"Did professional chess players first appear in Japan? I don't think so. Even if you don't count the earlier chess edicts, professional chess players in the real sense should appear in the Song Dynasty in China, and it is likely that there were mostly professional female chess players in that era. ”

"Oh? Li Sang's point of view is very interesting. Can you elaborate on that a little bit more......"

Li Xiaoqiang's trip to Japan this time is actually a publicly-funded tour, which is not too easy.

In this year's China-Japan Go Tournament, Chang Rensheng won 2 consecutive victories in August and continued to win 2 consecutive victories in October. It's December, and the ring is back in action. Chang Rensheng, who has won 4 consecutive victories, attacked again, and Li Xiaoqiang came to Japan in such a background.

To say that the current Sino-Japanese Go tournament is indeed not as influential as before. One or two wins didn't make much of a splash, and three wins in a row were occasionally mentioned. It may only take a 5-game winning streak to grab everyone's attention. Well, the current Chang Rensheng seems to have reached the threshold of 5 consecutive wins.

"I hope Chang Rensheng can replicate the truth that Li Xiaoqiang walked through back then......"

This is the main argument of the domestic media before this expedition. If you really want to talk about it, Chang Rensheng's journey in the ring is indeed very similar to Li Xiaoqiang back then. It was also the first time to participate in an important international competition, and it was also in this competition that it made a fortune...... The only difference is that Li Xiaoqiang was only 12 years old at the time. And what about the current Chang Ren Sheng? He is now 18 years old.

The 18-year-old is still struggling at this level. And what about 19-year-old Li Xiaoqiang? He can impersonate an authority figure in the arena at this level. He can talk nonsense easily in the viewing room, and he can have a pleasant bragging chat with others. This should be the current gap between the two.

Today is the first matchday, and Chang Rensheng is playing against Satoru Kobayashi in the game room. The competition in the ring takes a long time, basically the next day, so Li Xiaoqiang has a lot of time to brag and chat.

Somewhere in the research room, Yukari Umezawa pursed her lips. She smiled and listened to Li Xiaoqiang's nonsense. Of course, the two of them really weren't chatting there privately. Strictly speaking, Yukari Umezawa is actually acting as Li Xiaoqiang's translator, and she translates Li Xiaoqiang's words word by word to another lady. And this audience member is Ms. Yumi Hotta, the original author of "Chess Soul".

First of all, it depends on how to define "professional chess player", the most common view at the moment is that it is. The "Chess House" system established in your country during the Shogunate period, and the "Imperial Chess Castle" competition in which the "Four Great Masters of Go" of your country competed for the "Chess House". This is a landmark event in the history of the development of Go. It is believed that it was from that time that there were professional chess players in the true sense of the word. It is even believed that from that time on, Japanese Go has been ahead of Chinese Go. But I think that's a very biased view. ”

"Oh? How do you define a professional chess player? ”

Li Xiaoqiang looked at Ms. Yumi Hotta opposite with a smile. Of course, Li Xiaoqiang is very clear about her intentions, and she just wants to plump up the image of the villain "Ao Wolf" through chat and observation. The prototype of "Ao Wolf" is himself, and he represents ancient Chinese chess. Therefore, in the new version of "Chess Soul", the real "villain" is actually the ancient Chinese chess. In order to be a good "villain". Li Xiaoqiang is certainly willing to sell some of his own views to Ms. Yumi Hotta.

"I think the criterion is actually very simple, if there is a person who plays Go as his survival skill, he can support himself by playing chess without doing anything else. Then this person is a professional chess player. The difference between professional and amateur is actually limited to this, do you think so? ”

"Hehe, Li Sang's words make sense. This answer goes straight to the essence ......"

Ms. Hotta Yumi agreed with Li Xiaoqiang's words. In fact, that's what it is. When many people think of the Japanese game of Go, they think of the chess system that they established in the shogunate period. You will think of the wonderful "Imperial Chess City" competition that year. In fact, this role is obviously exaggerated. The true significance of the "chess system" lies only in its "official nature". It can't be considered "official", amateur chess players will immediately become professional chess players, and the level of Go will also improve immediately. In fact, judging from the development process of Chinese Go for thousands of years, there are both "government-run" and "private" chess. Moreover, the level of medieval chess has made several qualitative leaps. It happened to appear at the stage when the "private Go" was particularly active.

"Were there any professional chess players in your country during the Song Dynasty? What does Li Sang think was the level of Go in that era? ”

"Very high, you should know the famous "Xuanxuan Chess Sutra", although the "Xuanxuan Chess Sutra" was written in the Yuan Dynasty, but according to the social conditions at the time, it is inferred that the accumulation of this book. It was supposed to have been done in the Song Dynasty. Although the historical data is lacking, Mr. Wu once said: "Being able to create the "Xuanxuan Chess Sutra" shows that there must have been great chess players at that time. ”……”

Li Xiaoqiang: This is really not a mouthful, the development history of Chinese Go for thousands of years. By the Sui and Tang dynasties, it had taken shape, and by the Song Dynasty, it had developed to a peak. However, before the Tang Dynasty, everyone paid more attention to the cultural nature of Go, and did not highlight the competitiveness of Go. Therefore, in that era, you really can't see them as professional chess players, and it is better to see them as "cultural people". For example, most of the famous "Three Treatises and Five Fu" about Go were written before the Tang Dynasty, and it is rare to see the chess scores of that era.

But it was different in the Song Dynasty, which was a peak in the development of Chinese culture. "Folk Go" has been greatly developed, and the level of Go at that time has naturally reached a fairly high level. Although there are very few Song Dynasty chess scores that have been handed down to this day, it is very likely that a few "Yuxian Diagrams" or something are also fake. But fortunately, there is still a "Xuanxuan Chess Sutra" that has been handed down to this day. What is the level of Mr. Wu Qingyuan's "great chess player"? According to his own words, it should be at least the current professional level of the third or fourth dan.

"Why at that time...... Will there be more female professional chess players? ”

This was not asked by Ms. Yumi Hotta, but by Yukari Umezawa. Li Xiaoqiang stared at Yukari Umezawa for a long time, in exchange for a roll of his eyes.

"That's the question...... In fact, it is just an inference. However, I think this assumption is quite reasonable. I can't explain this question very clearly, if you want to know more specifically, I suggest you go to Shencheng to visit Elder Fang. ”

"Which Fang Lao? By the way, that's it, that's ......."

"That's right, it's Fang Lao, who co-wrote "Research on Ancient Chinese Chess" with me. ”

After Fang Lao got to know Li Xiaoqiang, his use of the "gossip examination method" is now more and more innocent. Why are there many professional female chess players in the Song Dynasty? This is a strange conclusion that Fang Lao came to after watching the "three words and two beats" of the Ming Dynasty once.

"Three Words and Two Beats" is a famous onomatopoeia series of the Ming Dynasty. How so? The place of this series in the literary world...... It is comparable to the "Golden Plum Bottle". "Three Words and Two Beats" is a popular short story, which occupies an extremely important historical position in the world of popular literature, and is the most famous work reflecting the life of the Ming Dynasty. Its language is easy to understand, the story twists and turns vividly, the description is accurate and powerful, although the "three words and two beats" are generally believed to reflect the life of the Ming Dynasty, but most of the stories are set in the Song Dynasty, because the Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty are not far apart, in fact, in this collection of novels, we can also feel the secular state of the Song Dynasty folk.

For example, there is a famous Go story in this novel collection, the so-called "Xiaodaoren spares the world's female chess children for two games for life" is also. To say that Fang Lao's "gossip examination method" is not covered, in this story, he did not focus on the "little Taoist", but on the "female chess boy". And what this "female chess boy" represents is likely to be the first generation of "professional chess players" in the true sense.

Is this inference reasonable, at least Li Xiaoqiang thinks there is some truth. You must know that the Song Dynasty is different from what many people imagine. How so? The commercial economy of the Song Dynasty was relatively developed, and the social division of labor was relatively clear. It can be regarded as a dynasty that pays more attention to "contract" in all Chinese dynasties.

For a simple analogy, since it is ancient, many people take it for granted that it is normal to have three wives and four concubines. But if you are a local tyrant in the Song Dynasty, you will find something that makes you cry and laugh. It's not that you can't take a concubine, but when you take a concubine, you may have to sign a contract to stipulate the number of years that people will serve you, and after this period of time, people can say goodbye to you in a very chic manner......

In short, in the Song Dynasty, it is not that you can't "bully men and women", but that you "bully men and women" is difficult...... It seems to be much larger than other dynasties.

Since concubines are like this, then the same reason, what about your scholar? What about your maids? Are they all "contract workers". Think about it further, "qin, chess, calligraphy and painting" are juxtaposed, since there are "scholars", is there a "qin boy"? Are there any "chess boys"......

In fact, according to the social division of labor, in the Song Dynasty, this was really the case, and the phenomenon was very common. Therefore, if a modern person travels to the Song Dynasty and becomes a local tyrant. When you are ready to take a concubine, then you have to pay attention, people may not give you a "warm bed", they may be the first generation of female professional chess players,

is like the female chess boy in "The Little Taoist Spares the World".

"Tsk, although you can't bully men and women, if you wear it back to the Song Dynasty, it should be a good day, if you find a female professional chess player with red sleeves to add fragrance......"

Li Xiaoqiang looked at Yukari Umezawa while YY. Of course, Li Xiaoqiang didn't know how dirty his eyes were now, and he saw that Yukari Umezawa was blushing and restless.

"What are you looking at......" Yukari Umezawa rolled her eyes again.

"Huh? Nothing...... It's nothing ......" Li Xiaoqiang, who reacted, was also embarrassed.

Fortunately, at this time, Li Xiaoqiang's savior came, and reporter Zhang Da pulled his throat on the other side of the research room:

"Xiaoqiang, come and take a look at this chess."

Li Xiaoqiang's polite farewell to Ms. Yumi Hotta:

"We'll talk about that later." (To be continued......)