by Huang Shaolong (formerly Professor of Nankai University)
Huang Shaolong on the ideal of Xiangqi
I often went to the Lingnan Cultural Relics Museum（岭南文物宫）to watch Xiangqi exhibitions, the large board of demonstration was two-sided, one for Xiangqi and the other for Chess. The audience sometimes attended from one side and then moved to the other side, in this way both games were equally promoted, and that was how I got interested in Chess. In Chess the moves of Rook and Knight are quite similar to Xiangqi, and there are also many similarities in the principles of strategy and tactics, so it is easy to learn and be proficient.
At that time, I have read in the newspapers that Xie Xiaxun（谢侠逊）was also good at Chess and he vigorously advocated it. He once defeated the British champion in a multinational invitational tournament held in Guangzhou and won the championship, causing a great sensation. I was very encouraged by this and wanted to find out about the game for a trial.
It just happened that Tu Jingming（屠景明）, a famous Xiangqi player in Shanghai, was the chief editor of the Chess column of Xinmin Evening News（新民晚报）, and I subscribed to it in order to learn some basic Openings. In 1953, when the first Chess tournament was held in Guangzhou, I took part but was defeated in the round-robin stage by Xi Quan（洗权）, but later I won the championship by defeating him in the final.
Xi afterwards participated in the 1958 National Chess Tournament and finished third. At that time, there was also Gao Zhi, a famous Chess player in Guangzhou. I played against him and won. He had represented Guangzhou in the 1956 National Chess Exhibition Tournament. Later, both Xiquan and Gao Zhi moved to Hong Kong, and the two represented Hong Kong in the World Olympiad Chess Championship in 1966.
In 1955, Shanghai players He Shun'an（何顺安）and Tu Jingming visited Guangzhou to compete in Guangzhou-Shanghai Xiangqi challenge matches. On March 25th, the tournament got a day off, and the Guangzhou Cultural Park（广州文化公园）invited Tu Jingming to give me a public performance in Chess. Tu Jingming was good at both Xiangqi and Chess. The fans were attracted to our challenge match.
Tu got the first move and maintained his initiative, broke through my defensive formation, forcing my King to exposure. I waited patiently for a surprise counter-attack. Sure enough, I surprised him and won a piece, so that the two sides entered a state of intense battle.
At this stage it suddenly rained heavily, and the open-air exhibition was suspended, the friendly game was stopped and no longer continued.
Looking back now, although I didn't play Chess later, my study of it once broadened my horizons and allowed me to learn from the excellent cultures of other countries, and the learning and practice was to the benefit of Xiangqi. For example, theories such as the importance of center and analysis of the opening game inspired me to write "The Theory of Xiangqi Openings". In particular, I was very interested in the training methods of the Chess players, and found that their education levels were relatively high. For example, the Soviet chess player Botvinnik was a world champion and at the same time, a doctor of science and technology, and he later participated in the development of computer chess. The Soviet Union also had two other world champions, Tal and Karpov, they graduated from the University journalism and economics faculties respectively. Another example was the earlier world champion Lasker, a German philosopher and mathematician who served as Professor at the prestigious University of Cambridge and the University of Berlin. In the UK, Chess Master Levy was a Professor of computer science at the University of Edinburgh. In the Netherlands, the world champion Euwe was a doctor of mathematics. In the United States, Master Hestie was a Professor and had served as vice president of the American Chess Association, among other things. The above facts were thought-provoking and have a great influence on my choice of life path.
On the other hand, the Chinese Xiangqi talented players' situation was quite different. The famous Seven Provinces Xiangqi King（七省棋王），Four Grand Tian Wangs（四大天王），Three Phoenix of East Guangdong（粤东三凤）, Three Greats of North China（华北三杰），they all played at a high standard, but their culture levels were not high enough, their finance were also not up to standard, these of course were caused by the conditions of the old society. In the new society, things were improved, however the cultural level have yet to be improved. After the opening of the society, some players got chances into the University, that's a good affair, but basically much needed to be done to improve the whole situation.
Players should play well to win tournaments and championships, but improving players' culture is indispensable. Because when the Xiangqi skills and experience reached a certain level, it is necessary to improve the theoretical level, on the one hand, to summarize the players own practical experience, and on the other hand, to learn from the theoretical achievements of other masters, all of which required corresponding educational accomplishment. Otherwise, the strength of the players' game may stagnate.
After reaching the master level, players not only need to continue to improve their knowledge and skills, but also need to make contributions to the advancement of the game in many aspects, as the initial knowledge of Xiangqi skills is not enough. The improvement of educational level means to enhance one's understanding of science, art, and literature, deepen one's cultural accomplishment, and enable oneself to achieve a more comprehensive development. Otherwise, it is not in line with the requirements of modern time. Limited to just tournaments and competitions is too narrow a world.
Looking back at the Tang and Song dynasties, chess was listed as one of the four major arts along with the qin, calligraphy and painting, and it was a compulsory course for cultural people. The invention of Xiangqi originated from the nurturing of the culture of Yixue（易学）learning, and its fundamental attribute is culture. Therefore, it is only natural that Xiangqi masters should have corresponding cultural accomplishments, especially in today's modern society in the 21st century.
Amateur Xiangqi players should pay more attention to receiving cultural education, and in the knowledge-based economy society, high education can usually obtain a higher economic and social status, lay the foundation for participating in amateur chess activities, and can contribute to supporting the cause of chess.
On a deeper level, improving culture is not only a matter for the players themselves, but also a need to improve the social status of the game. Since the development of the four ancient arts, there have been conservatories, art academies and other institutions of higher learning, which have cultivated musicians, calligraphers and painters with high cultural status in society and are respected by people. The state does not run a Xiangqi academy, and the Xiangqi master is only an idol in the minds of the fans, and therefore the influence in society is much smaller. In the final analysis, it is because the cultural quality of the people in the Xiangqi world is not high and they have not been able to keep pace with the times.
When I was a teenager, I witnessed the hardships of the older generation of Xiangqi players, observed the cultural gap between domestic and foreign chess players, realized the importance of culture to general players, and gave birth to the ideal of taking into account both the skill in the game and the academic learning, that is, young people should practice chess on the one hand, and learn culture on the other hand, which is an ideal model for the growth of Xiangqi players in the new era.
Requiring a higher game skill and a higher level of education, can that both be taken into account? The answer is yes, the Chess players we mentioned above are living examples, why can't we do it? The key is the selection and training system. At that time, I only had vague ideals, and it was still unknown whether I could achieve them, as all depending on the objective environment, personal efforts and opportunities. Decades later, I finally achieved this dream and became a Xiangqi Master and a university Professor. Moreover, I have also teached and cultivated some students who are both national first-class Xiangqi players and university PhD, which shows that the path of excellence in Xiangqi and academic study is feasible.
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Source: 个人图书馆
发布者：象棋残局解析
Dated: 2023-02-24
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