<h1>God of horses: Wang Haoran</h1>
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Wang Haoran, one of the "Three Masters of Huaiyang", originally from Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, was born around the time of the Qing Dynasty, Wang's father was a small businessman, and it is said that he owned a small grocery store in Zhenjiang and loved to play chess. Get nurtured by the family. Wang Haoran has loved to play chess since childhood, and because of his good understanding, he not only received his father's praise, but also surprised his neighbors. At that time, the chess field in Zhenjiang was larger than Ruiyuan and Chunsheng garden, where many chess players gathered. The Baji are the most famous in the chess world, and the average person can make two horses. Because of his love of chess, Father Wang often took Xiao Haoran to the tea house to watch chess, and sometimes, the disciples of the Baji people let the two horses play a few games. Around 1890, Wang's father went to Nanjing for business and took Wang Haoran with him. After the business, Father Wang took Xiao Haoran to play chess at the tea house of the Confucius Temple, and won three consecutive victories. As a result, the famous chess player "Zou Duck" was attracted, indicating that let the three first play, and Xiao Haoran intended to win the praise with two wins and one loss, at that time, Xiao Haoran was only 17 years old. After returning to Zhenjiang, he originally wanted to win the name of "Zou Duck" and ask the Baji people for advice, but because the Baji people often went out with the bad boat, they could not get the opportunity to ask for advice.
When Wang Haoran was about 19 years old, he already had a small chess name in Zhenjiang, and several disciples and friends of the Baji people, such as Li Zhiliang and Zhou Qiushui, could not beat him. Wang's chess skills have gradually matured, Wang Haoran learned that the center of chess is in Yangzhou, so he packed his bags and came to Yangzhou, because of the "chess taste" Zhang Yuying's funding has no sense of guest residence, just worry about the chess table. At that time, in the Yangzhou chess world, Zhou Huanwen seemed to be the leader of the alliance, but Wang Haoran came here to show his skills, and the chess community also understood that Wang Haoran's strength was really not under Zhou, plus Wang Haoran's chess products were excellent, he was humble in nature, he did not like to show publicity, and he respected Zhou Huanwen, and the chess community attached great importance to Wang Haoran.
In the mid-1910s, Lin Yixian, a famous chess player in Zhejiang, conquered Jiangnan and was almost invincible. In 1917, when he was in Shanghai, Lin Yixian defeated The First Shanghai Player, Li Liying, after winning many good players in a row. Lin Yixian tan started with a medium cannon, which was called "invincible middle cannon" for a while. Because of Lin's outstanding achievements, he was appreciated by a rich gentleman and hired him to set up a chess ring in Shanghai. The Shanghai chess community sent a special person to Yangzhou and invited Wang Haoran to Shanghai to play an open game with Lin Yixian, wang Haoran gladly agreed to the agreement after learning of this situation, and went with Zhou Huanwen, who took the lead in fighting Lin Yixian, that is, he was defeated. It was Wang Haoran's turn to play, and after fifty rounds of the open game, Wang Haoran won one more round with a soft kegang! At this point, it shook the chess scene in Shanghai and the whole country. At that time, the "commander-in-chief of the chess world" Xie Xiaxun praised Wang Haoran, which also led to a letter from the Beijing chess world in 1919 to Wang Haoran, specially inviting him to beijing to play, the Beijing giants at that time Meng Wenxuan, Meng was hospitable and happy, the four masters came to Beijing to play in Mengfu, Meng Fu was a daily chess battle, Meng Wenxuan himself liked to use the cannon, there was a deep study of this, Meng was the first hand in Beijing at that time, and did not meet the opponent in Beijing. Because Wang Haoran experienced the attack and defense of the middle cannon in Lin Yixian, Yi Lai also knew it. On this trip to Yanjing, Wang Haoran and Meng Wenxuan played twenty games first, the two sides were equally divided, Wang Haoran returned to Yangzhou with honor, and later Meng Wenxuan often mentioned Wang Haoran to his beloved disciples Na Jianting and Zhang Dekui, and Xu Wang Haoran was the first fierce enemy in his life. For a time, there was a saying of "Southern King And Northern Meng". Wang and Meng Yin admired each other, and it is said that Hou Yi married Jinlan.
In the mid-to-late 1910s, Wang Haoran's chess skills tended to peak, and after winning the championship in the Yangzhou Twelve Hand Competition, he was rated by the chess community as "free and flowing in chess, good at using horses". Its corner horses defend the middle of the attack, galloping in all directions, and bending to the fullest. Every time you can ride a horse and win by surprise. In the famous bureau appreciation of "Jiangnan Scenery", Jia Titao called Wang Haoran "the first hand in Yangzhou".
Wang Haoran's chess style is more meticulous than meticulous, rarely taking the offensive strong middle artillery, basically using the first hand to enter the military game, and mostly using the "corner horse" when the back hand. According to Mr. Yang Zhaohong before his death, the queen's hand should deal with the "immortals to guide the way", and nine times out of ten should be the flying elephant bureau. The "corner horse" name game (four games) selected by Mr. Jia Titao in the "Chess Forum" was all played by Wang Haoran. Because Wang Haoran used horses magically, over time, he was called "Divine Horse" by the Jiangnan chess community. Therefore, Wang Haoran is known as the "divine horse".
In the Yangzhou or Zhenjiang chess world in the early years of the Republic of China, everyone knew that Wang Haoran was humble and humble, but the chess friends did not have a premonition about Wang You's idea of hiding the chess world. It was not until the early 1920s that Wang Fengdao hung up his seal and announced that he would withdraw from the game in the future and would no longer make a living from chess, that the chess friends were surprised.
Why did the king withdraw from the altar of elephants as soon as possible? In the early decade of the Republic of China, the chess arena of Yangzhou Zhangzhai was basically presided over by Wang Haoran. There are indeed many jianghu chess players who come to Yangzhou to play in the ring, and in the contact, Wang always sees and hears the poverty of these chess players, and some even have problems eating. For example, when Wu Songting, a famous player in Hubei, came to Yangzhou, although he was wearing a long shirt, he was full of oil; when playing chess in the tea house of the teaching field, even if he won the lottery, he only dared to eat a chowder rice. This made the king have the idea that chess and food are difficult to eat, and he always wants to find an opportunity to retire and find another profession, so that he will not be frozen and starved in his old age. In the early twenties, Zhang Jinrong's skills were mature enough to take over from him to preside over Zhang Zhao's chess ring, so he explained the reason to the owner Zhang Yuying. Zhang Yuying is worthy of the title of "chess cup taste" and gives a large amount of money. Wang used this money to open a small shop for business, and when he had free time, he also went to Zhang Zhai to play Go.
Although Wang Haoran has disappeared from the world of chess, his concern for the cause of chess or the descendants of chess has not disappeared. There is one thing that can explain the characteristics of his "divine horse". In the early twenties, after Zhou Huanwen left Yangzhou in anger, several new entries emerged in the Yangzhou chess world, such as Dou Guozhu who opened a tea shop, Zhou Deyu, the son of Zhou Huanwen, and a younger Zhu Jianqiu, and the chess skills have also become more and more sophisticated. Zhu had repeatedly asked Wang Haoran for guidance, but Wang always refused. When Wang Haoran announced his withdrawal from the elephant altar, Zhu Jianqiu's hopes seemed to be in vain, so Zhu decided to go out and go out. Unexpectedly, just after he was desperate, suddenly Wang Haoran sent someone to call him. According to "Zhu Jianqiu Admires Wang Haoran", Wang said to Zhu: "I heard that you are going to go outside to see and see, of course, this is necessary, now let me give you a pound." It took three days for them to play a draw. Wang Haoran's actions made Zhu Jianqiu particularly admired and deepened his impression of the "divine horse." This happened around the end of the twenties.
