Compared with Japanese and Korean masters, the top players in the Chinese Go world generally have a phenomenon of premature decline. For example, the peak duration of the ring hero Nie Weiping Chess Saint is not a level compared with the Korean Go emperor Cao Xuanxuan. Nie Weiping, who is one year old, completely withdrew from the world series finals as early as 1995 after reaching the final of the World Series for the last time, and Cao Xuanxuan was able to defeat Nie Weiping's senior disciple Wang Lei in 2003 to win the three-star cup title and crown the nine world championships.
For example, Ma Xiaochun, who once surpassed Cho Hwan-hyun, gradually slipped down after winning the World Series double in 1995, and 2000 was his last world series final, which is obviously not comparable to the 11-year-old Cao Xuanxuan.
The latest example is our eight-time champion Ke Jie, who is only 24 years old this year, and has already shown signs of decline, while Park Tinghuan is close to 29 years old, and can still beat shin Jin-chan, the first person after zero zero, not long ago to win the 26th Three-Star Cup and become the five-time champion.
Nie Weiping played bridge
There is a saying that happy families are similar to each other, and unhappy families are different. When it comes to Go masters, it is that in addition to talent, evergreens are extremely focused and hardworking, and most of the good players who decline prematurely have their own reasons. So what are the reasons for the premature aging of China's top chess players?
First, let's look at Chen Zude, the first leading figure in New China. Born in 1944, he slipped completely in the 1980s and failed to make a splash in domestic and foreign competitions. Lin Haifeng, who was about the same age as him and was two years older than him, was able to defeat Nie Weiping to win the third Fujitsu Cup in the 1990s, and was active in the Seven Great Chess Tournaments in Japan, and still won gold and silver. The reason for Chen Zude's early retirement was that he suffered from stomach cancer in September 1980 and underwent long-term treatment such as surgery and chemotherapy, and had to leave the stage of first-line chess battles.
Nie Weiping was the leading figure after Chen Zude, and there were two main reasons why his peak period was not long. The first is family marriage. His original match was Kong Xiangming, a master of the eight-dan period, but after Nie Weiping became famous, his social activities increased significantly, and he met the well-known singer Wang Jing at a party before the Spring Festival in 1990, and later the two sides gradually fell in love, and the final result was that Nie Weiping had to divorce Kong Xiangming. After marrying Wang Jing, Nie Weiping had a second son, but the family life of the two celebrities was not smooth after the sweet period, and later ended in divorce.
Ma Xiaochun nine paragraphs
The second reason is also widely known, that is, Bo Er Rabbit. Nie Weiping prefers bridge outside of Go, and if this is just an occasional adjustment after a busy Go game, the key is that Nie Weiping has invested a lot of time and energy in it. The most incomprehensible thing is that the second stage of the first Ying's Cup Wufan chess final was arranged to be held in Singapore, and our Nie Qisheng even detoured to Hong Kong to participate in a bridge match before rushing to Singapore. As a result, there was a little interlude on the plane on the way, which caused him to have a cold and high fever, and eventually lost the Ying cup.
After Ma Xiaochun took over the burden of Nie Weiping in 1995 and became a new generation of leaders in the Chinese chess industry, he was full of vigor and high morale, and seemed to be going to do something big, but his decline came faster. The main reasons are also two: One is the same family marriage change as Nie Weiping, but the reason is different, because Ma Xiaochun's wife who studied abroad listened to rumors, took the initiative and insisted on divorce, and made a lot of trouble for the distribution of assets. First, Ma Xiaochun encountered his natural enemy, Li Changhao. After being defeated by an opponent for 10 consecutive wins, Ma Xiaochun's will was completely crushed.
Next look at Ke Jie, who has gradually slipped after last year's Samsung Cup to become an eight-time champion and has lost six consecutive World Series. Ke Jie's situation is known to everyone, going to college, opening live broadcasts, fighting landlords, being internet celebrities, busy and happy, the time and energy spent on Go are naturally greatly affected.
We also have a lot of World Series first-team members, and they can't get out of the group for different reasons. Some of them entered the downhill road early, such as Park Wenyao, Tan Xiao, and Xie Erhao; some encountered nemesis, such as Zhou Ruiyang, who reached the final of the 10th Chunlan Cup in 2015, was defeated by the bitter hand Gu Li and missed the double, and then gradually slipped down, and was accidentally knocked down by Dang Yifei in the final of the 21st LG Cup in 2017.
Ke Jie and father
A common problem of many of the top masters in the Chinese Go world is that after achieving fame and complacency, there is a sense of ship-to-dock car-to-station, and with satisfaction comes laxity and lack of fighting spirit. The most typical example of this is Kong Jie, who won three consecutive world titles in the eight months from December 2009 to July 2010, and then slid all the way down, like a dazzling comet, sliding by. Of course, this situation is a common phenomenon in the Chinese sports world and is not unique to the Go world.
In addition to the reasons of the players themselves, we must also deeply explore the factors of society, the Go association and the players' families. If there is no media killing, no repeated invitations from television stations, and no enthusiastic invitations from many units, then these well-known masters will definitely reduce a variety of activities and affairs, and they will not be overwhelmed and think differently; if the Go Association does a more comprehensive and meticulous job in the restraint of the national team and the psychological counseling of chess players, these masters will probably be a little restrained, rather than unscrupulous; if the family members of chess players can follow the rules and induce, rather than blindly indulge, Maybe these good players will not get out of control in terms of self-management.
It is expected that more and more evergreen trees will appear in the Chinese chess world, rather than short-lived and premature decline figures.