Soon after the match between Li Xiaoqiang and Cao Yanzi, the results of the last game of the top 8 have also come out. In the end, Liu Changhe defeated Wang Licheng and grabbed the last top 4 seat. In this way, the top 4 of this year's "Ying's Cup" have all been produced, they are Li Xiaoqiang, Zhao Zhixun, Lin Haifeng and Liu Changhe.

To be fair, in the 4 games of the top 8, except for Mr. Lin's elimination of Li Shifo, which was a little surprising, the results of the other games were normal.

On the evening after the round of eight, the draw for the semi-finals took place.

Zhao Zhixun! Li Xiaoqiang's opponent in the semifinals is Zhao Zhixun.

Seeing the results of this draw, many people at the scene smiled knowingly. Because the outcome of such a draw is almost certain. The Ying Cup is a little different from other world tournaments, in order to avoid some political factors, from the first edition of the tournament, the players do not nominally represent the "country", but the "city".

Therefore, in the Ying Cup, you can't see Cho Ji-hoon as a Japanese chess player, because he "represents" Seoul. In the same way, in the Ying Cup, Mr. Lin Haifeng participated as a Taipei chess player.

Because of this, it is easy to explain that Li Xiaoqiang met Zhao Zhixun in the semifinals, because there are 2 "Seoul" players in the top 4, if it is not against Zhao Zhixun, then he can only touch Liu Changhe. If it is Li Xiaoqiang against Liu Changhyuk, then on the other side, it is Zhao Zhixun against Lin Haifeng. Both of them are players affiliated with the Japan Chess Academy. If this is the case, it is not necessarily unreasonable, but it always feels a little inappropriate.

In fact, Li Xiaoqiang didn't know if he was tired when he drew lots, in short, when he drew Zhao Zhixun, this seemed to be the most ideal result, because of this matchup. All problems are solved.

Of course, compared to some other competitive sports, Go is still a little simpler. For example, in football, every time the draw results of a major game come out, there are endless discussions about the draw results, and what good luck theories, bad luck theories, and conspiracy theories come and go. But Li Xiaoqiang has always thought so. It is normal for people to talk about the results of the lottery, but if they talk about the lottery more than the competition itself, it can only show that there are indeed big problems in the development of this project.

It's true that Go is a niche sport, but in this regard, it should be said that there is basically no problem.

"Let me play against Li San, ah......"

When the draw results came out, when Li Xiaoqiang and Zhao Zhixun's hands were together. Mr. Zhao Zhixun and his exaggerated expression of pain appeared:

“…… To tell you the truth, when I saw Mr. Lin eliminate the stone Buddha, I was still secretly happy there just now. I even dreamed there. I thought that Mr. Lin eliminated me as a bitter hand, so this year's Ying's Cup ...... I guess there's still some hope, right? I didn't expect my dream to be ruthlessly shattered so quickly......"

"Hahaha......"

Everyone at the draw ceremony was amused by Zhao Zhixun's words. Indeed, Cho Ji-hoon's strength is undoubted, and it can even be said that Cho Ji-hoon has been a strong candidate for the World Championship since the inception of the World Series in '88. Zhao Zhixun is not only strong, but also stable. This can be seen from his ability to eliminate Ma Xiaofei in the top 8, and he has maintained a very high level. Plus the top 4 of this year's "Yingshi Cup". Cho Ji-hoon continues to cement his position as the leader in the top four of the World Series.

It's a pity that it's such a Zhao Zhixun. He has never been able to win a World Championship. The most direct reason for this, of course, is that the two most outstanding young talents in the world chess world today are blocking his way forward.

So far, Zhao Zhixun has reached the finals of the World Series twice, one of which was defeated by Li Xiaoqiang in the "Fujitsu Cup", and the other time, he was blocked by Li Shifo in the "Toyo Securities Cup". As for in the top 8. The number of times the top 4 have been eliminated is even more numerous. Therefore, the words that Zhao Zhixun said just now were not as exaggerated as his current expression.

"Although the reality is cruel, I think as a professional chess player, there are always various realities to face......"

On stage. Mr. Zhao Zhixun continued to deliver his "pre-match speech":

“…… Counting this "Ying's Cup" and the "Toyo Securities Cup" soon after, I suddenly realized that I had many opportunities to fight against Li Sang this year. So the moment Li Sang pulled me out, I suddenly knew that my biggest goal for this year was already ......"

Speaking of this, Zhao Zhixun turned his gaze to Li Xiaoqiang, and said half-jokingly and half-seriously:

"I know that Li Sang is strong, and I know that Li Sang looks unstoppable right now. But I want to make it clear to Li Sang that my biggest goal this year is to find a way to win your game. ”

"Is it more important to win a game against Li Xiaoqiang than to defend the chess master?"

As soon as Zhao Zhixun's words fell, the audience didn't know who suddenly came up with such a sentence. As soon as this sentence came out, it naturally caused a lot of laughter at the venue, and the atmosphere of the whole lottery ceremony became more enthusiastic.

In the current Japanese chess world, although there are also some signs of "changing the dynasty", this change is not achieved overnight. The "Six Supers" represented by Zhao Zhixun and Kobayashi Koji are currently engaged in a difficult tug-of-war with the Mesozoic of Japanese Go. Among them, Zhao Zhixun's performance is particularly conspicuous. He was robbed of the title of "Chess Saint" by Kobayashi Satoru the year before last, and last year he made a comeback and regained the title of "Chess Saint" from Kobayashi Jue. And this year, it was Kobayashi Satoru who won the right to challenge the "chess saint".

"Chess Saint" is the most important title in the Japanese chess world, and Zhao Zhixun and Kobayashi Satoru met in the finals of the "Chess Holy War" for three consecutive years, which is also the most eye-catching event in the Japanese chess world at present.

As many people know, Japanese Go has always had a tradition of attaching importance to domestic competitions. There are many Japanese chess players who even give up international competitions for the sake of domestic competitions. Among them, Kobayashi Koji, who is as famous as Zhao Zhixun, is the most typical representative. However, today, in the face of everyone's doubts, Zhao Zhixun responded calmly and firmly:

"Yes, it seems to me so! I think winning a game against Li Sang is indeed more important than defending the title. Because this is not just an honor for me, but also an honor for the title of Japanese chess master. I've been thinking about what if I'm a Japanese chess master and I can't beat Li San. This in itself is a disgrace to the title of Japanese chess master......"

After Zhao Zhixun's words were finished, it was Li Xiaoqiang's turn to speak. At this time, Li Xiaoqiang, who walked to the front of the stage, didn't know what to say.

In fact, it's normal to think about it, an ordinary "pre-game speech", since Mr. Zhao Zhixun has finished all the big words and all the beautiful words. Then Li Xiaoqiang really didn't need to say anything.

"I'm looking forward to fighting Mr. Zhao......"

Li Xiaoqiang ended his "pre-game speech" with this very simple polite remark, and also drew an end to the top 8 of the "Ying's Cup".

The "Ying's Cup" has come to an end for the time being, but Li Xiaoqiang's campaign is not over. And Li Xiaoqiang's performance in the next period of time really responded to Zhao Zhixun's sentence in the "pre-game speech" of the Ying's Cup:

"Li Sang looks unstoppable!"

From late March to mid-March, Li Xiaoqiang first moved to Pengcheng, a special economic zone, to participate in the group stage of the "Top 10 Battle" of Chinese Go. In the 4-set group match, Li Xiaoqiang won the first place in the group with a record of 4 wins and 0 losses.

One of the significant changes in this year's "Top 10 Tournament" is that more and more young players have been selected for the top 10. For example, Li Xiaoqiang's opponents defeated in the group stage include Chang Rensheng, Shao Weigang and Zhou Dayang. Li Xiaoqiang basically stepped on his peers to win the first place in this group, which is the first time in recent years.

Another eye-catching aspect of the "Top Ten Battle" is that in another group, Ma Xiaofei won the first place in the group. So in this way, this year's "Top Ten Battle" champion will be produced between Li Xiaoqiang and Ma Xiaofei.

The "Ma Li duel" in the Chinese chess world has been gone for a while, so this time the two are reunited. Nature is a source of great concern.

What's more, since Li Xiaoqiang has been recovering since the end of last year. However, Ma Xiaofei unexpectedly fell into a slump, so this "top ten" final is very important.

Someone has already calculated for Li Xiaoqiang that if Li Xiaoqiang can win this game, then he will be able to use this battle to become the first place in China's Go rating for the first time. What if Ma Xiaofei could win? He will be able to maintain his old order.

Shortly after the end of the group stage of the "Top 10 Battle", Li Xiaoqiang and Chang Rensheng appeared together in Seoul, South Korea. Participated in the top 8 of the "Toyo Securities Cup". In this game, Chang Rensheng was blocked by Cao Yanzi in the top 4. Li Xiaoqiang continued his good momentum, defeating Zhao Zhixun to reach the top four of the World Series for the second time this year.

At least so far, Mr. Zhao Zhixun's desire to "win Li Xiaoqiang's game this year". It hasn't been realized yet.

After returning from South Korea, Li Xiaoqiang returned to his hometown of Ganyuan non-stop to participate in the final qualifying match of this year's Chinese Go "Top 10 Battle". Facing Ma Xiaofei, who was in a sluggish state, Li Xiaoqiang did not give him too many opportunities. Li Xiaoqiang defeated Ma Xiaofei neatly and won the championship of this year's Chinese Go "Top 10 Battle".

After this battle, although the rating was not immediately announced, many people know that the first person in the Chinese Go rating has actually changed hands.

At the end of March, Li Xiaoqiang moved to South Korea again to participate in the top 8 of the "Samsung Cup". In this game, Li Xiaoqiang once again performed well. He once again defeated Cao Yanzi with a perfect performance and once again entered the top 4 of the World Series.

For a while, Li Xiaoqiang was in the limelight, and he looked really unstoppable.

In the international arena, Li Xiaoqiang has survived all the world competitions, from last year's "Zhenlu Cup" to the just-concluded "Samsung Cup", Li Xiaoqiang has achieved 13 consecutive victories, which is a new record in the world chess world.

In the domestic arena, the two most important champions decided this year, "Tianyuan Battle" and "Top Ten Battle", have been assigned to Li Xiaoqiang's name, and from November last year to the present, Li Xiaoqiang has not lost any other chess except for losing to Chang Rensheng in the final of "Tianyuan Battle".

So in the period from the end of March to the beginning of April '97,

"Who will stop Li Xiaoqiang's pace of progress......"

"Who will win Li Xiaoqiang's ...... game"

From the Chinese chess world to the world chess world, such voices are endless.

One day in early April, in the Chinese Chess Academy, Li Xiaoqiang's dormitory, Lin Mengyu helped Li Xiaoqiang pack his luggage while talking to Li Xiaoqiang:

"Who can stop Li Xiaoqiang? Of course I know, this person, he must be in Japan. Don't you say? Li Da genius. ”

Facing Lin Mengyu's ridicule, seeing Lin Mengyu looking at himself with a smile, Li Xiaoqiang couldn't cry or laugh:

"You...... Nonsense......"

In April, the Fujitsu Cup season arrived. (To be continued.) )

PS: Ask for a monthly pass!

It's not a few days left this month, please help me withstand, thank you!