I really don’t want to play Go!

Chapter 445 He led the Go world astray!
When Su Yiming was about to start drawing lots, everyone's attention was immediately drawn once again.

Su Yiming quickly pulled a slip of paper from the fortune-telling box, and then, under everyone's watchful eyes, slowly unfolded it. On the slip of paper was only one number—

8.

Upon seeing the winning number, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Su Yiming, number 8."

Su Yiming raised his head and spoke to the staff.

The staff member nodded and quickly found Su Yiming's name on the list, noting down the number eight after his name.

"We're lucky. So far, there haven't been any cases of duplicate numbers. It seems that even if there are internal conflicts in the first round, there probably won't be too many," Zhu Huai'an said with a smile.

The World Championship is indeed an individual competition; there are no teammates, and everyone is an opponent. However, even so, everyone still hopes to avoid internal conflicts as much as possible.

Of course, if you're really unlucky and a civil war breaks out in the first round, then you'll have no choice but to draw your swords and fight each other; no one will show any mercy.

The Chinese team players began to draw lots one after another. After more than a dozen players had drawn their lots, there were no cases of players drawing the same number.

Although no one wanted a civil war in the first round, it ultimately became inevitable.

"Li Congyou, No. 381".

After seeing his own number, Li Congyou glanced at Chen Shan beside him, his expression slightly somber, and spoke to the staff.

Immediately, everyone looked at Chen Shan, including Yu Shao and Su Yiming.

If they remember correctly, Chen Shan's draw number was 381.

This also means that in the first round, one of Chen Shan and Li Congyou will inevitably be eliminated!

Upon learning that Li Congyou had drawn number 381, just like him, Chen Shan's expression immediately turned somewhat unpleasant.

"This is just too unlucky."

Zheng Qin glanced at Chen Shan, then at Li Congyou, his expression complex. He whispered to Yu Shao, "Both Teacher Chen Shan and Li Congyou, both 8-dan players, have a very high probability of making it into the top 64, and might even go further, but..."

Zheng Qin didn't continue speaking, but Yu Shao already knew what Zheng Qin was going to say.

Although it's a pity that one of Li Congyou and Chen Shan will have to take turns, there's nothing that can be done. That's how ruthless the competition is; it's survival of the fittest, and the strong are respected.

Luck is also a part of strength, unless you already possess the strength to ignore luck.

"Teacher Chen Shan, there's no other way. It seems we can only fight it out on the field." At this moment, Li Congyou also turned his head and said to Chen Shan, "I also want to pick an easy target."

"It all depends on your ability."

Chen Shan took a deep breath, controlled his emotions, and answered without showing any emotion on his face.

Seeing that some people had already drawn the same number, the mood of those who hadn't drawn yet became a little heavy, and they stepped forward one after another to draw their own numbers.

Finally, after a while, all the remaining Chinese players had finished drawing lots. Upon seeing their numbers, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Apart from Li Congyou and Chen Shan, there were no other instances of players wearing the same jersey number within the team, which means that there will only be one internal match in the first round for the entire Chinese team.

"There was only one internal battle in the first round, which is already quite lucky," Cui Junzhe said with a smile, looking at the draw number in his hand.

"Good luck? Is that so?"

Chang Yan was somewhat noncommittal about this. Looking at the draw number in her hand, she said calmly, "As long as they don't encounter the strongest players in the country, many players who have participated in many world championships would actually prefer to be drawn into an all-Chinese match."

Upon hearing this, Cui Junzhe was slightly taken aback, somewhat puzzled.

"A country only has a handful of truly top-tier chess players. As long as you don't draw one of those few, you can usually accept drawing someone else."

Chang Yan glanced at Zheng Qin and the others with a slight smile in her phoenix eyes, and deliberately said, "However, it's not certain for international matches. If you don't get drawn into an internal match, then the probability of encountering a top foreign player actually increases."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of Zheng Qin, Qin Lang, and Cui Junzhe, who were participating in the world championship for the first time, all changed.

Indeed, they did not share the same number, which means that their opponents could not be Zhu Huai'an, Zhuang Weisheng, or Yu Shao.

However, it's more likely that it won't be a top domestic player, but rather a top international player like Ahn Hiroshi, Honinbo Shingo, or someone like that!

After all, the number of top international chess players combined is obviously much greater than the number of top domestic chess players combined!
Upon realizing this, Zheng Qin and the others immediately became tense.

"Look at you all, so spineless!"

Kong Zi couldn't stand Zheng Qin and the others' nervous expressions and cursed, "So what if we run into them? So what if we run into An Hongshi? We're going to run into them, and we're going to fight!"

"This is a golden opportunity for true men to make a name for themselves and leave their mark on history! Why should you avoid his brilliance?! Not only should you not avoid him, but you should also use his blood to spur your flag and spread your fame!"

Kong Zi was closest to Zheng Qin, and his spittle landed on Zheng Qin's face. Zheng Qin twitched his lips, but dared not refute him.

"Really? Then may I ask, Mr. Kong Ziming, what was your win rate against An Hongshi before?" Just then, Chang Yan's voice drifted over in a somewhat sarcastic tone.
"Cough cough."

Upon hearing this, Kong Zi coughed lightly twice and said without batting an eye, "It's just that the hem of my clothes is slightly dirty."

Upon hearing this, everyone present couldn't help but laugh, and the tense atmosphere from before immediately eased considerably.

Finally, after quite some time, all the chess players in the hall finished drawing lots.

Immediately afterwards, a group of staff members took the list and went to several computers to start entering data, preparing to draw up the match schedule for tomorrow's games.

Although there were many people in the hall, it was completely silent while waiting for the final match results to be announced, as if they were waiting for judgment to be handed down.

Finally, after about ten minutes, a match schedule filled with names appeared on the large screen at the front of the hall.

The entire room erupted in commotion as everyone turned their gaze to the large screen, searching for their first-round opponent. Yu Shao also looked at the screen and quickly located table 277, where he saw the name of his first-round opponent. A look of surprise immediately appeared on his face.

He wasn't entirely unfamiliar with the name of this opponent.

Table 277, Yu Shao (China, title: National Player), yes, Dong He (USA, rank: 9 Dan).

The name Dong He is, of course, a chess name. It does not mean that Dong He is of Asian descent. On the contrary, Dong He is a native-born American chess player.

The last time Yu Shao saw the name Dong He was during the game of Go. Kong Zi had defeated Ma Dong with great force in the fifth game, and in the sixth game, Dong He was called upon to face Kong Zi.

Among the ten American players participating in the second match, Dong He was the least well-known and his past record was not particularly impressive, while Kong Zi had just defeated Ma Dong beautifully the day before, making him the talk of the town.

However, the final game of chess between Dong He and Kong Zi was unexpected by everyone, including Yu Shao.

Kong Zi initially held the advantage, but Dong He suddenly erupted from his predicament, displaying astonishing fighting power in the battle, ultimately turning the tide and defeating Kong Zi in the middle game, forcing him to resign.

However, in the seventh game, Dong He lost to Chu Jingfeng, whose fame was far less than that of Kong Zi. In that game, Chu Jingfeng played a brilliant game in the middle game, managing to control his group and build up a strong position to kill a large group of stones.

"Dong He?"

Kong Zi also noticed that Yu Shao's opponent was Dong He, who had defeated him in the previous chess match, and warned, "That guy is a bit unorthodox, don't underestimate him."

"Understood, thank you, Kong Ziming."

Yu Shao nodded and thanked him.

Behind Yu Shao, Zheng Qin and Qin Lang couldn't help but twitch their lips when they heard these words.

Is it a bit strange or unorthodox?

Is there any chess player in this world more unorthodox and unorthodox than Yu Shao? What about the 3-3 point, the sharp point, the demonic blade rush, is there anything more evil than this?
No, that's not right either.

To be honest, it seems that in the past year, all the chess players have quietly transformed into evil practitioners. The atmosphere of the entire chess world has been distorted by Yu Shao, to the point that Yu Shao can now only be described as righteous but evil!

Thinking of this, a strange look appeared on Zheng Qin's face.

However, the most urgent task was to find his opponent. Zheng Qin quickly composed himself and began searching for number 207 on the big screen.

Soon, Zheng Qin found number 207, saw his own name and his opponent, and was stunned when he saw his opponent in the first round.

On the large screen, it was clearly written—

Table 207, Zheng Qin (China, Dan: 5-dan), yes, Araki No (Japan, Dan: 9-dan).

At this moment, Yu Shao also noticed Zheng Qin's opponent, and was also taken aback. Then he couldn't help but look at Zheng Qin and whisper, "Zheng Qin, this..."

"fine."

Zheng Qin shook his head, staring intently at the big screen. When he saw that his opponent was Araki, he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, but then he took a deep breath.

Yu Shao was somewhat surprised by Zheng Qin's composure, but he didn't think too much about it and quickly looked at the match schedule on the big screen again.

Yu Shao then discovered that, apart from Zhu Xinyuan 9-dan's opponent being American Master Ma Dong, almost all of the other opponents were names he had never heard of.

For example, Su Yiming's opponent in the first round was a Dutch player who is currently only a 7-dan player. He should also be a rising star player who has just entered the title tournament and qualified for the world championship.

The hall was in an uproar. Everyone was staring at the match schedule on the big screen, discussing it animatedly. Each person had a different expression; some breathed a sigh of relief, some looked tense, and others were on high alert.

Taking advantage of this time, Yu Shao searched for other players on the match list and quickly found An Hongshi's name at number 451. His opponent was a Japanese player named Dazai Eiichiro, who was a 9-dan.

Yu Shao vaguely remembered seeing the name of this Japanese Go player somewhere before; he had a slight impression of him, but he was clearly someone who was somewhat famous, though not very well-known.

Suddenly, Yu Shao saw a familiar name on the match list, and when he saw the opponent following that familiar name, a look of surprise appeared on Yu Shao's face.

Number 71, Higashiyama Kaoru (Japan, Dan: 8-dan), yes, Kimura Go (Japan, Title: 10-dan)!

Not only him, but also Higashiyama Kaoru and Kimura Go were two names that attracted much attention. Many players in the hall also noticed this and looked at Higashiyama Kaoru and Kimura Go with surprise.

Kimura Go has been one of the leading figures in the Japanese Go world for many years. More than a decade ago, he defeated countless opponents, pushed Yasuhiro Abe to the brink of defeat on numerous occasions, and even repeatedly defeated Abe.

Higashiyama Kaoru is the strongest young Go player in Japan, and was even praised by Japanese media as "there is no genius after Higashiyama Kaoru".

Although Higashiyama Kaoru lost the China-Japan-Korea Go League in the end, those few games made him famous all over the world. It can be said that he was still glorious in defeat!
In the China-Japan-Korea Go League, Higashiyama Kaoru lost not because he was weak, but simply because... his opponent was too strong.

After the Chinese, Japanese and Korean leagues ended, Higashiyama Kaoru from Japan actually received a lot of criticism. After all, netizens often don't care about anything else; they just want the result.

However, as time passed and everyone calmed down, public opinion about Higashiyama Kaoru on the Japanese internet underwent a significant change.

As time goes by, many people now look back at the China-Japan-Korea Go League and even feel that Higashiyama Kaoru is a tragic hero. It's not that Higashiyama Kaoru didn't do well; on the contrary, he did his best!
However, the opponent that Higashiyama Kaoru faced was simply too strong...

Given that Yu Shao's playing style and strategies were not fully understood, Higashiyama Kaoru's ability to play like that, to be evenly matched at times, and to remain locked in a fierce battle until the very end, was already an astonishing feat!
It's like mortals trying to wrestle with the gods. Even if mortals are ultimately defeated, it's just a tragic failure, a desire to win against the heavens but ultimately ending in failure.

So, a strange thing happened in Japan: the better Yu Shao's record was, the better Higashiyama Kaoru's reputation was in Japan.

After the Twin Cup ended, Higashiyama Kaoru's fans in Japan far exceeded those of Yu Shao!
Now, Higashiyama Kaoru is facing Kimura Go in the first round.

It's not unusual for a young newcomer to face a top player in the first round of the internal competition. If it were someone else, like Kimura Go instead of Honinbo Shingo, it wouldn't have attracted so much attention.

The key point is that Higashiyama Kaoru's teacher is none other than Kimura Go, a 10th dan!
"If I remember correctly, Higashiyama Kaoru's teacher was Kimura Go, a 10th dan, right?"

Qin Lang was equally surprised and said, "A battle between master and disciple? So one of them will be eliminated in the first round? This is going to be interesting!"

…………

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(End of this chapter)