In September 2000, the first "World Chess Holy War" comprehensive preliminary selection was officially launched. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Due to the huge scale of the competition, there were 128 candidates for the "tournament", and almost all professional chess players in the world signed up for the qualifiers. Therefore, the organizers did not arrange the first round of qualifiers to be held in the same venue, but set up three sub-venues in China, Japan and South Korea.

The principle of who plays in which division is also very simple: after the draw, the ages of the two players are compared, the older one stays in the country, and the younger one comes to challenge him.

Chinese Chess Academy. After the end of the first round of comprehensive preliminaries, Nie Whirlwind's hearty laughter came:

"Haha, I still want to play such chess to bully my old comrades, do you really think I can't play chess now? . . ."

In recent years, Lao Nie has rarely appeared on the international stage, and unless he gets a wild card, he will definitely not be willing to condescend in the general qualifiers. But for this competition, in Lao Nie's own words:

"I will participate in this tournament no matter what, even if I am 80 years old, as long as this tournament is still there, as long as I can still play chess, then I will definitely sign up...

Korean Chess Academy. Cao Yanzi is currently ranked No. 4 in the world, and he does not have to participate in the qualifiers, but he still loudly reminds other Korean players:

"Everyone, pay attention, before this competition, it is best for everyone to familiarize themselves with the Chinese rules, because this competition uses Chinese rules. If there are unnecessary mistakes due to the rules, don't blame me for not reminding everyone in advance... ”

Nippon Chess Academy. Due to the age structure of Japanese chess players, the first round of the "World Chess Holy War" qualifiers was the largest in Japan.

Mr. Masao Kato, the current chairman of the Japan Chess Academy, is instructing a staff member of the Japan Chess Academy:

"Quick, send an email to all professional chess players, due to the emergence of this tournament, the schedule of some tournaments may have to be readjusted...

This is the change brought about by this competition, and some of the changes may seem insignificant, but in fact they have a profound impact on the whole world chess world.

Of course, these changes are happening off the field, and the stadium itself has not generated much of a hot spot at the moment. Since it was a cross-year tournament, 2000 was just a qualifier and the first few rounds, and the real heavyweight battle will take place in 2001.

Therefore, throughout the year 2000, the main hot spots in the world chess scene took place in those traditional tournaments.

"Throughout 2000, Li Xiaoqiang's dominance loosened slightly!"

This is a summary of a review article by reporter Zhang Da at the end of 2000.

"Hey, hey, saying my dominance is declining? Why don't I feel that my dominance has declined, Zhang Da reporter, you have to know, this year's situation is just more special... ”

Regarding reporter Zhang Da's statement, the first to disagree was Li Xiaoqiang himself.

"You're embarrassed to say that from '97 to '99, you won 3 world championships every year, and this year there are so many world championships, but you only won 2, isn't this a decline in dominance?"

"I said that this year's situation is more special, haven't you seen several games where I lost to my own people...

Li Xiaoqiang continued to argue. Reporter Zhang Da is right, and what Li Xiaoqiang said is not wrong.

Throughout 2000, Li Xiaoqiang remained the world's best player. In August, Li Xiaoqiang won this year's "Fujitsu Cup" championship, which is the second World Series "triple championship" achieved by Li Xiaoqiang after the "Samsung Cup", and it is also the fifth time that Li Xiaoqiang has won the "Fujitsu Cup" and broke the record of four crowns in Mr. Takemiya's "Asian Cup".

Many people were puzzled as to why Li Xiaoqiang was so energetic as soon as he arrived at the "Fujitsu Cup", but Lin Mengyu said something that broke the sky:

"Of course, as long as he wins one more game in the Fujitsu Cup, he can go to Japan one more time...

In addition to the "Fujitsu Cup", Li Xiaoqiang also won the 4th "Yingshi Cup" and reached the first "Toyota Cup" final. However, the "Toyota Cup" is also held every two years, and the champion will be produced next year.

Such a result is enough to help Li Xiaoqiang consolidate his position as "No. 1 in the world". Of course, in addition to these competitions, in several other world competitions, Li Xiaoqiang's performance was not satisfactory, which is also the reason why Zhang Da reporter believes that Li Xiaoqiang's "dominance has declined".

And the reason why Li Xiaoqiang dares to speak out is because this year's situation is indeed a bit special, and he has been eliminated by Chinese chess players in several competitions.

The first is the "LG Cup", as a competition that has never been touched by the championship, Li Xiaoqiang was originally the most concerned about the "LG Cup", but it turns out that "fate" is really unclear. Li Xiaoqiang worked hard all the way to the semi-finals, and at this stage, the situation of the Chinese team was very good, Li Xiaoqiang, Yu Bin, and Chang Rensheng occupied 3 places in the top 4, and the other top 4 player was South Korea's Liu Changhyuk.

It was then that Li Xiaoqiang relaxed a little, losing to Yu Bin in the semi-finals, while on the other side, world No. 6 Chang Rensheng was defeated by world No. 5 Yoo Chang-hyuk.

At this time, Yu Bin is facing a lot of pressure, and if he loses to Liu Changhe in the final, it will definitely attract a lot of scolding. Fortunately, Yu Bin withstood the pressure, and in the final, he brought his chess style of "fishing first and then washing" to the extreme, and finally defeated Liu Changhe with a score of 3-1. Because of this victory, Yu Bin became China's fourth Go world champion.

The situation of the "LC Cup" is like this, and the situation of the "Qiu Ju Cup" is similar, the only difference is that the one who eliminated Li Xiaoqiang this time was replaced by Ma Xiaofei. And Ma Xiaofei also lived up to expectations, after he eliminated Li Xiaoqiang to enter the final, he defeated Wang Licheng in the final to win the championship. This is Ma Xiaofei's third crown, and because of this victory, Ma Xiaofei also fulfilled his promise at the beginning of the year to "win another world championship".

Although Li Xiaoqiang's "dominance" has decreased slightly, throughout 2000, Chinese chess players have shown their strength, attacking all sides in various world competitions, and winning one after another. The only fish that slipped through the net was this year's "Samsung Cup".

This year's "Samsung Cup" is also Li Xiaoqiang's worst competition this year.

It's still Yoo Chang-hyuk, the assassin-like Yoo Chang-hyuk! It was he who eliminated Li Xiaoqiang in the top 8. And Li Xiaoqiang's loss is also Li Xiaoqiang's only loss to foreign chess players this year, which is also the reason why Li Xiaoqiang is unwilling to admit that his "dominance" has declined the most.

After Liu Changhe defeated Li Xiaoqiang, this time he did not make a wedding dress for others, he also worked hard all the way to the final, and defeated Cao Yanzi in the final to win the championship.

In so many competitions, there doesn't seem to be anything about Li Shifo, who is ranked No. 2 in the world. Not necessarily. Because in several games in which Li Xiaoqiang won the championship, Li Xiaoqiang defeated Li Shifo to win the championship.

"Fujitsu Cup", Li Xiaoqiang defeated Li Shifo to win the championship, the 4th "Yingshi Cup", Li Xiaoqiang defeated Li Shifo again with a score of 3 to 1 to win the championship, and the ongoing "Toyota Cup", it was also Li Xiaoqiang and Li Shifo who entered the finals.

Although there are no new world champions on the books, Li Shifo still firmly occupies the second place in the world with his consistent performances. And being able to continue to firmly suppress Li Shifo is also the most satisfying thing for Li Xiaoqiang this year, and it is also one of the reasons why he is unwilling to admit that his "dominance" has declined.

"When it comes to dominance, I think I'm okay with my dominance on the international stage, but on the domestic stage, I've really never established dominance."

At the end of 2000, Li Xiaoqiang felt like this. Regarding Li Xiaoqiang's words, reporter Zhang Da smiled and expressed his understanding.

Li Xiaoqiang is talking about the "celebrity war" in China. In this year's "Celebrity Battle", Li Xiaoqiang continued to challenge once every other year, and Li Xiaoqiang continued to challenge and lose with a score of 2-3.

Because of this victory, Ma Xiaofei has achieved ten consecutive hegemony in China's "celebrity war"!

Although Li Xiaoqiang still occupies the most titles in China, because of the "celebrity war", Li Xiaoqiang must admit that his dominance in China is insufficient.

With the end of the domestic "celebrity war", Li Xiaoqiang's entire 2000 season is over, and the new year is coming.

"This year is like this, you say that there is no problem with your dominance, then it mainly depends on your performance in 01."

"Hey, hey."

The most important tournament of the whole of 2001 was, of course, the newly created "World Chess Holy War". And when reporter Zhang Da said this to Li Xiaoqiang, it was when the "World Chess Holy War" was in full swing.

After the previous large-scale qualifiers and the first two rounds of the "tournament", the first "World Chess Holy War" has produced the top 32. Because this tournament is not a random draw, but the seeding players are determined according to the world ranking, and this tournament does not consider the principle of "avoiding players from the same country". Therefore, in the previous game, it cannot be said that there are no cases of strong and strong encounters, but there are not many.

For example, Li Xiaoqiang and Li Shifo, because they are ranked first and second in the world respectively, it is impossible for them to meet in the semifinals unless the two meet in the final.

But to be able to enter the top 32 in such a competition, it can be said that there is no good stubble. It's a player who is a little lacking in strength, but can enter the top 32, which definitely means that he is in good shape.

For example, Li Xiaoqiang's opponent in the top 32 is the current reigning "celebrity" Kiki Ita in Japan. And Li Xiaoqiang's first battle in 2001 started with this game of chess.

Yitian Jiji can also be regarded as Li Xiaoqiang's old opponent, thinking of the upcoming game, Li Xiaoqiang stretched his waist:

"Then let's start here..." (To be continued.) )