Battle of the Chu-Han River, the chronicle of heroes

Author: Lü Qin / et al
Editor: Zhou Bin / et al
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-09-01
Features: Excerpt: The chess king played all black to challenge all the masters. What an interesting coincidence. In just over an hour of the start, Liu Dianzhong won swiftly against Jing Xueyi, becoming the first player to end the match. Subsequently, six draws followed in a row. I felt worried, thinking that if this trend continued, it would disappoint the reporters and spectators who loved to watch the excitement, and perhaps a headline like "A Tide of Draws" would appear in the newspapers. Fortunately, I was glad to see that 11 more matches decided the outcome, making more than half of today's games end in victory or defeat. Teacher Hu won against Song Guoqiang with the black hand, playing very skillfully. Teacher Liu in the same group struggled for nearly six hours to defeat Zong Yongsheng, making this the last match to end today. The competition for "Er Hua" had already exhausted viewers the day before! The strength of the grandmasters was indeed high; despite mostly playing with the black hand today, they either won or drew. The "fortress" of the grandmasters remained unbreachable, and no upsets occurred in the first round. Xu Bo was absent due to family matters, allowing Sun Yongzheng, who was supposed to face him in the first round, to enjoy some leisure time watching the games.
January 21, Thursday
Today is the first day of this eight-player competition where two rounds were played consecutively, making it both a busy day and a day full of upsets. The "fortress" of the grandmasters, which had seemed unbreachable yesterday, was finally pierced by the relentless challenges of the other masters. The first to defeat a grandmaster was Li Jiahua, a former player from the Gansu team who had recently joined the Post and Telecommunications Sports Association. In the second round of the morning, relying on his skill in chaotic battles, he won against Tao Hanming with the black hand. Little Tao had just won the third place in the "Five Rams Cup" competition a week ago with an unbeaten record, but consecutive games left him physically exhausted, affecting his performance. Yesterday, Little Tao faced the veteran Teacher Yan Mujiang and ran into trouble right from the opening. If Teacher Yan hadn't been eager for material gain, allowing Little Tao to push forward two pawns for the initiative, Little Tao might have won an upset yesterday. Xu Jian lost to Teacher Liu with a second-move draw, a very unfair result. In this game, Liu played the five-seven gun advance three against Xu's screen horse with the three. Liu used a "flying knife" first seen in the 1999 "Asian Cup" competition, which Japan had adopted first. Unexpectedly, old Xu had no idea about this variation, but his on-the-spot adaptation was excellent, and he took the lead. However, he ended up losing inexplicably later. Old Xu was frustrated, while Teacher Liu frankly admitted that he won by chance. In the third round of the evening, Hangzhou's "Green Robe Young Master" Chen Hanfeng, with the white hand, defeated Xu Tianhong in just 29 moves. Little Chen, still without a master's title, won so decisively against a grandmaster, likely thanks to his teacher, the "flying knife expert" Chen Xiaokun, who must have prepared him beforehand. Xiaokun is not only a great coach but also an excellent chess player. He had won against Zhang Jiang earlier in the morning and defeated the new grandmaster Bu Fengbo with the black hand that evening, winning against two young opponents in one day. He had also heard that his disciple had won, and Xiaokun was overjoyed, unable to keep his mouth shut. Lin Hongmin won against You Xiaohua earlier, looking optimistic. In the evening, against the already defeated Teacher Yan, he refused to give up in a drawn game and lost a piece due to a moment of distraction, making another grandmaster lose in this round. Yu Xiaohua, defeated by Lin Hongmin, won against Tao Hanming that evening, getting some compensation. Little Tao suffered two consecutive defeats against the two Chen players, basically losing any chance of advancing.
January 22, Friday
After three rounds yesterday, there were 10 leaders in the scoring across the groups, but only four were grandmasters. This chaotic distribution significantly increased the suspense of the competition, certain to pique the interest of chess fans. It seems the format of this competition is quite interesting! In today's fourth round, there was a "hot match" between Teacher Hu and Teacher Liu for the "Er Hua" title. Yesterday, Teacher Hu had drawn two games in a row, with a 2-point gap against Teacher Liu, who had won three in a row. Last night, after finishing the game against Zong Yongsheng, Teacher Hu said the game was a draw—winning was no different from drawing. From his tone, one could guess he would be fighting hard today. The clash of the two chess giants, "Er Hua," attracted many spectators. After stepping onto the rook, Teacher Hu played the seven advance, and Teacher Liu responded with the pawn to the bottom of the screen. Teacher Hu contemplated for 10 minutes, not playing the popular central pawn structure but instead flying a bishop. This move seemed to catch Teacher Liu off guard, increasing his mental pressure. In the middle game, Teacher Liu missed an opportunity to force a trade and draw, and instead was beaten by Teacher Hu for a knight. The two giants fought over the remaining horses, cannons, and pawns for four hours, with Teacher Hu eventually winning by gaining material. After finishing the game, Teacher Hu happily left the venue, while Teacher Liu, frustrated, demonstrated the missed drawing opportunity on the board. Despite repeatedly telling his chess friends that it didn't matter, it was clear he was truly hurting inside.