I really don’t want to play Go!

Chapter 460 Ancient Manual?

Upon seeing that Yu Shao's opponent was Ishida Norio, Zhao Zhengyang couldn't help but frown slightly. He picked up a pen and wrote down Yu Shao and Ishida Norio's names on a piece of paper before asking again, "What about number seventeen?"

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

After noting down the names of several more tables of contestants, Zhao Zhengyang asked again, "Number twenty-eight."

"it's me."

As soon as Zhao Zhengyang finished speaking, Araki raised his hand in the crowd.

When everyone saw that number 28 was Araki, they were all stunned for a moment, and then subconsciously turned their attention to the remaining players whose draw numbers had not yet been determined.

"I'm also twenty-eight."

Just then, Higashiyama Kaoru remained silent for a moment, then slowly raised his right hand.

Table 28, Higashiyama Kaoru, yes, Araki No!

Upon seeing the lottery results, everyone's gazes immediately turned strange. Yu Shao couldn't help but glance at the two of them again, while the viewers in front of the television, after their initial astonishment, began to discuss it heatedly.

"The Japanese Civil War?"

"East Mountain's fragrance faces the desolate woods?"

"I was really looking forward to seeing Higashiyama Kaoru's round of 64 match, but his first-round opponent is still Araki No?

After the list of players for the single-elimination round-robin tournament of this World Championship was released, it can be said that the most unexpected name among the 64 players was Higashiyama Kaoru.

While most people believe that Higashiyama Kaoru is indeed a skilled player, he pales in comparison in the world championships where there are many strong competitors.

It's not impossible for Higashiyama Kaoru to make it into the top 64, but he needs to be lucky and draw weak opponents. However, Higashiyama Kaoru has encountered strong opponents such as Kimura Go and Fu Shunan one after another.

What's most unbelievable is that Higashiyama Kaoru actually won in the end!

Araki's return to the professional scene after a ten-year hiatus and his ability to reach the top 64 in the World Championship is equally unbelievable.

Fortunately, Araki is Araki after all. Even after ten years, his name still holds significant value. In addition, Araki did not encounter any strong opponents in the single-elimination round-robin tournament.

Therefore, while most people were shocked that Arakino was able to reach the top 64, they could still accept it.

As a result, in the first round of the 64th match, Arakino faced off against Higashiyama Kaoru.

Zhao Zhengyang withdrew his gaze from Araki and Higashiyama Kaoru, noted their names, and then spoke again: "Twenty-nine."

The two chess players realized what was happening and quickly raised their hands.

"thirty."

"thirty-one."

"..."

Finally, after a while, the draw results for all thirty-two tables were finalized!
"Now that the draw results are in, all players can get ready and take their positions."

Zhao Zhengyang raised his wrist, glanced at the time on his watch, and said, "It's 8:48 now. There are 12 minutes left before the Phoenix Cup World Championship Round of 64 officially begins!"

As soon as Zhao Zhengyang finished speaking, some of the chess players turned around and walked directly to their seats with serious expressions, while others left the competition venue to go to the restroom.

A small group of players went outside the competition venue, took out lighters, lit cigarettes, and began to smoke.

Time passed by minute by minute.

About five or six minutes later, the players who went to the restroom returned, and the chess players who were smoking at the door also returned to the venue. Five minutes before the match, the venue had become completely quiet.

finally--

"Time is up!"

Zhao Zhengyang took a deep breath and said, "In this double-elimination tournament, each side has three hours of playtime, plus thirty seconds per second. Black has a seven-and-a-half point komi. Now, let's start guessing who goes first!"

Upon hearing this, Norio Ishida, who was sitting opposite Yu Shao, was the first to reach into the Go box, grab a handful of white stones, and hold them in his palm.

Norio Ishida and Shao Yu both hold titles, but Norio Ishida is older than Shao Yu, so Norio Ishida will pick the first piece and Shao Yu will guess the second.

Seeing this, Yu Shao quickly took out two black pieces from the chess box and placed them on the chessboard.

Norio Ishida released his grip, and the piece fell onto the board.

"Two, four, five."

After counting the pieces, Norio Ishida looked up at Yu Shao and said in broken Chinese, "I play black."

Yu Shao nodded, put the black pieces back into the chess box, exchanged chess boxes with Ishida Norio, and slowly bowed his head, saying, "Please give me your guidance."

Ishida Norio stared at Yu Shao, looking at the boy opposite him who wasn't even an adult yet. After a moment of silence, he finally slowly lowered his head and bowed, saying, "Please guide me."

The game has begun!

Soon, Norio Ishida reached into the Go box, picked out a Go piece, and gently placed it down!

Hey!
First-hand information—

Sixteen columns, four rows, stars!
……

……

the other side.

Seeing that the contestants had already begun to guess the first move, and some players had even started to make their moves, the amateur players who had been invited to watch the world championship, as well as the professional players who had lost in the single-elimination tournament, looked around and their faces showed a conflicted expression.

In the end, some people started walking towards the tables of Yu Shao, Su Yiming, and An Hongshi, but many others thought for a moment and walked towards the table of Dongshan Xun and Araki.

Zheng Qin glanced at Yu Shao's table, then at Su Yiming's table, and finally at Araki's table. After hesitating for a moment, he ultimately walked towards Higashiyama Kaoru and Araki's table as well.

Soon, Zheng Qin squeezed into the crowd and cast his gaze toward the chessboard.

"Will Arakino-sensei take the white pen?"

At this point, Higashiyama Kaoru and Arakino had already decided who would play first. Higashiyama Kaoru played black and Arakino played white. A black stone had already been placed in the small square of the upper right corner of the board, at position 17.4.

In other words, it was Araki's turn to make his move.

Araki gazed at the chessboard with a deep look in his eyes, then quickly picked up a piece and gently placed it down.

Hey!
Four columns and four rows, stars!

Higashiyama Kaoru's gaze became slightly more serious as he picked up a Go piece and placed it immediately after the white piece.

Hey!
Sixteen columns, seventeen rows, small eyes!
"It's not a star, and it's a small eye, so it's using a misaligned small eye layout..."

Seeing that Higashiyama Kaoru chose the wrong small eye instead of Hoshi small eye, no one was surprised; their expressions were somewhat complicated. Not only them, but also in various live streaming rooms, the screen was constantly being flooded with messages.

"Hahaha, it was indeed a mistake, my youth is back."

"It feels like stepping back ten years. This is the true value of Araki-sensei."

"No matter what type of player you are, when you encounter me, you'd better play the small eye move obediently!"

Although this move seemed unremarkable, everyone vaguely sensed something else.

Higashiyama Kaoru is also known for his aggressive attacks. Players like him tend to prefer openings centered around the star point, and even if they play a small point, it is often a star point or small point opening.

The control of the corner from the star point is naturally not as reliable as from the small eye point, and it cannot be compared with the three-three point. However, the star point has the advantage of being in a high position, which allows for the rapid development of external influence and makes it easy to form an attack. It is favored by players who are good at attacking.

Ten years ago, Araki was known for his ability to place stars in his opening moves. Whether it was a double star or a diagonal star, if he could place a star in the first two moves, Araki would definitely place a star!
The reason why the double star formation is a required course for all professional Go players, and even so common that professional Go players no longer use it, is partly due to Araki's contribution.

It can be said that the dispute between Araki and Yasuhiro more than ten years ago greatly promoted the research on the Twin Stars, to the point that the various changes and patterns of the Twin Stars have been almost thoroughly studied!

Back then, when An Hongshi faced Araki, he used a double-small-eye formation to counter the enemy, giving the impression of using the hardest shield and the sharpest spear.

Whether the spear will pierce through the shield or the shield will break the spear, this question still puzzles everyone today, but at least in the Go world ten years ago, this question had an answer.

An Hongshi remains active in the Go world to this day, while Araki has faded from the scene.

Therefore, even though Higashiyama Kaoru is also good at all-out attacks, when facing a veteran like Araki Nobuo, who is known for his fighting spirit, even though he knew that Araki Nobuo had not competed for ten years, Higashiyama Kaoru still gave him enough respect and chose Komoku, who has relatively more reliable control over the corner, instead of Hoshi!
Yes.

In Go, there is no better way to show respect to your opponent than by painstakingly targeting them and making the most ruthless and merciless move!
Upon seeing Higashiyama Kaoru's move, Arakino stared quietly at the board, hesitating to make his own move.

"Does this... require some thought?"

After waiting for two full minutes, seeing that Araki had not yet made a move, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

While how players allocate their available time is their own business, and two or three minutes may not seem like a long time, the problem is that this is the fourth move, which is somewhat incomprehensible.

More importantly, White only has so many options here: either the small eye or the star point. Since it's Araki, this move should be a no-brainer, directly placing the star point to form a double star point!
To say that Araki didn't want to play the two-star combination because he had been targeted by opponents too many times is utter nonsense. More than ten years ago, the media interviewed Araki about this issue.

When asked why he didn't change his playing style, given that he almost always played the star point in every game, which made him a target for Yasuhiro, Arakino replied.

Araki's answer was—

Since there is nothing wrong with placing the star point, and it is easy to expand quickly, which suits his playing style, why should he change it? Since there is nothing wrong with placing the star point, then losing the game is simply because his own playing strength is not enough.

Just as everyone was puzzled, finally, with a click, Araki reached into the chess box, picked out a chess piece, and quickly placed it down!

Hey!
With a crisp sound of a white stone being placed, the white stone landed not at the star point, nor at the small eye point, but rather—

Fifteen columns in three rows, a small flying hanger!
"This... Little Flying Hang?"

"No next star?"

Upon seeing Araki's move, everyone present was stunned. They couldn't help but widen their eyes slightly, staring intently at the white pieces on the board, somewhat incredulous!
"That move went straight to the corner!"

What they found unbelievable was not that Araki didn't go down to the next planet, but rather the very move Araki made!
The viewers who witnessed this scene through the live stream were in an uproar!
"This...is such an ancient attack method!"

"The last time I saw this method of play was in an ancient manual."

"Really? Didn't Arakino-sensei become a Go teacher? Do teachers play like this?"

This method of placing a bet directly on the corner of the board is not uncommon; in fact, it was extremely popular many years ago. However, that was in the era before the concept of "tie" (or "attacking") existed.

At that time, because there was no komi, after Black formed a small mistake, White did not want Black to form two safe corners. Therefore, on the fourth move, White boldly attacked Black by directly approaching the corner.

However, later, because Black had a large komi of seven and a half points, and the corner without worry was also considered to be a good shape, but not necessarily without worry.

Therefore, this move is considered too aggressive, and it is generally believed that it is better to occupy a corner and observe the situation, so few players use it anymore.

Of course, since this move is a corner approach, it's not a bad move no matter how you look at it.

However, after White approached the corner, Black occupied three corners, while White only had one corner left. In other words, White gained an offensive advantage at the cost of giving up one corner.

This means that White must fully exploit this offensive and suppress Black's right corner, otherwise it will fall into a disadvantageous position and lose the whole game. It is as if White has cut off its own escape route and gone all out!

This is why, in the era before komi, White would play this way. Because Black has the initiative, White has to fight for it, attack fiercely and relentlessly to win!

"Little Flying Hang?"

Higashiyama Kaoru was stunned by this move.

Clearly, he had no idea that Araki would do that.

With just four moves, a formidable aura was already beginning to emerge on the chessboard.

After a moment, Higashiyama Kaoru finally came to her senses, took a deep breath, picked up a chess piece, and quickly placed it down!
Hey!
Three columns and sixteen rows, small eyes!

Since White has abandoned the lower left corner, it is only natural for Black to occupy the corner!

As for Higashiyama Kaoru's response to the three small moves, since he played a small knight's move, Araki was not surprised at all. He quickly picked up a piece and placed it down again!

Seventeen columns and fifteen rows, a small flying hanger!

On the right flank of the board, the two black stones at the small corner positions have all been cornered by white stones, and the whole board is under attack. This is the pressure that white has gained by sacrificing a corner!

With a solemn expression, Higashiyama Kaoru picked up a chess piece without hesitation and placed it down again!

Hey!
Sixteen columns and five rows, sharp!
"tip!"

Upon seeing this move, the entire world was once again in an uproar, and the spectators were completely stunned. Even Araki hesitated for a moment when he tried to move the trap.

Clearly, he never expected that Higashiyama Kaoru would respond so sharply!
"Little Jian, this is such an ancient way of playing!"

"Are you kidding me? Did I time travel? In this era, you can still see this kind of chess?"

"Back then, when facing White's small knight's move, Black had no komi, so there was no rush. Black could wait for the opportune moment and play a solid small knight's move, which was certainly a good move. However, after the komi was introduced, if White played like this, it would be too slow for Black to respond with a small knight's move. Now, Black has switched to a pincer attack!"

"If you know this, how could Higashiyama Kaoru not know?"

"I feel like I'm looking at an ancient musical score! Is it real?"

"No, Yu Shao made this move in the last game of the National Masters Tournament!"

…………

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(End of this chapter)