In mid-November 1999, Li Xiaoqiang, Ma Xiaofei, Yu Bin and others went to South Korea to participate in the semi-finals of the 3rd "LG Cup". Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

"Of all the world competitions, I seem to have the shallowest relationship with the "LG Cup", not only have I never won the championship, but I haven't even made it to the finals, so I hope I can make a breakthrough this time... ”

When it comes to the semi-finals, it is customary for chess players to "say a few words" before the game. Li Xiaoqiang and Li Shifo have fought dozens of times, and there is really nothing else to say, so Li Xiaoqiang had to use "fate" to talk about it again.

But what Li Xiaoqiang said was the truth. At present, there are 2 domestic and international competitions, and Li Xiaoqiang's results have not been very good. Domestically, it is a "celebrity battle", while internationally it is the "LG Cup".

It has been more than 10 years since he won the "celebrity" for the first time at the age of 13, and Li Xiaoqiang has never had a chance with the "celebrity" again. In the world of Go, it is indeed difficult to explain the fate between this kind of chess player and chess battle.

In that year, Mr. Takakawa Ge of Japan created 9 consecutive hegemony in the "Ben Yin Fang War", which should be the first consecutive hegemony record in all news chess battles. Mr. Takakawa, who set a record, once said a "famous saying":

"The reason why I was able to set this record is all thanks to Mr. Tosakata."

The real situation is indeed the case, during his 9 consecutive hegemony, he did not wait for Mr. Sakata's challenge. And Mr. Sakata experienced the nightmarish "Shengxian Gorge Reversal", and after 10 years, he once again appeared on the challenge stage of the "Honinbo War". The fully matured Sakata Eio never gave Takakawa a chance again, and he personally ended his opponent's streak of dominance.

A similar example is Kobayashi Koji's 8 consecutive hegemony in the "Chess Holy War". After snatching the title of "Chess Saint" from Zhao Zhixun after the "wheelchair war", Kobayashi Koji's road to hegemony was not all smooth sailing, including many dangerous situations, and even faced desperate situations, such as Mr. Yamashiro Hiroshi's challenge, but no matter how dangerous and difficult the situation, Kobayashi can survive. He seemed to keep the title for Zhao Zhixun, and only when Zhao Zhixun appeared on the stage of "Chess Holy War" again after 8 years, Mr. Kobayashi personally returned the title to Zhao Zhixun.

This is the story of the "fate" between the chess player and the chess battle. Of course, these two examples are special, and they are full of all kinds of coincidences, but it is precisely because of these coincidences that these "stories of fate" have become eternal classics in the Go world.

And Li Xiaoqiang's story is different from others, in the "celebrity war", Li Xiaoqiang often challenges, especially in recent years, Li Xiaoqiang basically challenges every other year, but no matter how hard Li Xiaoqiang tries, he has never been able to regain the title of "celebrity".

This is one of the things that makes Li Xiaoqiang more depressed, because he can't regain the title of "celebrity", which makes Li Xiaoqiang's hegemony in China always have a gap, because of the existence of "Ma Celebrity", which makes the domestic chess world not so lonely.

The domestic "celebrity war" will definitely become a classic in the future, but in this classic story, Li Xiaoqiang will be reduced to a supporting role, which is where Li Xiaoqiang feels depressed.

Domestically, it is a "celebrity battle", and internationally, it is the "LG Cup". Although the "LG Cup" is still a short year, it is only the third year this year. But a lot of things are like this, and what I'm afraid of is that there are contrasts. Take the "LG Cup" and "Samsung Cup" as examples, these two competitions are similar in terms of establishment time, competition format and prize scale, but Li Xiaoqiang has unlimited glory in the "Samsung Cup", not only winning the first two championships, but also reaching the final of the third competition, and is very hopeful of winning the first three consecutive championships in the world series. So compared with the "Samsung Cup", the fate of Li Xiaoqiang and the "LG Cup" does not seem very good. Even in the first two "LG Cup" that have ended, there is a so-called "Li Xiaoqiang's curse", that is, anyone who defeats Li Xiaoqiang in the "LG Cup" will not be able to win the championship in the end.

Li Xiaoqiang was defeated by Li Shifo in the first competition, but the final champion was Liu Changhe. In the second competition, Li Xiaoqiang was blocked by Liu Changhyuk, but in the end, he achieved the first championship of Mr. Wang Licheng of Japan in the world competition.

For this situation, Li Xiaoqiang himself also finds it very interesting. In the previous life, the "LG Cup" was a hotbed of unpopularity. Many of the first crowns of the "One Champion Group" were won in the "LG Cup", but I did not expect that in this world, this characteristic of the "LG Cup" has not changed.

In the face of this phenomenon, Li Xiaoqiang estimates that the most depressed should be the sponsor of the competition. In any competitive event, "upsets" are certainly a good attraction, but in any case, "upsets" will never be as attractive as "peak showdowns".

Take Li Xiaoqiang and Li Shifo's "eight chess" this time, the competition between the two in the "LG Cup" is definitely not as attractive as the battle in the "Samsung Cup".

There is no other reason, because this "LG Cup" is only a semi-final, and the "Samsung Cup" is a final. Therefore, there are prerequisites for the so-called peak showdown, in addition to the competition at the highest level, there must also be a highest stage. And this encounter between Li Xiaoqiang and Li Shifo is obviously a little bit less meaningful.

Although it is a little bit less meaningful, this is a match between Li Xiaoqiang and Li Shifo after all, and it is still the highest level of competition in today's chess world. Especially just a few days ago, the old god stick ranked Li Shifo's Go talent in front of Li Xiaoqiang. You must know that this situation is actually very abnormal, and it is actually difficult for the "second" in any era and any field to get such a high evaluation. Therefore, everyone is interested in this competition, and everyone wants to see why Li Shifo deserves such praise from the old god.

The semi-finals of the "LG Cup" were launched in such a situation, and the game did not disappoint everyone, Li Xiaoqiang and Li Shifo The competition between the two was extremely fierce, and the chess game was wonderful.

On the third day after Li Xiaoqiang's arrival in South Korea, the first two games of the semi-final trilogy ended. The other side of the finals has been produced, and the dominant Ma Xiaofei defeated Yu Bin with a score of 2-0 and reached the World Series finals for the second time this year.

And Li Xiaoqiang and Li Shifo scored 1 to 1 in the first two games, like many previous encounters between the two, this time ushered in a tiebreaker again.

Although the score was 1 to 1, judging from the content shown in the first two chess games, it was Li Shifo who received more praise this time.

The game that Li Shifo won was a crushing victory, and the game that Li Xiaoqiang won, judging from the content, was also Li Shifo's obvious victory, and Li Xiaoqiang's victory had a large part of the luck component.

“。。 In the ongoing "LG Cup" semi-finals, Li Shifo seems to have completed a gorgeous transformation, he showed a new self to the world, and Li Xiaoqiang unexpectedly fell into a bitter battle. After the first two games are tied at 1-1, what will the tiebreaker look like? Let's wait and see... ”

"Refreshing Li Shifo! His new style is a sight to behold. Li Xiaoqiang seems to be extremely uncomfortable with Li Shifo's new style, and now it's really rare to see him so embarrassed... ”

“。。。 The process of this year's LG Cup semi-finals was completely unexpected, and Li Shifo looked clearly more prepared, and his outstanding performance forced Li Xiaoqiang to scramble. But Li Xiaoqiang is Li Xiaoqiang after all, and in front of Li Shifo, who played perfectly, he still won a victory. In the face of a new Li Shifo, how Li Xiaoqiang adjusts will be the key to the victory or defeat of the decisive game... ”

This was the mainstream media coverage of the event after the first two innings. And in Li Xiaoqiang's own view, these reports are also in line with the basic facts.

On the day between the games, on the first day of the decisive game, at the hotel where he stayed, Li Xiaoqiang frowned on the first two chess games, thoughtful. Zhang Da, who has been accompanying Li Xiaoqiang, asked:

"Xiaoqiang, what's the situation now? This time's "Shangguan Jinhong"... It doesn't look like it's the same as before. ”

Li Xiaoqiang did not immediately answer Zhang Da's question, he turned his head and asked Ma Xiaofei and Yu Bin, who were studying the chess game with him:

"Mr. Ma, what do you think of these two games?"

"A prodigy is a prodigy after all... Ma Xiaofei, who broke into the World Series finals again, seems to be in a good mood, but after everyone has studied the first two games of chess together, Ma Xiaofei's expression is not relaxed now:

“。。。 I didn't believe Mr. Xiuyuki's claim that he was even more talented than you, but after seeing these two games, I must admit that the old god stick said something like that. Originally, in most cases, it is very difficult for ordinary people to complete the transformation of chess style, especially after changing the style, it can be perfectly integrated with their previous characteristics, which is even more difficult. Judging from these two games, if it's just him playing from a super level, it's nothing, if it's already his normal level... “

Ma Xiaofei glanced at Li Xiaoqiang: "... Then Xiaoqiang, you have to be careful. ”

Ma Xiaofei said a lot, but reporter Zhang Da heard it:

"What is the perfect blend? What is the normal level and super-level play, I said, can you two be clear? ”

Li Xiaoqiang explained reporter Zhang Da's question in one sentence:

"Reporter Zhang Da, let me ask you, we all said before, who is Li Shifo's style very similar to?"

"This... Li Shifo takes the path of "control flow", if you want to find someone with a similar style to him, it should be Japan's Xiuce or Kobayashi Koji. ”

"We discussed again some time ago that Li Shifo's chess style seems to be quietly changing, and his current chess style is becoming more proactive. If he had now fused the two perfectly, playing an aggressive flow of control, what would have become of his move? ”

"Ahh That... What do you mean... ”

"Yes, the opponent I face tomorrow will be Koji Kobayashi, who is active in chess, or a strengthened version of Hidece." (To be continued.) )