I really don’t want to play Go!

Chapter 454 This is my last chance in this life
at last.

After a moment, Kong Zi slowly closed his eyes, then took out two white pieces from the chess box. The moment he released his hand, the pieces fell onto the chessboard.

This game was pointless to continue, so Kong Zi decisively chose to resign.

There was silence.

Everyone was deeply shocked by this stunning reversal in the second half of the game.

At first glance, it seemed like White had the advantage, but in the subsequent changes, Black made extremely subtle changes to the order of moves, causing a sudden turn of events in the game.

It's hard to imagine what level of calculation is required to figure out how White's connection would have such a profound impact on the entire battle.

It's hard to imagine what kind of imagination and observation Black needed to make that decisive move that killed White when White realized the problem and turned back from the wrong path!

all in all--

The game is over.

An Hongshi wins in the middle game against Kong Zi!

"That was... a brilliant move."

Seeing this, Yu Shao slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, even though he was not stingy with his praise for the game.

Yu Shao couldn't help but look up and give An Hongshi a deep look.

"An Hongshi lives up to his reputation."

At this time, some chess games were still not finished. Seeing that the game between An Hongshi and Kong Zi had finally come to a conclusion, everyone came to their senses and gradually turned around and left.

However, everyone's expression was inexplicably heavy, and their feelings were complicated and difficult to calm.

They initially thought that after two years of illness and recuperation, An Hongshi might have started to decline, but the reality was clearly not so.

Ahn Hong-seok is back!
Araki, amidst the crowd, did not look at the other games, but silently left the competition venue alone.

He arrived at the entrance of the competition venue, then took out a cigarette case from his pocket, pulled one out, put it in his mouth, and lit it with a lighter.

"Cough cough."

Araki took a deep breath, but the next moment he couldn't stop coughing violently.

After a long while, Araki finally recovered, then took another deep drag on his cigarette. This time, he didn't cough incessantly as before, but his face was faintly pale and sickly.

“An Hongshi… has become even stronger.”

Amidst the swirling smoke, Arakino's mind raced back to the chess games he had played ten years ago during his rivalry with An Hongshi.

At that time, he was famous for his strength and calculation. Even An Hongshi was inferior to him in this respect. Therefore, when playing chess with him, An Hongshi had to temporarily avoid his sharp edge and dared not fight him.

For a considerable period of time, his name was synonymous with attack.

However, An Hongshi's playing style is balanced and versatile, with no weaknesses in any aspect. His playing style is sometimes light and agile, sometimes heavy and solid, sometimes slowly and meticulously entangled with his opponent, and sometimes open and aggressive, fighting with his opponent.

During that period of fierce competition between the two, he finished as runner-up eight times, eventually ending with his semi-retirement.

Even after he stepped back from the limelight and became a Go teacher at the Go Academy, training the next generation of Go players, he still paid close attention to every game played by An Hong-seok.

It wasn't until two years ago, when Ahn Hong-seok had to temporarily give up the competition due to illness, that his career came to an abrupt end.

Two years later, he saw An Hongshi's chess game again, and it was... the game he had just played.

An Hongshi's performance in this game was completely unexpected; compared to two years ago, he had undergone a complete transformation.

Araki took a few puffs of his cigarette and coughed uncontrollably a few times, his mind still replaying every move made by An Hongshi and Kong Zi in their game of chess.

"My time is running out..."

Araki silently stared at the cigarette between his fingers, which was almost burned out, his eyes filled with an inscrutable expression.

Ten years ago, when he decided to step back from the spotlight and start nurturing the next generation, he never thought of making a comeback.

However, after learning that he had terminal cancer not long ago, his first reaction was to make a comeback and participate in the World Championship.

He always felt he would not make a comeback, although he never stopped working during those ten years, constantly studying the game records of major tournaments.

Over the past year, the emergence of the 3-3 point, the sharp point, and the shoulder hit corner, the proof that the three most difficult joseki in Go are invalid, and the emergence of even more difficult joseki, the "Great Rain of Large-Scale Joseki," have caused a stir in the world of Go.

Faced with an unprecedented change in Go, he studied Go game records day and night, even more diligently than most active players.

But he told himself that everything he did was for the students, for the next generation.

When he realized that his days were numbered and the first thought that came to his mind was to participate in the world chess championship, he knew that he could not fool himself.

Araki watched quietly as the cigarette between his fingers burned out completely before taking a deep breath and finally throwing the cigarette butt into the trash can.

He closed his eyes, and after a long while, he slowly opened them. Then, he finally turned around and strode back into the competition venue.

His gaze was so calm that it sent a chill down your spine for some reason!

"This World Championship should be... my last chance in this life."

Inside the competition venue, most of the players' games had ended, and the sound of pieces being placed was no longer so frequent, but rather much sparser.

Compared to yesterday, the atmosphere at the competition venue today was much more somber.

Players eliminated in the second round will feel even more resentful and disappointed than those eliminated in the first round, because people are always greedy. Once they have taken a step, they always want to go further.

This is why players who win the runner-up position often experience more pain than those who are eliminated in the first round, and may even be unable to hold back their tears on the chessboard.

Arakino endured this kind of pain a total of eight times.

Time passed by minute by minute.

Shortly afterward, the highly anticipated match between Jiang Han'en and Han Si finally came to an end.

In this game, Jiang Han'en played white and Han Si played black. The two fought fiercely from the middle game onwards. It was a game of intense competition, and everyone thought the winner would be decided in the middle game.

The two players fought to the endgame, and after the komi, Black was still half a point behind. Therefore, Jiang Han'en, playing White, won, and Han Si was eliminated, bringing the tournament to a close.

Many people sighed at this outcome, feeling a little sorry for Hans.

Hans's level is undoubtedly extremely high, and his performance in this game was also outstanding. Although Jiang Han'en won this game based on his strength, if another game were played, the winner might not be Jiang Han'en again.

If Kimura Go and Hans were given another chance, they might very well have made it to the finals.

Unfortunately, the single-elimination tournament is cruel precisely because there is no second chance. Two players with a chance to win the championship were destined to be eliminated in the first two rounds, a truly regrettable situation. Luck is also a form of skill.

This statement is truly valuable.

Ten minutes later, most of the games had already been decided, and for the remaining games, both sides had long since run out of time and entered the tense endgame, where they were engaged in the final decisive battle.

The fact that the game has progressed this far indicates that both sides are evenly matched, and the situation is extremely close. It's impossible to predict the winner until all the endgame moves are completed.

There have been instances where chess players felt they had lost after a game, covered their faces with their hands, looked pained, and were almost in tears. However, after the referee counted the points, they found that they had actually won by one point. Such examples are not uncommon.

In an overly intense game, the board becomes too scattered, with small, fragmented spaces everywhere, making it difficult to accurately determine who wins and who loses.

As the remaining games drew closer to a decisive outcome, the atmosphere grew increasingly oppressive and heavy.

Soon after, several more tables saw winners and losers emerge. Some breathed a sigh of relief and slumped into their chairs, while others fought hard but ultimately lost, shedding tears of disappointment on the field.

The weak eat the strong, and the strong are respected.

Choi Jun-cheol has qualified!

Matsuda Sakaichiro has qualified!

Zheng Yiyang has qualified!

……

Finally, after a hard-fought twenty minutes of intense battle, everyone finished their games. Half of the players were eliminated, while the other half were able to continue!

"The players who have advanced from this round are: Yu Shao, Araki, Su Yiming, An Hongshi, and Zhuang Weisheng..."

Zhao Zhengyang, the chief referee, stood on the stage, holding the list of qualified players and reading out their names.

Hearing the names of these qualified players, the audience was filled with emotion and discussed it enthusiastically.

"I can't believe it. Teacher Hans was eliminated in the second round. I still remember the scene when he defeated Zhuang Weisheng and crushed An Hongshi to win the world championship."

"Not only Teacher Han Si, but also Teacher Kong Zi, it's such a pity. It's a shame they met Teacher An Hongshi. Teacher An Hongshi is just too strong."

"I was completely dumbfounded by Yu Shao's game of chess."

Some people recalled Yu Shao's game of chess and were still deeply impressed. They shook their heads and said with some emotion, "I really want to know what kind of game it would be if An Hongshi and Yu Shao played against each other."

"That must be incredible. It might even cause the Great Dao to collapse, gods and ghosts to turn pale, and the river of time to reverse?"

Upon hearing this, someone made an exaggerated expression and joked.

"Did you guys watch Higashiyama Kaoru's game? It left me speechless. He swiftly and decisively defeated Cho Hoonhyung's dragon. I'm starting to believe that Higashiyama Kaoru really did win against Kimura Go-sensei yesterday based on his own skill."

"And then there's Su Yiming. He's had incredibly good luck in the last two rounds, with weak opponents who were no match for him. I wonder if Su Yiming will run into Yu Shao again at the World Championships, and whether he'll be able to get his revenge there."

"I'm really looking forward to the match between Teacher Zhuang Weisheng and Su Yiming. They haven't played against each other yet, have they? I hope they can meet; it should be very exciting!"

"Haha, I'd love to see Zhu Huai'an face off against Teacher Zhuang Weisheng. After all, the hatred of losing the 'Ten Dan' is irreconcilable. That was an iron-clad Ten Dan, and it was taken away by him."

"It's a pity that Teacher Jiang Changdong was not in good form. He made a huge mistake in this round and lost to Zhang Dongchen, the Go master. Otherwise, I would have liked to see Teacher Jiang Changdong fight Yu Shao again!"

The crowd erupted in discussion, each expressing their own feelings and expectations for the upcoming matches.

After watching today's match, everyone is full of anticipation for the upcoming matches. It feels like no matter how the competition is arranged, there will be a lot of highlights and it won't disappoint.

Shortly afterward, the third round of the draw finally came to an end.

After carefully checking the draw numbers, Zhao Zhengyang announced the match schedule for the third round and projected the match list onto the large screen at the front.

Yu Shao drew the number "3" in this round, and quickly found his name on the match list, as well as the name of his opponent in the next round.

Number 3, Yu Shao (China, title: National Player), yes, Wu Lai (Malaysia, title: 10th Dan).
"Ten dan?"

Yu Shao was slightly surprised.

Although Wu Lai held the 10th Dan title, Yu Shao had no recollection of the name Wu Lai, which did not surprise him.

Players from most countries with low overall rankings, even those holding titles, may not be as well-known as some of the top five or six players from strong Go nations.

Because players with a rank of 5 or 6 in Go from strong Go-playing countries are often seen as future top players and potential rivals, they attract a lot of attention both domestically and internationally.

If a country's overall chess strength ranking is not high enough, even if it wins a title, it will not be taken seriously, which also leads to insufficient sponsorship from major sponsors for tournaments in that country.

Therefore, the lower the overall chess strength ranking of a country, the more frequently chess matches are held between them. On the contrary, countries with higher overall chess strength, such as China, Japan, South Korea, the United States, and the United Kingdom, tend to be more cautious in holding chess matches between them.

Because sponsorship for the event is no longer a problem; sponsors come to us without us even having to ask, and the difference in sponsorship fees between the leading countries is not that significant.

In this situation, any further competition for a seat would be purely a matter of personal feelings and not actually bring much benefit.

Upon seeing the match schedule, the crowd erupted in heated discussion.

"Oh? Su Yiming's opponent in the third round is Xu Taiyang, a 6-dan player? His luck isn't that good, but Su Yiming's game is finally worth watching!"

"Xu Taiyang, a 6-dan player, performed exceptionally well in the recent Korean Guangming Cup, defeating several top players along the way and ultimately winning the championship. Was this his first time participating in a world championship?"

"However, the matches between the other players didn't turn out as well as I was looking forward to. This third round doesn't seem as exciting as the second round."

"Haha, why are you in such a hurry? This is only the third round of the single-elimination tournament. There will definitely be more to come. It would be quite rare for the second round to turn out like this, wouldn't it?" someone said with a laugh.

"That's true. When I used to watch the World Championship, I always started from the double-elimination stage..."

Finally, after reviewing tomorrow's match schedule, the participating and amateur players began to walk out of the competition venue one after another.

What's different is that today's games clearly left a deep impression on the amateur players who were invited to watch.

They seemed very excited and were still talking about today's game with great enthusiasm, discussing the various chess positions played that day.

The professional players who made it to the third round of the single-elimination tournament had solemn expressions, and although their eyes still held a hint of fatigue, they were now filled with a newfound determination compared to yesterday.

We've come this far, so let's keep going, keep going and keep going!

…………

ps: Please vote for me!

　Asking for a monthly ticket!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)