Gu Li occasionally played in the armor and lamented that it was difficult to win chess. Beijing News reporter Sun Haiguang photographed
"If it's a three- or four-place battle, I probably won't be on it. In contrast, the difference between five or six is of little significance. On December 22, Gu Li, who is also the coach of the Chongqing team, sat in front of the chessboard of the 2020 Huawei Mobile Phone Cup China Go League. Although 1/4 of the sons lost to Jiangsu's Huang Yunsong, Gu Li became the only full-time chess player in the 22 years since the establishment of the Weijia League, which is unique in the Chinese chess world.
As the first eight-time champion of Chinese Go, Gu Li was the only chess player in the heyday of Korean chess player Lee Sedol to compete with him, and the two joined forces to create the "Gu Lee Era" in the history of Go. In an exclusive interview with a reporter from the Beijing News during the Weijia League, Gu Li said that AI (artificial intelligence) has accelerated the speed at which older chess players have faded out of the first-line stage, and also allowed Go to enter a new era.
After the transformation, Gu li felt the pressure of being a coach. Beijing News reporter Sun Haiguang photographed
transformation
Being a coach is stressful and the heart can't stand it
The Chinese Go League began in 1999 when Gu Li, then 16, started his first Tournament. After that, Gu Li competed for 22 consecutive years, and there was only one person in the Chinese chess world.
At the beginning of last season's Weijia, Gu Li, who was also the coach of Chongqing, began to reduce the number of appearances, playing only 7 games in a single season. This season, Gu Li completely turned around and retired behind the scenes, until the five or six players who had nothing to do with the Jiangsu team did not send himself to the field.
"For this record, I'm going to play this year anyway." Coulee joked. However, he bluntly said that if it is a dispute between three or four places, he may not be on the line, after all, there is still a big difference between the 3rd and 4th places, compared with the 5th and 6th places.
At 1 p.m. on December 22, Gu Li sat in front of the chessboard for the first time this season against Huang Yunsong, who was 14 years younger than him. Despite losing 1/4 of the black, Gu Li still said that "it's a bit difficult to win." ”
Making the decision to play, Gully took a moment to convince himself. 'If I'm not a coach, I probably have more opportunities to play. Gu Li was always worried that he was playing too much and others would have opinions, and wondered if he was using the power in his hands to hinder the development of young chess players, "I am particularly afraid of carrying this burden." ”
Since learning chess at the age of 6, Gu li has always felt that it is very happy to be a chess player, and he can put aside distractions and focus on playing chess, and think about nothing else. After the transformation, Gu Li liked the identity of the chess player more and more, because the coach was too stressful.
"Watching this game of chess win rate fluctuate back and forth, and you have subjective factors to hope who wins, the heart really can't stand it." In terms of anti-pressure, Gu Li especially admired Yang Yi, the meritorious coach of the Chongqing team, "He always said that he would not be able to stand watching our game, but even if this still brought us for more than ten years, I can now feel his feelings." ”
However, with ai fully involved in the field of Go, the pressure on Go coaches seems to be less. "Now with AI, the winning percentage is obvious. At that time, it was purely subjective to see the game situation at their own level, and it was not necessarily accurate. Gu Li also admitted that although AI can accurately judge the winning rate, but the chess is still played by the chess player, the winning rate is only a reference, sometimes a spoon can make the victory and defeat upside down.
Record
Finished 5th in the league and said good luck
On December 23, Chongqing won 4-4 in the league closing day to win Jiangsu to win 5th place, which was beyond Guli's expectations.
At the beginning of the season, Gully set a goal for himself and the team: not to fall into the bottom 8 relegation group. After the first stage, the Chongqing team rushed to the 3rd place unexpectedly. "The first stage is a super level of play, and the second stage is a 4-game losing streak." Gu Li bluntly said that he was lucky in the Chongqing team, not only entering the top 8 but also taking a step forward.
In the 22-year history of The Hujia, the Chongqing team is the only team that has participated in the whole process, and its nine-crown record is unmatched. But after winning the championship for the last time in 2013, the Chongqing team did not have the courage of the past. In the 2016 season, The Chongqing team once rose to 4th place, and Gu Li said that was because of Tan Xiao. Since then, Chongqing has been hovering on the brink of relegation, finishing in 9th place last year.
In the past few years, the Chongqing team has been focusing on cultivating new talents, and they are also one of the few teams in the group that does not rely on foreign aid. Li Xiangyu, born in 1997, Yang Dingxin, born in 1998, and He Yuhan, born in 1999, have made rapid progress in the past two years. Yang Dingxin won the 23rd LG Cup last year, and in early December this year, he also defeated Lian Xiao to win the title of "Tianyuan".
But back in the Weijia arena, Yang Dingxin's state was once a bit ups and downs, and the difference between the winning rate of white and black chess was a bit large. Gu Li said that as a top chess player, he should balance the winning rate of white and black chess, "I told Yang Dingxin that as long as the black chess winning rate increases by 20%, we can enter the top 3, and his level score will increase a lot." However, Gu Li also admitted that the competition in the League is indeed fierce, Yang Dingxin is making progress, and others are also improving.
After a season, whether it is the performance of chess players or the club's record, Gu li is very satisfied. The only thing that makes Gu Li a little headache is that the Chongqing team has no sponsor for two consecutive years, "We are the only team that has participated in all the leagues, and we are the only team without sponsorship, this problem is worth thinking about, and I believe it can change next year." ”
Gu Li and Lee Sedol joined forces to create the "Gu Li Era" of the chess world.
classic
Join hands with Lee Sedol to create the "Ancient Lee Era"
In his long career, Coulee has played more than 1500 games and played more than 200 chess players, of which the most frequently played is Korean chess player Lee Sedol, and the two have played 51 times, with a record of 25 wins, 25 losses and 1 draw.
Lee Sedol was born on March 2, 1983, and Gu Li was born on February 3, 1983, and the two regard each other as "lifelong enemies". In the era when Lee Sedol was born in the sky, the only one who could compete with him was Gu Li, and the two joined forces to create the "Ancient Lee Era" in the history of Go.
In November 2019, Lee Sedol, who holds 14 world championships, announced his retirement, causing a shock in the chess world. "Unfortunately, maybe the advent of AI has accelerated the speed at which older chess players are withdrawing from the first-line stage." Talking about Lee Sedol's retirement, Gu Li sighed. In Gu Li's view, Lee Sedol's retirement has a variety of factors, but he still does not understand his decision very well.
Compared with other competitive sports, the retirement line of chess players is somewhat blurred, and it can even be said that there is no "retirement". "You can retire softly, you can also meet old friends or something when you have chess." Gu Li said that for professional chess players, playing chess is the happiest thing, and it is not easy to play chess once they have officially retired.
Asked if he had communicated with Lee Sedol about his retirement, Gu Li smiled and said that the language was different, and the two usually communicated less, "In fact, if he wants to, he can still come back." Just by his personality, the possibility of a comeback is extremely low. ”
When Lee Sedol announced his retirement last year, Coulee was leading the team to prepare for the siege armor. After learning the news, Gu Li wrote only one sentence on social media, "I just want to give him a big hug at this moment." Even if there are a thousand words, it is even more with whom. ”
Gully has won numerous big and small championships in his career, but several major losses have been due to Lee Sedol, including the 2011 BC Credit Card Cup and the 2012 Samsung Cup, two World Series finals, "He only wins big games, small games let me win." My several unforgettable defeats were due to Lee Sedol. ”
Gu Li thinks that Ke Jie will have no problem winning the 9th crown next year. Profile picture
Trend
It is not difficult for Ke Jie to win the championship again, and the upper limit depends on the creation
Gu Li's appearance is dignified, his face is sunny, which is very different from the chess style of playing against the four sides of the game, and is a typical representative of the "force war faction". In a previous interview, Gu Li said that as long as he saw the chess game clearly and could think of how to deal with it after 10 moves, he would choose to kill the chess to end the battle. Nearly confused, Gu Li laughed and said that his chess style has been very soft, in addition to getting older, it also has a certain relationship with the current evolution of The trend of Go.
With more than 30 years of association with Go, Gu li has become more and more aware of the diversified characteristics of the sport of Go, which is also an important reason for the improvement of modern Go. In Gu li's view, the reason why japanese Benge school of Go has lasted for a long time is because the Japanese hierarchy is relatively strict, and it is very difficult for students to question and disagree with the teacher's theory. It was not until the emergence of Master Wu Qingyuan's new layout that the tradition was slowly broken.
Later, the birth of Nie Weiping (Nie Weiping) broke the Japanese Benge school. After this, Teacher Cho Hyun Hyun defeats Teacher Nie, and the Korean stream appears. Then there was the steady flow of Lee Chang-ho, followed by the Li Zhan faction represented by Lee Sedol and me. Gu Li counted the evolution of Go in the past hundred years, all the way to the emergence of AI.
When AI fully entered the field of Go, Gu Li had passed his peak, but he still felt the change in the way AI trained chess players, and the improvement of the higher level of Go. As young players become more and more exposed to AI, the strengths between players are getting closer and closer.
"Over the years, Go technology has been advancing. But after the advent of AI, Go has made qualitative progress. Gu Li bluntly said that it is not enough for chess players to have only one or two strengths, and top chess players must be as comprehensive as Ke Jie, "From the current point of view, it will be more and more difficult to appear as a chess player like Ke Jie who leads the chess world, and it is also very difficult to rule for a long time." ”
Before Ke Jie, the last player to lead Chinese Go was Gu Li, who won 8 world championships in 10 years. In November this year, Ke Jie won the Three Star Cup and caught up with Gu Li's record of eight chinese chess players. Talking about the extremely optimistic little master, Gu Li bluntly said that Ke Jie will have no problem winning the 9th crown next year, "As for where the upper limit is, it depends on his efforts and creation." ”
positioning
Self-deprecating non-first-line chess players, the focus is on popularization
Affected by the sudden epidemic in Chengdu, the second phase of the Weijia League was carried out under full closure, and Gu Li and the team members stayed in the hotel for 20 days.
In his spare time, in addition to chatting with the players about chess and occasionally gathering for a meal and drinking, Gu Li, who never chased the drama, watched the TV series "Chess Soul" with the theme of Go.
"Although there is still a little gap from the perspective of our professionals, the chess game, the move, the game, etc. are very good in the play." Gu Li said that "Chess Soul" has allowed many people to know and understand the mysterious project of Go, and its shooting methods have also made everyone interested in watching, and this "breaking the circle" has greatly helped the promotion of Go.
Gu li now often laughs at himself as a "non-first-line chess player", and his focus is also on the popularity of Go. "In the past, we just had to play good chess, but now we have to do it in other aspects, and it is very difficult not to break the circle." If you only care about entertainment, big data will not push you Go information, and you are completely isolated from Go. ”
Although he has occasionally participated in the development of "breaking the circle" in recent years, Gu Li said that there are only two chess players in the Chinese Go circle who really "break the circle", "except for Teacher Nie at that time, it is Ke Jie." Ke Jie has the potential in this regard, but the expectations given to him by everyone are too high, so we must protect him. ”
After watching the whole drama of "Chess Soul", the line that impressed Gu Li the most was - "Who still plays Go in this era?" Gu li laughed and said that this is the current situation, but for their professional chess players, playing chess is their life, their pursuit.
"Most people's lives are to study, go to university, graduate from work, and contribute to society. Go is relatively another kind of life. In the past few years of studying at Tsinghua University, Gu Li has been thinking about what kind of diversified talents the society needs, and where is the way out for the integration of sports and education, "Society needs a variety of diversified talents, not only the college entrance examination, whether it is sports or the field of art can be achieved." ”
Gu li, who calls himself a "non-first-line chess player", has rarely played. Beijing News reporter Sun Haiguang photographed
■ Quick Q&A
"Go will be your lifelong friend"
Beijing News: A little more friendship with Li Shishi or a little more opponents?
Gu li: Friends are slowly transformed from opponents. I lose the most he loses, and as a friend may not be qualified. Although we have the same record, he wins important games. He only wins big games, small games let me win, and my several unforgettable defeats were due to Lee Sedol.
Beijing News: What is the most impressive game of chess in my career?
Gu Li: In the 5th set of the LG Cup in 2006, I won 3-2 against Chen Yaoye, which was my first world championship.
Beijing News: What are the main goals at this stage?
Gu Li: I am now a non-first-line player, and my main job at present is to do a good job in popularizing Go.
Beijing News: Will there be a chance for human beings to defeat AI at a certain stage in the future development?
Coulee: If the essence of human beings does not change, it will become more and more difficult. Of course, it is not excluded that if human beings evolve in the future, there may still be opportunities.
Beijing News: Like C Ronaldo or Messi?
Gu Li: Like C Ronaldo's personal strength and aura, Barca's cooperation at that time was also flowing, which is a contradiction.
Beijing News: If you don't become a chess player, what industry will you be engaged in?
Coulee: Maybe it's a scientist. Of course I have a talent for Go, and it's good to play Go.
Beijing News: Will Lee Chang-ho's record of 17 world championships be surpassed?
Coulee: It's hard. Unless there are more world games in the future than there are now. If there are three or four world competitions a year like now, it will be very difficult to catch up with Lee Chang-ho. If anything, I think it will be in China, not in Japan or in South Korea.
Beijing News: From the perspective of professional chess players, what advice will you give to teenagers who like Go?
Gu Li: In fact, I mainly tell parents that Go is helpful for teenagers in terms of intellectual development and competitive awareness. If you are still learning Go in middle school and college, it will become your lifelong friend and can experience the impact of Go on growth from your own perspective.
■ Resume
Coulee
Date of birth: February, 3 1983
Birthplace: Chongqing
World Series Winner: 10th and 13th LG Cup Winners
Winner of the 6th and 10th Chunlan Cup
Winner of the 21st Fujitsu Cup
Winner of the 4th Toyota Cup
1st BC Card Cup Champion
15th Samsung Cup Champion
Member of the 9th, 13th and 17th Nongshim Cup Champions
Domestic champions: Nine Champions of the Weijia League, Six Consecutive Championships of the Tianyuan Tournament, Six Consecutive Championships of the Celebrity Battle
Sun Haiguang, chief reporter of the Beijing News
Edited by Han Shuangming Proofreader Wei Zhuo