In May 1995, it was a warm and cold season, Li Xiaoqiang and Ma Xiaofei boarded a flight to Seoul to participate in the final of the 6th "Toyo Securities Cup".

Although they were on the same flight, their seats were not connected. This is, of course, deliberately arranged this way by the staff when booking the tickets. Accompanying Ma Xiaofei was the Korean translator Li of the Chess Academy. This is also the only official staff sent by the Chinese Chess Academy during this trip to South Korea. And Li Xiaoqiang is the old rule, he and reporter Zhang Da are mixed together.

The atmosphere before the game was unique and subtle.

"This month, you really haven't had a word with Ma Xin?"

On the plane, reporter Zhang Da chatted with Li Xiaoqiang. Li Xiaoqiang just smiled and did not respond positively. Reporter Zhang Da: This is basically nonsense. During the preparation for the war, not to mention communicating with Ma Xiaofei, it was to the outside media, and this time the two parties rarely did not make any remarks.

Before such tournaments, even if it is polite or perfunctory, the player usually has to express his position to the outside world. But this time is different, whether it is Li Xiaoqiang or Ma Xiaofei, for this final, the two of them are silent and refuse to say a word. No matter how the reporter asks questions, it is okay to ask other questions, as long as the topics related to this final are asked, both of them choose not to say a word. Even if reporter Zhang Da and Li Xiaoqiang are so familiar with each other, when he talks to Li Xiaoqiang privately about this five-game chess, Li Xiaoqiang will bypass the topic.

Arriving in Seoul, except for necessary occasions, Li Xiaoqiang and Ma Xiaofei were still separated. Ma Xiaofei was received by the organizers of the event, while Li Xiaoqiang was received by Liu Changhe and Li Shifo as friends.

Since the beginning of the "China-South Korea Hand Competition", Li Xiaoqiang and these two chess players have gradually become acquainted. This year, China's first "Weijia" will start immediately. Li Shifo and Liu Changhe are the first batch of foreign aid to land in China. And Li Shifo became teammates with Li Xiaoqiang. The two of them landed in Weijia, and Li Xiaoqiang was regarded as an introducer, because of this relationship, so the two of them came to entertain Li Xiaoqiang this time.

"The opener should be fine, right? If you can arrange the schedule, then you will be the main player in the opening game. ”

At the wine table, Li Xiaoqiang said to Li Shifo with a smile. Li Shifo nodded slightly. Li Xiaoqiang is talking about the first "Weijia" competition. After more than half a year of preparation, China's first "Weijia" will start at the end of this month. Li Shifo could not participate in the whole game, he could only choose to play 6 to 10 games. The so-called good steel should be used on the blade, and the opening game is of course a more important game, and the Ganyuan team contacted Li Shifo early, hoping that he could participate in this game, and has been confirmed by Li Shifo.

Li Xiaoqiang actually knew about this matter for a long time, and he only mentioned Weijia here and nothing else, just because he knew that what everyone was most interested in was, of course, the upcoming game. And Li Xiaoqiang really didn't want to talk about this topic before the game, that's all.

It seemed so calm before this final. Since it is a competition between domestic chess players, there is a lot less gimmicks and war of words. Since the two contestants chose to remain silent is golden, there were a lot fewer analysis and prediction articles in the media than usual.

But is it really calm? Of course not. Maybe it's because it's a chess contest from the same country. Everyone's focus is more pure. If you want to see the excitement, you may feel that this final is not lively enough. But those who want to see the "doorway" are all wide-eyed and want to see the peak duel at the highest level in the world chess world.

Especially within the Go world, there is a lot of anticipation for the upcoming collision.

In Seoul, the first three sets will be played, and the next set will be played every other day. Li Xiaoqiang will probably stay in South Korea for about a week.

On the day of the first set. China, China Chess Academy. Nie Whirlwind came to the training room of the national youth training team early, and his loud voice echoed in the training room:

"Come here, come here. Today's training. We don't do anything else, everyone comes and learns from your Teacher Ma and Teacher Li."

Shin-Kiya Dojo, Tokyo, Japan. Hero Otake and Mr. Masao Kato gathered almost all of Japan's hopeful stars together:

"Okay, let's get started. Everyone, pay attention, today's game of chess. It can be called the highest level of competition. Isn't everyone aiming for Li Xiaoqiang? If you want to defeat him, you must first be familiar with him and learn from him. I hope that everyone will study this game carefully when they learn this game. Try to figure it out."

The Korean Chongyan Research Association, Liu Changhyuk and Li Shifo did not choose to go to the live viewing room today, but were with other young chess players in the research society. Under the chairmanship of Yoo Chang-hyuk, everyone had a heated discussion on the ongoing competition.

In another place in South Korea, at the Kwon Jia Yong Kwon Dojo, Mr. Kwon Jia Ryong was cordially saying to a child who looked very arrogant: "Come over the stone, didn't you say that you like the chess of the board wizard the most?" Then let's learn it today and see how he does sorcery."

The match between Li Xiaoqiang and Ma Xiaofei unfolded in such an atmosphere. The attention of professional chess players, the pursuit of professional chess players. All of this is because this is Li Xiaoqiang's game. In today's world chess world, only Li Xiaoqiang's Go can cause such a sensation.

So what is the specific process of the game? The course of the game did not disappoint everyone. In the first three games played in Seoul, Li Xiaoqiang took a 2-1 lead. For such a result, of course, it is also in line with almost everyone's pre-match expectations.

In fact, when the first stage of the game is over, the most talked about is not the score, but the course of the game and the content of the game.

After watching the first 3 games of chess, due to physical reasons, Fujisawa Hideyuki, who has not had a voice for a long time, stood up again this time to comment:

"Although there are still some unsatisfactory things in general, it is understandable in major chess competitions. In the three-set match, it can be said that both of them showed superb skills. The winner of this competition deserves the title of world champion. Compared with Li Xiaoqiang, Ma Xiaofei seems to be a little inexperienced, which is also the reason why he is behind the score. But it doesn't matter, if he always plays the first three games, I believe this final will still be unpredictable. ”

Ma Xiaofei is much older and stronger than Li Xiaofei, and the old god stick actually said that he is inexperienced? What the old god stick is talking about is actually the experience of the finals. The fight for the World Championship is, of course, different from ordinary races. In this regard, Li Xiaoqiang, who participated in the final for the fourth time, is of course more experienced than Ma Xiaofei, who broke into the final of the World Series for the first time.

Fujisawa Hideyuki is right, the reason why Li Xiaoqiang can take the lead is mainly because of this advantage. Especially in the first game, Ma Xiaofei obviously did not seem to have adapted to the atmosphere of the World Series finals, and he made a lot of mistakes in that game. The so-called "nameless game of chess", Li Xiaoqiang did not make mistakes in that game of chess, but he made fewer mistakes than Ma Xiaofei. So let him get the upper hand.

But except for the first set, both sides showed their true kung fu in the next two sets, and it can be said that they fully played their own level. And in the fierce competition, they were evenly divided, and they won a game of chess.

The first three games of chess can be said to be full of content. Not only Fujisawa Hideyuki's old god stick, but even Mr. Wu Qingyuan, who usually does not comment on other chess players, rarely spoke this time:

In these games of chess, Li Xiaoqiang showed his comprehensiveness, and Ma Xiaofei showed his strengths. Li Xiaoqiang is full of tricks, and Ma Xiaofei is concentrated. It's an interesting confrontation between two people. This is a rare masterpiece in recent years. I enjoyed watching this competition. Now it seems that Xiaoqiang, the child's chess, is now becoming more and more mature. There are few chess players as well-rounded as he is. If you want to win Li Xiaoqiang, I think Ma Xiaofei has to think of some other ways. But what can be done? I really can't think of a good way to do it for a while."

As soon as Mr. Wu said this, there were more people who were optimistic that Li Xiaoqiang could win the final victory. Although Mr. Wu's words are very general, his meaning is unmistakable.

said that Li Xiaoqiang is comprehensive, as early as a few months ago during the finals of the "Tianyuan War", Li Xiaoqiang began to show his characteristics, Li Xiaoqiang now plays chess, no longer has to stick to a certain way of playing, let alone rely on a certain specialty of his own. In the final of the "Toyo Securities Cup", this characteristic seems to be becoming more and more obvious.

It is not terrible to be comprehensive, but it is terrible that there are no flaws on the basis of comprehensiveness. In Mr. Wu's words, it is "maturing". What does it mean to be mature? In Go, only the absence of flaws is a sign of maturity.

Whether it is offensive or defensive, whether it is fighting or soaking in fine chess, whether it is fighting specific means or "comparing the realm", whether it is using thick flavor to fight or "fishing first and then washing". Now Li Xiaoqiang seems to be at his fingertips.

That's right, if every technical link of Go is separated, Li Xiaoqiang cannot be called the strongest in the world today. But he has reached a very high level in every technical link. How high is this level? It can be said that in all the technical aspects of Go, Li Xiaoqiang seems to have reached the point where he can compete with today's super-first-class chess players.

What's more, Li Xiaoqiang also has his own specialties, and he also has his own unique skills. Therefore, such Li Xiaoqiang is undoubtedly quite terrifying.

The final of the 8th "Toyo Securities Cup" was the end of the first stage of the competition. Li Xiaoqiang, who was leading with a score of 2-1, seemed to have forced Ma Xiaofei into a desperate situation. The results of the first stage seem to have left Ma Xiaofei with a problem, that is, how to deal with a more comprehensive Li Xiaoqiang.

The same topic has also made the whole world chess community talk about it. (To be continued.) )