Chapter 87 The opportunity to become famous has arrived
"Ha! He's starting to show off. Look everyone, Jueyi is showing off again."
"Seeing this hand tip charge, I feel relieved. Jueyi Boss will definitely win today."
"You must have drunk too much upstairs in the middle of the day. What right do you have to say that?"
"The one upstairs is new, right? Everyone in Qingfeng knows that Jueyi's boss is always uncomfortable if he doesn't use extravagant tricks. The more extravagant tricks he uses, the faster he wins..."
Since this is only the quarterfinals stage, and the quarterfinals of Go competitions are rarely broadcast on TV these days, the main way for domestic Go fans to learn about this game is to watch the live broadcast on the Internet.
The live broadcast on the Internet and the actual combat are not synchronized. It is already past 12 noon. From the chats of the majority of the spectators, we know that Qingfeng.com has just broadcast the "sharp charge" step.
However, although the live broadcast is not synchronized, the guest chess commentator invited by Qingfeng.com is no simple person. He is Chang Hao, the number one player in the domestic ranking. You should know that the so-called "Qingfeng Eight" is composed of the six of the "Seven Little Dragons" excluding Chang Hao plus two other professional chess players. Now Qingfeng.com can invite Chang Hao to comment on the game, which shows how much importance they attach to this game.
Strictly speaking, Chang Hao is not particularly suitable for online commentary, not because he is not good at chess, but because his typing speed is not good. Therefore, at this point in the live broadcast, apart from the opening remarks, Chang Hao actually said very little, just showing a few reference pictures.
At this step, of course, it was impossible not to explain. Fortunately, the website had been prepared and assigned an assistant to Chang Hao. Chang Hao explained and the assistant was responsible for typing:
"Haha, Black actually played this? Seeing this 'Sharp Charge' move, I can only say that it was Li Xiangping... Yes, that's our Jueyi boss. He is very relaxed right now and plays very unrestrainedly..."
Chang Hao used this sentence as his opening remark, and the crowd didn't feel anything after hearing it, because everyone knew that the so-called "unrestrained" in his speech actually meant the same thing as "wavering".
Chang Hao continued, "But as for this sharp charge, I'll tell you the truth. Although this move is very cool, professional chess players rarely play it this way. At least I don't dare to play it this way. Why do I say that? Because in the eyes of professional chess players, the first impression of this move is that it is suspected of being 'harmful'..."
"... By now, I believe everyone should have some understanding of Mr. Wu Qingyuan's 'Sharp Charge at Worry-Free Corner'? That move is currently very controversial in the professional Go community. Those who support Mr. Wu think it is a good move, while those who oppose it think it is a bad move. Why is there such a disagreement? This actually involves the judgment of the chess shape of 'Worry-Free Corner'. If you think that 'Worry-Free Corner' is a good shape and efficient, then it is difficult to agree with this 'Sharp Charge'. However, Mr. Wu believes that although 'Worry-Free Corner' is a good shape, its efficiency is by no means sufficient. This is the theoretical basis for his 'Sharp Charge'..."
"...Let's put aside Mr. Wu's 'Sharp Charge without Worry' for now, and now look at Li Xiangping's 'Sharp Charge'. Now everyone should be able to understand why so few chess players dare to play it this way, right? Because this move is a step wider than 'Sharp Charge without Worry'. If 'Sharp Charge without Worry' is a loss, then this move is even more lossy. Therefore, for a move like this, I think only Jueyi dares to play it this way. Anyway, I don't dare to play it this way..."
Chang Hao spoke so much in a vain manner, and the onlookers finally understood that he personally disagreed with this move. Come to think of it, Chang Hao is not his master Nie Dazui, so if he wants to express his opinion, he must speak in a more tactful way.
At this time, a chess fan asked: "So Chang Jiudan, do you think this move is a bad one?"
"No, no, no, I didn't say that..." Chang Hao quickly clarified:
"All I can say now is that I personally don't understand the meaning of this move. The intention of this move is unclear. Haha, that's right. The intention of this move is unclear..."
It must be admitted that what Chang Hao said just now was indeed the truth, because let alone in 2001, even in 2018, 17 years later, when the Go AI made this move, the most common phrase said by professional players was actually "unclear intention."
Of course, for most of the people watching the live broadcast, not many people care about the technical content of this move. Apart from thinking that this move is a bit "wacky", everyone is more concerned about the progress of the game and whether Jueyi, who made such a wacky move, can still win this time.
So what is the trend of this chess game?
When Chang Hao was explaining the "sharp charge" move, it was nearly 1 p.m. Beijing time, which means it was nearly 2 p.m. Korean time. At this time, the whole game had actually been played for more than 60 moves.
At this time, Old Nie, who was far away in Korea, was analyzing the game of chess to his only audience with great excitement:
"Haha, what did I say yesterday? I said that we have a better chance of winning this time. A big advantage! A big advantage! Li Xiangping's black pieces are in a big advantage now. If I had white pieces, I would probably just admit defeat now."
It's not really appropriate to ask Lao Nie to come to Korea. After all, a person like him would be the center of attention wherever he goes in China. Even if he goes to Japan, Lao Nie would be surrounded by many guests. But when he comes to Korea...
Therefore, in real history, Lao Nie rarely went to South Korea.
But today, the neglected Old Nie still couldn't hide his enthusiasm. Facing the only listener, Zhou the translator, he enthusiastically analyzed the situation on the chessboard:
"Why do I say that? Xiao Zhou, let me analyze the situation with you. At present, the spheres of influence of both sides have been divided, and there are no isolated pieces. So it is estimated that it will be difficult for a big battle to occur in the future... This is a game of empty space. Now let's take a look at the real space comparison between the two sides. The black piece has 15 points in the upper left corner and about 12 points on the right..."
Old Nie really looked at that:
"…So far, Black's basic position is 60 points strong. Let's help Li Xiangping calculate more carefully and assume that he has 60 points. As for White, we have just counted and it only has 55 points at most. This number is actually a bit far-fetched. Let's assume that he has 55 points. Then, Xiao Zhou, do you think Black has a big advantage now?"
There is one problem that Lao Nie did not mention in his judgment, which is that in modern Go rules, the black pieces have to give the white pieces 6.5 points. However, the translator Zhou is not a rookie, and he understood Lao Nie's judgment as soon as he heard it:
"Not bad, not bad. In our previous judgment, we did not take into account the forces in the middle of the board. In this game, one, two, three... In the middle of the board, Black has three more pieces than White. This way, Black's control over the middle of the board must be stronger, so Black is indeed in a great advantage now..."
"Haha, that's what I mean..." Old Nie laughed, and even gave Zhou the translator a look that said "you're pretty good":
"We have just judged that the basic space of black chess is enough to compete with the overall situation of white chess. These three moves are completely in vain. Although it is still early and we don't know how many points these moves can achieve, it is definitely possible to achieve 5 to 10 points. Even if it can't achieve that, it is impossible that it can't achieve even 1 point. Therefore, black chess has a definite advantage now."
Seeing that Old Nie was so excited, Zhou the translator continued to ask, "Teacher Nie, I'm confused. When I saw the black chess piece's 'sharp charge' move, I heard the Korean chess players present say that this move would damage the real territory and was not a good move. But why is it that up to now, the real territory of the black chess piece is not bad at all?"
It was obvious that Old Nie had never thought highly of Korean chess players. After listening to what Zhou had said, Old Nie said with disdain, "Haha, what do these Korean chess players know about chess? Xiao Zhou, let me tell you, the main reason why Black was able to take the lead in the empty space was due to this 'sharp charge'."
"Oh? What do you mean, Mr. Nie?"
"this……"
To be honest, Old Nie just said that casually. As for Zhou's question, Old Nie couldn't answer it now.
But Old Nie is Old Nie after all, so he just laughed it off:
"Haha, your question is quite profound. I won't explain it today. If I really want to explain it to you, it will probably take three days and three nights to finish. Come on, let's watch the chess game now. Let's continue watching the chess game and see when Li Xiangping can defeat his opponent..."
So what is the story behind this game of chess?
There is really not much of a story. You have to know that today's opponent is an orthodox player. One of the characteristics of an orthodox player is that they are more disciplined when playing chess. When they are at a disadvantage, they don't have many options.
Since Black had already gained such a big advantage after more than 60 moves, the orthodox player Yamada, 8th dan, certainly had no chance of winning against the great chess master Shi.
This was indeed the case. At 4:30 p.m., with less than 170 moves remaining, seeing that the gap was too big and there was no way to turn the tide, Yamada, 8th Dan, gracefully chose to admit defeat in the middle of the game.
In this way, Li Xiangping entered the top four of the world championship. This was the first game to end among the four games.
This is actually not the focus of today. The focus is after the game is over.
After the game
At about 6 o'clock in the evening, the two came back excitedly, and when they saw Li Xiangping and Lao Nie, they shouted:
"Haha, Li Xiangping, it's time for you to become famous."
"Um?"
Li Xiangping stared at Old Nie in confusion. Finally, it was Zhou the translator who explained:
"Xiang Ping, do you know who the other top four contestants are?"
"Who is it?"
"They are the three kings of Korea."
Translator Zhou said with a smile: "With Lao Cao in the first round, Xiangping, you have the chance to meet the four great kings of Korea in a single jump."