It was mid-October 2000, and this year's "Samsung Cup" qualifiers were about to begin. On this day, Li Xiangping was preparing to go to Seoul, South Korea, to participate in this competition with more than 20 other Chinese chess players. On this day, it happened to be Li Xiangping.

Traveling through Xiangping for a full 2 ​​months.

As of this year, the "Samsung Cup" is already its 5th. In this competition, the performance of Chinese chess players has not been good. In the first 4 competitions, except for the first championship that was taken away by the Japanese player Noriki Yoda.

, in fact, all three championships were taken away by Korean chess players without exception, and it was taken away by Lee Cang-ho 9th Dan alone.

In other words, "Stone Buddha" Li Canghao just won three consecutive championships in this competition!

This is also the first time since the establishment of the World Go Championship that a player has won three consecutive championships in the same competition.

Among the previous competitions, what impressed Chinese chess fans the most, or what everyone felt most regretful about, was the just-concluded 4th "Samsung Cup" final.

This final is between Chinese chess players Ma Xiaofei 9th Dan and Li Canghao competing for the championship. When they first saw this final combination, almost no one was optimistic about Ma 9th Dan.

After all, Li Canghao is Ma Xiaofei's super tough opponent. Since the two met for the first time in the World Series finals in 1996, and Li Canghao won the "Toyo Securities Cup" with a score of 3-1, Ma Xiaofei was basically suppressed by him and could not move.

In the following years, Li Canghao even achieved a 10-game winning streak against Ma Xiaofei, which made Chinese chess fans extremely depressed.

However, in this edition of the "Samsung Cup", Ma Jiuduan burst out with strong fighting power with high fighting spirit - looking back in hindsight, Li Xiangping even believed that this was the last highlight of a generation of Chinese Go geniuses in the international arena.

time.

In the first three games of the fifth round of chess, Ma Xiaofei led 2 to 1. Not only did he lead in terms of score, but from the content of the chess, Ma Jiuduan also played very fulfillingly. But just when the Chinese chess fans were refreshed, South Korea

However, they modified the schedule without authorization and postponed the last two games of the final...

This little move by the Korean greatly affected Ma Xiaofei, who was naturally sensitive. He seemed to be discouraged. He lost both games in the finals, making Li Canghao's third consecutive championship.

This year's Samsung Cup started under this background. According to common sense, the Chinese delegation should have a "tragic" atmosphere at this time. However, it did not. When Li Xiangping boarded the plane with the large troops,

He didn't feel anything "tragic", but only relaxed.

Li Xiangping thinks about it. Chinese players have not won the world championship in five years. So the runner-up Ma Xiaofei won last year is already the best result of Chinese Go in recent years, not to mention that it is now the qualifiers, and the distance is

The championship is still very early, so at this time, how can everyone be "tragic"?

"Jueyi, come on, let's chat, hey! Why do you look a little nervous? Haha, why are you nervous? Let me tell you, with a master like you participating in this competition, it's others who should be nervous.

, everyone thinks so...”

It was Gu Dali who was joking like this with Li Xiangping. Among the more than 20 chess players who went to South Korea to compete this time, Li Xiangping was undoubtedly the most eye-catching one. First of all, because of his young age.

He is the second youngest member of the Chinese delegation except Chen Yaoyue. Secondly, because of his status as an amateur chess player, he is the only amateur chess player among all participating players.

Of course, what really makes him attract so much attention is because everyone now knows that this person is the "unrivaled artist". He has maintained a complete victory on Qingfeng.com, defeated the national team masters repeatedly, and has a unique chess style, novel moves, and new skills for novices.

There are endless "unique arts".

Now that such a person appears in the Chinese delegation, it is of course difficult to avoid attracting attention. The older chess players may be more reserved, but the group of national youth team members headed by Gu Dali cannot control it.

There are so many people. After all, this group of people is only 3 to 5 years older than Li Xiangping on average. When everyone got on the plane, this group of people surrounded Li Xiangping.

No, to be precise, they surrounded Li Xiangping and Chen Yaoyue, because since they met Chen Yaoyue in the "Fangyuan Chess and Card Room" that day, the two of them have been hanging out together every day in the past few days, and the future "Leopard Head" has almost become Li Xiangping now.

Xiangping's little follower.

"I'm not nervous, I was just...just thinking about other things."

When he first got on the plane, Li Xiangping was only communicating with Lao Shi in his body, so it might seem a little absent-minded to outsiders. Now that he heard Gu Dali talking to him, he could only stop talking to him.

comminicate.

"What are you thinking about? Haha, you kid is so weird at chess. Are you thinking of some weird moves?"

Of course Li Xiangping knew that Gu Dali was joking, but he responded in a joking tone:

"Yeah! Brother Gu is awesome, you have seen this. I saw that even a plane ticket is so expensive, and I was just about to think of some new tricks to earn back the money for the ticket."

Everyone laughed when they heard what Li Xiangping said. Of course, no one believed that he was really thinking about some "weird trick" at this time. However, Li Xiangping's words brought out a new topic among the chess players, which was about "earning air tickets."

money" thing.

Because the Samsung Cup adopts an "open" competition system, which is considered a pioneering work in the Go world these days. Different from previous world competitions, the Samsung Cup is characterized by "high bonuses and low game fees."

As for the qualifiers that are about to start, although there is a match fee for the qualifiers, the match fee is extremely low.

Some chess players once calculated that only by winning 4 games in the qualifiers can they barely earn back the money for their round-trip air tickets. Only by winning 5 games can they earn back the accommodation and food expenses during their stay in South Korea.

Since the entire qualifier usually only lasts for 5 rounds, and in rare cases it will go to the 6th round. In other words, only by ensuring that you can qualify in the qualifier can you ensure that you don't have to pay for your participation in South Korea this time.

It is for this reason that Li Xiangping's words resonated with many chess players. Because most of the professional chess players these days are not rich, and only the top group can really earn high bonuses. So in this kind of situation,

Under the competition system, when many chess players consider whether to participate in this competition, they really weigh it in their hearts.

Of course, the chess players who can board the plane today basically don’t have to consider this issue. Some of these chess players are confident in their own strength and think that they are sure to pass the pre-selection. Some players can think that he has a "career".

He wants to make a difference in the professional chess world, so he is unwilling to miss any competition opportunity.

There are also some chess players, such as Chen Yaoyue, who is participating in the competition this time. He is unanimously favored by everyone because of his chess talent. He is one of the key players in the country to train, so his club pays to send him to South Korea to compete and train.

.

"Haha, you kid, you have decided to earn back your air ticket money so early. You seem to be very confident in your qualifications?"

"Haha, you're talking nonsense. How can I have any confidence? Isn't it just because I have no desires and desires that I can talk about this? But I see you, Brother Gu, you must be holding back your energy to think of something.

A breakthrough, right?"

As soon as Li Xiangping said this, everyone laughed. Gu Dali's face even turned red when Li Xiangping said it. He smiled awkwardly:

"You kid..."

Li Xiangping laughed and said to himself, "Gu Lun". These days, Gu Dali is still "Gu Lun". What he just said touched his point.

Amid everyone's chatter and laughter, South Korea arrived soon. After a short rest, when Li Xiangping was the only one left, he took a deep breath and said to his plug-in:
Chapter completed!