At 11:00 am Korean time, the Samsung Cup semi-final match between Li Xiangping and Liu Changhe was played in 16 moves. The 16th move was the "Second Road Small Tip", which was also the highlight of the whole "Mi's Flying Knife".
This move was actually made by Li Xiangping at 10:20, which was about 20 minutes after the start of the game. After that, Liu Changhe's 17th move was delayed.
"It's strange, what is Chang He thinking about?" said Cao Xunxuan, 9th dan, in the on-site research room.
"It's strange. What on earth is the world's best attacker thinking about? Is there so much to think about in this game of chess?" Gu Dali, Kong Erjie and others said this at the Chinese Chess Institute.
"Haha, he's been thinking for a long time. You see, Jueyi forced his opponent to think for a long time, but what is Liu thinking about now?" On major websites, people who were watching the live broadcast asked this question.
Inside the game room, Li Xiangping sat calmly in his seat, quietly waiting for his opponent's move.
As one of the two people in the world who knows the "Mi's Flying Dagger" best (the other one is of course his plug-in Lao Shi), Li Xiangping believes that at this moment, he should be the one who knows best what his opponent is thinking during this period of time.
All of this starts with the characteristics of this "Mi's Flying Knife".
Although the "Mi's Flying Knife" is called a "flying knife", the changes after this are also extremely complicated. However, Li Xiangping knows that this "flying knife" is not as lethal as imagined. As mentioned earlier, the original purpose of this move was just to grab a first move in a local area. It was a place where the opponent was originally going to fall behind, and he used this method to forcibly grab a first move.
It is precisely because of this original situation that the original attribute of this "Second Road Small Tip" is determined: this is actually a move with a strong defensive meaning!
In other words, it is precisely because of the defensive nature of this move that the destructive power of this "Mi's Flying Dagger" actually depends entirely on the opponent's attitude towards this move.
If your opponent thinks this move is a bit excessive, a bit forced, or even a bit unreasonable, and wants to "punish, punish", then I'm sorry, you may have gone astray. This "flying knife" has a very strong rebound ability. If you want to use force on it, there will be countless clever moves and hidden traps waiting for you.
And if you can look at this move with a relatively calm attitude, just like a normal move, and choose a normal response, then the power of this flying knife will not be so great. Although the subsequent changes are equally complicated, in the end, it is still just a "two-point" situation, and it may even be a "two-point situation" where black has a slightly better chance.
It is precisely because he understood the basic characteristics of this "Mi's Flying Knife" that he was able to guess why Liu Changhe had not made a move yet.
When he first saw the "second-row small tip" move, his first instinct was definitely to punish this move. Li Xiangping believed that there should be no doubt about this.
After all, this was the first time that Liu Jiudan had seen the "Mi's Flying Dagger". Any professional chess player, especially a professional chess player of Liu Changhe's level, would definitely feel that this move was a bit excessive and that he must fight back.
Therefore, Li Xiangping believed that during the period when his opponent was thinking for a long time, at the beginning stage, he must been checking the means of counterattack. However, during the checking process, he found that these means of counterattack seemed to be invalid and could not achieve the effect he wanted, which was why he did not make a move.
Li Xiangping certainly didn't know how long Liu Changhe had been checking the numbers, but by observing his expression, Li Xiangping felt happy to see that Liu Changhe was in a dilemma.
Li Xiangping had studied chess formally for a period of time. He knew that Liu Changhe's current dilemma was actually the dilemma that a chess player would feel after doing "useless work" in the game. Therefore, while Li Xiangping was secretly happy, he actually felt a little regretful.
Since Liu Changhe, the ninth dan, showed such an expression, it meant that in the next process, he would most likely dodge this "flying knife".
"What a pity! It would be great if this was the first time I played against him, but unfortunately this is the second game of a three-game match. This game is a do-or-die battle for the opponent, and there are three online games ahead. Therefore, facing this 'Mi's Flying Dagger', if it were any other chess player of this era, I believe no one would be able to dodge it, except for Liu Changhe. He might be able to dodge it..."
Li Xiangping's guess is certainly not without reason. This time it was "Mi's Flying Dagger", and the last time it was a "Yigai Variation". Whether it is "Mi's Flying Dagger" or "Yigai Variation", in fact, from a broad perspective, they are both local means in Go.
So, since I traveled through time, who has the deepest understanding and the most profound impression of "my" partial methods? Then without a doubt, it is of course the opponent in front of me.
It is for this reason that Li Xiangping believes that his opponent is likely to dodge the flying knife.
However, Li Xiangping's regret was only fleeting, because he knew that even if the opponent could dodge the flying knife, he would not suffer any loss after all, right? Anyway, in the end, he could still get a "two points" result, even if it was a "two points" with a slightly worse situation for white chess. However, don't forget that so far, the opponent has spent several times more time than himself.
Li Xiangping believed that in a competition of this level, if one could gain an advantage in time, it would definitely offset the "slightly worse" two-point disadvantage.
At around 11:10, after nearly 50 minutes of thinking, Liu Changhe finally made his move. He made the 17th move of the game.
Li Xiangping looked carefully, and when he saw clearly how his opponent responded, he felt even happier.
Li Xiangping's previous guess was correct, Liu Changhe was not stabbed, but the move he just made was not the best response according to later research.
Because if you practice this response all the way, in the end, although there are still "two points", they are "two points" in which Black cannot gain any advantage, and may even be "two points" in which White has a slightly better advantage.
This is why Li Xiangping is in a good mood.
Relying on his familiarity with this change, Li Xiangping was in a good mood. He did not wait for his plug-in to give any instructions, and he quickly made the next move on the chessboard.
After making his move, Li Xiangping smiled at his opponent.
It must be admitted that Li Xiangping is in a very good mood now, because this method of pressing the opponent in terms of time makes him feel like he is playing a guiding game.
Considering that he is now “coaching” one of the best players of this era, a six-time world champion in real history, Li Xiangping certainly has reason to feel jealous.
This refreshing feeling lasted until about 2 p.m., when the game lasted a total of 3 hours and more than 50 moves.
Because up to now, the entire chess game process has not deviated from the scope of "Mi's Flying Dagger", and all the playing methods have been studied by later generations. Therefore, up to now, all the chess games have been played by Li Xiangping himself, and almost all of his chess games are shot in seconds.
As for his opponent, he seemed to be pondering over almost every move, and he would take a long time to think carefully before making a move.
This of course made Li Xiangping feel very happy.
What Li Xiangping didn't expect was that what interrupted his enjoyment was actually his own plug-in.
At around 2:15 in the afternoon, Liu Changhe had just made the 57th move of the game. Strictly speaking, this move still did not deviate from the category of "Mi's Flying Dagger" in later generations, and Li Xiangping could continue to enjoy about 10 moves.
At this time, Lao Shi's voice suddenly sounded. He had not spoken for a long time before and suddenly spoke:
"Friend Xiang Ping, please place your move somewhere now..."
Since the two have worked together so many times, Li Xiangping almost subconsciously followed Lao Shi's instructions.
But after making the move, Li Xiangping was a little dumbfounded.
Because this move has never been mentioned in later generations.
In other words, Mr. Shi's move has gone beyond the scope of research by later generations.
"Brother Ding... Brother Ding'an, what is the meaning of your chess game..."