Chapter 17: Fighting in Qingfeng
Having made up his mind, Li Xiangping started playing chess on Qingfeng.com using the account "Jueyi".
He knew that if he wanted to play against "Long Feihu", then this account had to be eye-catching enough to show enough strength. And if he wanted to show his strength on the Go website, the most common and direct way was, of course, to directly upgrade to 9D with an undefeated record, becoming the so-called "straight 9".
The starting rank of Qingfeng.com can be registered as 5D. According to the rule that winning 20 games in a row can be promoted to 2 levels, if you want to be promoted to 9D on Qingfeng.com, theoretically you only need to win 40 games in a row. To be honest, this is not difficult. Even Li Xiangping himself had several accounts that were promoted to 9D in his previous life, not to mention that he now has a "hack".
However, as a "veteran", Li Xiangping knows very well that the greatest difficulty in achieving this goal does not come from his own strength, but from preventing various "accidents".
These "accidents" mainly fall into three categories: the first is network instability and disconnection accidents, the second is encountering cheaters, and the third is encountering "landmines".
Thanks to the existence of Lao Shi, encountering "land mines" is no longer a problem. From a certain perspective, Li Xiangping even hopes to encounter "land mines" in this process.
Because only masters are qualified to be "mines", and there are only so many Go masters in China. This is a very small circle. To be honest, if one can step on a "mine" and directly reach 9D, then it will be difficult for the "Jueyi" account not to attract attention.
"Landmines" are not a problem, but Li Xiangping has no way to deal with the first two "accidents". He has no way to stop people from cheating, nor can he prevent disconnection problems.
It was for this reason that Li Xiangping was so cautious during the upgrade process.
He carefully selects each opponent. This selection is not based on the opponent's strength, but on the opponent's chess quality. As long as the opponent has a very high disconnection rate, Li Xiangping will resolutely not play with him. This is the valuable experience Li Xiangping has gained from playing chess online for many years.
It was precisely because of this cautiousness that the upgrade was particularly slow this time. Although he had plenty of time in the hospital, he still played less than 10 games a day. It took him and Lao Shi a full 4 and a half days to achieve 35 consecutive wins, and they were only 5 games away from upgrading to 9D.
On the evening of the 5th day, Li Xiangping had dinner early and then logged on to Qingfeng.com, preparing to complete the mission of helicopter 9D in one night.
After logging into the website, the first thing Li Xiangping saw was an announcement pinned to the top of the website:
"The 7-on-7 competition between Qingfeng 'Yipintang' and 'Leimeng' will officially start at 7pm tonight. All chess friends are welcome to come and support us."
Li Xiangping smiled slightly. Nowadays, there are countless Go websites and various Go clubs, and the competitions organized by Go friends themselves are also varied. This can be considered a feature of this era.
If it is limited to amateurs, there are actually more online competitions these days than in later generations. Therefore, when Li Xiangping first saw this announcement, he didn't care much.
But when he saw the vanguards of both sides and the two familiar accounts, Li Xiangping was happy. He said to Lao Shi: "Brother Ding'an, how about we wait a minute to play chess today and watch a game first?"
There are so many chess competitions these days, almost every day, so many that even Old Shi is a little immune to them:
"Well, why is that? Could it be that these two people are extremely skilled?"
"Haha, the level of these two is not that high. Let alone you, Brother Ding'an, even I have the confidence to defeat them. It's just that I happen to know both of them. They are my acquaintances."
"acquaintance?"
"That's right. Let's start with 'Lei Meng's' vanguard 'Vaishen Tianwang'. Brother Ding'an, do you remember the game we played two days ago? The one you said had an opponent close to 'second-hand' level?"
Of course Old Shi had an impression of this. You have to know that two days ago, "Jueyi" was only on a 5D 17-game winning streak, and to encounter what Old Shi called "close to second-hand level" in Qingfeng 5D, it must have been a "minefield". In fact, during these few days, that opponent had the highest level, so Old Shi must have an impression of him.
Lao Shi did not respond, but he remembered something else: "Oh, by the way, I see this one is called 'Vaishen Tianwang', and we met a 'Duowen Tianwang' a few days ago. Could it be that these two..."
Li Xiangping nodded: "Yes, these two are the same person. This person founded the Axe Gang in Lianzhong, but also set up a 'Thunder League' in Qingfeng. The so-called 'Thunder League' actually means 'Landmine Alliance'. For example, the chess player we met that day must be a 'landmine'. These people's favorite thing to do is to play the pig and eat the tiger, and they enjoy blocking others from getting promoted."
"Haha, so that's how it is. Interesting, quite interesting."
Seeing that Lao Shi seemed a little unimpressed, Li Xiangping decided to give him some more explosive material:
"Brother Ding'an, you have been here for some time now, so you must be aware of the current controversy over ancient chess. The Go community is currently divided into two factions, one that devalues the ancients, and the other that reveres the ancients. This literary king is an extreme devaluer of the ancients. He often publishes articles on forums, belittling your chess skills to the utmost. He even thinks that you, a great chess master, may not be able to beat him."
Hearing this, Old Shi fell silent.
In addition to playing chess these days, Li Xiangping also took him to visit the forum, with the aim of letting him understand the current situation in the Go community. Of course, he had already heard about the most popular "Ancient and Modern Dispute" in the Go forum.
Old Shi did not respond to this, but changed the subject: "What about the other side, this 'evil gentleman' who is the pioneer of 'Yipintang', who is this person?"
Hearing what Lao Shi said, Li Xiangping smiled slightly. He simply replied with a few words:
"This one is my father."
"Hahaha, it turns out to be your father. No wonder. Fine then, let's not play chess for now so that we can cheer for your father."
Li Xiangping laughed with Old Shi for a while, and then added: "If Duo Wen is an extreme detractor of the ancients, then my father is an extreme admirer of the ancients. By the way, my father also highly respects Brother Ding'an. For example, why I am called this name now, Brother Ding'an must have guessed it now."
Old Shi nodded: "If I had a son, I'd want him to be like Sun Zhongmou."
Li Xiangping laughed when he heard this. He didn't expect that the great chess master Shi Xiangxia would say such a thing.
Li Xiangping continued to say to Lao Shi: "Not only is my father a member of the Chonggu faction, but the Yipintang where my father is located is actually organized by a group of Chonggu enthusiasts. So, Brother Ding'an, you now know that this competition organized by these two gangs is actually a head-on confrontation between the Chonggu faction and the Chonggu faction."
Since Li Xiangping has explained so much, there is of course nothing more to say. There are reasons why this game is a must-watch.
Next, the two of them were not busy playing chess, but waiting for the vanguard battle between "Yipintang" and "Leimeng".
While waiting, Lao Shi asked Li Xiangping, "Since you are familiar with these two, how do you think the next game will turn out?"
Li Xiangping smiled slightly: "I personally hope that my father can win, but to be honest, compared with his opponent, my father is probably not strong enough, and his chances of winning are slim."
Li Xiangping was speaking the truth. His father, Li Yuanhu, was also at the top 5, and a relatively strong top 5, otherwise he would not have represented Yipintang. However, compared with Duowen, an amateur master at the provincial championship level, his level was not good enough. He could not say that he had no chance, but he was definitely at a disadvantage.
"Alright, Brother Ding'an, don't say any more. Now that they are here, let's just watch the chess first. As for their level, Brother Ding'an can judge for himself later."
At 7 o'clock in the evening, the match between "Vaishen Tianwang" and "Evil Gentleman" officially began. Although it was also a slow game of one hour for each side, since it was an amateur match, the speed was definitely faster. Before 7:30, both sides had played more than 50 moves.
From this time on, Li Xiangping began to ask Lao Shi to comment on the chess skills of both sides. This was also the thing that Li Xiangping liked to ask Lao Shi to do most besides playing chess these days.
"The genealogy handed down from generation to generation has been off track. Since the holy dynasty, many celebrities have emerged, and they are outstanding predecessors. For example, Zhou Donghou's novelty, Zhou Lanyu's meticulousness, Wang Hannian's excellence, and Huang Longshi's profoundness. Among them, Xu Xingyou is better in purity, Lou Zien is better in clarity and agility, Wu Laiyi is better in meticulousness, Liang Weijin is better in cleverness, Cheng Lanru is better in solidity, and Fan Xiping is better in vigor and strength..."
Just think about it, such a high-level comment came from the mouth of Lao Shi, so Li Xiangping felt that even if they were not playing chess, listening to Lao Shi's comments would be a very interesting thing.
"Brother Ding'an, what do you think of the level of these two?"
"Yes, yes. I have seen your father play chess in a very detached and untainted way. Although I have only taken advantage of the opportunity, I have gained a glimpse of the art. It is not something that someone with only a superficial understanding can imitate..."
Li Xiangping interrupted him with a smile: "Brother Ding'an, don't be so pretentious. Let's get to the point . Just tell me what his level is."
"Well... your father has already acquired the strength of 'third hand'. Yes, that's right, third hand..."
Li Xiangping continued to interrupt him with a smile: "Brother Ding'an, that's too polite, I see. If you say that, then you must think that he hasn't reached the 'third hand' yet, and at most barely reached the 'fourth hand' level, right?"
“This… hehe.”
"What do you think of this 'Vaiśravaṇa'? What level is he at?"
Hearing Li Xiangping's question, Lao Shi became a little more serious:
"You are asking about Duo Wen. Well, although he has only a few dozen moves, he can tell the whole story. Judging from the progress so far, he has truly reached the level of 'third move'."
Hearing this, Li Xiangping laughed: "Haha, so you think he is only at the 'third hand' level..."
But before Li Xiangping finished speaking, he suddenly heard Lao Shi say:
"Oh! This is bad. Your father has made a wrong move. The situation may take a turn for the worse."