The title of "super first-class" began in the 1980s. At that time, a group of outstanding young chess players emerged in the Japanese chess world, conquering cities and conquering the country, sending the older generation of chess players into history, and thus creating a new generation of brilliant art style. The level of these chess players was significantly higher than that of the first-class players of their time, so they were dubbed "super first-class". At that time, there were 6 "super first-class" chess players in the Japanese chess world, including Hideo Otake, Hayashi Haifeng, Masao Kato, Masaki Takemiya, Chi-ho Cho, and Koichi Kobayashi. What is surprising is that except for Lin Haifeng, who came from Wu Qingyuan's sect, the other five all came from Kugu San's sect, and they are all brothers. Later, South Korea's Cho Hun-hyun and China's Nie Weiping were added to form the recognized eight "super-class" chess players in the world.

You have been here for twenty years. The eight "super-class" chess players of the past have gradually aged and have basically withdrawn from the fiercely competitive first-tier world chess world. Latecomers rushed to join the game, and a new generation of "super-class" chess players emerged such as "the world's number one" Lee Chang-ho, "the undefeated boy" Lee Sedol, "the strongest attacker" Liu Chang-hyuk, Yida Nori, Ma Xiaochun, Chang Hao, etc. Compared with the popular trend in today's world chess world, which pursues victory or defeat, is rampant with practical players, and competes for every inch of ground, the "super first-class" era of that year had different artistic styles and a deeper sense of artistic beauty. When the author learned chess, it was an era when the eight "super-class" chess players were arrogant, and this left a deep impression in his life. I write this article to cherish my memory forever.

The earliest "super-class" chess player to emerge was Lin Haifeng, a ninth-dan player. Lin Haifeng is a Taiwanese. When he was a child, he was discovered by Wu Qingyuan, a great player in Japan. He took him as his disciple and took him to Japan for development. Lin Haifeng's emergence began in the Japanese Go celebrity match in 1964. Lin Haifeng, who was only 23 years old, broke out of the siege and defeated Japan's No. 1 player Eio Sakata 9th Dan, known as "The Razor", in the final, thus performing an earthquake that shocked the Japanese chess world. Later, Lin Haifeng's chess skills improved even more, and he conquered the east and west, and once dominated the Japanese chess world. For more than thirty years, Lin Haifeng has resisted the impact of several generations of chess players and has always stood at the top of the chess world without falling. There are seven high-level chess tournaments in the Japanese chess world, among which the highest honors are "Chess Master", "Celebrity", and "Honinbo", which are called the Triple Crown. Lin Haifeng won the celebrity and Honinbo among them. Unfortunately, he failed to challenge the biggest title of chess master three times. Lin Haifeng's most outstanding achievement was winning the third "Fujitsu Cup" World Professional Go Championship in 1990, thus becoming the first Chinese Go world champion.

Lin Haifeng's chess style is solid, his calculations are meticulous, and his official skills are meticulous. One of the biggest characteristics of Lin Haifeng's chess style is "toughness", making it difficult for him to be defeated easily by his opponents. After grinding and grinding, he is often the one who wins in the end. Therefore, it is called "two waists". This is a metaphor for sumo wrestling, which means that he has two waists. How can one person fall down two waists at the same time? Japan's chess player Takagawa Katakudan, who once dominated Honinbo for nine consecutive times, once commented that his chess style is "knocking on the bridge but not crossing it." It means that when people want to cross a bridge, they may first check whether the bridge is strong and then consider whether to cross. Even if Lin Haifeng is knocked, he will not pass easily, and his caution is evident from this.

Another "super-class" chess player of the same generation as Lin Haifeng was Dazhu Hero 9th Dan, and they were both called the "Bamboo Forest Era". Otake was born in the sect of Mugu San and is the elder brother of the top chess players in the sect. Otake's 9th-dan record is slightly inferior to Lin Haifeng's 9th-dan. He has won dozens of championships, big and small, but he has never brought together the biggest celebrity at the time and Honinbo, so he has never achieved the glory of Lin Haifeng's domination of the chess world. Dazhu Jiudan also challenged the chess master later, but unfortunately he failed. Hero Dazhu is a typical state-based chess player. When he is in state, no one can stop him. When he is not in state, anyone can attack him. Generally speaking, "Dazhu Volcano" erupts once every five years. Otake Hero's most outstanding achievement was winning the "Fujitsu Cup" world championship in 1992, and in the same year he also won the runner-up in the "Yingshi Cup" competition with the highest prize money. It's a pity that he failed in the final decisive battle, otherwise he would have been a double world champion.

The chess style of Otake Hero 9th Dan is extremely solid, and it can be said that he is the most solid chess style among Japanese chess players. He attaches great importance to the beauty of chess shapes and believes that ugly chess shapes cannot be played at all, as they will tarnish the chess record, so he is called an "aesthetic chess player." However, Go focuses on actual combat effects after all, and paying too much attention to aesthetics will affect the winning rate. Dazhu himself had taken the initiative to admit defeat many times in order not to "smear" the game record when the outcome was uncertain. Another characteristic of Dazhu's 9th dan is that he is extremely quick in thinking, often making moves quickly, and has an excellent record in fast chess matches.

The third "super-class" chess player is Kato Masao 9th Dan. Kato Kudan was also born under Kugu's sect, but he became famous much later than Lin Haifeng and Otake Hero. Kato Kudan has entered the finals eight times, but failed eight times. It was not until the ninth time that he succeeded in the challenge and finally broke out. Kato Kudan had two glories in his life. One time was in the late 1970s, when Kato won five championships in a row, including Meimei and Honinbo, and was called the "Five Crowns". When he challenged the biggest title in the chess world, "Chess Master", he played seven games of "Chinese style" with Hideyuki Fujisawa, which caused a sensation in the chess world. It is a pity that Kato Kudan was in a good situation with a 3-1 lead, but was defeated by Fujisawa in three consecutive games, thus losing the chess master. In the future, Kato Kudan challenged the chess master three times, but failed every time. The other time was in 1987, when Kato won four consecutive ninth-dan titles and dominated the chess world again.

Unfortunately, in the second year his junior brother Koichi Kobayashi rose to prominence, and Kato 9th Dan fought hard to no avail and lost most of his titles. Masao Kato's biggest regret in his life was that he never won the Go world championship. And this wish can no longer be fulfilled in this life. On December 30, 2004, Kato Kudan died suddenly of cerebral infarction at the age of 56.

Masao Kato’s 9-dan chess style can be divided into two periods. In the previous period, the chess style was brave and fierce, and he was good at chasing down the opponent's dragon. In Kato's chess games at that time, it was not uncommon for him to take the initiative to provoke a fight and violently attack the opponent's dragon, and he often succeeded in slaying the dragon. Therefore, the chess players who played against him were often on tenterhooks and complained endlessly. Kato Kudan is also known as "The Killing Star". During this period, Kato often pursued a straight line, with more than enough ferocity but lack of stability. After his thirties, Kato's 9-dan chess style underwent a big change, and he turned to pursuing a balanced situation and delicate officials. During this period, Kato's 9th-dan winning rate greatly improved, and he was known as "Kato the official". To be honest, I prefer Kato who chased the dragon in the previous period, maybe because it is more exciting and exciting.

The "super-class" chess player who is also called Kato at the same time is Takemiya Masaki 9th Dan. Among the eight super-class chess players, Takemiya 9th Dan is probably the most famous. This is related to his chess style known as "Cosmic Style". Wu Gong's 9th Dan was very powerful when he was young and was called the "9th Dan Killer". Takemiya rose to prominence one year earlier than Kato, successfully challenged his senior brother Yoshida Ishida and became the Honinbo champion. Takemiya 9th Dan and Honinbo are very close, and they have dominated the competition four times in a row. By 1995, he had another celebrity. Like the regrets of the previous ones, Wu Gong also challenged the chess master several times but failed, and could not collect the three crowns in one body. Takemiya Masaki 9th Dan is the first world Go champion. He has won two consecutive "Fujitsu Cup" world championships and four "Asia Cup" rapid chess championships.

The chess style of Wu Gong 9th Dan is good at large-scale games, which makes him unique in the world chess world that pays attention to the actual situation, and is called the "Universal Flow". The corners of Go are easy to grasp, but the midsection is extremely difficult to grasp. The peculiarity of Wu Gong 9th Dan is that he has an unusually keen sense of selecting points in the midsection, and has repeatedly succeeded in encircling the air, thus becoming a wizard in the chess world. However, Takemiya Kudan himself believes that his chess style is not a "cosmic flow", but a "natural flow", a style that can be controlled according to the flow of the situation. This is probably not modesty, because the large appearance of Wu Palace changes freely during the constant attacks, giving people a very attractive aesthetic feeling. However, in the late stage of Wu Gong's 9th dan, some structures focused too much on appearance, and after others mastered the rules, the winning rate dropped significantly. Under such circumstances, Wu Gong is still persistent in the exploration of art and is not burdened by victory or defeat, which is admirable.

The next "super first-class" chess player is Zhao Zhixun 9th Dan. Zhao Zhixun is Korean, and his uncle is Zhao Nanzhe, the father of Korean Go. When he was 6 years old, Zhao Zhixun was sent to Japan by his uncle to learn chess and joined Mu Gu's family. Zhao Zhixun was very naughty in his childhood, running around with a wooden gun on his butt all day long. Later, his wife lost her temper and wanted to send him back to South Korea. Zhao Zhixun finally woke up and began to work hard, and his achievements improved by leaps and bounds. He first set a record for being the youngest person to enter the chess division, and then entered the cycle of major chess competitions. In the early 1980s, Zhao Zhixun successively defeated his senior brothers Hideo Otake and Masao Kato, and won the celebrity and Honinbo championships. He also defeated Hideyuki Fujisawa, who had won six consecutive games, 4 to 3 in the chess master challenge, thus making an unprecedented move to the world. The three crowns combined into one created the "Zhao Zhixun Era" that was invincible in the world. During that period, Zhao Zhixun was alone in the Japanese chess world, killing famous players from all walks of life and making them complain. It is very regrettable that Zhao Zhixun, who was at his peak, suddenly encountered a car accident and was seriously injured and hospitalized. At that time, his rising junior brother Kobayashi Hikari challenged him to become a celebrity. According to the regulations, if you are unable to challenge, you will be considered as a forfeiter. In this case, the tenacious Zhao Zhixun forced himself into battle in a wheelchair. People couldn't help but feel shocked when they saw Zhao Zhixun, who was covered in bandages, struggling to place every chess piece. Zhao Zhixun finally lost his reputation due to injury, and soon lost the chess master to Junior Brother Xiao Lin, thus giving up his position as the number one player in the chess world. However, after nine years of silence, Zhao Zhixun rose up again, defeated his junior brother Koichi Kobayashi, and regained the chess mastership. Later, he defeated Takemiya Masaki and once again combined the three major crowns into one, creating the second "Zhao Zhixun Era". If there is a miracle in the Japanese chess world, then the creator of the most miracles is Zhao Zhixun 9th Dan. Not only did he combine the three major championships twice and four times, but he also won all seven major championships in the Japanese chess world. It can be said that he is unprecedented, and there is no successor in the short term. Zhao Zhixun's 9th-dan performance in the world competition was relatively bumpy, but he still won two world championships, the "Fujitsu Cup" and the "Samsung Cup", and did not disappoint his fans.

The biggest feature of Zhao Zhixun's nine-dan chess style is his love for the ground and his unwillingness to give up the ground to his opponents easily. It can be said that every inch of ground must be fought for. He himself wrote a book called "Encouraging the King to Acquire Land". Because he is good at finding the truth, he has also developed a superb ability to treat orphans. The main purpose of ordinary chess players' treatment is to escape the opponent's attack, but Zhao Zhixun's treatment is full of extreme atmosphere. He always deliberately plays the dragon in front of the opponent, thus forcing the opponent to have to kill him. However, Zhao Zhixun's calculations were extremely accurate, and he did not miss the use of various small places. So even though his dragon is often in danger, he can always survive and win the game. Another characteristic of Zhao Zhixun is that he can take exams for a long time. It is common to think about a chess move for one or two hours.

You can often see that others have three or four hours left, but he is already counting down the seconds. Chess players who don't understand the inner rules often move faster than the other at this time, trying to use time to force him. Unexpectedly, Zhao Zhixun had already calculated everything clearly in the front, so not only could he not be defeated by fast versus fast, but his opponent had leaked because he was too fast, and Zhao Zhixun took advantage of him. Zhao Zhixun is such a chess player full of unique charm.

Another "super-class" chess player as famous as Zhao Zhixun is Kobayashi Koichi 9th Dan. Xiao Lin is 4 years older than Zhao Zhixun, but he became a junior because he started late. As a boy, Xiao Lin could never beat Zhao, so he took Zhao as his goal and studied hard. Kobayashi has become a star of hope in the Japanese chess world very early, and it is common for him to enter the cycle of major chess competitions. However, like his senior brother Masao Kato in his early years, he always failed in the finals. Kobayashi's first big title was in the 10-dan battle in 1985. After five rounds of hard work, he finally defeated his senior brother Kato and won the championship. During the championship ceremony, Kobayashi's 9th dan was choked with tears and burst into tears, so he was called "the 10th dan of tears". After that, Kobayashi's ninth-dan career skyrocketed. In the subsequent Sino-Japanese Go Tournament, Xiaolin defeated six Chinese generals in a row, approaching the goal of coach Nie Weiping. From then on, Xiao Lin became the biggest enemy of Chinese chess players. For a long time, "defeating Xiao Lin" became the dream goal of Chinese chess players. After winning the tenth dan, Kobayashi successively won the celebrity and chess master, and became the number one in the Japanese chess world. For nearly ten years, Koichi Kobayashi became the natural representative of Japanese Go. Unfortunately, Kobayashi attacked Zhao Zhixun's Honinbo three times, but failed every time, thus losing his dream of the Triple Crown. Koichi Kobayashi's results in the World Series were not ideal, and he only won the "Fujitsu Cup" championship in 1997, when he was past his peak.

Kobayashi Koichi’s chess style was also about being practical and precise in his calculations. The official was once known as the best in the world. Unlike Zhao Zhixun, Xiaolin's chess style emphasizes balance and does not go to extremes like Zhao. Another trick of Kobayashi's is that he is good at turning his advantages into victory. As long as he firmly believes that he can win the chess game in this way, he will use ordinary hands to finalize the game. Therefore, Kobayashi's chess was extremely unpopular with the "aesthetic chess player" Otake Hideo and the "cosmic flow" Takemiya Masaki, and was ridiculed as the "subway flow". However, Xiaolin's tricks are often extremely effective, often leaving his opponents with no opportunities to take advantage of them. One of Kobayashi's famous sayings is: "To win half a goal in chess, you rely on luck. To win a single goal in chess, you rely on strength." Before the rise of Lee Chang-ho, the "number one player in the world," Kobayashi's second half of 9th dan was undoubtedly the best in the world. powerful.

In addition to the six "super-class" Japanese chess players, South Korea's "super-class" chess player is Cho Hun-hyun 9th Dan. When Cao Jiuduan was young, he also traveled to Japan to learn chess and joined Wu Qingyuan's teacher Segoshi Kenza. Cho Hun-hyun showed his talent very early and was known as the "genius boy". At the age of 20, Cho Hoon-hyun returned to South Korea due to military service. After witnessing the difficulties of the Go career in his motherland, he gave up the idea of ??returning to Japan for further study after completing his military service and stayed in South Korea. Cho Hun-hyun quickly won almost all the championships in South Korea. At this time, he met a half-life competitor: the native Seo Bong-soo 9th Dan. Over the next ten years, Cao and Xu became the representatives of Korean Go. The two fought almost every match and fought hundreds of decisive battles. In the tempering of such bloody disputes, the two's chess skills improved by leaps and bounds, and finally stood at the forefront of the world's Go. Cao Xunxuan 9th Dan is known to the world as the "Yingshi Cup" competition with the highest prize money held in 1988. Cao defeated famous players such as Koichi Kobayashi and Lin Haifeng in a row at 9-dan, and defeated China's Nie Weiping 9-dan 3-2 in the final, thus becoming a Korean Go hero. Since then, Cho Hun-hyun's chess skills have become more refined, and it is common for him to enter the finals of world competitions. So far, Cho Hun-hyun has won 8 world championships, second only to his student Lee Chang-ho 9th Dan. Another legendary achievement of Cao Jiuduan is to cultivate the unparalleled Go genius Lee Chang-ho Jiuduan, which can be said to have made a huge contribution to the world of Go.

Cao Xunxuan’s chess style is characterized by agility, speed and strong combat effectiveness. Some people commented that his chess style is "soft wind and quick spear". The soft wind refers to the speed at which he plays chess, coming and going like the wind, which is unpredictable. Kuai Qiang means that he has great strength, like wielding a spear, and often unknowingly defeats his opponent. Another unique skill of Cao Jiuduan is the "comeback technique", which means that he is very tenacious when playing chess and never allows his opponent to settle comfortably. If the situation is unfavorable, he will look for provocations everywhere, explore the foreshadowing laid in the first half of the game, and use his opponent's mistakes to turn defeat into victory in one fell swoop. Cho Hun-hyun's comeback technique cannot simply be understood as relying on the opponent's mistakes, but has a very high technical content in it. Even against a very strong opponent like Kobayashi Koichi 9th Dan in the second half of the game, Cho Hun-hyun can come back again and again, which shows how powerful he is.

The last "super first-class" chess player is China's Nie Weiping 9th Dan. Nie Weiping always couldn't beat his younger brother when he first learned chess, but he had a strong competitive spirit and persevered, and finally came from behind. Nie Weiping won the national children's Go championship in 1965, and ranked 41st in the adult category in 1966. However, the Cultural Revolution broke out, and Nie Weiping, like many young people, went to the mountains and countryside to work on a farm. There, although Nie Weiping had no chess to play, the difficult environment tempered his will, thus laying the foundation for his subsequent rise. In the early 1970s, the national Go team was reestablished. Nie Weiping was selected into the team. Here, he studied and trained hard, and finally won his first national Go championship in 1975.

In 1976, Nie Weiping and the national Go team traveled east to Japan. He won six out of seven games, including defeating Japanese "Tengen" Fujisawa Hideyuki 9th Dan and Honinbo, celebrity Yoshida Ishida 9th Dan, thus becoming famous in one fell swoop. For a long time, Nie Weiping was the number one player in Chinese Go and achieved good results in battles with Japanese players. Nie Weiping's most glorious achievement in his life was his 11-game winning streak in the Sino-Japanese Go tournament, which caused Japanese players to suffer from "Niephobia" and became a historic landmark for the rise of Chinese Go. The biggest regret in Nie Weiping's ninth-dan life was that he had won three world runner-up titles in a row, but always fell short when he reached the top.

Nie Weiping has a solid chess style and an excellent view of the overall situation. He is good at flexibly changing according to the situation, making it impossible for his opponents to grasp the rhythm of his moves. In Nie Weiping's games, it's not uncommon to abandon the Baron and quickly turn around to take the initiative. This ability to control situations is beyond the reach of ordinary people. It is forged from a good overall view and the agility of experienced battles. Unfortunately, after passing his peak period, Nie Weiping always lacked energy at critical moments, resulting in "fainting", which greatly affected his winning rate. If not for this, Nie Weiping would have had greater glory.