Chapter 71: The Charm of Chess
After a day's rest, the fifth "Samsung Cup" round of 16 continued at the Chinese Chess Institute.
Just like the first round, on the day of the competition, Li Xiangping arrived at the Chinese Chess Institute early and entered the game room early, waiting for the arrival of today's opponent, Mr. Kato Masao.
Compared to the first round, Li Xiangping was in a much more relaxed mood today. Although Li Xiangping said a lot of good things about his opponent when introducing him to Lao Shi yesterday, and warned himself not to underestimate the enemy, to be honest, that was all Li Xiangping meant.
How to say it? Although Li Xiangping would not regard Mr. Kato as a weakling, he still has more confidence in today's game from the perspective of winning or losing. After all, although Mr. Kato is strong, he can't be more difficult than Lao Cao, especially nowadays, Lao Cao's performance in world chess competitions is much better than Kato. Especially for Chinese chess players, Lao Cao is the second biggest enemy besides Li. The so-called "Iron Curtain of Master and Apprentice Cao and Li" is simply the nightmare of Chinese Go in this era.
Since Lao Shi could even beat Lao Cao, Li Xiangping is of course more confident about today's game.
At 10 o'clock in the morning, the game officially started. In this game, Mr. Kato guessed that it was black. Today, Mr. Kato seemed to be well prepared. He made the first few moves very quickly, without thinking at all.
However, after Li Xiangping saw Mr. Kato's opening, even though his opponent seemed to be well prepared, Li Xiangping's already relaxed mood became even more relaxed. He even felt that just based on Mr. Kato's opening, his chances of winning would be a few points greater.
It is certainly impossible to make any obviously bad moves or particularly problematic moves at the beginning of a game of chess , but why does Li Xiangping think so?
First, Mr. Kato chose the "diagonal" opening today. Although he did not play the "diagonal star" like in medieval chess, he chose two "small eyes", which can be regarded as "diagonal small eyes".
However, Li Xiangping still believes that because of the "seat", chess players like Lao Shi should have a deeper understanding of the "diagonal" layout. Although it cannot be said that playing like this will definitely achieve something, the opening chosen by Mr. Kato is definitely "exactly what Lao Shi wants."
In addition to this reason, the second reason why Li Xiangping was happy was Mr. Kato's third and fourth moves, which were the fifth and seventh moves in the overall game.
Facing the black chess's "diagonal small eye", the great chess master Shih had nothing to say, and he responded with his most familiar "diagonal star". In Mr. Kato's third move, he firmly guarded a "worry-free corner". When the white chess "Xiaofei" hung another small eye, Mr. Kato's fourth move was another very stable one.
He took a steady “small pointed” step, the famous “Shusaku ’s small pointed”!
How should I put it? It should be said that Mr. Kato's first few moves, even in this era, have no problems at all. They are "irreproachable" moves in this era. And through these moves, it can be seen that Mr. Kato's thinking in playing this game is very clear. He obviously wants to prolong the battle line and is determined to "fish first and then wash".
However, who is Li Xiangping? He comes from the future, has seen "dog tricks" and is accustomed to "big points". So of course he looks down on this steady and almost conservative way of playing. Since he looks down on it, he has reason to relax and feel that his side has a better chance of winning.
However, Li Xiangping's good mood only lasted for about an hour. At 11 o'clock in the morning, after more than 20 moves, Li Xiangping didn't know whether his judgment was correct. In short, he felt that at this time, the white pieces did not gain the advantage he expected, so his good mood gradually disappeared.
By the time the game was closed at noon, there were more than 40 moves in the whole game. The speed of this game was similar to the first game. However, compared with the "two points" in the first game, Li Xiangping felt that at this point, the situation of the white chess pieces seemed to be a little behind, so his good mood completely disappeared.
Interestingly, Li Xiangping felt that the situation was lagging behind at this time, but his cheater didn't think so. During the lunch break, Shi Daqisheng, who seemed to be in a good mood, even took the initiative to talk to Li Xiangping:
"Friend Xiang Ping, what do you think of my previous performance?"
"It's not good, Brother Ding'an. Excuse me, but I think your performance this morning was average. At this point in the game, we are already behind."
"Eh? Why do you feel this way, little friend Xiang Ping? I think I played well before. I dare not say that I have gained an advantage, but the overall situation of white chess is open, so I think I have opened up the situation."
"this……"
Although he knew that his cheating skills were better than his own, Li Xiangping was not blindly confident in his cheating skills at this time. As the saying goes, "You have never eaten pork, but you have never seen a pig run." Li Xiangping, who had come into contact with "dog moves" and witnessed the later Go concepts, was exactly the kind of person who "saw a pig run." Therefore, he did not waver this time and believed that his judgment might be closer to the truth.
"Since you feel that we are lagging behind, my friend Xiangping, I wonder which move Ding'an made wrongly in your opinion?"
"this……"
It must be admitted that Lao Shi's question really stumped Li Xiangping. You have to know that this is only the layout stage of a game of Go, and the layout in Go is all about "virtual calculations". Asking him, a professional at the level of 6, to analyze other people's "virtual calculations" is certainly difficult enough for him.
"What exactly is the problem..."
In order to answer Old Shi's question and to respect his own heart, Li Xiangping went over the morning's progress in his mind again, especially every move made by the great chess master Shi. He went over each move very carefully. After a while, Li Xiangping finally thought of a move:
"By the way, Brother Ding'an, I think the problem with your 'split bet' in move 32 might be the cause."
"Friend Xiang Ping actually thinks that the 'split throw' move is a problem?"
Hearing the disapproving tone of Chess Master Shi, Li Xiangping didn't know what to say.
Speaking of "dividing investments", chess players with some chess skills will naturally think of the famous "jianhe" theory in Go. "Jianhe" is a Japanese word. To explain this word in the most common language, it means that when playing chess, you must be foresighted and have follow-up measures. For example, when I make a move, it would be best to leave two "good points" on the board, so that no matter which one the opponent makes, I can leave a good point for myself.
This is called "seeing the harmony".
It must be admitted that this concept has a unique charm and a meaning of "having the best of both worlds". Therefore, this concept is very popular in the Go community and is considered one of the most common and widely used theories in the Go community.
It must be mentioned in particular that although "见合" is a Japanese word, this concept also existed in medieval chess, but it was not mentioned in this way.
For example, the famous "Nine, three-point shot" is a typical move derived from the "seeing combination" theory.
Why did Li Xiangping not know what to say? Actually, this is the reason. You should know that the chess master Shi Da is very fond of the theory of "seeing the combination". In the medieval chess, the reason why "nine, three-point throw" can be elevated to the height of "only this move" is actually largely due to his contribution.
However, Li Xiangping did not know whether his point of view was correct or not. Especially after seeing the "dog moves" in later generations, he found that Go AI rarely plays "matching" chess, especially the top "dog" and top "dog" moves. The kind of play where I make the next move and leave two good points on the board, and you make the next move and I grab one is even rarer.
As an amateur chess player, Li Xiangping certainly didn't know why this was the case. It was just because the "dog" didn't play like that, and considering that the "dog"'s level was much higher than that of humans, Li Xiangping just tried to understand it.
Li Xiangping believes that the reason why the "dog" does not play the "seeing and matching" move is probably because this way of playing makes it easy to lose the dominant position. After all, after playing the "seeing and matching" move, it is correct to leave two good points, but which good point to choose? The right to choose is in the hands of the opponent, and this kind of play that leaves the right to choose to the opponent, Go AI does not like it at all, and its algorithm does not have this kind of human thinking at all.
"Okay, Brother Ding'an, just pretend I didn't say anything. Anyway, I think the current situation for White is not optimistic. You need to be more proactive this afternoon."
After exchanging a few words with Lao Shi, Li Xiangping decided not to say anything. After all, it was noon and the market was closed, and it was not appropriate to communicate too much at this time.
Secondly, even until now, Li Xiangping still does not think there is any problem with the "Jianhe" theory. Even if the "dog" does not play "Jianhe", the dog's level is much higher than that of humans. But Li Xiangping still believes that the "Jianhe" theory is one of the shining points of human Go and has a unique charm.
It is the unique charm of human Go!
It’s a pity that Li Xiangping really shouldn’t have mentioned the word “charm”, because when the game resumed at 1 pm, Mr. Kato’s first move was the 48th move in the game.
This is a good move full of charm!
After seeing this move, the great chess master Shi fell into long thought.
