Once upon a time, the "four carriages" were popular in the Xiangqi Jianghu, they were Yao Hongxin, Li Dezhi, Cai Youguang, and Liu Zongze.
The chess "four carriages" of the year
In ancient times, horse-drawn carriages were often used as chariots, galloping horses and fighting with pleasure. These four chess masters, like a carriage for decades, have crossed the world and conquered the world of chess. They travel all over the country, either to compete or to compete with the masters. Chess is no longer a simple hobby for them, but a love, a life.
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Yao Hongxin
Yao Hongxin, a native of Zhumadian, Henan Province, has been playing well since childhood, driving a boat on the Yangtze River to run freight when he was a teenager, and later raising pigs with his father, winning the championship at the 1998 National Agricultural Games, since then embarking on the road of chess, for more than 20 years, he has gone south and north, making a living with competitions and color chess, and has won countless championships.
In the chess world, Yao Hongxin's rigidity is notorious. In 2012, at a national open tournament in Chongqing, chess player Xu Xxx found Yao Hongxin to buy chess, when Yao had already advanced, it did not matter whether he won or lost this game, and Xu XX made a good bid, but Yao Hongxin resolutely rejected him, and was also beaten by Xu XX, which was boiling over. Afterwards, this upright Henan Hanzi said: Buy chess? What did I think of Yao Hongxin!
In the 14th Weikai Cup Chess Tournament in 2017, 44-year-old Yao Hongxin won the championship with 8 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss, and was promoted to national master, which was finally a positive result.
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Lai Tak Chi
In the "four carriages", the best results of the competition should be Yao Hongxin and Li Dezhi, which is why the two are known as "Southern Li and Northern Yao".
Li Dezhi, a native of Guangzhou, studied under Chen Songshun, the "Dragon of South China", almost monopolized the championships of various amateur chess competitions in Guangzhou in his early years, and won the championship of Guangdong Province many times. Li Dezhi's chess, in the "four carriages", is the least like a jianghu chess player, more like a science class, a steady chess style, solid basic skills, a move and a style of opening and closing, the law is strict. Li Dezhi has won dozens of masters and special masters, and was recognized as having a master level more than 10 years ago, unfortunately, Guangdong chess has a rich foundation and talents, and Li failed to get the opportunity to play for the Guangdong team.
In 2016, the 44-year-old Li Dezhi won the Weikai Cup and was promoted to master, fulfilling his dream of chasing for decades.
For chess, Lai Tak-chi paid a lot of money, until the age of 46 and Malaysian female chess player Ho Kang Wai Xi tied the knot, but for a person who regards chess as his life, all the efforts are worth it, maybe this is the belief of chess players.
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Liu Zongze
Liu Zongze, a native of Wuhan, Hubei Province, has been playing chess since elementary school, and after being laid off from his factory in the early 1990s, he has traveled all over the country to play chess and play games, sometimes tutoring chess enthusiasts and charging some guidance fees. In the years around 2000, due to financial difficulties, Liu Zongze rushed to all parts of the country to participate in competitions, often buying tickets for railway stations for 10 hours a stop.
Liu Zongze is notoriously fast in playing chess, shooting fast and accurate and fierce, and is often asked to let half the time when playing chess, even so it is still very rewarding, which shows his ability to play fast chess. In the 2005 "National Unity Cup", he defeated the chess master Jiang Chuan, who praised him: In the Hubei chess world, Liu Dahua is the commander, Li Zhiping is the military commander, and you are the division commander. Since then, the nickname of "Master Liu" has resounded throughout the north and south of the river.
Now that Liu Zongze is more than half a hundred years old, he has gradually faded out of the chess jianghu, the number of times he has participated in the game is less, and the chess is no longer as sharp as when he was young, and he is tired after half a lifetime of wandering.
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Cai Youguang
Cai Youguang, a native of Foshan, Guangdong, has a strong chess style, likes to attack and kill, especially good at fast chess, and is known as "Foshan Shadowless Hand". Compared with other troikas, Cai Youguang's jianghu flavor is stronger, more mysterious, and he does not accept interviews, he is a real fighter, no matter who the opponent is, he dares to challenge or accept the challenge.
Perhaps Cai Youguang's fame is not as loud as other troikas, and the results of the game are slightly inferior, but the dedication to chess is the same, Cai Youguang, who is still unmarried in his 40s, has left a famous saying: Wait until you get the title of master and then get married.
Time has passed, the "four carriages" are no longer young, Yao Hongxin and Li Dezhi have been promoted to national masters, Liu Zongze has gradually faded out, and Cai Youguang is still struggling to realize his dream of being a master. They do not have the stable salary income of professional chess players, nor do they have good conditions for learning chess, only relying on their outstanding talents and love for chess, they are wandering in the thorny rivers and lakes, not only to find a way to survive, but also for the chess dream in their hearts. Maybe their life path is not worth emulating, but their spirit of fighting ceaselessly for their dreams deserves the respect of each of us. May they create glory again and write a more wonderful second half of their lives!