刘殿中畅谈中国象棋

Xiangqi's "North Kunlun" Grandmaster Liu Dianzhong's visit to Xi'an

Early this morning, the reporter named Big Elephant（大象）led Grandmaster Liu Dianzhong（刘殿中）and his entourage to set off from Yan'an to the Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor, the origin ancestor of the nation according to legend.

Maybe it was because he had a good rest last night, and Grandmaster Liu was talking and laughing along the way. It seems that last night's simultaneous exbihition unexpected lost game did not affect the old man's mood in the slightest.

The following are some of the interviews on the road, which are recorded as below:

Big Elephant: I remember that someone proposed to internationalize Xiangqi and make the chess set into three-dimensional pieces, why is it no more follow-up talk about it nowadays?

Liu Dianzhong: When Xiangqi was first excavated, the pieces were of the figurine appearance, later on for convenience sake they were gradually changed into flat disc, this really played a big role in the popularization and development of Xiangqi. The reasons were firstly, it is easier to carry and save space, secondly, when short of material, people can just find some paper or carton and write the piece names on them, how convenient!

Big Elephant: Now some people on the Internet say that Weiqi is much more complicated than Xiangqi, and Lao Nie and others think that Weiqi is more qualified to represent China's national game than Xiangqi, what do you think about this?

Liu Dianzhong: To say that Xiangqi is simpler than Weiqi is nonsense. I can just pick up a Xiangqi puzzle, and I dare say that those who play Weiqi would not be able to solve it for half a month! On the other hand, if they take the so-called Weiqi puzzle that they think is very difficult, we our Xiangqi players can solve it far easier, and surely that it will be sorted out say in less than three days.

Big Elephant: There are a lot of draws in the game of Xiangqi now, what do you think?

Liu Dianzhong: It is said that there are many draws in Xiangqi, however, there are also many draws in the other chess too, so why don't they change it?! Some of today's players are too enterprising, too utilitarian, and play tacit chess, or even concede chess. Therefore, it is not a chess problem, but a human problem. You can check the chess games we played in the seventies and eighties, every game was painstaking, serious work, and many of these games are very exciting even for nowadays.

Big Elephant: So what do you think of Grandmaster Hu Ronghua's plan to count a win for Black if game is draw?

Liu Dianzhong: The Black's counted victory in Xiangqi proposed by Lao Hu is pure nonsense. Originally, Xiangqi game has three results: a win, a draw or a loss, but his plan means there will be only two results remaining in Xiangqi game, would you not say that is too simple? However, his cooperation work with Shanghai TV in a Xiangqi entertainment program called "Play Xiangqi and Play It Big", he has done a very good promotion job!

Big Elephant: The Xiangqi 1999 rules and the Xiangqi 2011 rules, which do you think is more practicable?

Liu Dianzhong: The rules of Xiangqi are constantly kept changing, which make a lot of players feel very tricky and confused. Many players having played Xiangqi all their lives, do not understand what the rules actually are. In fact, Xiangqi can absorb some reasonable regulations of the Asian regulations. These regulations are easier to operate, and it is also more in line with some conventional ways of playing for ordinary people.

Big Elephant: Now many people hope that Xiangqi can obtain increase of the prize money and thus promoting strongly to the world as soon as possible, what do you think things will happen in the future?

Liu Dianzhong: This brings us back to the old topic of egg-and-chicken again. The mass base of Xiangqi is so good, but there is no news media to pay attention to it, and without the attention of the mass media, there will be no great influence of the product, and no one will be willing to invest without mass influence. Without investment, how can we talk about promoting the game to the world?

Big Elephant: What do you think of the current level of play of Xiangqi masters?

Liu Dianzhong: Nowadays, there are too few title holders of Xiangqi masters, we have only Grandmasters and Xiangqi masters, resulting in a lot of differences in the level among Grandmasters and among national masters. There are many players who got the title of Grandmaster as if they have got a precious academy diploma, they lacked the initial motivation and do not want to make progress anymore. There are even a few players who don't even dare to play, as if afraid with their master title.

Big Elephant: I don't think there are as many titles as our Shaanxi Xiangqi group (76119952). There are at least six levels in our group: third-level player, second-level player, first-level player, and third-level master, second-level master, and first-level master.

Liu Dianzhong: Hahaha...

Non stop talking and laughing all the way and we finally arrived at the Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor safely...

+ + + +

Source : 陶山老妖的博客
Dated : 2014-June-12th

Xiangqi's Obsession

Obsession with Xiangqi

The years are long and interminable, who can draw a square circle with Xiangqi? How many times have you won or lost a game of chess? Alas, success is in such a hurry, defeat is also in such a hurry.

Xiangqi is not a simple game, but an all-encompassing art and science. "The heart is like a spider silk swimming in the heaven's blue, and the body is like a cicada's envelop turning into a withered branch" is a silent beauty belonging to the chess player. "Winning brings in happiness, losing also can give us some thrill" is an open-minded elegance belonging to a player. "The world is like a game of chess, each of the game is not the same" is a profound perception belonging to the individual player.

It is said that life is like chess, but I think chess is chess, life is life, and there are differences and similarities between the two. Chess is chess, but not always so, it can be played, but it cannot be always played. There is never an absolute standard of right and wrong. The saddest thing may not be to lose a game of chess, but to "play chess without knowing how the world changes", and the most gratifying thing may not be defeating the opponent, but to realize the true meaning of "harmony is among the most precious things in the world".

Every chess piece can be transformed into some sort of light and energy of the soul, for the chess lovers, they not only loved these pieces, they are also deeply dependent on them, chess playing has long become an indispensable habit in their life. The image of the chess pieces merges with the player's flowing blood and the pale bones inside the body. There is no end and there is no limit.

Chess is elusive. The chess score is as vast as the sea. No matter how hard I try to look, to touch, and to perceive the chess pieces, I can't stop the passage of time which runs like clear water, and I can't really understand the chess that are as subtle as the mysticism of Zen, as elegant and graceful as the poetry, and as strong and swift as a sword, and all kinds of mysterious beauty contained in the game, I can only tasted a little bit, an insignificance bit.

I used to naively think that I was a master, and that such an elevated feeling was hard to express, but when I finally felt the ethereal nature of chess again and again, I began to feel deeply my own insignificance and inconsequence.

I am much happy for the game, yet I have never been able to step out of the world of chess. I know that the charm of chess is not entirely in chess itself. When you play chess, you play your feeling, your emotion, the mood, the atmosphere.

Chess has its winning moves as well as its losing moves, and people have their own successes and their failures. Giving up or to hang on is sometimes a choice that you can't really control at all. In this world which blows hot and cold, who can explain why there are winnings and gains, why there are mistakes and failures? There are some chess games played that I know I don't fully understand, but I have a soft spot for them, so really I'm not a great player, and sometimes, I'm just a complete outsider.

+ + + +

Source : 蝴蝶飞的博客
Dated : 2014-August-1st

唐宋青铜棋子成都出土

Chengdu unearthed Xiangqi of the Tang-Song period

Liu Guobin: worth at least hundreds of thousands yuan

30 Xiangqi pieces excavated

Recently, while conducting archaeology project near Wan An Town（万安镇）in Chengdu New District area, the Relics and Archaeology Team unearthed a Xiangqi set in a tomb from the Northern Song Dynasty period. Due to such a long buried time, the chess pieces were stuck and glued together. These pieces were made of bronze, there were 30 in total, 2 pieces fewer than the modern Xiangqi set. We may ask which two pieces are missing? This needs to be further studied and investigated.

Xie Lin（谢林）, the head of the archaeological project, said that the tomb where the Xiangqi pieces were unearthed was from an ordinary family, the Xiangqi set was found next to the calf bone of the tomb owner, which suggested that the tomb owner may have been a chess enthusiast during his lifetime. It is understood that this bronze set is the first of its kind excavated in Chengdu so far, hence of great research value. At present, archaeologists are working on cleansing and the protection work, later these pieces will be exhibited openly to the public.

"Xiangqi has a long history of development, it only completed and settled in its present form at the end of the Song Dynasty. This tomb in the Northern Song Dynasty period revealed to us only 30 chess pieces. Was it that two pieces were lost when they were buried with 32 originally? Further cleansing up and more research are needed. Xie Lin said no accompanied chessboard was found in the excavations, and he speculated that it might have been because it was made of wood that had long been corroded.

It is understood that in this tomb, in addition to the bronze chess pieces, there was also a sunflower lace bronze mirror, as well as low-temperature fired armed-men terracotta figurines, civil official terracotta figurines, and pottery dogs.

Guess: How the ancients played Xiangqi

Suspense 1: How to distinguish between "friend and foe"?

Today's Xiangqi is mostly of wooden pieces or plastic, with red and black colors to distinguish between "friend and foe". The chess set unearthed in Chengdu were made of bronze and had no color distinction. So, how was it distinguished at that time? Perhaps, other archaeological discoveries from the same period can give us some inspiration.

Among the cultural relics of the "Song Dynasty Kiln Collection" unearthed in Zhangming Town, Jiangyou（江油-彰明镇）in 1983, there were two sets of bronze chess pieces from the Song Huizong（宋徽宗）period, which were almost identical in shape. The chess pieces have a rafter on the outer edge and an engraved ornament on the inside, a total of 32 pieces. The front of the chess piece is engraved with the text "General, Shi, Elephant, Rook, Horse, Cannon, Pawn", and the back is engraved with a pattern corresponding to the text... Some experts speculate that the bronze chess at that time may be distinguished by words on one side and patterns on other side.

Suspense 2: Why are there two pieces fewer?

Researchers believe that Xiangqi, which already truly similar to the modern one, was invented in the Five Dynasties period（五代时期）. From the initial 7-party game, to only two opposing sides, there have been several big developments and important changes in between.

The chess set excavated by the Chengdu archaeological team has only 30 chess pieces, which is two fewer than today's set. The Northern Song Dynasty coincided with the period of great change in the history of Xiangqi, was it at that time that maybe one of the set of pawns, elephants, or cannons (2 pieces) was added? Or did it accidentally get lost during the burial? Who knows? The answer will only be revealed until the next step in archaeological research is done.

(Report by Zhang Yuanling, photo by Lei Yuandong)

+ + + +

An expert collector of Xiangqi

Liu Guobin（刘国斌）, an expert in Xiangqi collection, said : Northern Song bronze chess pieces are worth at least hundreds of thousands yuan.

"If it is a Northern Song Dynasty chess piece, its archaeological value is immeasurable. Specifically, its economic value is at least hundreds of thousands of yuan. Liu Guobin, who was the director of the Xiangqi department of the National Sports Commission, said.

Liu Guobin is also a famous collector in the domestic Xiangqi community, he said that before this recent discovery, Luoyang and other places have also unearthed Xiangqi of the Northern Song Dynasty, according to the traditional understanding of the chess community, the number of pieces at that time should also be 32, this time Chengdu unearthed only 30 bronze chess pieces, that should be missing two pieces.

(Report by Jia Zhiruo)

Source : 蝴蝶飞的博客
2016-5-28

+ + + +

国际赛高手齐聚枣林湾

The 8th "Yangtze Cultural Tourism Cup" Open International Tournament was held on 21st October 2023 at Yuanbo Junlan Resort Hotel (园博君澜度假酒店), Yizheng City, Jiangsu Province, attracting 262 top amateur Xiangqi masters from four continents including Asia, Europe, North, Central and South Americas, and the Caribbean. The event has become one of the iconic event in Jiangsu Province.

The venue was at the scenic Zaolin Bay (枣林湾). The sponsors were numerous including Jiangsu Yizheng Zaolin Bay Tourism Office, Yizheng Municipal Bureau of Sports, Radio and Television, supported by Yangzhou Xiangqi Association, European Xiangqi Federation, American Xiangqi Federation, Yangtze River Delta Xiangqi Association, Shanghai Xiangqi Sports and Culture Center and Yizheng Sports Federation. The tournament main organisor was Yizheng Xiangqi Association (仪征市象棋协会).

Xiangqi has a long traditional background, the way of the game naturally gathered lots of players' wisdom. The city enjoys good popularity of the game. Even Yizheng Qingshan Primary School which is located in remote mountainous areas, yet it is the first school in Yangzhou teaching Xiangqi as special main subject, and all the 50 pupils in the school can play Xiangqi. Since 2012, Yizheng City has successfully held seven consecutive versions of the Yizheng Xiangqi International Open, which has not only been favored by top players in the domestic amateur circle, but also sought after by Xiangqi enthusiasts around the world.

"After the holding of seven tournaments, the Yizheng Xiangqi International Open has become one of top amateur Xiangqi tournaments in China." Cheng Minghong (成明宏), president of the Yizheng Xiangqi Association said that this year's tournament attracted 262 players from 16 countries and regions on four continents, "including 23 foreign Xiangqi players." Zhu Yueping (朱岳平) from Italy is the national champion of Xiangqi in Italy and the runner-up of the Shenzhen Xiangqi International Open. Another Italian player, Fang Dingliang (方定良), is an international master and had won third place in the European Xiangqi Championship.”

In addition to these foreign masters, domestic amateur masters have also been attracted. "For example, Chen Liugang (陈柳刚）is well known as China's Qi Wang of the 'three southwestern provinces', and Liu Zongze (刘宗泽) who represented Hubei Province, is one of the 'troikas' in the domestic amateur community. In addition, many top players from various provinces and cities participated too, making the level of the tournament one of the top in China." Cheng Minghong said.

Competing five times in a row, the Vietnamese guy loves Yizheng the most. Zhang Zhongjian (张忠坚）from Vietnam, is in his fifth time in Yizheng to compete. He told reporters that he used to go to school in Nanjing. "After coming to China, when I came into contact with Xiangqi, I found it particularly attractive." Zhang Zhongjian said that his master coach is Yan Zuanzhao (言缵昭), a xiangqi champion in Nanjing, "I often participate in those competitions around Nanjing when I learn Xiangqi with Teacher Yan, and I have been taking part in Yizheng competitions since 2016."

Zhang Zhongjian told reporters that in all the competitions he entered into, Yizheng's events were the most participated, even if he has now gone to Tianjin to study, this year after the resumption of the event, he still rushed to Yizheng to take part, "because Yizheng is the best place, with beautiful scenery, good environment, nice food, comfortable accommodation, so I like to come to Yizheng very much."

It is worth mentioning that in this competition, Zhang Zhongjian's master coach in person also appeared, and they staged a 'master-apprentice showdown' in the fourth round. "In the end, I still lost to my coach, but during the middle game, I have had a drawing possibility. I still can't get off the master, and I have to go back to the drawing board to practice more." Zhang Zhongjian said that although he lost the game, he is already very satisfied with his current performance, "At present, I have a 3 wins and 4 loss score in 7 rounds, which is already very good, when I first participated, I didn't even get a single game of draw, but then it was better and better every time, and this time I have scored 6 points."

Zhang Zhongjian, who will go to Shanghai for a PhD course next year, said that Shanghai is closer to Yangzhou, "I will definitely come to Yizheng again next year!"

It is reported that a total of 13 rounds of games will be played in this competition, and the Xiangqi players who win the championship will exclusively enjoy a championship prize of 16,000 yuan. All competitions will end on the afternoon of the 22nd.

+ + + +

来源：扬州发布
Source : 我苏网
2023年10月22日

记林关浩会长视频专访

（象棋通讯）2022年2月23日-2月27日，第三届新加坡“五粮液杯”象棋比赛，副会长林关浩视频专访：

这个比赛原本要在去年举办的，但是因为这个环境，这个疫情，那么我们一拖再拖，非常幸运的在中国白酒云总的大力支持下，终于今天能够开幕，也获得了多位棋手报名参加。这一次参加的比赛里面有很多高水平的，例如其中有一位是吴宗翰，那么他可说是多届的新加坡的个人冠军，是一个水平可说是新加坡最高的，其他的好几位呢是属于甲级的棋手。

所以我觉得这一次在中国白酒协会的赞助下，获得了这个棋友棋界的很大的一个响应，象棋就是能够启发人生，而酒也是一项在通过喝酒的故事里面，诗歌里面，也知道这个跟人生有很大的关系，这两个结合在一起的话，是非常非常融合，更能够去创造一个美好的人生的一个前景。

新加坡属于一个多元种族的一个国家，那么实际上新加坡的领导人，当时，我们的陈振声部长跟我讲过，象棋不能够太中国化，所以近年来，新加坡象棋总会，就推动了一个图形象棋，这个图形象棋，主要通过英文来解释象棋入门里面，我们就是会招收一些马来同胞，印度同胞，那么同时，每年在七月的时候，7月21号，有一个种族和谐日，我们当天，会举办一个比赛，而这个比赛，能够让非华裔的人士，能够来下象棋，或者参加比赛。

我们就是女棋手其实不是说很少，那么实际上也是很多女孩子好喜欢下象棋，但是要达到一定的水平，是不容易的，所以新加坡过去在亚洲赛或者世界赛，每一次都有派人参加，这个说明了新加坡在这个女子象棋事业的发展里面，还不是完全的就是零。

为什么象棋能够在学校里面能够变成一个项目来活动，因为大家都知道，象棋能够锻炼你的意志，修身养性，锻炼你的耐心，那么其实棋如人生，人生如棋，如果你把棋下得好的话，那就会很好的去规划你的美好人生。

学校的课程里面，没有一个科目是这样的，叫你怎么去规划你的人生，怎样去好像计划啦，做得更好。今年我们很多计划，我们五月会去有一个所谓第31届东南亚比赛，在越南，那么这个意义在哪里呢？就是第一次象棋被纳入东南亚运动会，跟好像游泳，田径，乒乓，篮球等等合在一起，这个意义非常的重大，无形中，也会提高象棋的地位。

另外一件事情是九月，在中国杭州他们办这个第19届亚洲运动会，那么象棋非常幸运的，第二次被纳入亚洲运动会里面的竞赛项目，那么这样一个能够对这个象棋，打下一个兴奋针。让这个象棋的发展，到达一个令人鼓舞的地步。

这两个比赛，都就是新加坡的奥友会，都已经准备派队参加，所以我们新加坡象棋总会已经提名一些优秀的棋手，给他们批准。我们象棋总会面临的困难就是我们缺乏这个经费，缺乏这个资金，幸好这几年来，有这些永久名誉会长，名誉会长，大力地赞助，同时，政府响应这个赞助，一元对一元，所以因此我们还可以生存下来，这个是我们非常幸运的，希望新加坡青少年们能够热爱这个象棋的发展，因为象棋能够做启发我们的人生，锻炼我们的思考，同时能够修身养性，我相信多下象棋，我们就能够无形中的得到感悟人生。人生如棋，棋如人生。

Source : YouTube视频

+ + + +

汪洋力挫六大高手登顶

On November 23rd, 2018, in the final match of the "Borui Cup" National Individual Xiangqi Championship, Hubei's Grandmaster Wang Yang（汪洋）forced his opponent Chen Hongsheng（陈泓盛）to resign with a siege of 4 major pieces : Rook, Double Cannons and Knight, which means that he has won the coveted title of the championship, the 20th Qi Wang of China. As soon as the news came out, almost all the Xiangqi fans applauded him, they were so excited and relieved at the same time. They thundered his name in one voice: Wang Yang!

The reason why it caused such an unprecedented sensation is because many people did not really expect his dream of success can be realized anymore now or ever.

Firstly, the world of Xiangqi is full of talented young and not so young players, they either progressed very rapidly or hold on steadily, and the 34-year-old Wang Yang is obviously not dominant in terms of age.

Secondly, Wang Yang is known as the "second person" and the "uncrowned king" of Xiangqi. He has nearly won the individual championship, for a total of five occasions, sadly all of them ended in near failures. And today, the uncrowned king suddenly burst into life, when people thought that there was no drama, causing an unexpected sense of joy to everyone.

In the individual championship this year, the format is a single knock-out match to move ahead, losing a game means out and finish, in the end the final champion must be a ruthless character who does not lose a single set from beginning to end.

At that time, among the 64 participating players, there were 16 grandmasters (8 of them previous individual champions), 37 masters, and 11 strong amateur players. It was as if ten of thousands of troops had to force their way across a single wooden bridge, the momentum was magnificent, the atmosphere was terrific and dramatic.

This time, Wang Yang forged ahead all the way, and 6 Xiangqi grandmasters or masters were left behind him, all defeated. They were Wan Chunlin（万春林）, Xie Gui（谢岿）, Xu Guoyi（许国义）, Hong Zhi（洪智）, Jiang Chuan（蒋川）, and Chen Hongsheng（陈泓盛）.

In the quarter finals, Wang Yang faced his senior Hong Zhi. They are team mates and also fierce rivals. In the final stage of the 2005 Taiyuan National Individual Championship, Wang Yang lost to Hong Zhi due to excessive nervousness in a favorable winning situation.

In the process of the final match against Chen Hongsheng, Wang Yang was neither hesitant nor reckless, he firmly attacked the weakness of the Red side of the 7th file back-rank Elephant, and took advantage of the right wing Rook and Knight-Cannon superiority to occupy a good position, forced the Red side to exchanged two Rooks for one, and finally defeated the Red with the siege tactic.

Afterwards, a reporter interviewed Wang Yang, knowing the final opponent was Chen Hongsheng instead of Zhao Xinxin, was he glad in a way? To this, Wang Yang replied: "No, no such idea at all. Of course I was really eager for the championship, but at that time I only focus on the game, I was very calm, maybe because I had experienced so much in the tournaments over the years."

That's true. In a thoughtful way, the only way to succeed in anything is to concentrate on the thing itself, not its added value.

If instead what Wang Yang thought at that time was: "Finally I reached the final again, this time if I do not win there may not have opportunity for me again, I must beat him, he is not as good as me, oh yes I want to thank him for eliminating several strong opponents, clearing up my way. If I win this championship, I can participate in several national championship invitational tournaments in the future, so that I will have more income, I can move my family to a bigger house, by the way, I plan to take the whole family to the Maldives for holidays next summer..."

If Wang Yang thinks about these undeserved distractions, then the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will be missed again, and the title of today's article is likely to be "Super dark horse Chen Hongsheng won the 2018 individual championship!".

But Wang Yang didn't let that happen.

After winning the championship, Wang Yang confessed that he was very happy that his dream for many years had finally come true. Ten years ago, he would have been so excited he would not know how to handle the situation, but he is more calm now. This kind of calmness is a mature mentality that has slowly turned from fanaticism to cool and collected.

He believes that winning the individual championship is just a natural result of his hard work. As in the sentences:

"Here he lies where he longed to be;
Home is the sailor, home from sea,
And the hunter home from the hill."

This is the famous quote of the British poet Robert Louis Stevenson, and it is also Wang Yang's favorite poem, every time reading these sentences, surely they created a sense of peaceful belonging, a sense to go with the flow of time after all the dust and fuss have settled.

Generally speaking, when a person is in great joy or in great sorrow, it is difficult to maintain peace of mind, and almost nothing can be done (who can sleep after winning the championship). But Wang Yang, after the individual championship game, he mostly would as usual proceed to eat, play, and train as if nothing special has happened.

As the beneficiary of the single-elimination system, Wang Yang also talked about his views on the championship format, he felt that the previous individual competition adopted, winning the championship depended too much on the fortune of other players, the fate is not completely controlled by oneself in a way. In the elimination system, fate is basically determined by the players' own strength. Winners stay, losers out, no opponent's points in the equation, clean and simple.

Wang Yang said: "In fact, it is the same way to do things as a person, thinking too much is to court troubles, simply to live, and simply to pursue one's own thing. Although I have fulfilled my dream in the competition, I still plan to continue to play the game seriously in the future, do a good job of everyday live broadcasting, and have the opportunity to visit various places of the world. I want to play ten thousand games, and also want to travel ten of thousands of miles."

+ + + +

Source : 樱伝圣殿
2019-April-28th

Tale Of A Chess Set Gift

After the New Year, returning to my place of work from my hometown, I told many people around what has happened to me, but no one believed it, and this happening has always bothered me. In the end I decided to see a psychologist, and his advice was try telling my story to other people, friends and even strangers, as a cathartic way to release the inner tension and anxiety.

I had planned to get married at 1st October of 2009, but because of work, I didn't go back to my hometown until the Spring Festival to get married. My hometown is in Urumqi. After graduation, I went to work in Chengdu, everything was relatively plain and smooth, I already found my loved one, had a good job, working as an engineering manager in a construction company. Times have faded away some strange memories deep in my heart. But just this Spring Festival, after my wedding...

The day after the banquet, my wife got up early and at breakfast she told me that I rummaged through the drawers last night to find something, and that caused her not sleeping well, and I didn't have any recollection of the nocturnal activity at all. Then as if to remind me something, I found the chess set on the table!

My whole body shivered for a few seconds, why is this chess set on the table, it should have been tied and sealed in the drawers all the time! On hearing the voice of my wife, I came back to my senses.

About this chess set, it goes back to when I was in junior high school. At that time, I was obsessed with playing Xiangqi, and when I defeated my peers, I was no longer satisfied with my usual opponents, so I often watched games played by the elderly downstairs and I often joined in and played with them. Grandpa Qi was the person who played Xiangqi with me the most at that time.

Grandpa Qi's wife died early, Qi had two sons and a daughter, all settled in their different ways, they have not come back home often. Grandpa Qi has been living alone, the children will occasionally come back to see their old dad. I have been playing downstairs with Grandpa Qi two games every day after school and also on weekends. People say that the two of us have forgotten each other's generation gap and have a very good relationship, and even when his children came back, they would invite me for dinner!

However, until one bad day I committed a mistake, I felt I didn't have the courage to play chess with Grandpa Qi anymore, I avoided him every time as much as possible, I was afraid of his reprimanding eyes. Several times I walked past him with my head bowed, and I heard a faint sigh then!

I was in the second or third year of junior high school, when Grandpa Qi was more taken care of by the Elderly committee as he was living alone, they asked him to look after the little shop run by the neighbourhood committee for a few hours a day, the shop is some few yards away downstairs from my house. That day, I went down to play chess, at the same time wanted to buy myself an ice lolly, but there was no one at the little shop, door was locked, and the freezer placed outside was also locked. I discovered the door of the freezer could be lifted a little bit, just so that one of my hands could reach in, and at that time, I saw that there was no one around, so I wanted to reach in and get it. But when I just reached in and took it, Grandpa Qi appeared, I briskly saw his angered expression, and I knew what I was doing was wrong. I quickly retreated and left the place, later I slipped back home! Since then, I have been hiding from Grandpa Qi!

Even when being a third year student in senior high school, I haven't touched or played Xiangqi for 3 years! I can always think of Grandpa Qi's eyes that day. I deliberately avoided the game.

After the college entrance examination over, I was anxiously waiting at home for the notice of exam results by post. One of these nights, something terrible happened!

The weather that day was muggy and hot, as if it were going to rain. I didn't fall asleep until after 2 o'clock in the morning. But not long after falling asleep, in the haze, I saw someone at the door. I can't see the thing clearly, I was afraid. I felt like I was in a bondage. I shouted desperately: "Who!" My mom came out of the bedroom and asked me what was wrong, and I said I saw a man at our doorstep. After that I slept with the lights on. But the following night, shortly after I had just fallen asleep, the man I saw at the door yesterday was sitting on the edge of my bed, and I was terrified, and after hearing a sigh from him, I yelled again, which also woke my mother. My mother looked at me sweating profusely and didn't know what to do to calm me down.

On the third day, when I came back home from school, I saw that there were many people gathered together, my mother was also there, and Grandpa Qi's children were also there. Grandpa Qi had passed away, he had suffered a cerebral stroke at home and died 2 days ago. I was confused, could it be that Grandpa Qi came to try to find me? Listening to my mother, she said because the Elderly committee found out that Grandpa Qi had not been in the shop for 2 days, and mum didn't know what the situation was, she called his children, and when they came back, they found that he had died at home, and he had been dead for 2 days already. I said, "Mom, what I saw two nights ago, could it be..." My mother said that Grandpa Qi had a good relationship with me before, probably he was wanting you to save him.

I attended Grandpa Qi's funeral with much mixed feelings, and after the funeral, Grandpa Qi's eldest son looked for me and said that when sorting out his father's belongings, he had found Dad's gift for me : a very beautiful box of chess set and a birthday card, the date was dated my third year of junior high school. Recalling that day of the ice lolly incident, it was only a few days before my birthday. But because of my escape and my avoidance, Grandpa Qi's gift has never been given into my hands!

I collected the gifts that Grandpa Qi given me very carefully, put it in the drawers, but I never dared to open it and take the pieces out, and I always felt that I owed Grandpa Qi something. That chess set was never have occasion to be displayed once.

Back to this year, when I got married, the chess set had then appeared as if unexpected in front of me once again, it was on the table, but the birthday card was still in the drawer. Why is this so? Every time I think about it, I feel a bit uneasy.

I think Grandpa Qi has not forgotten me, and he has forgiven me a long time ago, and on my wedding day, he wanted to give me a gift in his way. I was deeply moved, but I am an ordinary person after all, for these strange things, after all, I will be always apprehensive, I told my mother so. Before I left my hometown for Chengdu, accompanied by my wife, we went to visit Grandpa Qi's grave, I have the opportunity and courage finally to say: "Sorry!”

+ + + +

Source : 天亦老的博客
Dated : 2015-March-13th

争特大沈毅豪破釜沉舟

马来西亚沈毅豪：我的象棋梦想比收入更重要

Shen Yihao of Malaysia : My Xiangqi dream is more important than my income

In the sixth version of the "Yang Guanlin Cup" National Xiangqi Open Tournament, there is a Xiangqi player from Malaysia, he is tall, fair complexion, and polite. He has a dream of one day becoming an International Grandmaster.

His name is Shen Yihao（沈毅豪）, a full-time coach of the East Malaysia Chuangxing Xiangqi Academy.

Before 2014, Shen Yihao had not yet become a full-time chess professional, when he was employed in the Malaysian telecommunications industry, with a good salary, of a monthly income of about 8,000 yuan RMB, which was already a relatively comfortable life in Malaysia.

2013 was a year of confusion in Shen Yihao's life. What direction to take? Go left, or right? He eventually decided to quit his job and get himself to become a professional Xiangqi player.

Shen Yihao, 30 years old now, has already started a family, and his wife is very supportive of his idea of playing chess, but his mother does not agree. When Shen Yihao just submitted his resignation to the company, her mother was very surprised, she could not believe her son doing that, she only knew that he is going to engage his whole life in Xiangqi in Malaysia.

It is a profession few people dare to contemplate. Mother believes there is not much way out in the future.

Previously, Shen Yihao had saw the reported news, that there are many amateur chess players in China who live a pure life of playing chess on the one hand and teaching chess on the other, and feel that it is a life he wants.

"I pursue my dreams, and my dreams are more important than my income. One day in the future, I will reach the status of an International Grandmaster, and I will also be able to obtain commercial advertisements to generate more income, just like the two International Grandmasters in Malaysia, Lee Ka Hing（李家庆）and Wong Yun Hing（黄运兴）. ”

Shen Yihao's dream of chess is related to the inspiration of Grandmaster Jiang Chuan.

On September 1, 2013, Jiang Chuan was invited to East Malaysia for a Xiangqi exchange activity, doing blind chess demonstration against 6 people, the result was only Shen Yihao drew with Jiang Chuan, and everyone else lost to Jiang Chuan. Jiang Chuan praised Shen Yihao and told him that in order to improve his level, he really needed to go abroad and participate in more international competitions.

From that moment on, Shen Yihao, who was full of interest in chess, finally made up his mind to take the road of Xiangqi as a profession.

Shen Yihao's Xiangqi level, according to the results of the first eight rounds of the "Yang Guanlin Cup", with four wins, two draws and two defeats, totalling 10 points, among many overseas masters, is already first-class.

It is worth mentioning that last year, he won the Malaysian National Championship, the National Quick Chess Championship, the National Youth Tournament Runner-up, and the Individual Runner-up of the Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei Invitational Tournament; On June 2nd this year, he played a blind chess exhibition against 10 persons in China, with five wins and five draws, so his level of play can also be seen by all.

Shen Yihao's dream of Xiangqi is supported by many friends in the chess community. One of the participants in the "Yang Guanlin Cup" is Lin Yuefeng（林岳峰）, the founder and general director of Malaysia's First Professional Chess Academy. "He was bold and did what he said. I am the one who has come over the same way, the path he is walking, I have walked too, and I fully support his choice. ”

Lin Yuefeng says that Malaysia's Xiangqi activity has been growing, and children from many Chinese families have the opportunity to contact themselves with Xiangqi. Among the Chinese population in Malaysia, the proportion of chess playing is high, at least five out of ten children know how to play, because their older generation can play it, which really due to the transmission of culture.

Overall, the Xiangqi environment in Malaysia is still improving, and many companies are willing to invest in sponsoring tournaments. In recent years, the Malaysian Xiangqi Federation has been well managed, requiring players to dress neatly and wear tie during official functions and receptions, and the tournaments arbiters to pay more attention to their own public image, which has allowed sponsors to see a very high level of professionalism, and so they are more happy to give sponsorship.

"In the long run, it should be good to engage in the profession of playing and teaching," Lin Yuefeng encouraged Shen Yihao to continue to move forward along his chosen road.

"There is no road longer than a foot of a person, there is no mountain higher than a man."

It is believed that Shen Yihao's Xiangqi dream will come closer and closer to realization as he becomes more and more experienced in the tournament competition.

+ + + +

Source : 铁将-不动的博客
Dated : 2014-September-26th