Go: The live broadcast queen launched a gorgeous rebellion against the dog

Chapter 263 Honinbo

Monday, April 10th.

This day is undoubtedly a day of rest for China, which is in the National Day holiday.

However, for Japan, which is separated by a sea, it is a normal working time.

However, Shindo Hiroaki knew that it was a long holiday in China recently.

——Because on his way to the chess academy this morning, he had already seen a strange signboard that read "Welcome Mid-Autumn Festival, Celebrate National Day" hung in the shopping mall he often visited.

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 has a feeling:

Although the entire Japanese society strives to follow past traditions, even so, changes in the outside world are still seeping in bit by bit, slowly transforming the entire Japanese society.

...

At eight o'clock in the morning, Hiroaki Shindo arrived at the Toei Chess Institute on time, ready to attend a brief meeting.

However, right at the gate of the chess academy, he ran into an old acquaintance:
"Hey, Aoi. Haven't seen you for a while."

"Ah, it's been a long time indeed...

When the 31-year-old Natsukawa Aoi met this gentle middle-aged man, she couldn't help but smile slyly:
"...The 26th Honinbo Hōmitsu-sama."

Shindo Hiroaki's face immediately became embarrassed.

As the winner of the 11th consecutive title of Honinbo in Japan, although Shindo Hiroaki gave up the title of Honinbo that he had held for 11 years this year, his extremely brilliant record of consecutive championships still gave the 34-year-old Shindo Hiroaki a permanent honorary title:
The twenty-sixth Honinbo Hōmitsu.

Among them, "Honinbo Hiromitsu" is the name that Shindo Hiroaki gave himself after he first won the title of "Honinbo" in 2012. In principle, a native Japanese chess player should have a new name with "Honinbo" as his surname after winning the title of "Honinbo".

As for the prefix "Twenty-sixth", only chess players who have obtained permanent honorary titles can use it.

However, although Natsukawa Aoi was not wrong in calling her that, this name was really too weird, so much so that even the Japanese, who usually have a very high tolerance for shame, could not bear it.

"Aoi, if you keep doing this I will have to call you Natsukawa Nyoryu Honinbo..."

"Oh, I don't mind!"

Looking at the woman in front of him with her still meaningful smile, Shindo Hiroaki felt a little powerless, and secretly complained in his heart why the female Honinbo didn't have to change her name.

We strongly protest against the discriminatory treatment of male and female Honinbo!
Just when Shindo Hiroaki didn't know how to respond, Natsukawa Aoi finally stopped joking and said:
"Then...Shindo Throne, you should be satisfied with this name, right?"

[Throne] is another one of the seven major titles in Japan, and is also one of the two titles that Shindo Hiroaki still holds.

"Uh... ok."

Even though I knew the other party was still joking, just adding a title was much better than my own honorary title of Honinbo.

But the first Japanese woman stopped here:
"But it's time to change the name...

"Shinto. The throne you hold is now the third one!"

"..."

Although the other party resumed his normal address, Shindo fell silent instantly and was not happy at all.

Because starting from the 79th Honinbo tournament next year, the standard of Honinbo, one of the three most important chess tournaments in Japan (the other two are Kisei and Meijin), will be significantly downgraded due to sponsorship.

The original competition system was changed from a two-day seven-game match to a one-day five-game match. The round-robin format of the Honinbo tournament was also cancelled, and changed to a 16-player knockout format. The time from the preliminaries to the final five-game match was changed to three hours per side with five one-minute countdowns... and so on.

In addition, the prize money also dropped sharply, from 2800 million Yingyuan to 850 million Yingyuan.

The order of Japanese Go title tournaments has always been based on prize money, so the order of Honinbo has dropped from third to fifth. The current order has become:

[Chess Sage] [Celebrity] [Throne] [Tian Yuan] [Honinfang] [Qi Sage] [Tenth Dan].

Even though it has lost the title of "Big Three", is it still in the top three?

But... I still can't feel so comfortable thinking that I'm in the "top three".

Shindo Hiroaki muttered to himself, his expression a little stiff.

"Aoi, if you really want to call me, just call me Honinbo Hiromitsu. I like this name better..."

"what……"

At this time, Natsukawa Aoi, who had short hair, also noticed something wrong in her friend's tone, and immediately put away her joking expression and comforted him:

"Don't take it so seriously! Honinbo's situation is just a temporary lack of sponsorship.

"When the chairman announced this, didn't he also say that as long as we get enough sponsorship, we will immediately return to the traditional model?"

"This... isn't going to be easy, is it?" Shindo sighed.

"Not necessarily!"

Xiachuan Aoi hurriedly said:
"Do you still remember the beautiful new first-dan Rui Zhao who almost defeated Jin Youen in the Wu Yue Cup this year? I heard that she has performed very well in domestic competitions in China in the past two months. Not only has she been promoted to the second dan, she also defeated Zeng Guangwen, the seventh dan, head-on in the Pinghu Rapid Chess Tournament. She is now very popular in China!"

"Defeated the Chinese male 7th dan?"

Upon hearing the news, Shindo Hiroaki was slightly surprised.

Among the current ranking systems of the three East Asian countries, it is generally recognized that China's high ranks have the highest value.

It is something worth boasting about in any case for a female chess player to be able to defeat a Chinese male chess player of 7th dan in a head-on battle.

Xia Chuan Aoi nodded and said:

"Yes! That's why she is very popular in China.

"She will come to Japan as a pioneer for the Lakeside Cup this time. I heard that the Go Academy has made full publicity preparations for this and is already warming up, intending to use this opportunity to attract sponsors!" "The Wu Yue Cup was originally held by China, and the reports and commentaries on the event attracted the attention of many people who don't understand Go. This time she comes to Japan to participate in the Lakeside Cup, I believe it will definitely make the Go Academy's publicity plan a great success! Maybe she will recover in the Honinbo Tournament later!"

"what……"

Although Natsukawa Aoi tried hard to comfort him, Shindo Hiroaki, the winner of 56 domestic titles in Japan and the only chess player who has achieved the feat of "holding seven major titles at the same time", was not optimistic about this in his heart.

After all, in his opinion, no matter how influential this beautiful Chinese chess player is, she can never surpass the original Japanese national comic "Xiaoguang's Go".

"Xiao Guang's Go" is a national comic in Japan that began serialization in 1999. While achieving huge commercial success, it has also made great contributions to the development of the Go industry.

During the years when the comic was serialized, the number of Go players in Japan increased rapidly from more than 3 million to more than 4 million. What is even more commendable is that the vast majority of the nearly 1 million new Go players were teenagers, which gave the Go community in Japan a glimpse of hope for revival!

However...it was only "once".

Because after the comic was finished, the number of Go players in Japan began to decline rapidly again, and now, it is estimated to be less than half of that at the beginning of the century!
As for the reason, Hiroaki Shindo (who was only a new first-dan at that time), who participated in the Go promotion program at the end of the animation "Hikaru's Go" when it was broadcast, also had some summary and reflection, but the more he thought about it, the more desperate he became.

but……

These pessimistic thoughts must not be expressed!

Shindo Hiroaki pursed his lips, then smiled and said:
"Really? That's great!
"But... Xia Chuan, aren't you worried?

"Didn't you lose to that little witch from China in the Wuyue Cup? This time with Rui Zhao added to the mix, is that really a problem?"

Xia Chuan Aoi frowned and complained:

"I had just had a tooth pulled! I was really not in good shape!
"You should worry about yourself! Overall, I think the gap between women and China and South Korea is much smaller than that between men!

"I have two women's world championships, and I even made it to the finals in the fan-air competition last year!

"But what about you? Not to mention the World Championship, you only played in the World Championship finals once six years ago, right?"

"Uh……"

The Japanese throne felt a little regretful for a moment: I shouldn't have led the topic in this direction.

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 just saying this in front of the female chess player means you’ve already lost - Shindo Osamu still has to keep his dignity.

"Well... I can't do that. There is still hope for 'Reiwa Three Birds'..."

But even though he tried his best to change the subject, Natsukawa Aoi still kept pursuing:

"You're going to spend seven plates of 'Reiwa Sanba Ga' when you're already 34 years old? Are you serious?

"It's the girl from the Uesaka family who has a promising future."

"Ah this..."

The former number one man in Japan was speechless again, and had to forcibly change the subject:

"Speaking of which, Li-chan just got promoted to the professional league in August through the [Specially Recommended Talents]. Is it appropriate to let her participate in such an important competition as the Lakeside Cup in October?"

"What's wrong with that? She's more than capable of playing chess... and she's already twelve years old!"

The female Honinbo answered without any hesitation:
“You know, she basically had the level to be a dan player when she was ten years old, but Uesaka 9th Dan imitated what Shang Chaotian did to Lei Qi in China and suppressed her for two years.

"Didn't you see the recent matches? She basically beat all the lower-ranked male players. She's definitely a capable player!

"As I said, you men should worry about yourselves!

"You're a 34-year-old guy and you're still in the team. Be careful not to get your head shaved!"

Why are you coming back again?

Shindo Hiroaki secretly cried out in pain, straightened his expression and said:
"What's wrong with being 34 years old! Hua Xia Shang Chaotian won his last world championship at the age of 33!
"If I perform well in the LIG Cup and Nongshim Cup, I might be able to win a world championship or a tournament championship!"

"Uh... do you believe this yourself?"

Facing his old friend's direct suspicion, the Japanese throne was a little embarrassed, but still said seriously:
"Don't, I don't care whether others believe it or not, but I always believe this before the World Series!"

Xia Chuan Aoi was stunned at first when she heard this, and then she couldn't help laughing out loud.

"What are you doing? What's so funny about this?!"

Although Shindo Hiroaki's cheeks were flushed, he still tried to save his face.

"No, it's nothing!"

Xia Chuan Aoi shook his hand and said:
"I just always feel that you look quite gentle and conservative, but in essence you are really a hot-blooded and immature person!"

"No, no?"

The Japanese throne is still stubborn.

"OK--"

Xia Chuan Aoi stretched out his tone and said:

"As expected of a guy whose surname is 'Shindo' but who insisted on changing his name to 'Kwang'!"

"Hello--

"Didn't we agree not to talk about this?!"

The 26th Honinbo Hiromitsu finally broke through his defense at this time.

As for some things about the Japanese title system, those who are interested can search it on Baidu by themselves. I will not go into details here.

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(End of this chapter)