In the summer of 1939, Zhou Enlai, who was in Chongqing, drove to the Chongqing Oriental Culture Association to visit a person, leaving behind a good story in the chess world.
The man Zhou Enlai visited was named Xie Xiaxun, a chess master who swept southeast Asia in the last century and was known as the "Chinese chess king".
Of course, the reason why Zhou Enlai wanted to visit Xie Xiaxun was not because he admired the reputation of the other side's chess king, but because it was the third year of the all-out War of Resistance, and the whole country was working hard to resist aggression.
In fact, the real reason why Zhou Enlai wanted to visit Xie Xiaxun was that Xie Xiaxun was not only a chess king, but also a patriot who worried about the country and the people.
After the outbreak of the All-out War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Xie Xiaxun, in line with the sense of responsibility of "the rise and fall of the world, and the responsibility of the puppeteers", actively campaigned for the anti-Japanese war to save the country. In order to arouse the enthusiasm of the vast number of overseas Chinese to actively support the motherland's War of Resistance, he traveled far and wide, traveling to Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and other places, in the name of performing chess, publicizing the War of Resistance and collecting donations, raising a large number of funds and materials, all of which were used to support the War of Resistance.
It was precisely because of these feats that Zhou Enlai visited Xie Xiaxun as soon as he returned to Chongqing.
On this day, as soon as the two of them met, Zhou Enlai immediately stepped forward and tightly shook Xie Xiaxun's hand and spoke highly: "You are an internationally renowned chess player, and this time you went abroad and actively used the chess game to support the domestic war of resistance, and the effect was very good!" ”
Listening to Zhou Enlai's praise, Xie Xiaxun humbly replied: "Wherever, resist Japan and save the country, everyone has the responsibility!" ”
After the guests and hosts sat down, while sipping tea while discussing state affairs, they were in full swing, among them, Zhou Enlai was quite interested in Xie Xiaxun's trip to Nanyang, asked in detail, Xie Xiaxun also answered in detail, listening to Xie Xiaxun's introduction, Zhou Enlai nodded his head from time to time to express his appreciation.
Seeing that the conversation was almost over, Zhou Enlai looked at the chessboard beside Xie Xiaxun and humbly said, "Can you ask for advice?" The chess king gladly "responded to the battle".
The two immediately set up a chess game and began to "fight".
In the first inning, Xie Xiaxun let Zhou Enlai have two hands. Zhou Enlai first started the game with the "cannon in the head", and with the help of the advantage of the first hand, the "killing moves" were repeated, forcing the chess king to frequently panic, until the battle reached the middle of the game, seized the fighter, and ate Zhou Enlai in one fell swoop, and the situation stabilized, and at the end, the two sides fell into a stalemate and shook hands and made peace.
The second innings began.
After seeing Zhou Enlai's chess skills, Xie Xiaxun felt that the first game was obviously a bit too big, so he only gave up one hand in this game.
As the saying goes, wine every confidant a thousand cups less, words do not speculate more than half a sentence, obviously, this day Zhou Xie two people are meeting confidants, they while drinking tea while playing while talking about the current situation, chess is enjoyable, talk speculative, unconsciously, the second game of chess has fallen into a stalemate.
At this moment, Zhou Enlai had to leave a mess to deal with because he had something important to deal with, and Xie Xiaxun sent him outside the door and waved goodbye.
After Zhou Enlai left, Xie Xiaxun, who was still unfinished, continued to ponder the endgame of the second game, trying to find a trick to break the deadlock, but no matter what kind of trick he used, he could not solve the deadlock, which was another game of chess.
Xie Xiaxun was excited! First, he did not expect that Zhou Enlai's chess skills were so superb, and second, it was difficult to find the sound and the opponent was difficult to find.
Therefore, Xie Xiaxun named the endgame of his and Zhou Enlai's second game "Communist Relief of National Difficulties" and personally wrote an article published in the supplement of Chongqing's "Ta Kung Pao" at that time, "Chess Endgame", implying that only when the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China were united could they defeat the Japanese invaders.
Suddenly, "Jointly Relieving national difficulties" caused a strong response in the society at that time, and Xie Xiaxun was praised by Zhou Enlai as a "patriotic chess king".
What is amazing is that this game of "Jointly Relieving National Difficulties" left by Zhou Enlai and Xie Xiaxun has gone through more than 70 years of history and repeated exercises by countless masters, and it has always been a game of chess, perhaps, this is the real chess opponent!
After the founding of New China, Xie Xiaxun served as vice chairman of the Chinese Chess Association, librarian of the Shanghai Museum of Culture and History, etc. During this period, although he and Zhou Enlai met several times, Zhou Enlai, as the premier of a country, had every opportunity to make a move, and the two games of chess in 1939 became the first and last game between the two.
In January 1976, when Xie Xiaxun, who was entering his old age, heard the news of the premier's death, he burst into tears, and his heart could not be calm for a long time, standing in front of the premier's portrait, he wrote a poem affectionately:
At that time, the anti-Japanese resistance said that Xi'an, the broken country and mountains could not bear to look;
Relying on the wise and wise Premier Zhou, the dragon and the tiger won the whole battle.
Between the lines, full of deep affection and friendship...
Premier Zhou Enlai and Xie Xiaxun left this game of "Jointly Relieving National Difficulties" in that specific era, which has far-reaching meaning and will surely become a good story throughout the ages!