I really don’t want to play Go!

Chapter 419 How much do you know about Yu Shao?

That evening, after the schedule for the "Torch Battle" was announced, the internet, which had finally calmed down a bit, immediately erupted in excitement again, and the "Torch Battle" instantly attracted the attention of the entire world.

Everyone originally thought that after the Twin Cups ended, Su Yiming and Yu Shao would face off again on the field, at the Phoenix Cup at the earliest.

To everyone's surprise, the two were about to meet again in the Battle of the Titans, right after the Twin Cup ended.

Although the "Torch Battle" is an entertainment doubles tournament with more symbolic significance, the fact that the names Yu and Su are mentioned together is enough to generate great anticipation, especially since everyone still vividly remembers the two games in the Twin Cup.

More importantly, the event arrangement for this "Torch Battle" is so dramatic and sensational.

Zhuang Fei, who lost to Yu Shao last year and ultimately failed to defeat Fang Haoxin in the revival round, resulting in his defeat in the ranking tournament, has finally met Yu Shao again.

However, Yu Shao actually participated in the competition as Zhuang Fei's partner.

Therefore, the topic of the "Torch War" almost instantly became a trending topic on various social media platforms.

"Hahaha, snatching bamboo shoots! That's hilarious! Did the Southern Chess Academy do this on purpose?"

"It must have been intentional, but unfortunately I have no proof."

"Calculate the area of ​​Zhuang Fei's psychological trauma."

"Zhuang Fei: After a year of diligent study and practice, I have finally mastered my skills and emerged from the novice realm. Just wait, Yu Shao, I'm about to begin my revenge... Hmm? Why is he sitting in the title holder's seat?"

The internet was filled with laughter and jokes, with all sorts of banter emerging.

Looking back at the ranking tournament a year ago, everyone couldn't help but feel a bit emotional.

Who would have thought that the two players who had just achieved professional status last year would both win titles this year, stirring up endless storms in the Go world in just one year.

Everyone is eagerly anticipating this upcoming battle for the torch, but this time, unlike in the past, many are waiting for it with a more spectacle-like attitude.

……

……

And so, time flew by, and just three days later, the day for the start of the war of attrition arrived in a hurry.

Inside the lounge of the Southern Chess Academy.

A short-haired boy, about fourteen or fifteen years old, sat nervously on the sofa in the lounge, clenching his fists and then releasing them, then clenching them again, over and over again.

"Squeak."

Suddenly, the door was pushed open, and a boy wearing a black shirt with an expressionless face walked in.

Upon seeing the newcomer, the young man who had been sitting on the sofa in the lounge was slightly taken aback.

Soon, the boy clenched his fists tightly, stood up from the sofa, looked directly at the boy in black, and said, "Zhuang Fei, you've come."

Zhuang Fei glanced at the boy, seemingly surprised that he was in the lounge.

After a moment, Zhuang Fei withdrew his gaze, nodded slightly, and then walked straight to the water dispenser. He took a paper cup from the dispenser and began to pour himself some water.

Seeing Zhuang Fei's seemingly dismissive attitude, the boy's eyes changed, a hint of anger appeared on his face, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Don't think that just because you beat me once in the ranking tournament, you can win again."

Zhuang Fei remained silent, simply continuing to pour himself water, seemingly oblivious to the boy's words.

After the water was filled, Zhuang Fei picked up the glass, tilted his head back, and took a sip.

"You're always so arrogant."

Seeing that Zhuang Fei seemed to be ignoring him, the boy gritted his teeth and said, "This time, my partner is Yu Shao. You should know how powerful he is. I will definitely win this battle of the torch!"

"It's not just a battle for the torch, but also in the future. After I officially become a professional Go player, I will catch up and utterly defeat you!"

The boy said fiercely, "Just you wait and see!"

Upon hearing this, Zhuang Fei sighed, remained silent for a long time, and finally turned his head to look at the boy quietly, meeting his gaze.

For some reason, upon seeing Zhuang Fei's gaze, the boy found himself unable to resist trying to avoid it. He could only grit his teeth and stubbornly meet Zhuang Fei's gaze.

"He Yu, how much do you know about Yu Shao?"

Zhuang Fei suddenly asked.

He Yu was slightly stunned upon hearing this, but after regaining her composure, she immediately said, "I know him very well! I've read all his game records, including the one he played against you a year ago!"

"That's not what I meant."

Zhuang Fei paused, then continued, "What I'm asking is, besides the chess records, how much do you actually know about him?"

He Yu was stunned when she heard the question.

Zhuang Fei turned around, placed the water glass on the table, turned his back to He Yu, and continued, "You just said that Yu Shao is very strong, so you can beat me in the Firestorm Battle, right?"

"But you don't know him at all."

Before He Yu could refute, Zhuang Fei interrupted her, turned his head slightly, and continued, "Your understanding of him is limited to the chess records; beyond that, you know nothing about him!"

"You might know about 33, you might know about the inversion of thickness, you might know about the death of the demon sword and the avalanche, you might know about the irresistible spire!"

"But have you truly and thoroughly understood these methods?"

At this point, Zhuang Fei suddenly turned around and said, "You haven't played against him face-to-face, so you can't see his skill level at all! And you could never truly understand these moves!"

"You'll only know when he's actually sitting across from you."

"He will make you tremble with despair, and may even make you lose the courage to pick up a chess piece again!"

Zhuang Fei finally turned around completely, facing He Yu directly, his gaze as sharp as a hawk's.

"For more than a year, I have been fighting against this fear, even imagining such chess players as my enemies, gritting my teeth, swallowing my blood, and moving forward."

"But even so, I tried my best, but I was only trying to keep up with him."

“He Yu, it’s not that I’m arrogant.”

"It wasn't my intention to offend you."

"It's not that I'm arrogant!"

"Among the players who achieved professional status this year, I'm the only one who can barely keep up with Yu Shao or Su Yiming!"

He Yu looked at Zhuang Fei with emotion, and for a moment she forgot to argue.

Zhuang Fei took a deep breath, said no more to He Yu, and turned to leave the lounge.

After Zhuang Fei had completely left, He Yu finally came to her senses. Her chest heaved violently, and her face turned red with anger.

"It wasn't arrogance, it wasn't haughtiness, it wasn't intentional offense?"

He Yu found it absurd and clenched her fists: "How the hell have they become so arrogant?!"

After a long while, He Yu finally calmed down. She glanced at the clock on the wall, saw that it was almost time, took a deep breath, pushed open the door of the lounge, and walked towards the game room.

Not long after, He Yu arrived at the door of the game room. After hesitating for a moment, he finally reached out and pushed open the door.

Yu Shao had arrived at the game room ahead of time. Hearing the door open, he looked towards the entrance.

"He Yu"

Yu Shao had seen He Yu's photo on the chess academy's official website and immediately recognized the visitor, asking, "Yes, I am He Yu, Master Yu Shao, good afternoon!"

Seeing that Yu Shao had arrived at the game room, He Yu was a little nervous and excited. She subconsciously stood up straight and greeted Yu Shao.

Seeing this, Yu Shao couldn't help but smile, patted the chair next to him, and said, "Don't be so nervous, come and sit down."

"it is good."

He Yu took another deep breath before finally stepping into the game room, approaching Yu Shao, pulling out a chair and sitting down, though his posture seemed somewhat unnatural.

Yu Shao noticed that He Yu was a little nervous. After thinking for a moment, he smiled and said, "I've seen your chess records."

"what?"

Hearing this, He Yu was somewhat flattered and asked, "Really?"

"real."

Yu Shao nodded and said.

He had indeed read He Yu's chess records. After learning that He Yu would be his partner in the Torch Relay, he asked for He Yu's chess records, since he needed to make some preparations for the Torch Relay.

For him, the Torch Relay was just an entertainment match, but for He Yu, a young man who had just achieved his professional ranking, the Torch Relay was the first battle of his professional career.

Therefore, he also wanted to do his best to make the war of attrition a success, rather than making it a haphazard one.

Although He Yu didn't see the game records from the professional ranking tournament because there was no recorder, he was a young player who had come from the dojo and was aiming for professional ranking, so he still left behind some game records at the dojo.

"Master Yu Shaoguo, what do you think of my move...?"

He Yu asked cautiously, her expression a mixture of anticipation and nervousness.

"It's falling pretty well."

Yu Shao thought for a moment and said, "Many of his moves are very creative, with a balanced overall style. He is fierce when attacking and very steady when defending."

These words did not really comfort He Yu. As for Yu Shaolai, the chess scores that He Yu left behind at the dojo, although somewhat immature, were indeed very insightful.

Moreover, He Yu's achievement of second place in the ranking competition is a testament to his undeniable talent.

Hearing this, He Yu didn't say anything, but a smile still appeared on her face.

"Play well later and try to get a great start to your career," Yu Shao said with a smile.

"it is good!"

He Yu suddenly became full of confidence, patted his chest, and said, "I will definitely crush Zhuang Fei and wipe away the shame of the Dingduan competition!"

"Okay, be ambitious!"

Seeing this, Yu Shao couldn't help but smile. After thinking for a moment, he asked with some curiosity, "Speaking of which, I also played a game of chess with Zhuang Fei a year ago. What happened in that game between you and Zhuang Fei?"

Upon hearing this, He Yu's smile froze instantly.

Just as he was about to speak, the door to the game room suddenly creaked open again.

"Good morning, Su Yiming."

Yu Shao looked towards the door, saw the person coming, and waved to greet them.

"morning."

Su Yiming first looked at Yu Shao, then glanced at He Yu beside Yu Shao, and then looked away and walked towards the opposite side of Yu Shao.

As Su Yiming walked, he said, "I didn't expect that we would meet again on the field so soon this time."

"This was really too fast, it caught us completely off guard."

Upon hearing this, Yu Shao couldn't help but laugh, knowing that Su Yiming was secretly criticizing Ma Zhengyu, and spoke up.

Although he and Su Yiming had met on the field more than once, the intervals between them were always long. But this time, the intervals were unexpectedly short, only four days after the Gemini Cup ended, and they met again.

"But it's alright, even though it's a two-player game, it's always fun to play chess with you."

Su Yiming finally came to the opposite side of Yu Shao, pulled out a chair and sat down, a smile appearing on his face, and said, "Even in a two-person battle, I will go all out."

"It's the same as who you're talking about."

Yu Shao smiled and said, "Then let's go."

Seeing Yu Shao and Su Yiming sitting opposite each other, He Yu didn't know if she was imagining things, but she felt that the atmosphere in the game room had changed, and there seemed to be a sense of oppression.

He Yu glanced at Yu Shao beside her, then at Su Yiming opposite her, and involuntarily held her breath.

"Squeak."

After an unknown amount of time, the door to the game room was pushed open again.

Upon hearing the sound of the door being opened, everyone in the game room immediately turned to look at the door.

Zhuang Fei stood at the door of the game room, looked at Yu Shao, then at Su Yiming, and after a long while, he finally took a deep breath and resolutely walked towards Su Yiming's side.

Seeing that Zhuang Fei's gaze had completely ignored her, He Yu gritted her teeth and stared intently at Zhuang Fei, watching him walk step by step to the opposite side of her, pull out a chair and sit down.

Not far away, the judge and the scorekeeper had strange expressions as they watched the four people who had all taken their seats. They would look at Zhuang Fei from time to time, and then at Yu Shao.

"A year ago, they were opponents in the professional ranking tournament; a year later, one is a newly promoted first dan, and the other is a title holder..."

"Who would believe that, strictly speaking, all four people on the torch relay team are actually newcomers..."

Seeing the four people sitting in the game room, they felt a mix of amusement and anticipation for the future.

A year ago, Yu Shao and Su Yiming had just achieved professional ranking, but a year later, they have already begun to mentor newcomers as title holders.

What kind of performance will they deliver at the Phoenix Cup World Championship in the near future?
For a moment, all three of them began to have wild thoughts.

Finally, seeing that the match time was approaching, one of the referees composed himself, coughed twice, and said, "Time's up."

He glanced at his watch, took a deep breath, and said in a deep voice, "Partners share time, two hours each, one and a half minutes countdown, and seven and a half points on the black card."

"The rules for placing stones are as follows: the first 1-dan player places a stone first, then the second 1-dan player places a stone, then the first 1-dan player's partner places a stone, and finally the second 1-dan player's partner places a stone, and so on."

"The two first-dan players will coin toss to determine who goes first."

"Now, you two first-dan players may begin the coin toss!"

Upon hearing this, Zhuang Fei reached into the chess box first, grabbed a handful of white pieces, and held them in his palm.

Seeing this, He Yu immediately reached into the chess box, took out two black pieces, and placed them on the chessboard.

Zhuang Fei released his grip, and the five white pieces immediately fell onto the chessboard.

Five white stones.

Two black stones.

This also means that Zhuang Fei will play black and make the first move in this game!
　Asking for a monthly ticket!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)