On October 18, the young Xinke Jiuduan Dinghao defeated Yang Dingxin in two straight sets in the final of the 17th Advocate Chess Cup China Professional Go Championship, winning his second domestic professional championship and becoming the first "post-00s" champion in the history of the Advocate Chess Cup.
As early as two years ago, in April 2019, Ding Hao won the first domestic professional competition in the 2019 "Zhejiang Pinghu Danghu Ten Game Cup" CCTV TV Go Fast Chess Tournament. In June of the same year, he finished runners-up at the 31st Asian Television Quick Chess Tournament. At that time, Ding Hao had just been promoted to the sixth dan and ranked 28th in the domestic ranking score.
In the following two years, the outbreak of the new crown epidemic caused a large number of tournament postponements, so that the state of many chess players has been affected, But Ding Hao has moved forward steadily, step by step, and constantly climbed new peaks - in August 2020, he rose to the seventh dan, in May 2021 he rose to the eighth dan, and only 5 months after the ascension of the eighth dan, Ding Hao defeated Feng Jiaxi in the national hand battle round of 16 on October 9, and after meeting the conditions for the promotion of points, he was promoted to the ninth dan, becoming the youngest professional nine-dan master in China!
In 2021, Ding Hao's state is very stable: as the main player of the Hangzhou team of Longyuan Mingcheng, he won 10 wins and 5 losses in 15 main general battles in the regular season; Weifu Fang opened the cup and the national hand battle to reach the top 8 (the game has not yet been played after the round of 8); the champion will be won all the way to the champion in the Advocate Chess Cup. As of October 24, Ding Hao's official record in 2021 is 33 wins and 15 losses, with a winning rate of 68.8%.
In the latest ranking of grades released by the Chinese Weiqi Association in October, Ding Hao ranked 4th, and is the "post-00s" chess player with the highest ranking score. Moreover, the point gap between Ding Hao and Yang Dingxin, who ranked 2nd in the grade, and Gu Zihao, who was ranked 3rd, is not far away, and it is likely to go further in the near future.
In addition, Ding Hao officially enrolled in the journalism major of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics in September this year, becoming another top master in the Chinese chess world after Ke Jie, Jiang Weijie, Mi Yuting, Dang Yifei and others.
On October 22nd, at the invitation of "old Chinese medicine" Yang Dongsidan, Ding Haojiuduan, who had just finished the journey of advocating the chess cup, came to Yike Headquarters from Shanghai Caida and accepted an interview with us, telling us about the growth path of his "legendary" Go career.
Ding Hao defeated Yang Dingxin in the final of the Advocate Chess Cup to win his second domestic competition
Talent excellence Young fame Life is hard and hard to temper
Ding Hao was born in June 2000 in Datong, Shanxi. Ding Hao's father was a chess fan, when Ding Hao was 6 years old, he began to teach him to play chess, and soon after he came into contact with Go, Xiao Ding Hao developed a strong interest in Go, and his father decided to help him enroll in a Go class. Soon, Ding Hao showed his talent in Go, at the age of 8 Ding Hao in Datong has basically no opponent, and his rapid progress has given his parents the idea of continuing to cultivate him in Go.
Therefore, his parents decided to take the young and famous little Ding Hao to Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province. Ding Hao recalled that there were many Go masters in Taiyuan, and his days in Taiyuan were the fastest progress in his Go career, and then his progress in the dojo was not so fast.
However, whether it is Datong or Taiyuan, what impressed Ding Hao the most was the hardships of life. When he first arrived in Taiyuan, Ding Hao's family rented a local "urban village", the accommodation conditions were very poor, and due to the limited economic conditions of his parents, Ding Hao, who was growing up, was also frugal in eating, which also made his figure very thin.
In Taiyuan, Ding Hao studied chess with Han Ye, Zhao Wendong, Li Kui and other local masters in Shanxi, and soon he was selected for the Shanxi Provincial Go Junior Team, and later went to Beijing to learn chess.
Ding Hao said: Later, I encountered many obstacles in Go, but life was no longer so hard.
Ding Hao made a thrilling set in the 2013 stage race
The legendary fixed-period experience Half-eye victory rewrites life
In 2013, the 13-year-old Ding Hao participated in the fixed stage competition for the third time, and for Ding Hao, who failed the first two fixed stages, this was his last chance to try to cross this "hurdle".
Ding Hao revealed that he likes Go and has never thought of giving up, but his parents have thought about it more than once, and they have to consider the actual situation, economic conditions, and whether Ding Hao has the potential to go down this road. Since the family conditions were not very good since childhood, and it had been fixed for 3 years, Ding Hao's parents decided that if Ding Hao had not yet decided in 2013, then he did not plan to spend time in the big city and let him go back to school.
Ding Hao said: If that year (2013) did not set the upper section, then I would have mainly studied in the future, occasionally touching chess. Even if you set the upper section later, you will no longer take the road of Go, and the career will become a tool for adding points to the university. If that's the case, maybe I'll still be in Cai Da right now (laughs).
In 2013, Ding Hao's road to the fixed stage race was very thrilling, in his original words, "the most legendary fixed stage experience of the year". It turned out that in the final round, Ding Hao and his opponent Qian Liuru faced a "life and death battle", the winning side fixed the section, and the losing side became the "goalkeeper" (the chess player who won only one step away from the final fixed section was jokingly called "goalkeeper" in the circle).
Ding Hao recalled that the game was nearly two hands behind in the opening stage (the opponent stopped two hands, the situation was almost the same), but at this time Ding Hao's mentality was particularly relaxed, and he felt that the opponent Qian Liuru, who was older and had suffered more fixed-stage failures, was under great pressure. In the second half of the set, Qian Liuru had a problem hand in the big excellent situation continuously, and finally Ding Hao just narrowly won the fixed section with half an eye.
Ding Hao said: This is the most exaggerated reversal of my Go career.
Half-eye, the weakest gap in The Victory or Defeat of Go, changes a person's life. If there is no thrilling half-eye reversal of that year, then there may be one more student in the society who is studying hard in the cold window, and there is one less top master in the chess world.
Perhaps all fate in the darkness has its own arrangement. Every year, in the fixed-stage competition of the big waves, how many dashing teenagers will have Ding Hao's luck? Beyond the cruel threshold of the fixed section, how many "Ke Jie" and "Ding Hao" have bid farewell to the road of Go? The author can't help but think of a famous saying of the late Japanese honorary chess player Hideyuki Fujisawa: Chess is the skill of destiny.
Ding Hao in the game
Parental companionship + self-understanding + forward momentum to achieve him on the top road
After the successful fixing of the section, Ding Hao joined the Weijia Ping Coal Team and began the professional experience. If it is said that the fixed section is "one out of a hundred" among all the teenagers in the punching section, then becoming a top master is also "picking one out of a hundred" among all professional chess players. Every year, there are dozens of successful set-section players, but very few of them can really go to the top.
So how did Ding Hao stand out from many fixed-section chess players step by step and go to the top? Ding Hao said that there are several main reasons.
On the one hand, the company of parents. Ding Hao recalled that many parents of chong duan teenagers who were about the same size as him at that time did not follow their children very early, and Ding Hao did not want his parents to follow (very unfree), but it seemed that this was actually a good thing in hindsight. Because if children at that age do not have parents to follow, whether it is life or value cultivation, they will take a crooked road, after all, it is too difficult for teenage children to achieve self-discipline. Ding Hao said that the children accompanied by the parents basically gave out the results later, and the children he remembered that the parents did not accompany him basically did not come out.
On the other hand is one's own understanding. Ding Hao said that he is not a hard-working chess player, but his understanding of Go and his learning efficiency are very high.
Of course, the most important aspect is the motivation to forge ahead, and the harsh living conditions and pressures from childhood make Ding Hao's motivation to struggle particularly large. Ding Hao believes that this may be something that children with good family conditions or no great pressure do not have.
Ding Hao was interviewed by Yike reporter
Compared with the rank, we value the championship more than the strength improvement, and we value the maturity of the mentality
After the success of the fixed section in 2013, Ding Hao will be promoted to the stage almost every year (except in 2018), and in 2021, he will be promoted twice in a row, becoming the youngest nine-dan master in China. However, Ding Hao admitted that he did not attach particular importance to duan position, and he felt very early that it was sooner or later to rise to the ninth dan. In contrast, he attaches more importance to winning the championship, and now winning two domestic championships is also the biggest reward for Ding Hao's efforts over the years.
From winning the CCTV TV Quick Chess Championship in 2019 to winning the Champion Ofe chess cup today; from the sixth dan in 2019 to the nine dan today; from the 28th place in the grade score in 2019 to the 4th place in the grade score today. How has Ding Hao grown compared to when he won the first crown two years ago?
Ding Hao believes that his strength has increased, but this is what every chess player can do through hard work. Compared with the progress in strength, Ding Hao is more satisfied with the gradual maturity of his mentality.
Ding Hao's "single official giant spoon" at the 2015 Duan Tournament
In the past, Ding Hao often lost the low-level "spoon" inexplicably in the big excellent situation, and the most impressive of them was naturally the "single official giant spoon" (above) at the 2015 duan competition. Ding Hao said that the main reason for this phenomenon may be that the mentality is not mature enough, and it is often too relaxed after gaining an advantage.
In the past two years, as he has grown older, Ding Hao's mentality has matured, although there will still be reversals, but in the past, this situation (low-level mistakes) has become significantly less.
In the fourth Dream Lily Cup in 2019, Ding Hao eliminated South Korean rival Shin Jin-chan in the round of 32, but lost to the Japanese chess player Yili Liao in the round of 16
"Low-end version of laughter"? The World Series still has to prove itself
Among the top masters in the Chinese chess world, Lian Xiao was once the "only one", he had won all the titles in China and ranked in the top 10 for a long time, but he was repeatedly unsuccessful in the world competition, and the best record before 2021 was only the top 8, at the Chunlan Cup at the beginning of this year, Lian Xiao reached the top 4 to refresh his best World Series results, but unfortunately was reversed by Shen Zhenchen in the semi-finals. Lian Xiao's sluggish performance in the World Series is slightly inconsistent with his own strong strength, so it is often a hot topic of discussion among chess fans.
Today, As the leader of China's "post-00s" generation, Ding Hao seems to have become a "replica" of Lian Xiao after becoming a top chess player. Among the chess players of Ding Hao's age, South Korea's Shin Jin-chan has won two world championships, and China's Shekko has reached the final of the World Series twice. And incredibly, Ding Hao, who has now ranked 4th in the grade score, has a best result in the world competition is only the top 16, which is not as good as Lian Xiao, so some chess fans jokingly call Ding Hao "low-grade version of Lian Xiao".
In this regard, Ding Hao recalled that in fact, as early as 2015, he reached the top 16 of the World Series, which was good among many young chess players at that time. Later, I didn't know what the reason was, and I couldn't pass the domestic pre-selection every time. Ding Hao felt that he was not strong enough before 2019, but after 2019, his own strength has reached the level of a regular in the World Series. In the fourth Dream Lily Cup tournament in 2019, Ding Hao eliminated his fierce rival Shen Zhenchen in the round of 32, but lost to the Japanese chess player in the round of 16. Ding Hao admitted that he felt particularly sorry at that time, that time was a good opportunity for a breakthrough, but unfortunately he did not seize it.
"Later, in the past two years (2020 and 2021), affected by the epidemic, the world series has become less, the scope of qualifiers has changed from world to domestic, the difficulty has increased a lot, and the competition among the top 32 players in the domestic rank is too fierce. If Korean, Japanese, European and American chess players are added to the qualifiers, the difficulty of qualifying will be reduced a lot. Ding Hao said.
In addition to the changes in the objective environment, Ding Hao looks for problems more from his own perspective. This year's Samsung Cup China Qualifier changed from a knockout tournament to a round-robin tournament, which is actually good for the top chess players (greatly reducing the chance), Ding Hao won 4 consecutive wins at the beginning of the qualifiers, when he felt it was difficult not to qualify, but fate tricked people, after which he suffered a wave of 3 consecutive defeats, although the last 2 consecutive wins ended, but 6 wins and 3 losses He regretted that he did not qualify for this year's Samsung Cup because of the small gap.
"Maybe it's not enough of its own level, it hasn't reached an absolute height, and its luck is not good enough." In the future, I will go up to my level, have more opportunities, and believe that I can make a breakthrough. Ding Hao concluded.
It is worth mentioning that after winning the Champion Chess Cup, Ding Hao's national team points will rise, and there is a good chance to get the exemption qualification for the World Series in the future. We look forward to him proving himself at the world series in the future."
Ding Hao competed against his rival Li Weiqing in the League A
Rivals of the same age are quite strong and compete with each other to supervise progress
A group of chess players born in China in 2000 can be called the "golden generation". Ding Hao, Together with Xie Ke, Li Weiqing and Liao Yuanhe, are known as the "00 Four Masters", and the 4 people are ranked in the top 20 in the domestic grade. In addition, there are Yi Lingtao, Chen Zijian and other powerful generals who fight in the siege armor.
Ding Hao revealed that he and Xie Ke, Li Weiqing, liao Yuanhe and they usually have a good relationship and know each other very well. And no matter how well they perform externally, every time they go down with them, they are five or five.
"There was no gap between the few of us, it was pretty much the same. Xie Ke, Li Weiqing and Liao Yuanhe are very strong and very impactful. ”
Despite their equal strengths, their breakthrough points are very different: Ding Hao won two domestic championships, and Xie Ke reached the finals of two World Series. In this regard, Ding Hao laughed and said, "Our skills are different, Xie Ke points to the World Series, and I may point to the domestic." ”
Ding Hao feels that it is a very happy thing to have competitors of the same age, and he can urge himself to improve.
"In addition to our 00 generation, Tu Xiaoyu (born in 2003) and Wang Xinghao (born in 2004) are also quite strong, but because I am older than them, I don't know much about them. The chess players after 2005 have not yet seen any emergence, which may be that they have fewer opportunities to play and can only play rookie matches at present. ”
Ding Hao
Want to win the world championship before the age of 25, and worry about the environment of the game
Although the current best result in the world championship is only the top 16, as the top master of the current Chinese chess world, the goal of competing for the world championship is naturally an unavoidable topic.
In this regard, Ding Hao hopes that he can win the world championship as soon as possible, preferably before the age of 25. This is mainly because what Tang Weixing said in the post-final interview of the Chunlan Cup a month ago deeply touched Ding Hao.
Tang Weixing, 28, revealed in an interview that he felt that his energy was declining, and as a top winner, his ability to reverse his opponent in the second half of the set was gradually disappearing.
"I hope to win the world championship as soon as possible, otherwise it will be difficult to take it again after the skill of survival disappears." This is an objective law, and no one can escape it. ”
When talking about the outlook for the future, Ding Hao frankly said that he was worried about the current competition environment, and the possibility of the subsequent generation of chess players being affected was very large.
"I am a little worried about the current competition environment, many people have no chance, and the later generation of chess players (after 05) may be difficult to reach the level of china's 95-00 generation of chess players." This is not to say that the later generation of chess players are not good, but the reason for the environment. Ding Hao finally said.
Group photo of Ding Hao with Yike colleagues
P.S. Chess fans ask questions
About college
Q: What is your favorite course in college?
Ding Hao: I didn't take any of the classes I liked (cover my face). Because I am more special, I can't go to school often, and I have to choose a course depending on which teacher is good at talking (which can make me not go often).
Because I thought about it too much, when I actually went to choose a course, I found that the classes were all selected.
In the end, in addition to the compulsory courses, only one "History of Ancient Western Philosophy" was selected. Yesterday I went to listen to it, and the teacher talked very deeply, and I couldn't understand it (laughs).
Q: Can I understand other lessons?
Ding Hao: Mathematics and English classes are abandoned, and these are too much foundation. Others, such as "Introduction to Journalism", can be basically understood.
Q: What is it like to be read by a teacher to ask for leave?
Ding Hao: I don't know how it felt because I wasn't there (laughs). Two days ago, I won the Champion Chess Cup, and the school's sports department wrote an article, which the teachers all saw and forwarded in the group. I wondered if the teachers could give me extra points without going to class.
If the teacher wants to read the leave slip, he should also know what I have done.
Q: If I have homework to turn in, which classmate will I ask?
Ding Hao: I haven't turned in my homework yet, so I write the homework I can barely write when I have time. In addition, the homework is basically sent online through the electronic version.
Q: Have you ever thought that your classmates have "idiot fans"?
Ding Hao: I don't know, I just know that there is a girl in the same class who likes Go. (After the author said the WeChat name of the questioner, Ding Hao said that he knew her)
Q: A chess fan asked you if you need to learn about communication? If he wants, he can send you some good information.
Ding Hao: Thank you for him, but it should not be used for the time being, and I don't have time to see it when I get the estimate.
Other issues
Q: What hobbies do you usually do when you don't play chess?
Ding Hao: I used to like to read books, but now I also go to see movies and listen to songs. I would travel if I had a lot of time.
Q: Where do you like to travel?
Ding Hao: China prefers to go to Huangshan and Jiuzhaigou. If you want to go to Europe to play a circle in the future, if you have the conditions, you want to go all over the world.
Q: There is a saying that if there are 7 Ke Jie and 8 Shen Zhenchen in the round of 16 of the World Series, you are likely to win the championship, but there are 15 one-force Liao or you can only stop in the round of 16, what do you think?
Ding Hao: I can only say that if there is such a day (15 liliao), I am also very happy.
Q: You and Ke Jie are the most mentioned Chinese chess players in Shen Zhenchen's interviews, what do you think? Shin Ching-chan praised you for absolutely winning the world championship with your strength, how do you respond?
Ding Hao: I used to be a teammate with Xiao Shen Weijia for two years, and I took turns with him as the main general at that time. In addition, the number of times he has played against him is also relatively large, and he has played with him in official matches 7 times (3 wins and 4 losses), which should be the most among his peers. These can put some pressure on him, so he'll mention me a lot.
Q: Your previous Weibo signature was "From heaven to hell, I passed through the human world." Does this mean that you have experienced the journey from heaven to hell?
Ding Hao: No, writing this signature is still my secondary two period (laughs). At that time, from where I saw this sentence, I thought that the B grid was quite high, so I wrote it up.
Q: If you can choose, are you willing to become a professional chess player like now and then return to campus to live a full life, or like some current cases, go to school normally and enter a prestigious university, and then become a professional chess player to realize your dream?
Ding Hao: It depends on the individual's choice of future direction. If you want to use Go as a profession, you still need to do professional training from an early age. There are also professional chess players who have become professional chess players halfway, but their focus is definitely still on their studies.
When I was thirteen or fourteen years old, I suddenly felt dissatisfied with the normal school life, felt that I had been immersed in school for twenty or thirty years, and after graduation, I began to work from nine to five, and I personally did not like this kind of confined life. Now it seems that choosing Go is actually quite free, and the time after the game is free to dispose of.
So I grew up wanting to be involved in the arts so that no one could take care of me, and I hated the feeling of being managed. Doing these aspects of work (art and the like) doesn't have to deal with the leader too much, and you can focus on your own world.
Q: How do you think you are being rated as a "low-end version of laughter"?
Ding Hao: Lian Xiao is very good, good and handsome in chess, and I am very happy to be his low-grade version. [Laughs]