Chapter 16 Wu Qingyuan

Mr. Wu Qingyuan is the older generation chess player I admire the most. His seniority is the same as my teacher, but his level of chess is much higher than my teacher. Mr. Wu Qingyuan mentioned in his memoir "There is a sky beyond the sky" that he once hoped that I would go to Japan to learn chess and live in his home in Odawara, and reached an agreement with Yomiuri Shimbun for funding issues. Later, due to "various circumstances", it was not completed.Nevertheless, I am very grateful for his concern. During the competition in Japan, I made a special trip to visit Mr. Wu Qingyuan and gave him a small gift to express my respect for him.

What impressed me the most was that in 1988, Shen Junshan and I participated in a World Bridge Championship trial in Japan. Originally, the Japanese side arranged for us to participate in the competition just to let us have fun. Unexpectedly, we took it "unceremoniously". champion.Someone invited us to dinner after the game, including Wu Qingyuan, Lin Haifeng and others.When Shen Junshan talked about bridge while drinking, I became excited as soon as I heard bridge, and bragged about how we won the championship with them through the wine.At this time, Mr. Wu Qingyuan said to me suddenly: "If you fight two rabbits, you can't get one rabbit." It means to criticize me for spending too much energy on bridge, which will definitely affect Go.I was eloquent at the time, and I was in a state of excitement when I was talking, but I was stunned.Shen Junshan laughed out loud when he saw this, and later he published a special article, describing my embarrassment in a big way, saying that when I was proud, I was suddenly at a loss.Lin Haifeng saw that I was making a fool of myself, so Nie Weiping and Shen Junshan played chess, Wu Songsheng was the referee, and Jin Yong, Chen Zude and Ying Changqi watched the match.

laugh happily.I was really in a panic at the time, and I was educated by Mr. Wu Qingyuan.He is an old senior, and he is right, I can only nod repeatedly. I have special respect for Mr. Wu Qingyuan. There is only one issue where I have different opinions, and that is how he is always talking about how to play chess in the 21st century.As for Go, professional players like us don’t even have a half understanding of it, including Hideyuki Fujisawa and Masaki Takemiya who have said similar things.And the more expert you are, the more you feel that Go is infinitely mysterious.What exactly is the law of the twenty-first century?

It should be said that none of us know, we can only follow along.And Mr. Wu Qingyuan told people everywhere what chess should be like in the 21st century.I'm not saying that the chess he advocates is wrong, I just ask, is chess really like this in the 21st century?If we can know chess in the 21st century, then our level can only be higher than that of the 21st century. In fact, our level must be lower than that of the 21st century. For example, chess in the 1960s cannot be compared with that in the 1990s. The times are different, and the content of chess has changed a lot.It's like the world champion in jumping two meters in the 1960s, but now there are many people who can jump two meters and three meters.

The development of future chess can be predicted, but it cannot be said that this is the way to play in the 21st century.From a technical point of view, I can't agree with Mr. Wu Qingyuan's views at all. I have expressed my views in public, but this does not affect my respect for Mr. Wu Qingyuan. His contribution to Go is unparalleled. It is a great honor for me to be able to associate with Mr. Wu Qingyuan, the "Grand Master of the Generation"!