ma Xiaofei.

Let's make a comparison again, we compare Chang Rensheng and Kong Erjie. Comparing Chinese and foreign chess players is always more controversial, because it is more or less emotional. It should be more rational to compare these two.

These two chess styles are similar, and the world champions are both 3. In terms of the game between the two sides, Chang Rensheng won more points. In terms of the status of the rivers and lakes in the Chinese chess world, Chang Rensheng has been the leading big brother for many years. Kong Erjie basically ranks behind Gu Dali and appears as "Kong Lao Er".

But what about comparing it in the long river of history? There shouldn't be many people who think that Chang Rensheng is stronger than Kong Erjie. It's very simple, Kong Erjie has ruled the world for a year, who else can I be. Although the time is very short, being a "king" is not the same as being a "prince". From this point of view, Kong Erjie's status in the rivers and lakes is a little higher than that of Chang Rensheng.

Kong Erjie can assign a certain year to his name, which is the minimum standard in the ranking of Go Jianghu. Similarly, there are 95-year-old Ma Xiaofei and 94-year-old Cao Yanzi. It can be considered the same level.

In addition to the era of "single male", there are also the era of "double male" and the era of "group male". For example, Gu Dali and Li Shishi, they can be said to have established the era of the two heroes for several years. Similarly, there are Fan Xiping and Shi Xiangxia in ancient China. It's also a moment of brightness.

The duo era is still ranked. The era of the heroes is really not easy to rank, the typical is the "six super" era, and their status in the rivers and lakes must be a little lower. No matter how fanciful you say, someone else just says:

"What you said is so-and-so, so why didn't he stand out in his own era?"

It's hard to say, there's nothing to say.

Similar to the Six Super Era, it is the latest chess world in the world. The little leopards in the Chinese chess world, whether it is the "Four Little Kings" or the "Eighteen Arhats". If you want to have a high status in the rivers and lakes, you must first stand out among your peers.

The era of the heroes is lively, and the era of the two heroes is wonderful. Only the era of Shan Xiong is fascinating.

The short era of single heroes is not impressive, such as Cao Yanzi and Ma Xiaofei. As soon as Li Shifo was born, others immediately knew the Tao, oh, their level is at that height, so what's the matter.

There are also a few short periods of single male era in history. Japan's ancient three sages, Daoce, Zhanghe, and Xiuce should be counted. A generation of tycoon Sakata Eio also has a few years. Zhao Zhixun won Japan's "big triple crown" before his car accident this year, which was originally very promising to establish his own single male era. Unfortunately, a fortuitous event interrupted an era that could have happened.

One of the characteristics of the Shan Xiong era is that it is easy to make people reminisce. Because they have no opponents in their own time, this makes people speculate, how high is their level?

For example, the ancient Huanglongshi in China, such as Li Shifo, such as Wu Qingyuan.

"Where are their limits?"

In fact, no one knows the Tao.

Take the most recent Li Shifo as an example. In modern times, there is the most information, the most detailed research, and the most thorough analysis. Who knows the way?

In fact, the people who want to know the Tao the most should be their opponents, his successors. Do they know the truth?

I think Li Shishi is in the deepest part of his heart, and he doesn't dare to say that he has reached the highest place that Li Shifo has ever reached.

In a certain year's LG Cup, Li Shishi was in the limelight, leading 2-0. I also began to talk about the issue of changing the dynasty, but as a result, I lost 2-3. Even in 2008, Li Shifo was no longer at his peak, and he still kept a clean sheet against Li Shishi in the semifinals of the Ying's Cup.

Therefore, at the bottom of Li Shifo, Gu Dali and Li Shishi did not dare to say that they had really explored it.

The competition in modern times is so fierce, and Li Shifo is still like this. Not to mention Wu Qingyuan. In his time, could his opponents be called real opponents?

"Being able to play with Mr. Wu in three consecutive games, six games and ten games is the most boastful thing in my life."

Who said that? Sakata Eio. This is what he said with all his heart after losing. Compared with so many of his own championships, only losing to Wu Qingyuan is worth boasting about. What is the reason for this, the champion can't say anything, and he is qualified to play chess with him, so that he once showed that he was once the second in the world.

Sakata Eio's age is too old to be compared. Originally, this person's status in the rivers and lakes should be very high, but unfortunately, this person has a nemesis inexplicably, that is, Wu Qingyuan's apprentice Lin Haifeng. is because of his nemesis, so it affects his status in the rivers and lakes. But don't underestimate him. Let's make another comparison.

Fujisawa Hideyuki should be regarded as an opponent of Sakata Eio, Fujisawa Hideyuki is a little younger, and basically thinks that Fujisawa Hideyuki is a little worse than others. What about Hideyuki Fujisawa and the Six Super Ratio?

When Fujisawa Hideyuki was 67 years old, in the "throne" battle in Japan, he defeated Kobayashi Koji, who had the best results in the six super leagues at that time.

After decades of Japanese Go, has it really improved?

No wonder Zhao Zhixun said:

"The chess we are playing now is actually thanks to Mr. Wu's blessing."

Well, you say that Cho Zhixun's words are not convincing. Let's take a look at what Li Shifo said:

"Even behind my back, I have never compared myself to Mr. Wu, and I dare not think that I can compare with Mr. Wu."

Li Xiaoqiang is now going to meet such a person. The information of later generations was developed, and Li Xiaoqiang knew a lot about Wu Qingyuan. There is only one thing, which is not clear in all subsequent reports. Li Xiaoqiang was very interested

Wu Qingyuan was 13 years old when he went to Japan, and he was already a first-class master in China before he went. Of course, he also studied Japanese chess, but he played more ancient Chinese chess. What does he think of these two chesses? On the surface, of course, he was polite and said good things on both sides. What did he think in his heart? Which side weighs more?

Li Xiaoqiang really wanted to know about Lu Dao.