I really don’t want to play Go!

Chapter 489 The Truth About Yu Shao

(P.S.: Phew, I've figured out a way to revise it. I gave the winners a day off before the winners' bracket finals, so that when the winners' bracket finals come around, there will be exactly 5 players left in the losers' bracket. To balance things out, the losers' bracket winner will be the champion in the grand finals, since the losers' bracket has three more rounds, and the winners' bracket finalists have had a few more days of rest. The previous text has been revised. Thank you so much.)
…………

Click!

The moment Zhao Zhengyang finished speaking, Araki Nobuyo reached into the chess box, grabbed a handful of white pieces, and held them in his palm.

Yu Shao also took two black pieces from the chess box and placed them on the chessboard.

Araki released his grip, and the chess pieces rolled off his palm with a clatter. Then, Araki stretched out his hand and began counting the pieces in pairs: "Two, four, six, seven."

Finally, after counting, there were seven white stones, an odd number.

Yu Shao guessed two stones, which means that in this game, Araki will play black and move first, while Yu Shao will play white and move second.

Seeing this, Araki and Yu Shao put the pieces they had chosen to play first back into their respective boxes and then exchanged boxes.

"Please give me more advice."

Araki was silent for a moment, then bowed first and spoke.

Yu Shao also lowered his head and returned the greeting, saying, "Please give me your guidance."

The winners' bracket final has begun!

"Click!"

With a crisp click, Araki took a chess piece from the chess box and slowly placed it on the chessboard.

First move, sixteen columns and sixteen rows, a star!

Yu Shao stared at the black chess piece in the upper right corner of the chessboard, and couldn't help but recall the two games that Araki had played against Su Yiming and An Hongshi respectively. His expression became unusually serious and earnest.

Both Su Yiming and An Hongshi played very well in these two games, but in the end, Araki won entirely on his own skill.

To be honest, these two games of chess made him feel a sense of pressure, and he had a vague feeling of seeing the shadows of those chess players who were his peers in his previous life, but it also made him feel like he was gradually awakening.

Yu Shao had no doubt that, without encountering some of the latest AI moves, Araki, if he were in his previous life, would already be on par with or even surpass the strongest players of that time.

Now, Araki is finally going to face him head-on.

Quiet.

The entire room was quiet.

Although Araki had only made his first move, the whole world seemed to be muted at that moment. Everyone held their breath, staring at the empty chessboard, their hearts filled with countless emotions.

No one could have predicted this showdown.

For many years, everyone has been used to sitting in the World Championship finals, with a few people such as An Hongshi, Honinbo Shinho, and Zhuang Weisheng taking turns to sit there.

Even if other people sit at the table, such as Hans in the past, on the other side, there will always be one of An Hongshi and his group.

No one could have imagined that in a certain year, the winners' bracket finals would be a match between two completely unexpected people, and that Ahn Hong-seok and his friends would fall into the losers' bracket or even be eliminated!

Finally, under the watchful eyes of the world, Yu Shao picked up a chess piece and slowly placed it down.

Hey!
Four columns and three rows, small eyes!
Araki gazed calmly at the chessboard, his heart surprisingly at peace despite being in the most important game of his life.

He picked out the chess piece.

Fall slowly.

Hey!
The chess pieces are placed on the board.

Four columns and seventeen rows, small eyes!

"?"

"This……"

"A diagonal layout, or even a diagonal star-shaped arrangement?"

Upon seeing the location where the black piece landed, everyone was instantly startled, their faces showing astonishment.

With one piece in the upper right corner and another in the lower right corner, the black pieces have formed an extremely rare diagonal layout!

Both involve occupying a corner. Since small eye, star, and even three-three formations can all be used, why choose to occupy one corner with these parallel formations instead of using small eye, three-three, or star formations to occupy the opposite corner? There is a reason for this!

Parallel layouts, because the forces are concentrated on one side, can quickly form a large pattern and are easy to control. Simply put, the top left and left corners are closer together, making it easier to coordinate!
In contrast, the diagonal layout disperses the pieces, with the two pieces naturally separated in the two furthest corners. Each corner is isolated and helpless, requiring more complex offensive and defensive transitions, which is not efficient!

Facing the diagonal star, White only needs to make moves in the other two empty corners to achieve a balance in the layout, thereby weakening the efficiency of Black's first move and preventing Black from making good use of its initiative.

When facing a diagonal komoku (small eye), the komoku has a stronger directional advantage than the star point. If both komoku face each other, there is some cooperation, but if they are diagonal, the two directions are completely opposite, and the komoku will appear very weak! The diagonal star point komoku combines some of the disadvantages of both, so very few professional players will use this move, and it is more popular among amateur players.

"No!"

Among the crowd, Zheng Qin stared at the chessboard, composed himself, and his mind raced: "Diagonal openings still have their value under certain circumstances, namely, seeking change and disrupting the situation!"

"You could even say that this is perhaps the most targeted tactic against Yu Shao!"

Zheng Qin seemed to understand something instantly.

He was actually the player who had played against Yu Shao the most, and he knew Yu Shao the best, so he could vaguely see more from this move.

"After all this time, no one will try to out-understand Yu Shao. The game of chess that happened the day before yesterday is the best example!"

"If we really have to compete with Yu Shao in understanding, then if Yu Shao can't come up with any new changes, then forget it. But if he does come up with something, then I'll be unhappy!"

"No one knows if Yu Shao has any new insights or variations within the familiar routines and patterns, but Yu Shao has that ability!"

The more Zheng Qin thought about it, the more alarmed he became, breaking out in a cold sweat, and finding it hard to believe.

"The diagonal opening divides the battlefield in two from the start, often creating a board position where each side attacks one flank. This avoids complex large-scale offensive and defensive moves, and is more direct and simple for players who are not good at managing the overall situation!"

"It's not that Mr. Araki is bad at managing the big picture, but compared to Yu Shao, he seems to be less adept at it. Mr. Araki is better at dealing with complex local battles!"

"Yu Shao is also an aggressive player, but if you think about it carefully, Yu Shao's strength lies in his handling of life and death, sacrifices, and his understanding of the initiative. This is actually a manifestation of his ability to utilize the overall situation."

If it weren't for Araki Noshita's diagonal layout, Zheng Qin wouldn't have even thought of this!
Yup!

Yu Shao's moves are undeniably ruthless, but looking back at all of his games, those killer moves that captivated everyone were not truly the result of painstaking planning and strategy to crush the opponent through calculation. Rather, they were the result of using the overall momentum to overwhelm the opponent!

Instead, it is through life-and-death struggles, sacrifices, and the initiative that local conflicts influence the overall situation, thus creating a series of legendary games!

This is the real reason behind Yu Shao's attack!
Understand the general trend, act in accordance with the trend, and manipulate the trend!
At that moment, Zheng Qin was utterly awestruck by Araki's extraordinary talent!
He played so many games with Yu Shao, but he still couldn't see through Yu Shao completely. On the contrary, Araki, who had never played against Yu Shao before, saw through him completely!

"and many more--"

Suddenly, Zheng Qin's heart stopped!
"General trend?"

"Big picture perspective?"

"So, how could the way Yu Shao and Jiang Changdong used their overwhelming force and won without fighting in their third game during the National Masters Tournament have been a sudden flash of inspiration?!"

"The flowing water does not compete to be first, but to flow endlessly."

"If you want to speak fluently and endlessly, how can you not know where the flowing water will eventually go?"

"How could he not be good at it? Yu Shao is good at it!"

"And...he must be good at it!"

"Because Yu Shao's unique style of attack is a deeper, more subtle utilization of the overall situation. The method of subduing the enemy without fighting, as seen in the national champion tournament, is the most direct and straightforward way for Yu Shao to utilize the overall situation!"

"Just like how someone who knows calculus can't possibly know addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division!"

Zheng Qin's eyelids twitched, and he felt as if insects were crawling all over his body; it was truly terrifying to think about!
Zheng Qin was unaware that Su Yiming was also aware of this.

That's why Su Yiming said to Yu Shao after the Twin Cup, "I was overwhelmed by you in the match. The so-called overwhelming was due to the general trend."

"Therefore, Yu Shao's overall strategic vision far surpasses his calculation and strength, even to the point that he relies on his overall strategic vision to deduce the life and death of local situations, which makes Yu Shao's chess appear particularly ruthless!"

"His killing moves rely on his unparalleled strategic vision, or rather, his understanding of the overall situation. That's why Yu Shao can often see a move that most people can't!"

Zheng Qin felt a chill run through his body, and a deep sense of fear and horror welled up inside him, as if he had suddenly discovered that he had never met someone he thought he knew!
"That's why Araki-sensei simply cut off one of his fingers, at a slight cost, to forcibly avoid the familiar routines and variations, and to lead Yu Shao into a locally unfamiliar and complex battle, in order to test Yu Shao's adaptability."

"Under these circumstances, it is difficult for a general trend to form; instead, there will be more conflicts and struggles between different parts of the overall situation!"

"all in all--"

"He wants the outcome of this game to be decided solely by the difference in strength between the two sides, without any other considerations!"

"Use your strengths to attack their weaknesses!"

"With just the second move, Araki-sensei set the tone for the entire game!"

……

P.S.: It took me a while to revise the previous text, so this chapter is a bit shorter. Sorry, everyone.

(End of this chapter)