I really don’t want to play Go!

Chapter 488 Now, I will continue on my way.
As Araki and Ankoshi finished their game of chess, a commotion suddenly broke out among the crowd not far away.

Yu Shao turned his head and saw Su Yiming slowly stand up, also casting his gaze at Yu Shao with a resolute fighting spirit in his eyes.

Although he hadn't seen the game, the moment Yu Shao saw Su Yiming's eyes, he almost instantly knew who would win or lose the game between Su Yiming and Zhuang Weisheng.

"Su Yiming has won."

Time keeps passing.

Soon after, all the games ended.

The two players who will advance to the final of the winners' bracket will be Yu Shao and Araki, while Zhuang Weisheng, Zhang Dongchen, and Li Zhijiu have been eliminated from the losers' bracket, while Honinbo Shinho, Su Yiming, and Inaka Sera have successfully advanced.

Including Ahn Hong-seok and Kang Han-eun, who were eliminated today, there are only ten players left in the loser's bracket, and all the players combined are only twelve!

Compared to the massive crowds in the first round of the single-elimination tournament, the twelve players at this point are a mere handful!

Just like the previous days, after all the matches were over, Zhao Zhengyang announced the results, and this round of matches was officially over.

The two remaining players in the winners' bracket will have a day off tomorrow, while the losers' bracket matches will continue.

The day after tomorrow is the winners' bracket final!

Yu Shao, yes, Araki No!

……

……

The next day.

After the draw, the losers' bracket matches began.

The Korean Go Association, in the game review room.

A large group of young professional chess players gathered in the debriefing room, watching the live broadcast of today's losers' bracket matches and analyzing the moves.

"I never expected that Professor An Hongshi would actually lose."

A young man watched the game and remarked with emotion.

Even now, he still can't quite believe that An Hongshi actually lost.

"Araki-sensei played so well, it's normal for An Hiroshi to lose. That decisive move, which connected from four directions, still makes me feel hot all over when I think about it!"

Beside him, a young man in his early twenties with an earring looked excited and said, "Maybe Araki-sensei can really win the championship this year!"

"But Yu Shao is also incredibly strong!"

Upon hearing this, a young man with dyed blond hair shook his head and quickly said, "Yesterday's game between Yu Shao and Jiang Han'en, a 10-dan player, is still one that they haven't figured out yet, right?"

"Jiang Han'en, a 10th-dan player, made every move flawlessly, while Yu Shao made more questionable moves. By all accounts, Jiang Han'en should have won, but Yu Shao won quickly instead. It's simply unbelievable!"

The blond youth shook his head and said, "Although I haven't figured out the reason, I think it's because of the new changes. You should know that Yu Shao was the first to use the Shoulder-to-Hand Strike with No Worries."

"Although Jiang Han'en, a 10th-dan player, has introduced new variations, Yu Shao may have already studied them and therefore has a different understanding of them. However, if Araki-sensei avoids these variations, then it will be a different story!"

"Ten years ago, Araki-sensei was already the most outstanding attacking player, and now he has reached an even higher level. In terms of understanding checkmate, no one can surpass him!"

"Changes in the opening moves can be avoided; the decisive factor in victory is always the mid-game battle!"

Upon hearing this, the young man with the earring frowned and immediately retorted, "No, is Yu Shao's understanding of checkmate really that bad?"

"Arakino-sensei excels at harnessing the potential of a strong position to decisively defeat his opponent. Yu Shao may not be as good at this, but he is not the type of aggressive player!"

"Yu Shao is good at finding ways to utilize dead stones. In attacking and fighting, in dealing with dead stones and utilizing the initiative, I think Yu Shao is a step ahead of Araki-sensei!"

The two immediately started arguing, each claiming to be right, and neither was willing to back down.

Where is Su Yiming?

Just then, Lee Jun-hyuk, who had been silent in the debriefing room, spoke up.

"Su Yiming beat Teacher Zhuang Weisheng today. Didn't you guys follow that game?"

Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback.

The match between Su Yiming and Zhuang Weisheng would have attracted a lot of attention in the past, but today their attention is mainly focused on the two games in the winners' bracket.

They really didn't pay much attention to the loser's bracket matches.

“I watched the entire game.”

Lee Jun-hyuk took a deep breath and said, "Su Yi-ming is clearly getting stronger!"

Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged glances, and then all turned to look at the television screen.

Today's loser's bracket match: Su Yiming vs. Zhao Canlie.

……

……

Inside a Go training institution in Stockholm, Sweden.

"Is the winners' bracket final between Araki-sensei and Yu Shaoguo?"

A man in his thirties leaned back in his office chair, watching today's loser's bracket matches, but his mind was entirely on tomorrow's winner's bracket final: "A year ago, I would never have dreamed that these two names would be in the winner's bracket final."

He stood up, walked to the window, opened it, and looked out at the azure sky.

"One is a king who has been out of the Go world for ten years, and the other is a rising star who has only been a professional Go player for less than two years. Who would have thought that a year later, they would meet on the highest stage of Go?"

……

……

Hokkaido, Japan.

"Therefore, the five who advanced from the losers' bracket are: Su Yiming, Honinbo Shinho, Jiang Han'en, An Hongshi, and Inaka Sera..."

A student stared at the computer screen, adjusting his glasses: "Tomorrow is the winners' bracket final. Who will win?"

"Who is better, Yu Shao or Araki-sensei?"

"It's Yu Shao..."

"Still Arakino-sensei?"

……

……

Finally, another day has passed.

Amidst the eager anticipation and clamor of discussion, the Phoenix Cup winners' bracket final is about to begin.

Since the match ended the day before yesterday, the entire internet has been discussing Yu Shao and Araki, and these discussions have not subsided but have become even more intense.

Even yesterday's loser's bracket matches failed to generate much discussion.

Although this is not the final of the entire competition, the champion of today's winners' bracket final is destined to be one of the finalists, and today the answer will be revealed.

The eyes of the whole world are on this place.

By 8:30 a.m., all the contestants had arrived, and everyone's attention was drawn to Yu Shao and Araki.

In the huge competition venue, only the last three chess tables in the center remained.

In the end, only one card will remain in the game.

After today's match, one player will be destined to sit on one side of this last chess table!
At this moment, Zhao Zhengyang walked onto the stage, holding a lottery box in his hands, and said directly, "Now that all the contestants have arrived, let's go up on stage and start drawing lots." Upon hearing this, Su Yiming was the first to walk onto the stage, reached into the lottery box to draw lots, followed by Honinbo Shingo, then An Hongshi, then Inoue Seri, and finally Zhao Canlie.

With only two players remaining in the winners' bracket, there's no need for another draw.

There are now five players remaining in the loser's bracket. One of them will receive the only bye in this world championship, while the other four will face off today, with two being eliminated and two advancing.

The player who falls from the winners' bracket to the losers' bracket tomorrow will play against the player who received a bye in the losers' bracket semifinals again. The losers' bracket champion will be determined the day after tomorrow.

Ultimately, the winner of the winners' bracket will face off against the winner of the losers' bracket in a decisive battle.

Some double-elimination tournaments use a single-elimination final between the loser's bracket and the winner's bracket to determine the winner, while others use a rule that the loser must win two consecutive matches to win the championship.

This Phoenix Cup World Championship adopts the former approach: the loser's bracket champion only needs to win the winner's bracket once to win the final championship.

Because the losers played more rounds with no room for error, while the winners played fewer rounds and had a day off with room for error, it was a relatively fair matchup.

"Players who drew a bye, please raise your hands."

After all the players in the losers' bracket had drawn their lots, Zhao Zhengyang spoke.

As soon as Zhao Zhengyang finished speaking, An Hongshi raised his right hand.

Immediately, everyone in the audience looked at An Hongshi, their faces filled with astonishment. This world competition only had one bye, and An Hongshi had actually drawn that one.

Zhao Zhengyang nodded, wrote down An Hongshi's name, and then said, "The two players who drew number one, please raise your hands."

The next moment, Jing Zhongqin and Jiang Han'en raised their hands almost simultaneously.

Number one, Jing Zhongqin, yes, Jiang Han'en.

Seeing that her opponent was Jiang Han'en, Jing Zhongqin couldn't help but sigh slightly, feeling that today's match might be a bit difficult.

It's not that he's afraid of Jiang Han'en. To be honest, as a player who holds two major titles and is ranked alongside Honinbo Shin'ai in the Japanese Go world, he fears no one and dares to challenge anyone.

However, the loser's bracket matches are more energy-consuming. Although the number of matches in the winner's bracket and the loser's bracket seems to be the same, the players in the loser's bracket are all pushed to the brink, so they can only fight with their lives on the line.

The winners will certainly give it their all, but since they have an extra option, they always lack the ruthless determination to "die rather than surrender" that the losers have.

Falling into the loser's bracket and gaining three points is not just talk.

Therefore, generally speaking, although the losers' bracket players have lost one match while the winners' bracket players have not lost a match, the losers' bracket matches are more difficult than the winners' bracket matches.

He lost to Zhuang Weisheng very early on and fell into the loser's bracket. Although he fought his way up to this point with his excellent chess skills, he is almost exhausted. The bye is his only chance to rest.

Unfortunately, in this competition, the bye opportunity was given to Ahn Hong-seok.

Since he didn't get a bye, his most desired opponent was Su Yiming.

Su Yiming is indeed a formidable opponent, but like him, Su Yiming had long since fallen into the loser's bracket, so he preferred to face Su Yiming.

As a result, he didn't draw Su Yiming as he wished, but instead drew Jiang Han'en.

Jiang Han'en had just fallen from the winners' bracket to the losers' bracket two days ago, so his energy was definitely higher and his fighting spirit was stronger. If he met Jiang Han'en in this round, he would probably be in big trouble.

"Not only me, that kid is probably going to fall this round too."

Jing Zhongqin looked at Su Yiming, thinking to herself.

With his match settled, the other table naturally featured Su Yiming versus Honinbo Shingo. Honinbo Shingo had only fallen into the loser's bracket in the round before last, so he was still full of energy.

However, Jing Zhongqin quickly adjusted her mindset.

Although he felt that the chances of winning this competition were slim, he would still do his best and fight hard.

On stage, Zhao Zhengyang continued, "Number two."

Soon, Honinbo Shingo and Su Yiming both raised their hands.

The schedule for the losers' bracket is now finalized.

Winners' Bracket:

Number one, Yu Shao, yes, Araki!

Losers' Bracket:

Yasu Hiroshima has a bye.

Number one, Jing Zhongqin, yes, Jiang Han'en!
Number two, Su Yiming, yes, Honinbo Shinho!

Instantly, everyone's attention was once again focused on Yu Shao and Araki.

Admittedly, both matches in the loser's bracket are worth looking forward to, but after all, today is the final of the winner's bracket!
Everyone was amazed by Araki's performance throughout the World Championship, especially his games against Su Yiming and yesterday against An Hongshi, which left a deep impression on them and were truly stunning!
However, Yu Shao's performance throughout the entire World Championship was also remarkable and no less impressive than Araki's.

Well, the problem is coming.

Ignoring the extremely rare occurrence of multiple knockback cycles, who will win today's match?

After Zhao Zhengyang announced today's schedule, no one left the competition venue. Yu Shao took the lead and walked to the chess table in the center of the venue. He went to the leftmost table, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

The other participants did not leave either; they all went to their respective chess tables and took their seats.

Araki quickly came to the opposite side of Yu Shao, glanced at Yu Shao, took a deep breath, pulled out a chair and sat down on the other side of Yu Shao.

Upon seeing this, everyone held their breath, exchanged glances, and then flocked to Yu Shao and Araki's table, quickly filling it to capacity.

"Finally... we've arrived here."

Araki gazed at the chessboard before him, a torrent of emotions surging within him, before finally closing his eyes slowly.

"If we win this game, we'll secure the title in the finals. If we win the final game, we'll be the world champion."

"If we lose, we'll fall into the loser's bracket and need to play two more games to get into the finals, where we'll need to win two more games."

"I want to win this game no matter what, and I'm afraid he does too. Neither of us will back down in the slightest."

"It's often said that the winners' bracket matches are less intense than the losers' bracket matches, and that's not entirely wrong. However, the winners' bracket final is definitely an exception!"

"My body has been supporting me all the way on the path of Go, and now it tells me that it will do its best to accompany me to the end."

"This is the long and distant road to which I have devoted my life."

Araki slowly opened his eyes, his gaze deep and extremely calm.

"In any case, after many years, I have finally come here again."

"I couldn't keep going before, but now I want to keep going."

"Keep going, keep going."

"This will be my Go game, Araki's Go game!"

"Until we reach the end."

Time passed by minute by minute.

"Time is up!"

Zhao Zhengyang took a deep breath and announced loudly: "The winners' bracket final will have overtime, with each person having three hours. The losers' bracket matches will still have two and a half hours, with one and a half minutes of countdown time. The black komi is seven and a half points!"

Zhao Zhengyong looked in the direction of Araki and Yu Shao, licked his dry lips, and even though he had seen many storms, he was now a little nervous.

"Now!"

"Let's start guessing!"

(End of this chapter)