Happy Chinese New Year, Year of the Ox! In the sound of firecrackers, we ushered in the traditional Chinese New Year, and Lao Xiao gave everyone a New Year's greeting and thanked all the teachers and friends for their continuous support.
Looking back at the history of modern Go, the year of the ox, which has left countless wonderful marks.
1949: New China is born and modern Go is born
Our great new China was born in 1949, and that year was the Year of the Ox. As in all fields, Chinese Go has entered a new era, and a new chapter has slowly opened. Modern Go is the beginning, the long road is ahead, and the task is heavy and long.
Liu Dihuai and Guo Tisheng, the two representative masters of Chinese Go who came from the old era, played six rounds of lifting and descending matches and ten rounds of lifting and lowering in Shanghai, showing the highest level of Chinese Go at that time. Later, Hua Yigang, who was the president of the China Chess Academy, was born that year and cried with the new Chinese Go for the first time.
In 1949, in Japan, the "adoptive mother" of Go, Kunosuke Fujisawa (later Tomosai Fujisawa) became the first nine-dan in the history of modern Go through the big hand combination (ascending stage game). This was somewhat controversial at the time, because according to the Japanese Go tradition, only "celebrities" could be called kudan, and there could only be one in the world. The course of history proves that this change has been very successful, With Go entering a new system and modern Go breaking free from the shackles of the old system and embarking on the fast track of development.
Marshal Chen Yi watched the young Hua Yigang (right) play against Wang Runan
1961: New Chinese chess players enter the stage of history
Twelve years later, another year of the ox, Chinese Go gradually transitioned from the old era to the new era, and the chess players trained by new China began to appear on the historical stage. This year, the national Go training was held for the first time in Beijing, and a group of young chess players such as Chen Zude steadily moved towards the domestic first-class level.
This Year of the Ox, the second Japanese Go delegation in the history of New China's Go to visit China, will be the main player to cheer up the eight dan. For the first time, the Sino-Japanese competition adopted the point-first format, which showed the confidence and morale of Chinese chess players. But the difference in strength is obvious, the only female chess player in the Japanese delegation, Tomoe Ito, won all five battles and eight battles, killing the old Chinese chess players with their hands shaking constantly. This is a sad page in the history of Chinese Go, but it is this humiliation that makes Chinese chess players feel ashamed and brave, angry and strong.
Chen Zude appeared in this Sino-Japanese confrontation, he fought five games against Japanese Hero Ando, two consecutive wins after three consecutive defeats, and the hope of Chinese Go sprouted in young people.
In Japan, Showa's sage Wu Qingyuan, who conquered all of Japan's top masters with juban chess, suffered a car accident and his chess career went downhill. After ten years, the strongest player after Master Wu, Sakata Einan, finally regained the right to challenge Honinbo, and defeated Hidekazu Takakawa, who had achieved nine consecutive hegemonic feats of Inokata, with a score of 4-1, and the era of terror and plunder began.
Chen Zude fiercely fought the hero Ofo, and Marshal Chen Yi watched the battle
1973: The contemporary mighty man blows the trumpet
It was another zodiac reincarnation, and in 1973, in the Year of the Ox, Chinese Go was already played by a new generation of chess players. This year, the seven-year hiatus of the Japanese Go delegation's visit to China was renewed, and the Japanese protagonist will be a generation of great tycoon Sakata Einan. What is unexpected is that Mr. Sakata, who also swept through thousands of armies in Japan, actually fell in front of the Chinese chess player Shen Guosun, which was the first time that a Chinese chess player defeated the Japanese title king, which was of great significance. In this competition, the Japanese side sent out the super first-class master Masao Kato who was in the limelight soon after, and the Chinese side, Nie Weiping's name was also prominently listed. The first confrontation between the two masters ended with Kato's victory, and no one at the time could have predicted that they would become the leaders of Sino-Japanese Go.
In this year, the Japanese Chess Academy posthumously awarded Marshal Chen Yi, the advocate of Chinese Go, as an honorary eight-dan, and the marshal's strong support for Go was equally grateful to the Chinese and Japanese chess circles.
The Japanese chess world has also begun to change dynasties, and Sakata Eio is still stubbornly maintaining the honor of Taisho chess players, and continues to hold the laurels in competitions such as the Japanese chess academy player quan and the ten-dan battle, but the biggest stage has been occupied by the new generation of Lin Haifeng, Ishida Yoshio and others. In the celebrity battle, Lin Haifeng faced the challenge of Yoshio Ishida and staged the first earth-shattering reversal of three consecutive defeats and four consecutive victories in the history of modern Go, and the "two waists" shocked the chess world.
In this Year of the Ox, the Korean chess world, which was not yet recognized by Chinese chess fans, also ushered in a major event: Cho Kao-hyun, who returned from Japan the previous year, won the first title of his chess career in 1973 - the highest champion, and he defeated the Korean chess leader Kim In at the time. Perhaps more important than this glory was a defeat for Cho, who was sniped at by Seo Bong-so. Cao Xuan-hyun, who successfully won the celebrity challenge, was unexpectedly defeated by the "celebrity of the second stage" Seo Bong-so at the challenge tournament with a 3-1 kill, and the dream of quickly unifying the Korean chess world was disappointed, and South Korean public opinion was in an uproar. This battle opened the prelude to the Battle of Cao Xu and also left Cao Xuanxuan in South Korea. In this sense, Seo Bong-so's contribution to the development of Go in Korea is absolutely enormous.
In 1973, the great heroes of the new era of the Three Kingdoms tried a small test, and the wall was about to be broken.
The Battle of Cao Xu lasted for decades
1985: An epoch-making victory in the Sino-Japanese Ring
Another twelve years. In the past twelve years, the chess world has undergone earth-shaking changes, a new order has been established, and major events have been one after another.
In the chess world in 1985, the most shocking event was undoubtedly the victory of the Chinese Go team in the first Sino-Japanese Go Tournament, which was an epoch-making victory in the history of Go. Chinese master Nie Weiping Lianke Japan's two super-first-class chess players Kobayashi Koichi, Masao Kato and the main general Hideyuki Fujisawa, Chinese Go has finally caught up with the pace of Japanese Go, Nie Weiping has become a national hero, and Go has been paid unprecedented attention in China.
In that year's Sino-Japanese Go Tournament, in the face of visiting Japanese first-class giants such as Eio Sakata, Kunihisa Honda, Akira Sakai, Akira Ishida, and Shuzo Awaji, the Chinese players fought into a draw, showing that our overall strength has also been able to fight with Japan. In the first China-Japan Championship Individual Match, the first China-Japan TV Quick Chess Tournament, Ma Xiaochun defeated Einan Sakata to win the first round. From groups to individuals, we are growing at a rapid pace.
In May of that year, Wu Qingyuan, a giant of Go, returned to China and visited Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and other places, and his master style made the Chinese chess community admire.
In the domestic chess world, Ma Xiaochun already controlled the right to speak, and the only title battle at that time, the New Sports Cup, was pocketed by him. However, in the national Go individual competition, Shanxi chess player Fang Tianfeng pushed Ma Xiaochun to win the championship, with this amazing battle, Fang Tianfeng was concerned by the Japanese chess community.
In 1985, the Japanese chess world was already the leader of the six super leagues, and they laid the most brilliant cornerstone of contemporary Japanese Go. The "modern three" Zhao Zhixun, Kobayashi Koichi, and Takemiya Masaki respectively held the three crowns of Chess Saint, Celebrity and Ben infang, and Masao Kato, Hero Otake, and Lin Haifeng were in hot pursuit, and the other powerful people could only look at the title and sigh.
It was also this year that a humble "small thing" in the Korean chess world at that time affected the future course of Go: Cho Kao-hyun included Lee Chang-ho under his wing, and a new generation of chess gods aimed at the highest point of the chess world with Mu Ne's eyes.
In 1985, the world chess world was ready to build up momentum, and it was about to soar.
Historic victory for the Chinese team in the first tournament
1997: A whole new world
In the Year of the Ox in 1997, the world of Go has fully entered a new era, the trend of "three-legged standing" has been formed for several years, and the Japanese Go that is nearly a hundred years ahead of the world has revealed a hint of old age, and the Korean Go that has sprung up is looking at the tiger.
After two years of trial implementation, the Chinese Go grading system was officially implemented in 1997, which is an important step to break the ranking of seniors in the chess world, and it has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
The Chinese chess world has ushered in a new generation of leaders, Chang Hao occupies the first place in the rank score, Tianyuan defeated Ma Xiaochun 3-1 in the battle, and the "Nie Ma era" gradually entered our memories. Various title battles in China were fought at the same time, and Wang Lei, Shao Weigang, Ding Wei, Luo Xiehe and other young dragon masters rose up to compete and were full of vitality, and an unprecedented prosperity appeared in the chess world.
The biggest underdog in domestic competitions is that amateur chess player Liu Jun defeated many professional masters to win the championship in the 4th Rookie King Tournament, creating a legend of amateur chess players. Liu Jun also won the Evening News Cup and the World Amateur Go Championship this year.
The World Professional Go Tournament has blossomed in full bloom, Chinese chess players have not yet broken out in these competitions, the Fujitsu Cup entered the tenth session, and Japan's Kobayashi Koichi won the championship, and no one could have imagined that this was the "return to the light" of Japanese Go. The Toyo Securities Cup fell into the hands of Cho Hwan-hyun, the Samsung Cup founded the previous year entered the second edition, Lee Chang-ho won the championship, and the LG Cup was won by South Korea's Yoo Chang-hyuk and Japan's Wang Licheng. The only harvest for Chinese players was that Yu Bin reached the top of Kobayashi Koichi, Lee Chang-ho and Wang Licheng at the 9th Asian Cup Quick Chess Championship, a famous player who has worked quietly to maintain the dignity of Chinese Go.
The most shocking event in the international chess world was that Xu Bongsu achieved nine consecutive victories in the 5th Zhenlu Cup Three Kingdoms Tournament, defeating the Chinese and Japanese teams with one person's strength, which directly led to the suspension of the Zhenlu Cup and the cattle to the extreme.
The "absolute double pride" of Chinese and Korean Go, Lee Chang-ho and Chang Hao, also met for the first time at the beginning of this year, in the first Sino-Korean Tianyuan Confrontation Tournament, Lee Chang-ho narrowly defeated Chang Hao 2-1, no one can predict, after which Chang Hao was actually suppressed by Lee Chang-ho for ten years.
The Japanese chess world is no longer the focus of attention of chess fans, the six super-first-class have been called "old chess players", but they are still the strongest in Japan. Zhao Zhixun is still strong, strongly holding the three crowns of chess saints, celebrities, and Ben infang, and the face of "the first person in Modern Chess Warfare in Japan" is becoming clearer. Masao Kato and Koichi Kobayashi are also tenacious, and the real veteran Norio Kudo bravely won the title of Tengen, showing the old and strong Japanese chess player.
In 1997, Lee Chang-ho won seven Korean domestic chess championships, and the only one who could compete with him was his master Cho Hyun-hyun, who won four crowns. Liu Changhe occasionally revealed Zhengrong, Xu Fengsu fell behind in the domestic chess battle, and the "Four Heavenly Kings" theory existed in name only.
In 1997, the Korean Wave has struck, the world's Go pattern has changed greatly, and Chinese Go is like a bull bearing weights, step by step towards the peak of the chess world.
Liu Jun is a legend of amateur chess players
In 2009, Gu Li Shuangxiong was good at winning
The last Year of the Bull we experienced was 2009, when Chinese Go had caught up and was in full swing with the Hallyu. That Year of the Ox was the year of the World Series, producing six world champions (in lunar terms, excluding Coulee winning the 4th Toyota Cup on January 8 and Lee Sedol winning the 13th Samsung Cup on 21 January). On February 25, Gu Li met his lifelong enemy Lee Sedol in the final of the 13th LG Cup, which was rendered by the Korean media as the "first battle of 4,000 years", and Gu Li played well and won 2-0.
Lee Chang-ho became the world champion backstage this year, losing 1-3 to Choi Chul-han in the 6th Ying's Cup final that ended on 23 April, losing 0-2 to Chang Hao in the 7th Chunlan Cup final ending on 24 June, losing to Jiang Dongrun in the 22nd Fujitsu Cup final ending on July 6, and tasting the sourness of Ma Xiaochun, who was suppressed by his own death.
Gu Li also beat Zhao Hancheng 3-1 in the first BC Card Cup final that ended on May 4, and Kong Jie, who was equal to him, won his first world championship in the 14th Three Star Cup final 2-0 in the final of the 14th Three Star Cup on December 17.
Chinese Go is gradually bullish, competing with South Korea, the sharpness of Gu Li and Kong Jie and the thickness of a large number of young chess players, and the autumn water is always colorful.
That Year of the Ox was also a year of sadness, when Hideyuki Fujisawa, an honorary Japanese chess player, died of illness on May 8 at the age of 83. On November 28, Mr. Takeo Kajihara, who "felt the world in a local way", passed away at the age of 86. On December 2, Mr. Masaji Hashimoto, an important town in the Kansai Chess Academy, passed away at the age of 74. Other chess players who left this year included Japan's Abe Yoshiki Kudan and China's Tao Jianhai's five dan.
Another major event was that Lee Sedol, the first person in South Korea at the time, submitted a suspension letter to the Korean Chess Academy on June 8, announcing that he would be suspended for one and a half years, causing an uproar. Half a year later, Xiao Li returned from his job and quickly won the BC Card Cup in April 2010.
2009, an unforgettable year of the ox.
The "First Battle of the Four Thousand Years" Coulee won
In the blink of an eye, it is another twelve years, and time flies by, which is really like the year of the "cow". In this reincarnation, Go has entered the AI era, the leader of Chinese Go has become Ke Jie, young players have risen collectively, won a large number of world championships, and Chinese Go has stood on top of the world.
In this brand-new year of the ox, not only look forward to the greater glory of Chinese chess players, but also hope that Go is becoming more and more popular in the world, Go people are proud to stand in the tide of the times, and the future is splendid.