I really don’t want to play Go!

Chapter 427 It's been two years already?
Time flies, and soon another week has passed.

"Or not……"

In the bedroom, Yu Shao looked at the chessboard in front of him and sighed softly.

These past two days, instead of going to the Shanhai Chess Hall, he stayed at home, reviewing and analyzing his own games, and playing two roles, essentially playing against himself—a practice known as self-play.

One side plays using the chess style they excelled at in their past life, while the other side plays using the chess style they've honed in this life, thus honing their skills.

Before the high school Go league, he had played against himself, but no matter how he played, he always won with the style of Go he was good at in his previous life. Now, he focuses on attacking and killing, and he is finally able to defeat the style of Go he played in his previous life.

However, overall, he still wins more than he loses. He might be able to win three or four out of the next ten games, which is less than half.

Only now, after playing chess himself, does Yu Shao realize just how formidable his opponent was in his past life.

In his previous life, his chess style was extremely calm and restrained. He never provoked complex battles. Even if he discovered his opponent's weakness, he would calmly observe his opponent's movements and find no weakness at all.

If force is used, the entire army will be wiped out; if force is not used, the enemy can be subdued without a fight. Conceal your strength in peace and let thunder roar in silence.

If he wants to win through attack, he must disrupt the game to the point of complete loss of control, making it impossible to manage the game at all. Only then will he have a chance. But even if he knows himself perfectly well, he will find it very difficult to find such an opportunity.

"In the end, it still didn't completely come to an end..."

Yu Shao gazed at the chessboard, lost in thought.

Although this is a huge improvement compared to his past self, it is still far from meeting his expectations.

After all, although he is moving forward, others will only move faster than him, because he can only learn by himself, while others can draw nourishment from his chess records and grow rapidly.

Just like Su Yiming, who has caught up at an astonishing speed.

If he can't even match his past self in terms of strength, how long can this advantage be maintained?
"If one can take the path of attack and kill to its extreme, and then integrate it with the chess style of the previous life, a single game of chess will have both the profoundness of returning to simplicity, and the sharp and decisive killing moves after seizing the opportunity; it will have both the flowing water that does not compete for the lead, and the constant striving to gain the upper hand to achieve a kill..."

Thinking of this, Yu Shao couldn't help but be slightly taken aback.

He suddenly felt that some of these descriptions seemed familiar.

In a previous life, this was how people viewed AI.

Every chess player has their own style. There are aggressive players who prefer high-level openings and actively create contact battles to prevent the game from becoming too stable. There are also solid players who play with rock-solid moves, suppressing their opponent's space through thickness and creating a slow, close game that eventually strangles their opponent.

Having a particular playing style is a characteristic of human chess players.

Only AI has no playing style.

In other words, the AI's playing style is the sum of all playing styles.

Sometimes AI chases external trends, making incredible moves and creating a series of deadly plays, resulting in a magnificent and awe-inspiring killing situation. At other times, it returns to simplicity, occupying territory without fighting or grabbing, and ultimately defeating its opponent by a difference of only half a point.

After a moment, Yu Shao shook his head, composed himself, and continued playing the game.

……

……

In the blink of an eye, another three days have passed.

There are only three days left until the start of the Phoenix Cup.

Early that morning, Yu Shao arrived at the Southern Chess Academy. After passing through the academy's main hall, he walked along the corridor toward the meeting point for the Phoenix Cup.

In the corridor, two young professional chess players were having a heated discussion, completely unaware of Yu Shao's arrival.

"This year's Phoenix Cup World Championship is generating way too much buzz. If I scroll through short videos, seven or eight out of ten are about the Phoenix Cup. I feel like I've entered an information cocoon," a long-haired young man muttered to himself.

"It's not that we've entered an information cocoon, it's just that the level of interest is incredibly high. My girlfriend never follows Go, but she sees it every day. But that's a good thing, isn't it? More and more people are starting to pay attention to Go."

A young man wearing glasses smiled and asked curiously, "Who do you think will win this world championship?"

"I don't know, who the hell knows? Anything is possible in the World Championship. The qualification for the World Championship is based on the players who have reached the title match in the last three years. It wouldn't be surprising if anyone won."

The long-haired youth shook his head and said, "Aren't there enough examples of upsets in the World Championship?"

"I think we have a very good chance this year."

The bespectacled young man thought for a moment and said, "Let's not even talk about Teacher Zhuang Weisheng. This year, Zhu Huai'an won two major titles at the same time, and there are also those two monsters, Yu Shao and Su Yiming!"

"No, no, no, you're thinking too simply."

The long-haired young man shook his head and said, "Teacher Zhuang Weisheng lost his 10th dan title this year. I'm worried that his performance in the World Championships might not be as good as before."

"Although Zhu Huai'an was in high spirits and won two major titles, compared with those chess players who held multiple titles at the same time, such as Teacher Zhuang Weisheng, Zhu Huai'an just didn't feel as pressured."

"As for Yu Shao and Su Yiming, I actually think they are even more imposing than Zhu Huai'an. They are indeed monsters. However, it must be said that this is their first time participating in the World Championship."

The bespectacled young man rolled his eyes and retorted, "You're being way too pessimistic. What you're saying makes it sound like Chinese chess is doomed."

"I was actually quite confident at first, but after I found out that Teacher An Hongshi was participating, I suddenly lost confidence." The long-haired young man sighed and said quietly.

"Damn, didn't you just say that anything is possible in the World Championships and it wouldn't be surprising if anyone won? Why are you suddenly losing confidence because of An Hongshi's participation?"

The bespectacled young man widened his eyes and asked, "Don't you mean you think Coach An Hongshi will win the championship? Isn't that a contradiction?"

"This is the truth."

The long-haired youth spoke with a complicated tone, explaining, "I know that Coach An Hongshi might not win the championship. You asked me if Coach An Hongshi might lose? I think it's possible, but the problem is, that's Coach An Hongshi..."

"Uh……"

The young man wearing glasses choked.

That does seem to make sense?
Three years ago, despite his illness, An Hongshi still swept the two world championships that year, winning two world titles. He still remembers that scene vividly and is deeply moved by it.

However, it's not that An Hongshi won't lose. But the problem is that even knowing there's a possibility that An Hongshi might lose, he still subconsciously feels that An Hongshi won't lose!
Over the past twenty years, the name Ahn Hong-seok has become so deeply ingrained in people's minds that its influence has been immense.

Even though someone had broken An Hongshi's invincible status, everyone would still rebuild it for him. When Zhuang Weisheng defeated An Hongshi and snatched the world championship from him, the whole country was in an uproar, and Zhuang Weisheng was practically deified in the hearts of countless Chinese people.

However, the problem is that in the following World Championships, Ahn Hong-seok continued to dominate.

The young man wearing glasses suddenly became somewhat pessimistic about this World Championship.

"And I think—"

The long-haired youth was about to say something when he suddenly noticed Yu Shao not far in front of him, and immediately shut his mouth, swallowing his words.

The young man wearing glasses also noticed Yu Shao, and his expression immediately became somewhat awkward. He hadn't expected to run into the person in the conversation.

Yu Shao didn't take their words to heart at all. He walked past them and soon arrived at the door of a game room. He pushed the door open and went inside.

In the match room, all the players who had registered for the Phoenix Cup, including Zhuang Weisheng, Chen Shan, and Zheng Qin, had already arrived. Of course, Ma Zhengyu, who was in charge of leading the team to Phoenix, was also there.

Besides, Xu Zijin, Wu Zhixuan, Le Haoqiang, and others did not register for the Phoenix Cup, but there are quite a few players who plan to go to the Phoenix Cup to watch the games live.

Upon seeing Yu Shao arrive, everyone turned to look at him.

"Yu Shao, you're a little late."

Upon seeing Yu Shao, Wu Zhixuan's eyes lit up, and she said with a smile, "I almost went to the competition in your place."

Hearing his sister's words, Wu Shuheng, who was standing next to Wu Zhixuan, complained, "Come on, that would be embarrassing to the whole world. People would think that China's requirements for entering the main tournament of the title match are so low."

Upon hearing this, Wu Zhixuan snorted and ignored Wu Shuheng.

There was some traffic on the road.

Yu Shao smiled, offered an explanation, then glanced around the game room and said, "I shouldn't be the last contestant to arrive, right? Su Yiming didn't come either."

"Not only Su Yiming, but even Cui Junzhe, a 9th dan, hasn't arrived yet."

At this moment, Zhuang Weisheng looked at Yu Shao and said with a smile, "Good morning, Master Yu Shao."

Yu Shao was slightly taken aback, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Good morning, Teacher Zhuang Weisheng."

"I hope to face you again at the World Championships," Zhuang Weisheng said with a smile.

"Me too."

Yu Shao nodded and answered with a smile.

Although he and Zhuang Weisheng are both participants in this year's Phoenix Cup World Championship, they may not necessarily meet as opponents on the field.

Although the Phoenix Cup requires players to reach the main tournament of the title match to qualify, which is ridiculously high compared to my previous life, there are still a lot of players in this world who sign up for the competition, even though only those who reach the main tournament of the title match are eligible to participate.

With so many people signing up, if the competition format were a points-based or round-robin tournament, it would take forever to finish.

Therefore, in the Phoenix Cup tournament format, the first few rounds are the most brutal single-elimination tournaments. Losing just one game results in immediate elimination, and the tournament continues until a certain number of players are eliminated.

Therefore, under this competition system, if you are unlucky, even the current title holder may be eliminated in the first round without a second chance, which is ruthless.

The Phoenix Cup is relatively mild because after eliminating a certain number of players through a single-elimination tournament, it will switch to a double-elimination tournament, which allows for a higher margin of error.

Some world championships are single-elimination tournaments from start to finish, with no room for error. A single mistake can lead to utter ruin, making them extremely brutal.

However, although the Phoenix Cup is followed by a double-elimination tournament, which is better than a single-elimination tournament, based on past experience with similar tournament formats in world championships, once you lose and enter the loser's bracket, your chances of winning the championship are often slim.

After all, those who have made it all the way from the single-elimination tournament to here, even if they fall into the loser's bracket, are already undeniably strong, and it is extremely difficult to break through among so many strong players.

Everyone knows that the losers' bracket is harder than the winners' bracket, because falling into the losers' bracket means there is no way back, and you can only grit your teeth and fight with all your might.

Therefore, the battles in the loser's bracket are particularly fierce, and many famous matches are born in the loser's bracket.

However, the winners' bracket is different.

Although the competition in the winners' bracket is also extremely fierce, the different mindset and the availability of fallback options make it less thrilling and more moderate than the losers' bracket.

Finally, the loser's bracket champion, who has finally crawled out of the loser's bracket pile after going through all the hardships, will meet with the winner's bracket champion in the final for a best-of-three match. Only by winning two games can one become the final champion.

Because after falling into the loser's bracket, every game requires intense mental focus, and after fighting your way out, you are almost completely exhausted.

Therefore, if someone falls into the loser's bracket very early on, even if they manage to fight their way out of it, the winner of the best-of-three match will often be the one to win.

Examples of players who fall into the loser's bracket early on, eventually fight their way out and win the championship, are extremely rare. A recent example is the German master Hans.

After the World Championship that year, a reporter interviewed Hans, who called the road the road of death and said he never wanted to experience it again in his life.

In short, the World Championship is more intense and fierce than domestic tournaments in various countries. All players want to win no matter what, and they will unleash their strongest chess skills in the World Championship!

"Then it depends on luck."

Zhuang Weisheng smiled faintly, finally turning his gaze away from Yu Shao.

Yu Shao then looked at Zheng Qin, who was standing in the game room, looking somewhat helpless and with a face full of nervousness. After thinking for a moment, he took a step and walked over to Zheng Qin's side.

"Why are you so nervous? There are still a few days until the competition. Today you're just flying to Fenghuang. What will you do when the competition actually starts?" Yu Shao teased with a smile.

"I'm not nervous, I'm excited!"

Zheng Qin immediately defended himself, saying, "Although I thought that one day I would step onto the world stage when I became a professional Go player, I didn't expect that day to come so soon!"

"Morning?"

Yu Shao was a little surprised: "You've been a professional Go player for over two years now?"

　Asking for a monthly ticket!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)