Chapter 263 Honinbo
October 2, Monday.
This day is undoubtedly a rest day for China, which is in the midst of the National Day holiday.
However, for Japan, which is separated by the water, it is a normal working time.
However, Hiroaki Shindo also knew that it was China's long holiday recently.
——Because on his way to Qiyuan this morning, he had already seen the strange signboard of the shopping mall he often visited hanging up with the words "Welcome the Mid-Autumn Festival, Celebrate the National Day".
This situation has been going on for several years, but he still doesn't know how to read this sentence correctly.
Every year when he sees this strange sign, Shindo Hiroaki always feels:
Although the entire Japanese society strives to follow the past traditions, even so, the changes in the outside world But it is still seeping in bit by bit, slowly transforming the entire Japanese society.
…
At eight o'clock in the morning, Shindo Hiroaki arrived at the Japanese Chess Academy on time, preparing to attend a brief meeting.
But just at the entrance of the Chess Academy, he met an old acquaintance:
"Hey, Aoi. I haven't seen you for a while."
"Ah, indeed Long time no see...
Xia Chuankui, who is 31 years old this year, met this gentle middle-aged man and couldn't help but smile slyly:
"...The 26th Honinbo Hiromitsu-sama."
Hiroaki Shindo's face immediately became embarrassed.
As the winner of Japan’s eleventh consecutive title of [Honinbo], although Hiroaki Shindo surrendered the [Honinbo] title that he had held for eleven years this year, his extremely brilliant record of consecutive victories still makes him proud. At the age of thirty-four, Hiroaki Shindo has a permanent honorary title:
The 26th Honinbo Hiroaki.
Among them, "Hiromitsu Honinbo" is the name that Shindo Hiroaki gave himself after he won the title of [Honinbo] for the first time in 2012 - after a native Japanese player wins the title of [Honinbo], in principle, he must have a A new name with "Honinbo" as the surname.
As for the so-called "twenty-sixth generation" prefix, it can only be used by chess players who have obtained the permanent honorary title.
However, even though Xia Chuankui’s name was not wrong at all, the name was so outrageous that even Japanese people who always had a strong tolerance for shame could not bear it.
"Aoi, if you keep doing this, I'm going to call you Natsukawa-on-ryu Honinbo..."
"Ah, I don't mind!"
Looking at the woman in front of me, she remains the same. With a meaningful smile, Shindo Hiroaki felt a little helpless, and secretly complained in his heart why the female streamer Honinbo didn't have to change her name.
We solemnly protest against the different treatment of men and women at Honinbo!
And just when Hiroaki Shindou didn’t know how to answer the call, Natsukawa Aoi finally put aside her joking and changed her words:
“Then... Shindou Throne, this is what it’s called. You should be satisfied, right?”
[Throne] is another of the seven major titles in Japan, and it is also one of the two titles that Hiroaki Shindo still holds.
"Uh... ok."
Even though he knew that the other party was still joking, adding only a title was still much better than his honorary Honinbo title.
Unexpectedly, the first woman from Japan stopped when she arrived:
“But it’s really time to change the name...
“Jindo. The [Throne] you are holding now has become the third one! ”
“……”
Although the other party returned to the normal address, Shindo fell into silence for a moment and was really unhappy.
Because starting from the 79th Honinbo Tournament next year, [Honinbo], one of the most important "three major chess tournaments" in Japan (the other two are [Chess Saint] and [Celebrity]), has sponsored Due to this reason, the specifications will be significantly downgraded.
The original competition format was changed from two-day seven-game chess to one-day five-game chess. The round robin of the Honinbo Tournament has also been cancelled, and the tournament has been changed to a 16-player knockout format. The time used from the pre-selection to the final five rounds of chess will be changed to 3 hours for each side to keep 5 times of 1 minute countdown...etc.
In addition, the bonus also dropped sharply, from 28 million Yingyuan to 8.5 million Yingyuan.
The order of the Japanese Go title matches has always been sorted according to the prize money, and the order of [Honinbo] has therefore dropped from third to fifth. The current order has become:
[Chess Sage] [Celebrity] [Throne] [Tian Yuan] [Honinfang] [Qi Sage] [Tenth Dan].
Although he has lost the title of "Big Three", is he still in the top three...
But... I still can't just feel comfortable that I am the "top three".
Hiraki Shindo muttered something silently in his mind, his expression a little dull.
"Aoi, if you really want to call me, please call me Honinbo Hōmitsu. I like this title better..."
"Ah..."
At this time, Xia Chuankui, who had short ear-length hair, also noticed something was wrong in his old friend's tone, and then put away his joking expression and comforted him:
"You don't want to So concerned! The situation at [Honinbo] is just a temporary lack of sponsorship.
“When the chairman announced this, didn’t he also say that as long as he found enough sponsorship, he would immediately resume the traditional model? "
"This... I'm afraid it won't be easy, right? "Shindo sighed.
"Not necessarily!"
Xia Chuankui hurriedly said:
"Do you remember the beauty Xinchu Duan Ruizhao who almost defeated Jin Youen in this year's Wuyue Cup? I heard that she has been there for the past two years. He has performed very well in domestic competitions in China for more than a month. Not only has he been promoted to 2nd Dan, but he also defeated Zeng Guangwen at 7th Dan in the Pinghu Quick Chess Tournament. He is now very popular in China."
"Win! Hearing the news, Shindo Hiraki was slightly surprised.
In the current tier systems of the three East Asian countries, it is generally recognized that China's high tier has the highest gold content.
For a female chess player to be able to win the Chinese men's seventh-dan head-on, it is something worth bragging about no matter what.
Xia Chuankui nodded and said:
"Yes! So she is very popular in China.
"This time in the Lakeside Cup, she will come to Japan as a pioneer , I heard that the chess academy has made full publicity preparations for this, and is now warming up, planning to use this as an opportunity to work hard to attract sponsors! "The Wuyue Cup was originally a competition held by China, and the reports and commentary on the event attracted the attention of many people who didn't understand Go. This time she comes to Japan to participate in the Lakeside Cup. I believe she will definitely make the chess academy's publicity plan a great success! Come on! Unfortunately, we recovered from the Honinbo battle later!”
"Ah..."
Although Natsukawa Aoi tried hard to comfort him, Hiroaki Shindo, the 56-time Japanese domestic title winner and the only person to achieve [simultaneous holding] The chess player who has achieved the feat of "Seven Major Titles" cannot be optimistic about this in his heart.
After all, in his opinion, no matter how influential this beautiful Chinese chess player is, he cannot surpass the original Japanese national comic "Xiao Guang's Go".
"Hikari's Go" is a Japanese national-level comic serialized since 1999. While it has achieved great commercial success, it has also made a huge contribution to the development of the Go industry.
In the few years since the comic was serialized, Japan's Go population has rapidly increased from more than three million to more than four million. What's even more commendable is that the vast majority of the nearly one million Go population are teenagers. This gave the Japanese Go community at that time hope for a revival!
However...it's just "once".
Because after the comic ended, the Go population in Japan quickly declined again, and now, it is estimated to be less than half of what it was at the beginning of the century!
As for the reason, Hiroaki Shindo, who had participated in the short Go promotion program at the end of the "Hikaru's Go" animation (when he was just a new first-dan player), also made some reflections, but The more I thought about it, the more desperate I became.
But...
These pessimistic thoughts should never be expressed!
Hiroaki Shindo pursed his lips, then smiled and said:
"Really? That's great!
"But...Natsukawa, you just Not worried?
“Didn’t you lose to the little witch from China in the Wuyue Cup? Is it really okay to add Rui Zhao this time?”
Xia Chuankui frowned and complained:
"Didn't I just pull out my teeth at that time? I'm really not in a good condition!
"You should still worry about yourself! Overall, I think the gap between women and China and South Korea is much smaller than men!
“I have two women’s world championships, and I even made it to the finals in the air-fan battle last year!
“But what about you? Not to mention the World Championship, you have only been to the World Championship final six years ago, right? ”
"Uh..."
Throne of Japan regretted for a while: he shouldn't have brought the topic to this aspect.
Although in his opinion, the competitive pressure of the Unlimited World Championship is definitely much greater than that of the Women's World Championship.
But if you say these words in front of female chess players, you have already lost - the Shindo throne still has a face.
"That...I can't do it. There is still hope for 'Linghe Sanyutori' and the others..."
But even though he tried his best to change the topic, Natsukawa Aoi still pursued her fiercely:
"You are pointing at me that you are thirty-four years old and you still want to spend seven sets of 'Reiwa Sanpachi'? You Seriously?
“It’s the girl from the Uesaka family who really has a bright future. "
"Ah this..."
The former No. 1 man in Japan suddenly became speechless again and had to forcefully change the subject:
"Speaking of which, Rei-chan just used the [Special Recommendation for Elites] in August. Is it appropriate for her to compete in such an important competition as the Lakeside Cup this October?"
"Is this right? What's inappropriate? Her chess skills are quite good...and she's already twelve years old!"
Nyuru Honinbo answered without any hesitation:
"You know, she basically had the skills when she was ten years old! It’s just that Uesaka 9th Dan followed what China Shang Chaotian did to Lei Qi and suppressed her for two years.
“Have you not seen the recent games? She basically won the men’s lower dan games. ? An absolute go-getter!
"Again, you men should still worry about yourselves!
"You, a thirty-four-year-old guy, can still be in the team, be careful not to get your head shaved! "
Why did you come back again!
Hiro Shindo screamed in pain, straightened his expression and said:
"What's wrong with being thirty-four!" China Shang Chaotian Jiuduan won the last world championship at the age of thirty-three!
"When I perform well in the LIG Cup and Nongshim Cup, I might be able to win a world championship or a group championship!"
"Uh... do you believe this?"
Faced with the direct suspicion of his old friend, Japan Throne was a little embarrassed, but still said seriously:
“Don’t, I don’t care whether others believe it or not, but I believe so every time before the World Series. Yes!”
Xia Chuankui was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then couldn’t help laughing.
"What, what are you doing! What's so funny about this!"
Although Shindo Hiroaki's cheeks were already red, he still tried to regain his respect.
“No, it’s nothing!”
Xia Chuankui shook his hand and said:
“I just always felt that you usually look quite polite and conservative, but in essence He is indeed a passionate person! ”
"No, no way?"
The throne of Japan is still stubborn.
“Okay——”
Natsukawa Aoi said in a long tone:
“It’s true that my surname is ‘Shindo’, but I still insist on using the word ‘光’ The guy who changed his name!”
"Hey——
"Didn't you agree not to mention this a long time ago? ! ”
The twenty-sixth Honinbo Hiromitsu finally broke his guard at this time.
Regarding some things about Japan’s title system, those who are interested can search on Baidu on their own. I won’t go into details here. Mention.
(End of this chapter)