I really don’t want to play Go!

Chapter 448 Just Like the First Time I Met You

In this game, Su Yiming played black and his opponent played white. Yu Shao quickly assessed the situation.

"Black has a slight advantage, while White is at a slight disadvantage."

Although Black has the advantage, White still has many moves to make, and the outcome is still unpredictable.

However, this is only judging the situation from the board position. In terms of time, Su Yiming has a huge advantage, having hardly used any time, while White has already used up most of the time.

The current situation is quite complex, requiring a lot of time for calculation and deliberation, but unfortunately, White doesn't have enough time to think.

Yu Shao stood aside watching the game. Besides Yu Shao, there were several other amateur chess players around, also standing aside, paying attention to the game.

Just as Yu Shao had predicted, with the situation incredibly complicated and time running out, the man sitting opposite Su Yiming panicked and made several slow moves, which Su Yiming immediately seized.

The situation was evenly matched just moments ago, but in an instant, White became extremely passive, taking hits all the way, and was already showing signs of collapse.

"However... he's not weak either."

After watching for a while, Yu Shao raised his head and looked at the Dutch man sitting opposite Su Yiming.

Despite falling into a losing position, the man did not collapse completely. Instead, he made several of the strongest moves in the local area and even launched a counterattack, causing damage to the black pieces, which surprised Yu Shao.

"It seems we underestimated him. None of the players qualified to participate in the World Championship are simple."

Yu Shao gazed at the chessboard, silently thinking, "This method of entanglement is very delicate and requires careful consideration. If it were someone else, there is indeed a possibility of being suddenly attacked by White, causing the offensive and defensive positions to shift."

"But unfortunately, his opponent is Su Yiming, who probably won't give White that chance..."

Just then, a slight commotion suddenly arose not far away. Although the commotion quickly subsided, Yu Shao still subconsciously turned his head to look at the source of the commotion.

Not far away, at table 207, Araki slowly stood up from his chair, and the amateur Go players watching around him instinctively made way for him.

Araki walked through the crowd and happened to see Yu Shao; their eyes met in mid-air.

Yu Shao was slightly taken aback, but soon noticed Zheng Qin still sitting on one side of table 207.

"it's over?"

Yu Shao frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and then turned and walked towards table 207.

Soon, Yu Shao arrived behind Zheng Qin and looked at the chessboard.

Upon seeing the situation on the chessboard, Yu Shao was somewhat taken aback.

"This……"

On the chessboard, the black and white pieces are tightly intertwined, but they only occupy the right half of the board. The left half of the board is almost empty, except for a few pieces that are clearly placed in the layout.
The right side of the board was completely occupied by pieces, with black and white forming more than eight groups of pieces locked in a fierce battle. The complex and intricate pieces, including dead, weak, and strong pieces, were dazzling to the eye!

Even if Yu Shao hadn't seen a single move in many games, he could roughly guess the order of moves once he saw the middle game.

However, even he could no longer discern the correct order of moves in this game!
It's almost unimaginable what kind of fierce battle must have taken place on the chessboard to reach this point.

“The eight white stones in the right triangle are already food for black. Even if black tries to entangle the weak white stones, it will be to no avail. White’s jump is a strong and compact move that encircles black. If it works, black may be killed.”

“Once the eight white stones in the triangle area are revived, Black will be in trouble. Therefore, Black’s only chance is to find a loophole in White’s blocking line. However, White has a broken tesuji, so Black cannot have both!”

"Black has lost."

Yu Shao's brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and he grew increasingly surprised.

Even though the game was over, the chessboard was still filled with a sharp edge and killing intent that made him tremble with fear!
"But how did it turn out like this?"

"Why did White capture two key groups of Black stones? Without any stones on the right side, no player would ever allow their formation to be exposed on either side!"

"Black probably intended to sacrifice a piece to turn around and attack White's key stones in the black triangle, but why did that end up in a foolish shape?"

Yu Shao looked around at the amateur chess players watching from the sidelines. They were somewhat stunned, with an indelible look of disbelief on their faces as they stared blankly at the chessboard.

Yu Shao then turned to look at Zheng Qin, only to see Zheng Qin silent, pale-faced, staring blankly at the chessboard in front of him.

In a single-elimination tournament, there is only one chance to win a game. If Zheng Qin loses that game, it means that he will be cruelly eliminated in the first round!
Although Zheng Qin's current skill level means he is destined not to go very far in world championships, his elimination in the first round was still completely unexpected by Yu Shao.

After all, he had been playing chess with Zheng Qin for a while, and Zheng Qin's chess skills had improved noticeably. Even some top players could be defeated by Zheng Qin if they were careless.

But in this game, Zheng Qin...

It was incredibly tragic.

Yu Shao composed himself and gently patted Zheng Qin on the shoulder.

Zheng Qin then seemed to wake up from a dream, raised his head, looked behind him, saw Shi Yushao, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything.

"Shall we go outside for a while?"

Yu Shao glanced at the chessboard in front of Zheng Qin again and said softly.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Qin hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath, stood up, and walked out of the competition venue with Yu Shao.

Soon, the two arrived at the main entrance outside the competition venue and stopped.

Upon arriving outside the competition venue, Zheng Qin seemed to finally snap out of his reverie and slowly exhale a long breath.

"what happened?"

Yu Shao looked at Zheng Qin and said with a smile, "Did you feel pressured and nervous because your opponent was Araki-sensei, and you didn't play well?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Qin fell silent.

Yu Shao was puzzled, thinking that Zheng Qin was still disappointed because she was eliminated in the first round. Just as he was about to speak, Zheng Qin shook her head and finally said, "No, I'm not."

"No?"

Yu Shao was somewhat taken aback by this answer.

If Zheng Qin hadn't underperformed, why was the final board position so strange, and why was Black's position not even completely wiped out, but rather shattered?
Zheng Qin fell silent again.

After a moment, Zheng Qin nodded and said, "No, or to be frank, it's precisely because my opponent is Araki-sensei that I don't feel much pressure."

Before Yu Shao could speak, Zheng Qin continued, "Ten years ago, Araki-sensei was indeed the goal of all Go players. Perhaps it is impolite to say this, but..." "After all, Araki-sensei had not participated in any competitions for ten years. Not only me, but everyone was just surprised by Araki-sensei's return to the competition, but no one really regarded Araki-sensei as an opponent."

"So, I breathed a sigh of relief when I learned that my opponent in the first round was Mr. Arakino."

Zheng Qin lowered his head slightly, looking at the ground, and said in a low voice, "I thought that this time I could let Mr. Araki, that once-renowned Go player from ten years ago, witness my strength, but..."

Zheng Qin seemed hesitant to say what was next.

Yu Shao stared silently at Zheng Qin. Even though Zheng Qin didn't say what he was going to say, having witnessed the final outcome, Yu Shao already knew how it would end.

"It's like... meeting Araki-sensei from ten years ago?" Yu Shao asked, frowning.

Yu Shao had expected Zheng Qin to give a positive answer, but after a moment of silence, Zheng Qin gave an answer that was completely opposite to his expectations.

"Do not."

Zheng Qin gently shook his head: "During this period of time, I have been constantly improving my chess skills and studying chess games. Even if I were to encounter Mr. Araki from ten years ago, I would still have the confidence to compete with him."

"I played this game very well. Not only did I not underperform, but you could even say I exceeded my usual standard..."

Zheng Qin lowered his head, his voice growing weaker as he spoke: "If I had to put it into words, it's like... the first time I met you at the Shanhai Chess Hall..."

Upon hearing these words, Yu Shao froze on the spot.

Just like back then, at the Shan Hai Chess Hall?
Although he had played so many games of chess in this world, the game that left the deepest impression on him was the first game with Zheng Qin at the Mountain and Sea Chess Hall, which must be on the list.

This game wasn't particularly exciting at all. He was just playing around back then, and Zheng Qin's skill level was far inferior to what it is now, only around the level of a professional first dan.

Compared to games played in high school Go leagues, the Yingjiao Cup, the National Go Championship, and other Go tournaments, this game was indeed somewhat lackluster.

However, what made that game of Go special was that it was the first game he played after coming into this world.

It was in this world without Go AI that the first AI-generated moves appeared.

"Just like back then."

Zheng Qin's eyes were somewhat blank, and his voice was extremely weak as he said, "I've tasted again... the feeling of being completely powerless to fight back..."

Yu Shao stared at Zheng Qin, speechless for a moment.

……

……

the other side.

Inside the competition venue.

Around table seventy-one, a group of amateur chess players watching the game stared blankly at the board, completely dumbfounded.

Kimura Go's slightly chubby face was covered in fine beads of sweat as he stared at the magnificent and turbulent battle before him, falling into a long silence.

After a moment, Kimura Go finally turned his gaze away from the chessboard, looked at the student he had raised since childhood, and slowly said, "I lost."

Across from him, Higashiyama Kaoru was panting heavily. Although it was just a game of chess, it felt like he had run a marathon. Besides the beads of sweat, there was also visible fatigue on his face.

The outcome is decided!
In this game, the winner is Higashiyama Kaoru, and the loser is Kimura Go!
This incredible game, featuring eight dragons dancing together and four isolated stones surrounding and attacking a strong position, has finally come to an end. This internal battle between master and apprentice has also come to a close!

This also means that Kimura Go, a 10-dan player representing one of Japan's top Go players, will be eliminated in the first round by his own student, which is completely beyond everyone's imagination!
silence.

At this moment, there was an astonishing silence and deathly stillness all around!
Finally, after a long pause, Higashiyama Kaoru took a deep breath, bowed to his teacher, and said, "Thank you for your guidance."

"..."

Kimura Go stared silently at the chessboard in front of him. Over the years, he had regarded Higashiyama Kaoru as his own son and had always hoped that Higashiyama Kaoru would one day defeat him on the chessboard.

Seeing that Higashiyama Kaoru was never as good as him, he sometimes felt frustrated and disappointed.

But when Higashiyama Kaoru truly defeated him on the chessboard, when that day truly arrived—

Facing this student whom he had raised since childhood, his most prized student, he defeated him with each move brimming with genius and cold-blooded killing intent, thus preventing him from qualifying for this world championship!
His heart remained unsettled for a long time, his feelings were extremely complex, so complex that the emotions that surged in his heart at the first moment were simply indescribable.

Finally, after a moment, Kimura Go bowed slightly to his apprentice and said softly, "Thank you for your guidance."

All around, there was still complete silence.

Han Xiu stared blankly at this scene. As someone who had watched the entire game from beginning to end without missing a single move, he was still deeply moved and shocked by the miraculous attacks and kills by the white pieces in the latter half of the game!

That was undeniable talent and inspiration, a formidable calculation and judgment!
With eight dragons dancing together, four isolated pieces surrounded and attacked a strong force, leaving everyone speechless!
He could tell that Kimura Go hadn't held back at all in this game, and in fact, every move he made was ruthless. He truly demonstrated the level that the name "Kimura Go" should represent!

In other words, the outcome of this game has nothing to do with anything else. Higashiyama Kaoru was able to win simply because of every move he made. Ultimately, he deserved to win, and no one can argue with that!

Although the game was over, both Kimura Go and Higashiyama Kaoru seemed to have many thoughts on their minds. They remained seated, neither getting up to leave nor tidying up the chess pieces.

It wasn't until a while after the game ended that news of the winner gradually spread.

"What? Kimura Go, 10th Dan, lost?"

"How is that possible? How could Kimura Go, a 10th dan, lose? That's Kimura Go, a 10th dan!"

"My God, Kimura Go 10-dan lost to Higashiyama Kaoru? By how many points? Did he throw the game? But even in the first round of the World Championship, you wouldn't throw the game, would you?"

"You got slain by a dragon? Really? Are you kidding me? How did you lose?"

"No way? Mr. Kimura was eliminated in the first round by his own student?"

Chess players kept rushing towards table seventy-one. Even after hearing the news, they couldn't believe their ears and had to see it with their own eyes before they would give up.

…………

P.S.: Happy Qixi Festival, guys! Please vote for me next month! I haven't even had a chance to celebrate Qixi yet, sob sob.

　Asking for a monthly ticket!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)