After all of us are reborn, who plays Go?

“I’m number one in the world!”

No one expected Zhan Lang to suddenly say this at the closing ceremony, including the Chinese team leader Hao Qiang, who did not know Zhan Lang would speak like this, because Zhan Lang did not tell him in advance that he would say these words on the stage.

Is there a world number one in Go?
In fact, there are.

In the past, due to transportation and other reasons, exchanges between Go circles in different countries were very weak, and there were almost no records of matches between top players from different countries.

During the Qing Dynasty, both Chinese and Japanese Go reached a relatively prosperous period. China's Huang Zhou Shi Fan and Japan's several generations of Honinbo have left many legends in history, which are still talked about today.

The ten games at Danghu, the undefeated performance with black in the Royal City Battle, the thirteenth level in the middle game... he left behind countless popular stories.

But even if some legendary figures overlap in time, theoretically they can meet and play chess, but compared to time, the distance in space is more difficult to overcome, and they may not even know of each other's existence.

In the end, the fantasy of Guan Gong fighting Qin Qiong was left to future generations.

Some people believe that Huang Longshi, who is at the 13th level in the middle game, is invincible in the world, while others believe that Japan was the first to abolish the corrupt and backward seat system, and that the Honinbo generation of Japanese Go entering a new era must be much stronger than those national players who played in Daiqing.

Everyone has their own opinion, and in the era of artificial intelligence, the so-called degree of consistency is brought up, but in fact it does not explain much.

But unless human technology reaches the point where these historical figures can be resurrected, these arguments will always remain just arguments.

As time goes by and we enter modern times, the whole world has shrunk due to the development of science and technology, and the debate over who is the world's number one has become less and less important.

Since Japan rapidly reformed and strengthened itself through a series of reforms such as the Meiji Restoration, it has indeed surpassed China, which was still in the late Qing Dynasty, in a number of aspects at the time, including Go.

In modern times, ordinary Japanese chess players could sweep the whole of China, and no one could defeat them. Even the top Chinese players had to give handicaps to their opponents.

It can be said that it was at that time that Chinese Go discovered that the gap between it and Japan had unknowingly become a world of difference.

As the birthplace of Go, China no longer has the conditions to compete with Japan.

Japan naturally became the center of Go in the modern world. It is undeniable that Japan has made a lot of contributions to the spread of modern Go in the world. The English word "GO" is a transliteration of the pronunciation of Japanese Go.

Although Go has spread all over the world, in reality only China, Japan and South Korea have some ability in it.

Therefore, since modern times, Japan, which has clearly surpassed the other two countries in Go level, has become a veritable Go kingdom, and even gave birth to many foreign 9th dan players, including some white people.

The same logic goes, whoever becomes the number one Go player in Japan will become the number one Go player in the world!

These two have basically been equated in the past hundred years.

Because apart from Japan, there is no other place where you can become the world's number one Go player.

However, just today, a Chinese Go player who has nothing to do with Japanese Go declared in Japan that he is the world's number one Go player.

This is not a slap in the face of everyone present here, this is clearly a slap in the ass of Japanese Go!
Zhan Lang's words "I am the world's number one Go player" were automatically translated into the ears of the Japanese players in the audience.

I'm not targeting anyone! I'm saying that everyone here is a lecher!

What do you mean, you said I was a playboy!

Hearing this, many Japanese chess players in the audience stood up excitedly, waiting for someone to take action, and then they rushed forward and beat Zhan Lang up. You are such a jerk! You dare to say anything outside!
After all, if it is possible to refute, everyone will naturally want to refute directly with words, use facts to let Zhan Lang know that he is not the best in the world, but Japan is the best in the world!

But now, after two rounds of competition, Zhan Lang has defeated almost all the top Japanese players. How can we refute him?
If you can, play a game with me! Let's talk about it after you win.
Is there anyone who dares to risk the world's number one honor to play against Zhan Lang? Or is there anyone who is qualified to do so?

no……

Forget it, let’s just get down to business!

Hao Qiang was also very excited when he heard what Zhan Lang said on the stage. The world's number one Go player! What kind of title is this? Why is it so exciting!
The world's number one! It's China!

Chinese people are number one in the world!

Although Hao Qiang didn't know that Zhan Lang would say this when he went on stage, the moment he heard it, Hao Qiang felt like his heart was about to jump out!

The Chinese can also be number one in the world! We have already been number one in the world in every aspect! We can achieve this position in more fields in the future!
Looking at Hao Qiang who had an excited look on his face, Fang Yuan who was standing next to him looked around with a calm expression. "Don't get excited. Don't you see that the Japanese chess player next to you is about to rush up and hit someone?"
If a fight breaks out, should I go up and help?

Even if I join them, it would be hard for four of us to resist hundreds of punches! Or is it better to just run over? But running away would be too embarrassing, right?
Fang Yuan certainly knew how excited Zhan Lang was at creating this miracle, so it was normal for him to say some excited words!
But you have to consider the situation when you speak! This is in someone's home! If something goes wrong, you will be beaten!
Is there anything you can't say back home? No matter how much you brag back home, the Japanese won't dare to come to our hall to cause trouble!

However, although the Japanese chess players at the scene were very excited, no one dared to step forward and take action.

After all, if Japanese players took action first at the opening ceremony of the China-Japan Go Tournament, it might directly turn into a diplomatic incident.

If someone starts a fight first, everyone will definitely be willing to step forward to help. After all, the law does not hold everyone responsible, and no one will know if I kick someone.

But for the person who started this, not to mention his career, his entire life is probably over.

There were no young men in their twenties at the scene, so naturally, everyone was not as passionate as the young people.

Seeing that no one came up to refute Zhan Lang, many chess players who stood up excitedly sat back down in disappointment.

Looking at the silent venue, Zhan Lang smiled and said, "It seems that no one refutes me, but I am not just saying this for my own pleasure.

Before this match, I wanted to prove myself, so in the match against the four top players present, I turned the situation around to the areas where their opponents were best.

He dealt with the subway style of Kenichi Mitsuba, 9th dan, and killed the big dragon with Masao Toya, 9th dan, and defeated the universe style of Shohei Takemiya, 9th dan, and finally killed the big dragon of Katsuya Takenouchi, 9th dan.

Of course, I know there will be many people here who are not convinced, but it doesn’t matter, I am waiting for everyone here to challenge me for the world’s number one position!”

Zhan Lang walked off the stage right after he finished speaking. There was no applause and the entire audience was silent.

But there is a saying that goes, silence is better than words at this time.

Even the process that was originally planned for representatives of both sides to present special awards to Japan's Kobayashi 9th Dan, who had won consecutive games, and Zhanlang, who had won five consecutive games, was ignored this year.

The banquet ended abruptly with Zhan Lang's speech almost like a declaration of war.

However, the details of the dinner were described in detail in the Asahi Shimbun the next day.

(End of this chapter)