Fan Xiping (1709—1769), a native of Haining, Zhejiang Province, is a famous Xiping native. A famous national player of Weiqi in the Qing Dynasty. He is tied with Shi Xiangxiang as the first national player in the contemporary era, and he is also called "the three great chess saints in Qing Dynasty" with Huang Longshi and Shi Xiangxiang, and "the four great chess saints in Qing Dynasty" with Shi Xiangxiang, Cheng Lanru and Liang Weijin. He was brilliant when he was young. He and Shi Bai studied Go for Chang Hou. He became a master at the age of sixteen, and later became a chess saint between Gan and Jia. He is a simple man who has been engaged in chess and coaching all his life.
Both Heshi are good at playing chess, so it is difficult to compete. Experts compare it to "Du Li in poetry". After four years of Qianlong (1739), they played ten games in Danghu (now Pinghu, Zhejiang), which is the famous "Ten Games in Danghu" in the history of China Weiqi. The ten games in Danghu are magnificent and precise, representing the highest level of chess in Qing Dynasty.
The main influence of Fan Xiping:
Fan Xiping was born in a Weiqi family and liked Weiqi since he was a child. At the age of sixteen, he became the first Go player. Fan Xiping's chess style is bold and unconstrained, and the change is unexpected. Fan Xiping is an honest, frank and simple man. He doesn't want to make money except playing chess. If you have money, you will also give half to the poor families in your hometown. Yuan Mei spoke highly of him and said, "I don't like playing chess, but I like playing in Xiping." . He thinks that those who "respect officials and value learning" are not as noble as Fan Xiping.
Fan Xiping's chess style has been summarized by many predecessors. Li Zeng, a chess player, once told Ren Weinan that his overall concept was particularly strong. Fan Xiping pays less attention to the gains and losses of one city and one place, but pays more attention to the overall situation. The specific technique is "change with time, change every time." This technology has been learned by many players and has a high evaluation.