Just after New Year's Day in 1997, a new world chess championship was launched. Li Xiaoqiang went to Seoul, South Korea with many national players. Participated in the first important international tournament of the year - the first "Samsung Fire Cup" World Professional Go Open.

There are a bit more Chinese players going to South Korea to participate in this competition, more than in any previous World Championship, with a total of 8 players. In addition, the team leader, translators, accompanying reporters, and more than 10 people from the Chinese delegation were bustling and lively.

Giving so many places to the Chinese team is certainly not a sudden kindness on the part of the South Korean side. It's the difference between the Samsung Cup and previous World Series. In the past, whether it was the "Ying's Cup", "Fujitsu Cup" or "Toyo Securities Cup", the main tournament had a lineup of 24 players. However, in the Samsung Cup, the number of players who can participate in the tournament has been expanded to 32.

Not only that, but there are other differences in the "Samsung Cup". How so? If we say that in the past, although all the world championships were titled "world championships", in terms of their scale and operation methods, they can only be called "invitational tournaments" at best. But the "Samsung Cup" is different, it has not only expanded in size, but also increased the qualifiers before the main event. Theoretically, any professional chess player, even an amateur chess player, as long as he wants to participate in the "Samsung Cup", he can sign up.

That's what makes the "Samsung Cup" different. It can be said that the emergence of the "Samsung Cup" created a precedent for the "Open Tournament", a professional tournament of Go. From this time on, the world chess world will gradually enter the era of the "open" of the world series.

"Xiaoqiang, what are you thinking?" Arriving in South Korea, at the opening ceremony of the first "Samsung Cup", reporter Zhang Da saw Li Xiaoqiang looking absent-minded, so he asked.

"Hehe, nothing.?" Li Xiaoqiang ignored reporter Zhang Da and continued to look thoughtful. Fortunately, Li Xiaoqiang is often like this. Reporter Zhang Da is not surprised.

Li Xiaoqiang really didn't think about any profound questions, he just attended the opening ceremony of the first "Samsung Cup", and he was just recalling the "glorious history" of the "Samsung Cup".

In real history, early world competitions such as the Fujitsu Cup and the Toyo Securities Cup were discontinued for various reasons. The "Ying's Cup" is held every four years. In addition to these three major competitions in the early years, there are also short-lived "Toyota Cup", "BC Card Cup", and the intermittent "Qiuju Cup". These matches are joined by the "Samsung Cup" and the upcoming "LG Cup". These were the most important world championships in the world chess world before Li Xiaoqiang's rebirth

In so many world competitions, it can be said that it has been held until the end, and it can be seen every year. That is, the "Samsung Cup" and the "LG Cup" held by Koreans. These two competitions can be said to be a living history of modern Go after it entered the new century. In these two competitions, countless wonderful stories of modern Go were staged. Whenever these two tournaments are played, it can be said that it is a festival for Go lovers.

What makes Li Xiaoqiang find interesting is that when it comes to the "Samsung Cup" and "LG Cup", their competitions are similar in scale and format. Compared to the tournament budget and championship prize money, the "LG Cup" has always been a little higher. But when it comes to attention and topicality, it seems that the "Samsung Cup" has always been slightly better.

There's really no other reason for that. Speaking of which, we can only blame the bad luck of the "LG Cup". If you look at the history of the "LG Cup", you will find that there are many cases of "sweeping" in this competition. Players from the same country won the championship and runner-up, and players from the same country won the top four...... Such a situation has appeared many times in the history of the "LG Cup".

A game of Go. Of course, the more attention is attracted to the back, but if there is a "wrap-up" phenomenon, the attention of the game will naturally be greatly reduced. Attention is reduced, then for the advertising benefit of the game. Naturally, this is not good news for the sponsors of the competition. On the other hand, looking at the "Samsung Cup", this "all-encompassing" phenomenon does not mean that there is none. But it's much less than the "LG Cup".

Therefore, there seem to be many more wonderful stories happening in the "Samsung Cup" than in the "LG Cup".

For example, the most wonderful "Catch and Release Cao" in the "Samsung Cup". In a certain "Samsung Cup" in real history, among the top 8 produced, there were 7 Chinese chess players, and the other was Cao Yanzi. At that time, Chinese Go was still in the "dark decade", and Li Xiaoqiang remembered that when this result came out, many chess fans, including himself, cheered, saying that the champion of this competition should not be able to run. However, the final result of that tournament left all Chinese chess fans stunned, and they could only continue to be saddened. Because of the final champion of that competition...... It's still Cao Yanzi.

If Cao Yanzi won and people had nothing to say, it would be okay, but he won several games of chess behind him. Especially in the top 8 against Luo Shen Pig, it can be said that Cao Yanzi has long been on the verge of despair, and Luo Shen Pig has countless ways to win chess. But in the end, Luo Shenzhu took an incredible way to lose......

In addition to the classic "Catch and Release Cao", "Samsung Cup" also staged the hot battle between Ma Xiaofei and Li Shifo, Chang Rensheng's bitter fight against Cao Li's master and apprentice, and the competition between Gu Dali and Li Shishi in later generations, etc. Countless wonderful stories have been staged at the "Samsung Cup", and chess anecdotes such as the grievances between Ma Xiaofei and Samsung have also been talked about by chess fans. This is the "Samsung Cup" in real history. A pretty good game, a fairly successful event. This is his evaluation of the "Samsung Cup" in Li Xiaoqiang's mind.

"So with me joining in this life, what element can I add to this competition?" What will happen to the history of the Samsung Cup......

This is what flashed through Li Xiaoqiang's mind when he participated in the opening ceremony of the first "Samsung Cup".

"Xiaoqiang, Xiaoqiang, don't be in a daze, the host asked you to go up and draw lots."

"Oh?"

Zhang Da, a reporter next to him, pushed Li Xiaoqiang and pulled him back from the state of fugue. The number of participants in the "Samsung Cup" has been expanded to 32, so there is no such thing as a "seeded player". Li Xiaoqiang, like all chess players, had to start from the first round.

Compared with other world competitions, there is another difference in the first "Samsung Cup". It did not, like other competitions, in order to highlight the "cosmopolitan" nature of the game, to bring some European and American amateur chess players over to make up the numbers. In the first "Samsung Cup", there were not even any places reserved for Taipei players, which may also be a misconsideration of the organizers.

Of course. The organizers are not completely unaware of the so-called "cosmopolitan", and in the top 32 list, there are 8 Chinese players, 10 Japanese players, and 12 Korean players. That's already 30 places.

The other two players participated, one of whom was Mr. Cha Min-so, a Korean-American chess player. This time, I represented the Americas. This guy ate mixed rice in Las Vegas, and was once a Korean professional fourth-dan, and in the World Series in previous years, he also had a record of reaching the top 8 several times. Mr. Cha Min-so also has a good relationship with the Chinese Go community.

Long before the first "Ying's Cup", China and South Korea did not have diplomatic relations at that time. Naturally, there are few opportunities for Chinese and Korean chess players to communicate. But Nie Whirlwind and Cao Yanzi once played two unofficial games in the United States under the mediation of Mr. Cha Min-so. The two games were tied 1-1.

In addition to Cha Min-so, another participating chess player is Wu Songsheng Jiudan. Mr. Wu Songsheng is a chess player of the same generation as Chen Chaoyue. In the Chinese chess world in the 60s, there used to be a saying about the "Chen Wu era". Chen, is Chen Chaoyue, Wu, is Wu Songsheng. Chen Chaoyue is China's No. 1 Jiudan, and Wu is No. 2. Next is the Nie Whirlwind. However, Mr. Wu Songsheng retired from the Chinese chess scene very early, and he is currently settled in Australia, so many Chinese chess fans are not familiar with him. Mr. Wu Songsheng also represented Australia in the competition this time.

After the draw results of the first round of the match came out, Li Xiaoqiang's game did not receive much attention. Because his opponent is the Korean chess player Kim In-9 dan. Kim Yin Kudan is a veteran chess player. He is the second overlord of Korean Go after Cho Nam-chul. In the 70s, Cao Yanzi returned from Japan, and he took over the scepter of Korean Go from Kim Yin Jiudan.

Although Jin Yin Jiudan is also a figure who has been the overlord, compared with the current Li Xiaoqiang...... Whoever would think that this is a game of strength and weakness. Therefore, it is natural that such a game will not receive much attention.

In fact, in the 1st round. Most of the matches look strong and weak. This is the characteristic of the world chess scene in this era, although there are many top chess players, but the competition is far less fierce than in later generations. This if it is placed in the Hereafter. It's normal for a large number of world champions to fail the qualifiers. But in this day and age, it's normal to have one or two upsets once in a while, and it's almost unthinkable to have a lot of upsets in one game.

In the first round of the tournament, the Chinese chess players' signings were neither good nor bad, and it can also be said that some people are good and some are bad.

For example, Li Xiaoqiang played against Jin Yin, and Ma Xiaofei drew Wu Songsheng, which is of course a good sign. Chang Rensheng encountered Cao Yanzi, and Yu Bin met Zhao Zhixun sadly again. This is naturally a bad sign in the traditional sense. In addition to these obviously good and obviously bad signs. Nie Whirlwind VS Japan's Tianyuan Liu Shixun, Liu Da Hammer against South Korea's No. 5 Liang Jaehao, such a signing can only be regarded as not bad or bad.

Of course, in addition to these matchups, there are also some special signings.

"Liu Da, come on, try to cut Lao Xu tomorrow."

This is what Li Xiaoqiang said to Liu Da after the results of the first round of the match. As the champion of the World Amateur Go Championship last year, Liu Da also qualified for this year's "Samsung Cup". And his opponent is Seo Bong-so 9 dan.

After listening to Li Xiaoqiang's words, Liu Da smirked:

"I'll fight for it......"

The draw ceremony is over, and the first round of matches will begin immediately. This is the first major tournament in the world chess arena since it entered 97 years. This is also Li Xiaoqiang's first battle of the new year.

What will happen in the inaugural "Samsung Cup"?

In the second day of the game after the draw ceremony, Li Xiaoqiang's game did not have any accidents, and he easily won the opponent to advance to the second round. However, at the same time as Li Xiaoqiang won, the faces of Hua Leader and reporter Zhang Da, who led the team to South Korea to participate in the competition, were not very good-looking.

Because in the first round of the first "Samsung Cup", there was a super upset. (To be continued.) )

PS: Although I can't think of any new tricks to ask for tickets, I still continue to ask for monthly passes! Ask for a commuter pass!! Ask for a monthly pass!! Ahhhh