I really don’t want to play Go!

Chapter 389 The moment he sat down across from me again!
Shan Hai Chess Hall.

"Well……"

Zheng Qin stared at the chessboard in front of him with a worried expression. After pondering for a long time, he finally sighed, shook his head, and said, "Alas, I lost."

"You should be able to use Xiaofei's move too, right?"

Yu Shao thought for a moment, then stretched out his hand, pointed to a black piece on the chessboard, and said.

"why?"

Zheng Qin looked somewhat surprised, frowned slightly and thought for a moment, then picked up a chess piece and demonstrated the follow-up variations of the small knight's move: "If it were my small knight's move, you would directly use the pan and connect, wouldn't your white stones in the center become even thicker?"

"It will indeed become thicker, but if Black plays in this corner, White will be in danger."

Yu Shao quickly picked up a piece and arranged it into a small knight's move, which led to another variation for Black.

As Zheng Qin watched, his eyes lit up slightly, and he suddenly realized, "So that's how it is! That's how you do it. I thought my jump was pretty good!"

At this moment, someone at the next table heard Zheng Qin's words and couldn't help but laugh and joke, "Otherwise, why is Yu Shao a national champion? Zheng Qin, if you could play like Yu Shao, you'd be a national champion too!"

"Hey, can't you say something that makes me happy?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Qin feigned great anger: "I've also made great progress, okay!"

The group exchanged glances and then burst into laughter, filling the air with a joyful atmosphere.

"Thinking about it, it really makes me feel emotional..."

A middle-aged man suddenly spoke with emotion, saying, "Even now, I still vividly remember the first game you played in the chess club."

"Back then, none of you were even professional players. Now, in the blink of an eye, Yu Shao has already won the national title, and Zheng Qin has also made it into the title match main tournament."

Hearing these words, everyone around was also immediately drawn into memories.

"Yes, Zheng Qin has always been the pride of our chess club. Back then, when Yu Shao suddenly played the 3-3 point move, I just thought, does this kid even know how to play Go?"

Some people clicked their tongues in amazement and continued, "I stopped watching at the time, but a little while later, someone told me that Zheng Qin had lost, and I felt like the sky had fallen!"

"Yes, who isn't?"

A regular customer nodded in agreement, as if the scene from two years ago was replaying in his mind: "Zheng Qin was not willing to give up either. He stayed in the chess hall for several days, repeatedly analyzing the moves, waiting for another battle."

"I also think Zheng Qin must have underestimated his opponent. If Zheng Qin had gone all out, Yu Shao would definitely not have been a match for him. That's why I stay at the chess hall every day, hoping that Yu Shao and Zheng Qin will play against each other again."

He continued, his tone a mix of teasing and wistfulness: "I finally got to the second game, and Yu Shao won again. Every move he made was unbelievably strong. I was completely stunned!"

With an exaggerated expression, he continued, "After witnessing that game of chess, I only had one question in my mind—how is this possible? Just who the hell is this Yu Shao?!"

A young man couldn't help but laugh and said, "That's the national team two years from now. If you had known back then, you wouldn't be so confused."

"Hahaha, that's true."

The regular customer smiled and nodded: "Who is this? Someone who can beat Zheng Qin? The national team player in two years? Oh, never mind then."

"The most outrageous move is the 3-3 point. Even though Yu Shao won back then, I still thought the 3-3 point was a terrible move, a pure case of overwhelming skill. But now, the 3-3 point is considered a good move!"

Someone looked at Zheng Qin and said with a heavy expression, "Zheng Qin, you didn't lose unjustly!"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Qin couldn't help but roll his eyes and complained, "Why do you all keep reopening old wounds?"

"Hahahaha!"

Upon hearing this, everyone laughed even harder, and Yu Shao couldn't help but smile as he thought of those past events.

Back then, he had just arrived in this world, and it was here that he played his first game of chess after transmigrating with Zheng Qin, and then the second game, the third game... until now.

All the memories seemed to be linked together by a series of chess games.

After the National Masters Tournament ended, Yu Shao didn't have any other competitions recently, so he had some free time. Zheng Qin, who had made it to the main tournament of the Celebrity title match, invited Yu Shao to the chess hall for special training, and Yu Shao came.

So these past few days, Yu Shao has been playing games with Zheng Qin almost every day at the Shanhai Chess Hall.

Yu Shao looked at the chessboard in front of him and, in a daze, seemed to see the first game of chess he played with Zheng Qin again.

At that time, Zheng Qin was obviously very inexperienced. Even if he deliberately let him win, he won very easily. In the second game, although Zheng Qin's moves in the middle game startled him, he was eventually defeated.

Now, after two years of honing his skills in the professional Go world, Zheng Qin's Go has changed dramatically. He now possesses the aura and vision of a master, and even when facing Zheng Qin, one cannot afford to be careless.

"He has clearly grown."

Yu Shao thought to himself silently.

Just then, Zheng Qin suddenly looked at Yu Shao, thought for a moment, and said, "Yu Shao, you seem to have become stronger than before."

Upon hearing this, Yu Shao was slightly taken aback.

Zheng Qin turned his gaze away from Yu Shao and looked back at the chessboard, saying, "Actually, after playing chess with you these past two days, I would take the game records to other professional chess players to exchange ideas. It's not just me; they all feel the same way."

"is it?"

Yu Shao smiled and asked.

Upon hearing this question, Zheng Qin fell silent for a moment.

He couldn't help but recall what Chen Haiming, an 8-dan professional Go player, had said to him the night before when he was discussing the game with several other professional players.

At that time, they had finished discussing the game and were preparing to go home. Just as he was about to leave, he noticed that Chen Haiming, an eighth-dan player, was still sitting in his chair, staring blankly at the game.

So he asked Chen Haiming, an eighth-dan player, how much.

Chen Haiming's answer was something he could never forget.

“Yu Shao was indeed very strong in the past, but even though I knew I might not be able to beat him, I still had the confidence to fight him and felt that I had a chance to win.”

"But now, with Yu Shao... I find that I have little confidence in playing chess with him."

“I even suspect that if I were actually sitting across from him, I might not even have the courage to pick up a chess piece.”

At this moment, Chen Haiming's words seemed to echo in my ears again.

Zheng Qin remained silent for a long time before finally nodding slightly and saying, "Yes, I'm not the only one who thinks so; others do too."

Upon hearing this, Yu Shao fell silent for a moment, then looked at the chessboard in front of him again.

Going from zero to sixty points isn't actually that difficult. What's truly challenging is going from ninety-five to one hundred points. It's not just Zheng Qin who's growing; his chess skills are finally beginning to slowly improve...

Everyone is competing on the vast ocean of Go.

After a moment, Yu Shao smiled and said, "Thank you."

"It's nothing." Zheng Qin let out a long breath, thought for a moment, then changed the subject, asking, "By the way, speaking of which, Su Yiming said you two still have a game to play? You don't seem to have a competition, do you? Was it a private match arranged?"

Zheng Qin frowned slightly and continued, "This matter has caused a great sensation online. If it was a privately arranged match, those reporters would definitely try every means to broadcast the game live, and the chess academy would certainly not miss out on this popularity."

"It was arranged privately, after the China-Japan-Korea team competition."

Yu Shao explained, "Su Yiming said that after we all get the title, we will play another game of chess, and this game will determine who gets the title."

As soon as Yu Shao finished speaking, all sounds in the entire Shanhai Chess Hall came to an abrupt halt, becoming completely silent.

Zheng Qin stared blankly at Yu Shao for a moment, then his eyes widened: "What? Decide who gets the title?!"

"Correct."

Yu Shao nodded.

When Zheng Qin saw that Yu Shao actually nodded, his mind was buzzing for a moment.

"Are you crazy?! That's a title!"

After a long while, Zheng Qin finally reacted and hurriedly said, "Besides, this is too frivolous. The chess academy will definitely not agree to it. The title cannot be decided by the outcome of a private match!"

"I don't know about that. Actually, I don't care whether this game can determine the title holder."

Yu Shao shook his head and said, "The important thing is that I also want to play another game with him. The last time I played with him was in the captain selection tournament before the China-Japan-Korea team competition, which was a long time ago."

Do you think you can win?

Zheng Qin couldn't help but ask, "Su Yiming lost all his previous matches against you."

“I’ve seen his game records from the main tournament of the Grand Chess Championship, and I think I can win,” Yu Shao replied after thinking for a moment.

"So confident?"

Zheng Qin was somewhat speechless and said, "It seems you're confident of victory?"

Upon hearing Zheng Qin's words, Yu Shao fell silent.

After a moment, Yu Shao suddenly spoke up: "But that is the game record of the main tournament of the Grand Chess Master Tournament, not the game record of the Grand Chess Master Tournament challenge tournament."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Qin was stunned.

Yu Shao couldn't help but recall the words Su Yiming had said to him after the national team match.

It was obvious, even to Yu Shao, that Su Yiming felt pressured after watching his national team match.

However, Su Yiming's eyes showed no sign of backing down; on the contrary, they ignited an even stronger fighting spirit and will to fight, his eyes shining brightly.

It was like a lion baring its fangs at him!
"Although the Grand Master Challenge is a best-of-five series, there are only two days between each game, so the entire tournament is not very long. However, even though the time is short, he will never stop."

Yu Shao reached into the chess box and slowly picked out a chess piece: "He will do his best to improve himself and move forward with all his might."

"So, after the Grand Master Tournament ended, the person sitting across from me then might have been a completely different person from the one before the Grand Master Tournament challenge!"

The next moment, Yu Shao, holding a chess piece between his fingers, swiftly placed it on the board!
"all in all!"

"I'm waiting for the moment he sits across from me again."

Hey!
The chess pieces landed on the board, making a crisp sound that echoed continuously!
……

……

A week passed in the blink of an eye.

Even though a week has passed, the national team battle is still a hot topic. Although it no longer tops the trending search list, it remains one of the most discussed topics among netizens.

On the eighth day, a brand new hot topic suddenly rose to the top of the trending search list, and the popularity of the National Players Tournament was once again boosted!

The Grand Chess Tournament is about to begin!
The popularity of this year's Grand Chess Player Tournament is also ridiculously high, even comparable to the National Chess Player Tournament which just concluded a week ago.

After all, everyone has witnessed Yu Shao's performance in the national team competition.

Su Yiming, a young chess player on par with Yu Shao, made a bold statement before the competition that he was determined to win the title, which made everyone look forward to Su Yiming's performance in the Grand Chess Tournament.

The popularity of the Grand Chess Player Tournament has been brewing online for three days, remaining the hottest topic online for three consecutive days, without exception.

And so, as the clock struck twelve, the Grand Chess Tournament, eagerly awaited by countless chess fans, finally entered its final countdown!
More than nine hours later, a black sedan stopped in front of the Southern Chess Academy, and Su Yiming got out of the car.

"Yiming, keep it up!"

Sitting in the passenger seat, Su's mother couldn't hide her tension and worry. She encouraged Su Yiming, saying, "Just adjust your mindset and play chess like you normally would!"

Su Yiming nodded and said, "Mom and Dad, you should go back now. After this game of chess is over today, I have to fly to Chuhan City and won't be coming home."

"Okay, don't feel pressured. It's a best-of-five series anyway, so it's okay even if you lose the first game..."

After giving Su's parents a few more words of advice, Su's father and mother finally said goodbye to Su Yiming, rolled up the car window, and drove away.

After watching his parents leave, Su Yiming turned his gaze away, walked into the Southern Chess Academy, passed through the academy's hall, stepped into the corridor, and finally stopped at the door of the chess room.

This is where the outcome of the first game of the Grand Chess Master title challenge will be decided!
Su Yiming reached out, pushed open the door, and finally entered the game room.

Inside the game room, the two judges and the notarizer had been waiting for a long time. When they saw Su Yiming arrive first, they all looked at him.

"Good morning, Su Yiming, 3rd Dan."

One of the referees let out a soft sigh and greeted Su Yiming.

"Good morning."

Su Yiming nodded, then turned to look at the chess table in the center of the chess room, walked straight to one side of the chess table, pulled out a chair and sat down, waiting for Fu Shunan to arrive.

The two judges and the music notator were all silently observing Su Yiming, and they were all somewhat surprised to see that Su Yiming was just waiting quietly.

"Unexpectedly calm."

One referee thought to himself, "However, although he is often mentioned together with Yu Shao, can he really perform like Yu Shao did in the national team tournament?"

Yu Shao's performance in the national tournament was truly amazing and hard to surpass, especially in the last game. His aggressive and tactical approach of surrounding opponents without killing them was truly astounding.

Even today, every move in that game is still discussed by countless professional players, and no one can provide a complete analysis or breakdown of the game.

Now, it's the Grand Chess Players' Tournament.

What kind of performance will Su Yiming deliver in the Grand Chess Tournament?
He didn't know, but... he really wanted to know.

　Asking for a monthly ticket!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)