Late autumn in 1990.

At this time, the 90 Asian Games, which may be the most concerned by the people of the country, have come to an end. This is the first time that our country has hosted an intercontinental multi-sport event. In addition, due to the events of the previous year, China is being sanctioned by Western countries. Let the people of the whole country rub the fire a little. There happened to be such a sports meeting, which made the Chinese people have a good time. Every day, I happily calculate the number of gold medals.

At this time, the most traditional Go event in China was also the most valued Go event in the old system. The 90-year National Go Individual Tournament is being held in Lianyungang City, Jiangsu. This kind of competition has a relatively long time span and is a multi-round points system. At present, the whole competition is also coming to an end. Of the 13 rounds of competition, 12 have been concluded. The final round is currently underway. In a few more years, this year's national Go champion will soon be announced. Therefore, there are also a lot of chess players and media reporters gathered inside and outside the arena. It makes the whole arena look very lively.

In the old system, the weight of this competition was still very heavy. Even in the traditional custom, it is believed that only the first place in this competition is the most authentic "national champion". And the other games have to be discounted.

For example, compare the "Celebrity Fight" with the National Individual Competition. You can only be recognized by the system if you have won the individual competition. In this way, your treatment and "job title" and so on, you can use this standard set of "national champions". And what about the "celebrity war"? You may not be recognized as a "national champion" within the system. They'll classify "celebrity fights" as "invitational" tournaments or something.

Therefore, in the national individual competition, in addition to Nie Whirlwind, a special existence of Chinese Go. It brings together almost all the Go masters in China. The competition was fierce, and no player was able to maintain a complete victory in the first 12 rounds. When the final round starts. Almost all eyes were on the first chess table on the field. Because by calculating the points, the situation is already relatively clear. The champion of this competition will definitely be produced at this chess table.

Li Xiaoqiang, who is 15 years old this year, is currently sitting in the first stage of the entire arena.

Outside the arena. There was also a group of media reporters gathered together to chat. They are all waiting for the final result of the match.

"Quick, go and check the birthdays of Commander Hu and Li Xiaoqiang. Let's see if Li Xiaoqiang has a chance to break Commander Hu's record......"

When these people were chatting, they didn't know who suddenly came up with such a sentence. After a brief period of astonishment, some reporters with rich associative skills quickly understood what this meant. Naturally, the press gallery was in a hurry. At this moment, these media reporters seem to have found a new hot spot......

It's the same board game, and it's also a national individual competition. When everyone found out, 15-year-old Li Xiaoqiang is likely to win the national championship. He was compared to "Commander Hu" in the chess world, which is a very normal thing.

As a Chinese chess grandmaster, he is the main founder of the contemporary chess school. It was at the age of 15 that Master Hu won his first national championship. And created an incredible "Ten Consecutive Hegemony". When everyone saw Li Xiaoqiang, who was still competing, many people had such a thought at the same time:

Li Xiaoqiang in the Go world, can he become a figure like "Commander Hu" in the chess world?

"Reporter Zhang Da, among us, you are the most familiar with Li Xiaoqiang. At the same time, you are from Shencheng, and you should be very familiar with Commander Hu. So it's up to you to predict first. Do you think Li Xiaoqiang can win the championship this time? If it continues like this. Can Li Xiaoqiang achieve the same achievements as Commander Hu? ”

"Of course! Of course, Xiaoqiang can achieve the same achievements as Commander Hu in the Go world, and of course he will become a grandmaster-level figure in the Go world! For this, I have absolute confidence in Xiaoqiang. ”

As the number one "little strong fan" in China. When Zhang Zhidong said such a thing, he didn't have to go through his brain at all. He could blurt out that at any time.

"I don't think so......"

This time. Another young reporter on the side spoke up his opinion.

"I don't think so, of course Li Xiaoqiang is very good. But let's take a look at his performances over the past year. It always feels like he's a little bit behind. Especially when I met him again in the last game of chess today. I still don't think he's going to win this time......"

"Hey, I think you're a very naïve person. Did you just start playing Go? Well, I see that you are not only face-to-face. You seem to be very young, and you're still an intern journalist, right? Tell me, what's wrong with Xiaoqiang's performance this year? I think he's done well this year. Young man, I think you're a Go reporter now. Then you carefully recall Xiaoqiang's performance this year. In which chess battle did he not perform well? Didn't he finish in the top few in every competition......"

"Brother Zhang, Brother Zhang, don't worry, I don't mean to say bad things about Li Xiaoqiang. I don't really mean that. Let me tell you so. I, I'm actually a chess fan of Li Xiaoqiang. ”

"Oh?"

The young man who was suspected of being an "intern reporter" saw Zhang Zhidong and was ready to "teach a lesson" to himself. So he hurriedly argued for himself:

"Hey, Brother Zhang, let me tell you, it was only in the past two years that I started to get in touch with Go. Then you say that people like me can still not be Xiaoqiang's chess fans? ”

"Hahahaha."

"Yes, yes, reporter Zhang, you can't use your old qualifications to suppress people. The young man is right. At present, in our country, as long as you are a new chess fan, there is no one who doesn't like Xiaoqiang......"

Indeed, in recent years, because of the ring. The number of Go fans in China is basically growing exponentially. And this part of the new chess fans, there is no one who doesn't know Li Xiaoqiang. But in terms of popularity, only Nie Whirlwind can compete with Li Xiaoqiang. Even Ma Xiaofei may be a little worse.

Chess fans like Li Xiaoqiang, first of all, because of his magical performance in the two ring tournaments. In addition to this, there is actually another reason. Many chess fans have found that Li Xiaoqiang's record in the international arena is far better than his record in the domestic arena. So far, Li Xiaoqiang has been in the international arena, and when he faces foreign chess players, it is also a Masaki Takemiya who has taken advantage of Li Xiaoqiang. And what about other chess players. At most, he can have a draw with Li Xiaoqiang.

It doesn't matter if it's a chess player or in other fields. When you are able to "go out and do the inside", you will always be more welcome. The current Li Xiaoqiang is a living example.

When I saw this young "intern reporter", it turned out that he was also on the "same front" as himself. Reporter Zhang Da: Cloudy and sunny.

"Then talk about your opinion, why do you think Xiaoqiang is a little worse?"

"Actually, I can't say it well. Well...... Maybe it's just my personal feelings. To say that Xiaoqiang's performance this year is indeed very good. He has been able to finish in the top few in almost every domestic competition. In other words, he can be a strong contender for the title in almost every competition. But let's not forget that since Xiaoqiang's celebrity title was taken away by others. He never won a single title again. In particular, he lost back-to-back to Japan's Masaki Takemiya. It also makes everyone feel. Xiaoqiang seems to be a little bit hot. Especially in today's last game of chess, he encountered Qian Yuping's objective analysis again, I think compared with Qian Yuping, Xiaoqiang is still slightly at a disadvantage. What do you think? ”

"This ......"

After listening to the objective analysis of the "rational little strong fan". Reporter Zhang Da, a "fanatic little strong fan", is also speechless. At this moment, Zhang Zhidong set his eyes on the arena again, and he saw Li Xiaoqiang thinking from a distance. At this moment, reporter Zhang Da fell into memories.

In the 12 rounds before the "Individual Competition". Li Xiaoqiang temporarily leads the pack with an 11-1 record. It should be said that so far, Li Xiaoqiang is the most promising to win the championship of this competition. Because the best results for everyone else besides him. Both are already 10 wins and 2 defeats. For example, his opponent in the final round, Qian Yuping. He also has a good chance of winning this competition at the moment.

After everyone's calculations, it was found that Li Xiaoqiang was ahead by a large score. But his "opponent points" did not have an advantage. In other words, if Li Xiaoqiang loses this game of chess, then the final score of both him and Qian Yuping is 11 wins and 2 losses. In the case of the same big score. It is necessary to arrange the seats by comparing the "opponent points". This "opponent score" is what everyone usually calls a "small score". Li Xiaoqiang's current "small points" are not as much as Qian Yuping. Therefore, if he loses this game, he will be ranked behind Qian Yuping.

And that's not all. If Li Xiaoqiang loses this game, there will be several players who will end up with 11 wins and 2 losses. According to Li Xiaoqiang's small score, he may not even be able to keep the runner-up.

So now it's such a situation: if Li Xiaoqiang wins the final game. Then there's nothing to say, he's going to be on top with a 12-1 record. Undisputed winner of this competition. What if he loses? There is a good chance that you will fall out of the top 2. For Qian Yuping, let's say he wins the last round. He will win the championship by a small margin. If he loses the last set, then he will fall out of the top 6 of this tournament.

You know, as a national Go individual tournament, it's not just a "national champion: that's as simple." The top 2 finishers in this competition will directly qualify for the Fujitsu Cup World Professional Championship. In this year, the "Ying's Cup" is held every four years. The Fujitsu Cup is a world championship that professional chess players can participate in every year.

The only world series!

With such an element in it, one can imagine how important this game is. Especially for Li Xiaoqiang, since 88, 3 years have passed since the World Series. The Fujitsu Cup is about to be held for the fourth time. And Li Xiaoqiang has not yet won a chance to participate. This is what makes Li Xiaoqiang most depressed.

Since Li Xiaoqiang defeated Mr. Sakata in the 5th Ring Tournament. His professional Go career seems to have hit a low point. In the subsequent match with Masaki Takemiya. Li Xiaoqiang continued to lose. Failed to break through the so-called "super-first-class barrier".

After returning to the domestic arena, Li Xiaoqiang's chess skills seem to have encountered a bottleneck. As the young journalist said. Although Li Xiaoqiang performed well in every competition, it seems that he can get into the top few. But he just didn't have a chance to win the championship.

The 2nd Chinese Go "Celebrity Battle", after a long competition, Qian Yuping finally won the right to challenge. To be honest, when Qian Yuping won the right to challenge, Li Xiaoqiang, who was familiar with the history, was very surprised. Because in real history, it was Ma Xiaofei who won the second "celebrity" in China. And since then, Ma Xiaofei has created an amazing record of 13 consecutive dominances of Chinese "celebrities". This is the longest streak in the history of Chinese title battles.

What Li Xiaoqiang didn't expect was. This glorious history of Ma Xiaofei now seems to have changed from the beginning.

And the one who ended this "possible history" was Qian Yuping.

In the 2nd "Celebrity Battle" that followed. Although Li Xiaoqiang put up a stubborn resistance. In the end, it was still a 2-3 defeat. Lost the only championship in his own hands. Not only that, Li Xiaoqiang also did not perform consistently in other games. He was able to defeat Nie Whirlwind again in the "Top Ten Battle". It can also lose to local players in other tournaments. can beautifully block Ma Xiaofei in the "TV Rapid Chess Tournament". was embarrassed by Chang Rensheng at the "New Sports Cup" again......

All in all, the ups and downs of the state seem to have carried out the entire 1990 of Li Xiaoqiang.

Compared with Li Xiaoqiang's downturn, in the 90-year Chinese chess scene, the most active figure may be Qian Yuping. He not only took away Li Xiaoqiang's "celebrity" title, but also defeated Liu Dazhui in the final of the "Tianyuan Competition". He became the first "Tian Yuan + celebrity" in the Chinese chess world. Judging from the current situation, he and Ma Xiaofei's "second place" dispute. It seems that Qian Yuping has an obvious advantage. In the past two years, Ma Xiaofei, the original No. 2 person, has not improved his chess skills enough. Two months ago, when Mr. Fujisawa Hideyuki led the "Hideyuki Army" to visit China. The old man even beat Ma Xiaofei severely.

Qian Yuping's eyes are no longer satisfied with the domestic arena! He is also determined to win this "Fujitsu Cup" ticket.

For the rise of Qian Yuping, this is also the biggest change that Li Xiaoqiang can feel after his rebirth, in addition to the changes he has brought to the Go world.

At such a critical moment, in such an important set. 15-year-old Li Xiaoqiang met Qian Yuping in such a state. What will be the final outcome of this game?

Li Xiaoqiang is still trying to find his own opportunities. (To be continued......)