Traveling through the Republic of China to become a special agent, the system is very easy for me

"Oh, what kind of chess book did you get?"

Iwai Yuichi asked curiously.

"It was Wu Qingyuan's New Layout. This time I went to Nanjing to pay a visit to General Isogai Keiji, the commander of the Central China Front Army. There I met Iwata Shin, 6th dan, and his two disciples who came from Japan.

I also watched a game between General Isogai and Shin Iwata, 6th dan. General Isogai was also quite strong. He lost to Shin Iwata by only three points after being given a three-stone handicap. After all, Shin Iwata was a professional chess player and was very strong.

Brother Iwai, in order to defeat you, I specially invited Master Iwata Shin 6th Dan to my apartment to play a few games of instruction. Although it cost some instruction fees, I feel I benefited a lot and feel that my chess skills have improved.

This book of chess records "New Layout Method" by Wu Qingyuan was given to me by him. Although I didn't study it for a long time, it was very inspiring. Layout is my weak point, so I will study it more in the future. "

Su Xiwu laughed.

"Oh, it's Wu Qingyuan's chess record. Wu Qingyuan is now at the peak of his career in the Japanese Go world, with few rivals. I heard that in a newspaper's public opinion survey, Wu Qingyuan's popularity in Japan is second only to the Emperor.

It seems that you came prepared, old classmate."

When Yuan Ye heard them talking about Wu Qingyuan, he certainly knew him. He had been learning Go since he was a child, so how could he not know this Go master? Back then, he single-handedly swept the entire Japanese Go world and was regarded as a god-like existence by the Japanese.

He is Yuan Ye's idol, and Yuan Ye knows all about his experiences.

On October 1928, 10, Wu Qingyuan, a young Go genius who had already become famous in China, went to study in Japan. The number one Go player in Japan at the time, Meijin Shusai, personally led a group of Go players to the train station to greet him. Wu Qingyuan was only fourteen years old at that time.

When Wu Qingyuan arrived in Japan, the then president of the Japan Chess Association, Kishichiro Okura, agreed to provide Wu Qingyuan with 200 yen per month for two years.

Two years later, whether Wu Qingyuan can gain a foothold in Japan, that is, whether he can be recognized by the Japan Chess Association as qualified to be a chess player, depends on whether his chess skills can make substantial progress.

The Japan Shogi Association organized a review meeting to assess Wu Qingyuan's rank.

There are seven people in the review committee: Honinbo Hideya 9th dan, Iwasa Eri 7th dan, Sekoshi Kensaku 7th dan, Suzuki Sujiro 7th dan, Kato Nobu 6th dan, Iwamoto Kaoru 6th dan, Onoda Chiyotaro 6th dan.

The review committee selected seven players, including Shinohara Masami 4th dan, Murashima Yoshikatsu 4th dan, Maeda Chener 4th dan, Hashimoto Utaro 4th dan, Onoda Chiyotaro 6th dan, Kitani Minoru 4th dan, and Honinbo Shusai 9th dan, to play against Wu Qingyuan.

Wu Qingyuan defeated Shinohara Masami, Honinbo Shusai and Murashima Yoshikatsu. Based on this result, the review committee rated Wu Qingyuan as a third dan.

After being promoted to the third dan, Wu Qingyuan continued to play against the other four players, losing only one game to Kitani Minoru, and winning the rest.

In 1930, Wu Qingyuan, who was only sixteen years old, was promoted to th dan and became an official player of the Japan Shogi Association in the same year. He began to participate in the Japan Shogi Association's Otekai (equivalent to the dan ranking tournament) held twice a year in spring and autumn.

In 1931, Wu Qingyuan participated in a chess tournament sponsored by the Tokyo Jiji Shimbun, which adopted a single elimination system.

The seventeen-year-old Wu Qingyuan won consecutive games, and eighteen chess players were defeated by him. His winning streak caused a sensation in the Japanese chess world.

In the spring competition of 1932, the eighteen-year-old won all the competitions and took first place.

In the autumn competition of the same year, he lost only one game to Haruichi Kojima and ranked first with Minoru Kitani.

In 1933, Wu Qingyuan played a ten-game match with Kitani Minoru, and Wu Qingyuan defeated his strongest opponent.

He played the diagonal star layout, which was extremely rare at the time, with black pieces. Kitani Minoru also played a move that went against the traditional emphasis on perspective and instead focused on the central force.

In the same year, the Yomiuri Shimbun hosted the "Japan Go Player Championship", and Wu Qingyuan defeated Hashimoto Utaro in the final to become the winner and won the honor of playing a game with Shusai Meijin (the title of the best player).

In 1934, Wu Qingyuan was promoted to th dan and went to the puppet state of Manchukuo as a member of the "Japan-Manchuria-China Go Friendship Delegation" to play chess with the emperor of "Manchukuo" who ascended the throne that year.

In 1939, Wu Qingyuan was promoted to th dan.

Wu Qingyuan was invincible in defeating all Japanese opponents, but was promoted to 1950th dan very late due to illness and other reasons (it was not until February 2 that the Japan Shogi Association officially awarded him the th dan).

His successor, Fujisawa Kunisuke, was promoted to the 9th dan due to his outstanding performance in the O-tekai competition. At that time, many people believed that Wu Qingyuan should also be qualified as a 9th dan because he had more wins than losses against Fujisawa in the past.

So a competition between Wu and high-dan players was held, and Wu Qingyuan won by a large margin and was promoted to 9th dan. Afterwards, he fought Fujisawa three times in ten-game matches. Although the games were extremely thrilling and difficult to solve, Wu Qingyuan always demoted Fujisawa in the end.

In the last ten-game match, Fujisawa even brought his resignation letter with him, and went into the final with the strong determination to leave the Japan Go Association and stop being a professional Go player if he didn't win, but unfortunately he still lost in the end.

The period from 1939 to 1956 was Wu Qingyuan's heyday, known as the "Wu Qingyuan era."

At the beginning of World War II, while the Japanese army was sweeping across China and East Asia, chess player Wu Qingyuan was fighting alone on the Japanese mainland.

With his own strength alone, he defeated the seven top chess players in Japan in ten unprecedented ten-game matches, and demoted all his opponents.

The loser is either demoted to the position of Xiangxian, who is one level higher, or to Dingxian, who is two levels higher, forcing the loser to change his opponent's status to show that the weak are incapable of competing fairly with the strong, until there is no one left to play and the promotion and relegation ten-game match has to end.

Wu Qingyuan became the undisputed number one in the chess world and was hailed as the "King of Ten-Game Chess" and the "Showa Chess Saint".

Yuan Ye thought to himself, if he could travel back to this era and play a game of chess with his idol, how pleasant it would be.

I am now at the top level of a professional ninth dan, and I don't know who will win or lose when I play against Wu Qingyuan, the world's number one master. I think we can only know after the game. I just don't know if I have this opportunity?

Yuan Ye was thinking, when Su Xiwu suddenly said to him:

"Shikai, do you know how to play Go?"

"Yes, I learned it when I was a kid, so I know a thing or two."

Yuan Ye said very modestly.

"As long as you can play, that's good. Just watch us play. It's a good opportunity to learn from you. Mr. Iwai is a very good player. He is an amateur Go player of level 6 or 7."

In Su Xiwu's opinion, since Yuan Ye can play Go, his level should be just average. His calligraphy is so good that although he has amazing talent, he must have spent a lot of time studying.

It is impossible to have time to study Go, so how can you improve your Go level?