I really don’t want to play Go!

Chapter 459 The law of the jungle prevails, but there are no weaklings here.

The Phoenix Cup World Championship has been gaining momentum, and the past two days have felt incredibly long. After everyone's eager anticipation and agonizing wait, the two days have finally come to an end.

Early that morning, countless viewers around the world gathered in front of their televisions or computers, together with their family and friends, to await the Phoenix Cup's global live broadcast that would soon follow.

Meanwhile, around 7:30 a.m., the contestants finally arrived at the competition venue one after another.

The huge competition venue was now almost empty, with only the thirty-two chess tables in the center remaining. However, there were still quite a few people in the venue.

In addition to the amateur players who were invited to watch the world championships, all the players who were eliminated in the previous single-elimination tournaments also came to the competition venue.

Some players who were eliminated did not show up for the single-elimination matches in the following days. Some people thought they had left, but unexpectedly, on the day the round of 64 began, all of them returned without exception.

As one after another of the top 64 contestants entered the competition venue, their eyes held a slightly complicated expression.

Soon after, Yu Shao arrived at the competition venue. After looking around, he, like the other contestants, found an unused chair, sat down, and waited for the draw to begin.

Soon, Su Yiming, Honinbo Shingo, An Hongshi, and others arrived at the competition venue one after another, found a seat, and waited.

By around eight o'clock, all the participating chess players had arrived, and not a single one was absent. The entire competition venue was quiet, but a sense of oppression and solemnity was faintly revealed.

finally--

"It's 8:30!"

After Zhao Zhengyang finished speaking, he slowly walked onto the stage, his face stern as he looked around the competition venue, exuding an aura of authority without anger.

The entire room fell silent instantly; you could hear a pin drop.

Zhao Zhengyang paused for a moment, then announced loudly again, "Everyone is here now. Let's go up on stage and draw lots!"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the audience became more serious, including An Hongshi.

With only sixty-four people left, the draw would not be like the protein round-robin tournament, where multiple draw boxes were used, but all the draws would be in the same box.

Nowadays, no matter who you draw, it's unlikely to be an easy opponent. However, even so, everyone hopes to draw a relatively easy opponent among the difficult ones.

At this stage, the lottery is about drawing lots to determine one's fate; a good draw means drawing the future.

Soon, Zhuang Weisheng, who was first in line, went up to the stage and, under the watchful eyes of the world, slowly took out a fortune slip from the box before walking off the stage.

Next, Zhu Huai'an, who was second in line, went up on stage, drew a slip of paper, and then came the third, the fourth...

Not long after, it was Yu Shao's turn.

Yu Shao also went up to the stage, grabbed a lot from the box, and just as he stepped off the stage, the American player behind him followed closely behind and grabbed his own lot.

At this moment, Yu Shao, who had stepped down from the stage, opened his lottery ticket and saw the number he had drawn in this round.

The draw number is sixteen.

Since only sixty-four players remained to draw lots, the drawing process was quick. Soon, everyone had finished drawing lots, each clutching their slips of paper with varying expressions.

"Alright, everyone, please check your draw numbers."

After all the players had drawn their lots, Zhao Zhengyang glanced at them and then took out a pen from his pocket. He said, "Now I'll call out the numbers. The two players who draw the same number, please respond."

After saying that, Zhao Zhengyang asked again, "So, which two contestants drew number one?"

As soon as Zhao Zhengyang finished speaking, a handsome young man with round-framed glasses, a slender build, blond hair, and blue eyes raised his hand: "I am number one."

Immediately, everyone around turned their attention to the young man and recognized his identity.

Ander, a 9-dan player, has always been quite famous in the United States, but his popularity worldwide is not high. It wasn't until he won the championship in the European and American leagues this year that he attracted worldwide attention.

However, even so, it was still quite unexpected that Ander was able to fight his way through to the top 64.

In contrast, Ma Dong, a highly anticipated American player, was surprisingly eliminated in the single-elimination tournament.

"I'm number one too."

Just then, Zhang Dongchen slowly raised his hand, his expression solemn, and spoke.

At one table, Zhang Dongchen, yes, An De!

"Ah."

Zhao Zhengyang nodded slightly, quickly wrote down the two names on the paper, and then asked, "What about number two?"

"I am number two."

At this moment, a man in his forties, with a robust build and a dignified face, slowly raised his hand and answered.

Seeing this, some people couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief that their draw number wasn't number two.

Zheng Cui, a 9th dan, has defended her title as the Korean Go Saint for three consecutive years.

Although the title of Gosei was taken by Jang Hyo-yun last year and he failed to make a comeback this year, it is still quite remarkable that he was able to hold the title for three years in the context of the extremely fierce competition between North and South Korea. He is obviously a very difficult opponent to deal with.

"Teacher Zheng Cui, what a coincidence, I'm also number two. Looks like we're going to have to face off again."

At this moment, Zhuang Weisheng looked at the man in the crowd and smiled, "The last time we fought was at the Hundred Stars Title Invitational Tournament, right?"

Upon seeing that her opponent was Zhuang Weisheng, Zheng Cui frowned deeply, looking as if she were facing a formidable enemy.

Clearly, the outcome of the game between Zhuang Weisheng and the Hundred Stars Invitational Tournament mentioned by Zhuang Weisheng was not optimistic.

"Number three."

Zhao Zhengyang quickly memorized the two men's names and table numbers, and then called out to them.

Two more people immediately responded. One was Ed, a British chess player who currently holds the titles of "Master" and "Chess King" and is also a seasoned and powerful player.

Although he has never won a world championship, his remarkable achievement of reaching the final twice makes him arguably the most famous chess player in Europe besides Hans.

Interestingly, Hans is also Ed's nemesis. Ed has a hard time winning against Hans. Some people have calculated that Ed only won two out of ten games against Hans.

However, Hans, who was Ed's nemesis, was eliminated in the single-elimination tournament, while Ed made it into the round of 64, which was quite a pity.

Ed's opponent is Feng Tong, a Russian-Chinese chess player. As a rising star, Feng has achieved remarkable results in recent years, but he is also the last Russian player in this World Championship.

Number four.

Zhao Zhengyang quickly shouted again.

And so it went, number five, number six, number seven...

Soon, the competition arrangements for the first nine tables were finalized, and netizens who saw this through the live stream couldn't help but excitedly discuss it.

"Holy crap, this is truly a world championship. Just hearing about the first round schedule is getting my blood pumping. Top-tier lineups!"

"It's truly a Mount Hua Sword Tournament! There's a duel between rising stars like Zhang Dongchen and An De, a fierce battle between veterans like Teacher Zheng Cui and Teacher Zhuang Weisheng, and a clash between newcomers and veterans like Ed and Feng Tong. I'm really looking forward to it!" "Back then, Teacher Zheng Cui fought Teacher Zhuang Weisheng to the death, battling it out in the endgame, and narrowly lost by half a point. I still remember it vividly. I never expected the two of them to face off again this time!"

"I wonder if Coach Ed can fulfill his dream of winning the World Championship. Coach Ed has really burned himself out for the World Championship. For more than 20 years, he has participated in every World Championship, fighting again and again despite repeated defeats. He is too dedicated."

"..."

After quickly noting down the names of the two players at the ninth table, Zhao Zhengyang continued without looking up, "Number ten."

The next moment, Su Yiming raised his hand and said, "I am number ten."

Upon hearing Su Yiming's voice, Zhao Zhengyang paused for a moment, then couldn't help but look up at the crowd and ask, "Where's the other one?"

"At this."

From the crowd, a young figure slowly raised his hand and answered.

Everyone couldn't help but look towards the young figure, a figure that was familiar to all of them—

Wishing you peace.

Title: Go Saint, 10th Dan!

Zhu Huai'an looked at Su Yiming with a solemn expression and slowly said, "I am also number ten."

Upon seeing this, Zhao Zhengyang's expression subtly changed.

Although the probability of an internal conflict has increased dramatically and is almost unavoidable at this point in the competition, he had anticipated it, but he still held onto a sliver of hope that he might be lucky and there wouldn't be an internal conflict.

However, he never expected that the very thing he least wanted to see would happen in just the first round.

Regardless of who wins or loses between Zhu Huai'an and Su Yiming, it will only cause pain to their loved ones and joy to their enemies. For someone who wants to see Chinese chess players achieve good results, this is definitely not good news.

Indeed, this is a double-elimination tournament; losing a game does not mean elimination.

but……

After falling into the loser's bracket in the early rounds, it's almost impossible to climb out of the loser's bracket. The competition in the loser's bracket is often more intense than that in the winner's bracket.

Falling into the loser's bracket means there's no way out. When there's no way out, even a dog would jump over a wall, let alone a human.

In a life-or-death struggle, the matches in the loser's bracket will be far more brutal than those in the winner's bracket, and this isn't just in one game; it will be true for all the subsequent games!

In all subsequent games, the losers will be under extreme pressure and cannot afford to make any mistakes. But this is a world championship, where it is easy to make mistakes due to nervousness, let alone when there is no way out.
Looking at past World Championships, very few teams have managed to make it to the finals after falling into the loser's bracket in the first two rounds!
There are very few teams that fall into the loser's bracket in the first two rounds, but ultimately defeat the winner of the winner's bracket to win the championship!
Therefore, Zhao Zhengyang was unwilling to see an internal battle at the very beginning of the double-elimination tournament.

Unlike Zhao Zhengyang, most viewers around the world who were watching TV at the time were immediately excited upon seeing the lottery results!

"Su Yiming vs. Zhu Huai'an is going to be interesting! I've been looking forward to seeing them face off, I never expected it to be at the world championship!"

"It's truly a Mount Hua Sword Tournament! Ten games in a row, each one a clash between the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth and the Six Meridians Divine Sword. I don't even know which game to watch anymore!"

"Speaking of which, Su Yiming has the style of Shen Yi, and Shen Yi was the only chess saint more than a hundred years ago. Could this be considered a contest for the title of chess saint?"

"Zhu Huai'an holds two major titles and is showing signs of becoming the number one Chinese Go player. However, Yu Shao and Su Yiming are also currently enjoying unparalleled popularity. Unfortunately, Zhu Huai'an has never played against any of them before. Today, he has finally achieved his goal!"

The internet is in an uproar!
Without considering too much, if we only look at honors, then indeed, Zhu Huai'an is currently the only player in the Chinese chess world to hold two major titles simultaneously, making him the undisputed number one Chinese chess player.

If someone knows nothing about Go, they might easily assume that Zhu Huai'an is the strongest Go player in China simply because titles are one of the highest honors for a Go player and Zhu Huai'an holds two titles at the same time.

Since Zhu Huai'an does indeed hold two major titles, most people would have no way to refute this view if someone put forward it, especially since Zhu Huai'an is indeed quite strong.

This is like how many people who know nothing about Go think that a 9-dan player can definitely beat a 1-dan player, or that a title holder can definitely beat a 9-dan player. It's hard to explain, but you can't say that there's no reason why.

In short, the performance of Yu Shao and Su Yiming over the past year can only be described as astonishing. Therefore, the confrontation between the two and Zhu Huai'an is something that many people have been looking forward to for a long time.

Zhao Zhengyang took a deep breath, having no choice but to confront the internal battle between the two players with a chance to win the championship in the first round. He wrote down the names of Su Yiming and Zhu Huai'an on the paper, and then continued, "What about number eleven?"

Soon, the two players who drew number eleven raised their hands.

……

Shortly after, after noting down the names of four more players, Zhao Zhengyang spoke again: "Number sixteen."

Upon hearing Zhao Zhengyang read out his draw number, Yu Shao quickly raised his hand: "I'm number sixteen."

When Zhao Zhengyang saw that it was Yu Shao, his heart tightened, and he immediately looked into the crowd: "The other one?"

"it's me."

In the crowd, a tall, strong man with a stern expression looked at the slip of paper in his hand and slowly spoke.

Everyone turned to look at the man, including Yu Shao, and everyone was familiar with the man's name!

Norio Ishida Throne!

Upon seeing this answer, the surrounding amateur chess players couldn't help but stir.

"Are you kidding me? This is just too bad! Teacher Zhang Dongchen is going up against An De, Teacher Zhuang Weisheng is running into Teacher Zheng Cui, Su Yiming and Zhu Huai'an are having an internal battle, and Yu Shao is running into Ishida Norio's throne?"

"Indeed, that's luck."

"Damn, I thought that with quite a few Chinese players making it to the top 64, we should do well in this year's world championships, but this..."

"But it just so happens to be Norio Ishida, who has the highest win rate against Chinese players. I'm going to grin."

"Do not."

Upon hearing this, someone in the crowd shook their head and said in a deep voice, "It's not bad luck."

"At this stage, it's quite normal to draw this kind of opponent, aside from the internal battle between Su Yiming and Zhu Huai'an."

"The reason you feel you're unlucky is because you're only focusing on our players. If you think about it from the perspective of other countries, they're actually not very lucky either."

He looked at the contestants not far ahead and said:

"This is the World Championship, and what makes it both brutal and fascinating—"

"The law of the jungle prevails, but here, there are no weaklings."

He paused, then continued, "If you want to survive, you have to take a piece of flesh from the strong."

…………

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　Asking for a monthly ticket!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)