Move 150, when Qin Hao's white stone lands: the position of eight out of twelve.
Both Liu Hong and Hu Haiyang fell into silence. After a minute or so, Ma Xiaochun placed two black stones on the chessboard: "I lost."
The three people from Wu and Yue cheered, especially Wang Yang, who had just lost the chess game, and felt elated.
Ma Xiaochun's companions exploded.
"Why did you just give up? Isn't there still a chance?"
"That's right, I have just become an official, and there are plenty of places to play, so why should I admit defeat?"
This involves more than just a popsicle, but the dignity of their entire Zhejiang youth Go team. The one they recognized as the strongest was defeated by a ten-year-old kid from Suzhou.
Ma Xiaochun did not explain, but looked down at the chessboard, as if he was reviewing the move from which he fell into disadvantage.
Hu Haiyang smiled bitterly and said to Liu Hong: "You kid still said that I, Tian Ji, race horses, you are the one hiding the secret weapon, right?"
Then he looked at Qin Hao and sighed: "It seems that Suzhou is going to win this competition."
Liu Hong said modestly: "Hey, how can I say it accurately? This is a national competition, a hidden dragon and a crouching tiger."
In fact, I feel happy. What is the highest level of recognition among men?
You are awesome, I am convinced.
Although Hu Haiyang was not impressed by him but Qin Hao, who made Qin Hao his student in the Children's Palace?
Although the passengers around him couldn't understand Go, they still praised Qin Hao.
"The little guy is pretty good. Play hard and try to join the national team as soon as possible to win glory for the country."
"Come on, kids, the future of Chinese Go depends on your generation."
Complete strangers but full of enthusiasm, this is the spirit of the 1970s.
At night, the train was still running slowly on the rails, making a roaring sound. A group of children who were at war with each other before now fell asleep relying on each other. Qin Hao slowly closed his eyes while looking at the dark countryside outside the window.
At noon the next day, the train slowly pulled into the Beijing Railway Station.
When he was about to get off the train, Hu Haiyang was extremely nervous. He stood on his seat and shouted: "Don't be crowded yet. Let's wait until they finish getting off the train. When we get off the train, we will all hold hands when we leave the station. Don't be squeezed apart."
Liu Hong also stayed with Qin Hao and his party until the end, partly for safety, and partly because he wanted to help Hu Haiyang take care of the children.
Although we waited until everyone in the carriage had finished walking before getting off the train, we still couldn't avoid being swamped by the surging crowd when we arrived at the exit.
Hu Haiyang shouted repeatedly: "Hold on tight, don't let go."
Qin Hao followed silently at the end. It must be said that there were too many people in the train station in this era. Not only were there many people, but they also brought a lot of things. Some were holding three or four bulging sacks and squeezing out, which looked like pots.
The bowls and pans were all packed inside, and some people were carrying chickens and ducks, swaggering and raising them above their heads, without fear of chicken droppings falling on others.
After finally squeezing out, at the station door, Hu Haiyang nervously called the roll call. He didn't relax until he was sure that all the children were there.
Then the group of people took the bus to the guest house. Forget about being picked up by a private car. The national team probably doesn’t get this kind of treatment these days.
It was crowded all the way again, and it took almost an hour to finally reach the guest house.
The group of people already looked tired, feeling even more tired than taking a train for a day.
After settling the children, Liu Hong finally had the guts to half-joke with Hu Haiyang: "Now that we have arrived in the capital, is it time to fulfill our bet?"
Hu Haiyang laughed and scolded: "You kid are still afraid that I will run away."
"I'm not afraid of you running away, but the children want to drink soda, right?"
"Yes!" Wu Yue and the others became energetic when they heard that there was soda to drink.
Ma Xiaochun and the other children could only look at Qin Hao and the others with envy in their eyes.
Hu Haiyang bought four bottles of Arctic Ocean soda from a store near the guest house. Qin Hao originally planned to get a can of Coca-Cola to take back to Lin Dongzhe, but he found that Coca-Cola had not yet entered the Chinese market at this time, and domestic manufacturers did not have can technology.
Just give up this idea.
A bottle of Arctic Ocean costs 15 cents, and four bottles cost 60 cents. For Hu Haiyang, whose salary is less than 40 yuan a month, it is enough to cause pain.
However, after Liu Hong paid the bill, he bought more than 20 popsicles, which made Hu Haiyang a little embarrassed.
"How can I have the nerve to cost you money?"
"What are you so excited about? This is for the children, what does it have to do with you?" Liu Hong scolded with a smile.
When the children in the guest house saw a lot of popsicles, they all swallowed their saliva, but no one picked them up. Instead, they looked at Hu Haiyang eagerly.
"Why are you still standing there? Thank you, Teacher Liu."
"Thank you, Teacher Liu."
Liu Hong encouraged him with a smile: "Perform your best tomorrow and try to get a good ranking."
Ma Xiaochun walked up to Qin Hao with a popsicle in his mouth: "Can you play another game of chess with me?"
Immediately, Ma Xiaochun's teammates stopped playing with their popsicles and looked at Qin Hao one by one.
Qin Hao thought for a while: "It's just one game, I'm going to take a rest after it's over."
"good."
The result was still 150 hands, and Ma Xiaochun surrendered.
Only then did Hu Haiyang realize that Qin Hao's chess skills far exceeded Ma Xiaochun's, which meant that these two games were actually Qin Hao's instructional moves for Ma Xiaochun.
"Old Liu, where did such a monster come from in Suzhou?"
Although Liu Hong was proud, he was actually very confused. Qin Hao was so young, but his chess skills were unfathomable. Could he be the legendary genius?
Early the next morning, Qin Hao and his entourage went to the Beijing Children's Palace to compete. Due to the unprecedented scale of the National Children's Go Competition, the entire Children's Palace was suspended for a week to hold the competition.
"Teacher Hu, what is that man carrying? Is it a cannon?"
Hu Haiyang was happy: "That's a camera. If you enter the main competition, you might have a chance to be on TV."
"Really?"
When they heard about the opportunity to be on TV, the children all felt as if they had been given a shot of blood.
After entering the Children's Palace, Hu Haiyang and Liu Hong took Qin Hao and his entourage to register and receive their respective identity tags. This identity tag is numbered, and this number will be used in future competition draws.
"Wow, there are so many people."
In an open space inside the Children's Palace, there were already many children inside, and Qin Hao and his party were also arranged in a corner.
Just when Qin Hao was bored with waiting and was about to close his eyes to rest, Wu Yue beside him suddenly became excited.
"Look, Teacher Chen is here."
"Teacher Nie is also here."
Looking in the direction of Wu Yue's finger, he saw two middle-aged men wearing glasses walking slowly behind the leaders. One of them had a thin face, a little pale face, and a bad look, while the other looked slightly pale.
Fat body, with a slight smile on his face.
"Everyone, please be quiet."
The leader came to the stage to speak and had a long speech. Qin Hao felt drowsy until the other party announced loudly.
“In this competition, not only the top ten will be qualified to enter the youth class of the China Chess Academy, but the top three will also receive additional prizes, namely: a Snowflake refrigerator, a Beijing brand TV, and a Phoenix bicycle.
"
Qin Hao couldn't help but his eyes lit up. Song Ying was saving money to buy a TV set. In order to save money for vegetables, he planted a lot of snake melons. The fruits will bear fruit next month. He didn't want to keep eating snake melons until he vomited.
After Liu Hong saw Qin Hao's expression, he immediately guided him: "The refrigerator is a fashionable thing. Aunt Song will definitely be happy if I take it back."
Qin Hao pretended not to hear it. No matter how good the refrigerator is, it cannot replace the TV.
After the leader’s speech, the game can finally begin.
The drawing of lots is done by their respective teachers. According to the rules of the competition, the first two rounds of the preliminary round draw all the players from other provinces, and they will not be mixed together until they enter the main round. This is also to prevent some cheating.
Qin Hao's opponent in the first round was a player from Guangzhou. He must be fourteen or fifteen years old and stood half a head taller than him.
When the other party saw Qin Hao's height, a look of surprise appeared on his face, and he was glad that he had drawn a good lottery.
Wu Yue and the other three also drew their respective opponents. After all the players at the competition venue were seated, the first round of the preliminary round officially began.
On the rostrum, several old men were drinking tea and chatting.
"I hope there will be a few good talents this year. These are the hopes for the future of Chinese Go."
"I have heard that there are several good ones. There is a child named Qian Yuping in Shanghai who is said to be very talented. He is only 12 years old. There is a child named Ma Xiaochun in Zhejiang who is 14 years old. It is said that he is already a professional chess player.
It’s up to standard.”
"Yes, there is a girl named Rui Naiwei. She is only fifteen years old this year. She is also from Shanghai. Her chess skills are already quite high."
Chen Zude and Nie Weiping were also secretly discussing.
"These children are so lucky to have such an opportunity at such a young age, unlike us who wasted so many years in vain," Chen Zude said with emotion.
Nie Weiping shook his head: "You can't say that. The years of going to the mountains and countryside have tempered my will. The flowers in the greenhouse have to go through the wind and rain outside before they can become talented."
"You are getting better and better at speaking in official style now. When you retire, how about you take the position of dean of the Chess Academy?" Chen Zude joked.
Nie Weiping laughed and scolded: "I sit down and I sit down. If I can contribute to the cause of Go in China, it is my duty to do so."
"You said you were fat and you still had asthma."
Just as the two were teasing each other, they were suddenly attracted by a cry.
I saw a child of fourteen or fifteen years old crying loudly, while his opponent was a child who looked to be only ten years old.
The referee looked at the chessboard and announced: "No. 28 Qin Hao wins."
Qin Hao stood up, stretched and was the first to walk out of the arena.
Nie Weiping and Chen Zude subconsciously looked at their watches, and were surprised to find that only fifteen minutes had passed since the game officially started.
"You made your opponent cry in fifteen minutes?"
After thinking about it, Nie Weiping and Chen Zude asked the staff to bring the chess game over.
When he saw the results, Nie Weiping said "Huh".
"This black piece is such a fierce offensive."
After Chen Zude was silent for a moment, he slowly said: "And he didn't use any formulas. No wonder the kid lost so miserably."
The so-called formula is actually a summary of the previous games and the experience that has been continuously summarized. It is just like the martial arts routines. How can you defend when the opponent attacks to achieve the best effect? How can you attack so that the opponent can't look at each other from head to tail.
Among these formulas, there are experiences accumulated from famous games in ancient chess records, as well as essences extracted from the games played by modern masters. Anyone who has systematically learned Go will start with these formulas.
Generally speaking, teenage children play chess around those fixed formulas, so the level difference is not too big. The winner is usually decided in the middle game or even the official stage. After all, the main role of fixed formulas is in the opening game.
, how to further expand the advantage in the middle game depends entirely on one's chess ability.
"It's interesting. His method of play is either wild or he has mastered all the formulas. I just don't know if he can play such a sharp move when he encounters a really strong opponent." Nie Weiping said with great enthusiasm.
Looking at the rest area where Qin Hao was with interest.
Qin Hao stayed in the rest area for almost an hour and a half. The first round of the preliminary round was finally over. Half of the people were eliminated directly. The competition was still very cruel. Many children came all the way, but they had to go home just after playing a game of chess.
They all cried hoarsely, and the teachers leading the group could only comfort them.
Soon the second round of drawing came, and Qin Hao drew a Guangdong player.
As a result, this time the opponent persisted for less than half an hour before surrendering. It was not that this player was better than the previous victim, but that he had a more tenacious personality. Even though he knew he was far behind, he still gritted his teeth and persisted. Finally, he surrendered.
, the upper body clothes were soaked with sweat.
On the other side, Wu Yue and Wang Yang passed the second preliminary round after a hard battle and successfully advanced to the main round. The other guy named Sun Chao was more unlucky and was eliminated by a female chess player, which made Sun Chao cry.
That's a tragedy.
Ma Xiaochun's side was even worse. More than half of them were eliminated directly. Only eight people advanced to the main round. Hu Haiyang was also busy comforting the children who were eliminated.
Seeing this scene, Nie Weiping and Chen Zude couldn't help but sigh.
"Go is so cruel. Those who can come here to compete are the most talented ones in each region, but only a quarter can enter the main round."
"This is just the beginning, and the subsequent eliminations will be even more cruel. Among this group of children, it is estimated that less than one-fifth can truly become professional chess players, and those who have a chance to win the championship may not even be one-tenth.
"
The first day of competition has come to an end. When Qin Hao and his party were walking out, Wu Yue suddenly pointed to the podium: "What are you doing?"
Liu Hong said in an encouraging tone: "That was an interview video, and it might be cut into TV."
"Then why interview him and not us?"
This question really stopped Liu Hong from asking, and he could only say in an encouraging tone: "That kid's name is Qian Yuping. He was well-known in the Go circle before participating in the competition. He is recognized as a genius chess player."
"He is very powerful? Can he be more powerful than Qin Hao?" Wu Yue said unconvinced.
"You have to play it to know this."
"Okay, don't think too much. If you can enter the top 24, maybe the TV station will interview you."
When Wu Yue and Wang Yang heard this, their fighting spirit suddenly became high, and they shouted all the way: Break into the top 24 and be on TV, which made Qin Hao quickly hide behind and stay away from the two middle school boys.