Who is the strongest in the history of Go? It has always been a special concern and relish for all Go lovers in the world. In the history of world Go, many talented chess players have emerged, such as China's Huang Longshi, Fan Xiping, Shi Xiangxia, Nie Weiping, Gu Li, Ke Jie, Japan's Dao Ce, Xiu Ce, Xiu Zhao, Wu Qingyuan, South Korea's Cao Xuanxuan, Lee Chang-ho, Lee Sedol, Shin Jin-chan, etc.
The easiest to be compared by everyone is Wu Qingyuan and Li Changhao, because the previous chess players are after all very old and cannot be directly compared. The nine periods of Master Wu Qingyuan and Li Changhao are relatively close, and there are many materials, which is relatively easy to compare.
Any chess player can only be the strongest relative to the times, not the absolute strongest of the times. Because Go is developing, the more you develop Go, the higher the level of Go, which is beyond doubt. The most convincing thing is the direct data, in terms of realm, innovation, contribution, etc., Li Changhao's nine paragraphs cannot be compared with Master Wu Qingyuan, which is basically undisputed. The only thing that Li Changhao can compare with Wu Qingyuan is the winning rate, which is also the most intuitive data.
The first thing to explain is that Li Changhao Jiudan has great respect and even admiration for Master Wu Qingyuan. Lee Chang-ho's nine paragraphs openly said that he could not be compared with Wu Qingyuan's nine paragraphs. Of course, this is because of Lee Chang-ho's modesty. Master Wu Qingyuan also publicly expressed his opinion that Cao Xuanxuan is the real genius, and Lee Chang-ho is a genius who has worked hard. Judging from the tone of the two of them, in the eyes of Master Wu, Lee Chang-ho may not even have the weight of Cao Xuanxuan's nine dan.
Okay, let's compare the winning percentages of the two sides.
Master Wu Qingyuan's winning percentage in his heyday was 71. From 1986 to 2004, Lee Chang-ho had a winning percentage of more than 70% for 17 consecutive years, although the winning percentage fell to 68% in 2005, ending the record. However, in 2006 it returned to 72%. The highest win rate was 88.2% in '88.
On the surface, it seems that Lee Chang-ho has a higher winning percentage. However, such a comparison is unscientific, because the black chess in the era of Master Wu Qingyuan is not sticky to the purpose, and the winning rate of the unspecified era is very different from the winning rate of the peeping era.
How do stickers and unbalances affect the gold content of the game? We recalculate Master Wu Qingyuan's 12 games of 10 or more matches according to the rule of 5 and a half eyes of black paste, and Wu Qingyuan's winning rate is 82. 3%, with a 12 percentage point difference.
The game of Lee Chang-ho's era is calculated according to the black no sticker, and the winning rate is difficult to exceed 70%, because Lee Chang-ho has won half-eye, half-win at one eye, and half-win at two-eye many times, and if it is not pasted, this is a loss.
Wu Qingyuan's blows to his contemporaries were devastating! Wu Qingyuan single-handedly spent fifteen years, and lowered the rank of a large number of japan's most prestigious super-first-class chess players at that time, including Fujisawa Tomosai, Kitani Shi, Sakata Eiko, Takakawa Katsu, and so that in the end, looking at the whole of Japan, there was no one who was qualified to play chess with him! He even beat Fujisawa Tomosai Kudan and Sakata Eiko 9dan to two blocks. Sakada Eio, nicknamed "Razor", is another great chess player after Wu Qingyuan, who has won 64 championship titles in Japan, it is worth mentioning that Sakata Einan won 64 crowns at the age of 63, and almost became a challenger of Honinfang at the age of 70. And once zhao zhixun jiudan was a hard hand in his youth, Zhao Zhixun, who was in his early 20s, once lost 12 consecutive defeats to Sakata Eiko Jiudan.
When discussing Wu Qingyuan's great achievements, The Japanese super-first-class chess player Zhao Zhixun Jiudan once said with deep feeling: "What a difficult thing it is to demote an opponent without a sticker!" It's a very difficult one."
Although Lee Chang-ho has achieved brilliant results that are difficult to match with other chess players. But he doesn't yet have the strength to beat all the contemporary first-class masters to the downgrade, such as Lee Chang-ho vs Ma Xiaochun 25-6 (80.5 wins). 6%) is an overwhelming advantage, but if recalculated according to black and unsupported, Lee Chang-ho has only a 3-inning advantage (17-14, winning 55%), such an advantage, Lee Chang-ho is very unlikely to beat Ma Xiaochun to a demotion. This is still true for Ma Xiaochun, and it is even more impossible for Cao Xuanxuan, Liu Changhe, and Lee Sedol to be demoted, not to mention the chess players such as Jiji Yitian, Rui Naiwei, and Choi Chul-han who have the overall advantage in the battle against Lee Chang-ho.
Therefore, the gap between Li Changhao and Wu Qingyuan in the suppression of contemporaries is still relatively obvious.
Through simple reasoning, even in terms of winning percentages, Lee Chang-ho is no better than Wu Qingyuan.
So, is Wu Qingyuan the strongest in the history of Go?
Let's first listen to the views of non-professionals:
"If today's master chess skills are one-dimensional, then the Daoce of 300 years ago was two-dimensional, and Wu Qingyuan's chess skills were three-dimensional." ——Japanese writer Makoto Ezaki
"Mr. Wu is a rare genius in four or five hundred years, and it is difficult to say whether there will be such a genius in the future." --Wu Qingyuan's agent, Teramoto Shinobu
"In the two-thousand-year history of Sino-Japanese Go, I am afraid that there is no second chess player to stand shoulder to shoulder with Mr. Wu Qingyuan." - Jin Yong
Let's hear what professional chess players have to say:
"Watching Mr. Wu's chess is like watching an athletics game or a football match. This kind of chess player full of speed can be described as unprecedented. Although Mr. Wu has been a rapid chess style since his youth and the new layout era, in his heyday, he has gone further and reached the mysterious realm, coupled with his outstanding talent, so those who played against Mr. Wu at that time must have a sense of irresistency. Wu Qingyuan's world is of far-reaching significance from all angles. All the elements of Go are concentrated in him. His Go embraces everything, which is something that other masters don't have. --Zhao Zhixun
"I don't have much to say about Mr. Wu. He was a great giant who represented the Showa era. If we feel very glorious as professional chess players now, half of it is thanks to Mr. Wu's blessing, it is not an exaggeration. Mr. Wu's influence on the modern Go community is so great. For me, no, for almost all chess players, Mr. Wu is like the sky on top. --Masaki Takemiya
In 1986, a famous Japanese media outlet asked the same question to six super-first-class chess players at that time: "Who is the strongest in the history of Go?" ”。
Zhao Zhixun, Lin Haifeng, Masaki Takemiya, and Masao Kato replied in unison that it was Wu Qingyuan.
Koichi Kobayashi and Otake are slightly different, they believe that the masters of the past are in different eras, and it is difficult to make comparisons. If you have to ask who is the strongest, you can roughly list three: Dao Ce, Xiu Ce, and Wu Qingyuan.
The reason why they all think that Wu Qingyuan is the strongest in the history of Go is because Wu Qingyuan's era is close to them, and they have personally experienced Wu Qingyuan's strength.
But it is very interesting that Wu Qingyuan believes that the ancient chess saints have the strength of thirteen dan and praise them. These ancient chess saints include: The Japanese Dao ce, Zhanghe, and Xiu Ce, and the Chinese Huang Longshi, Fan Xiping, and Shi Xiangxia.
Although Go itself is a competitive game, it is also a traditional culture. Today's people are standing on the shoulders of the ancients to inherit and develop. It is also unfair to compare who is the strongest regardless of the background of the times and the rules of the game. Professional chess players rarely compare themselves with historical figures, and they are always in awe of historical figures. Because only professionals can best appreciate the professionalism of their peers.
Therefore, Lee Chang-ho and the six super-first-class japanese masters have full respect for Master Wu Qingyuan, and Master Wu Qingyuan is full of respect for the ancient chess saints in history.
That's the legacy!