I really don’t want to play Go!

Chapter 495 The heroes of the world are truly as numerous as carp crossing a river!

Although Black used every trick in the book, even attempting to sacrifice stones to find ko threats, they still didn't have enough, and ultimately—

White wins by killing the dragon!

In the World Championship winners' bracket final, such a tragic scene of slaying a dragon occurred, but no one was surprised by it at all.

In a game like this, which is wide open and fierce, and the battle goes on from start to finish, it's either a resounding victory or a crushing defeat. Even a player of less skill than Araki might be able to hold out until the endgame, but if Araki loses, it's destined to end in a tragic defeat.

"Won."

Yu Shao silently gazed at the chessboard, his mind drifting back to all the chess games he had played in his past and present lives, each one vividly etched in his memory.

From learning Go as a child, to becoming a professional Go player, to reaching the pinnacle of the Go world, to the emergence of Go AI, to a second rise to prominence, to time travel, to continuing to play Go, to changing the way he plays, and now...

Although he was in a situation he was not good at from the very beginning of the game, and was even pushed to the brink of defeat at one point, he still won in the end.

He finds the future by following the general trend, and then works backward from the future. This is his path, a unique path that others are destined to never learn!
"In this game of chess, I... have surpassed my past self."

As Yu Shao recalled the many moments of confusion and bewilderment he had experienced in the game of chess, it was as if the clouds had parted and the sun had shone through, revealing a completely new world.

It's a mysterious experience.

Once your mind is freed, you will feel the world is wide.

In his past life, he lost a game of Go. Although Go AI could help him analyze and break down the game afterward, there were still many parts that he only had a superficial understanding of, knowing the "what" but not the "why".

The AI ​​pointed out that this method was better, and that was indeed the case, but he couldn't fully understand it in his previous life.

Why break it here? Isn't the sharp point here obviously illogical?

However, now that he recalls those defeats from his past lives, he can accurately find the future and deduce the answer by working backward. He realizes that the break there was the only solution, and that the sharp point had a more profound impact, though its effects will only become apparent after several dozen moves.

From a different perspective, what you see and think about are completely different.

In his past life, he saw that while the "ban-zhuan" move could build a strong position, it might also create an isolated group of stones. Now, he sees that the effect of the "ban-zhuan" move is irrelevant, and whether it can be exploited is also unimportant.

This move may be a huge loss, but it's a move that leads to the future, the future he wants to see. So, it's a good move!

Yu Shao even vaguely felt that his current perspective was somewhat similar to that of AI. If the Go AI was not a machine, but a person, he seemed to be able to understand the AI's thoughts and know why it made each move.

What seems illogical is actually all law.

In the past, Go players learned the thinking of Go AI, not the moves of Go AI. Even in the post-AI era, Go teachers teach students not to learn the moves of AI.

Because ordinary Go players cannot fully understand these moves, even with the assistance of Go AI, they can only understand why the Go AI played a certain way in a particular game. However, Go is a game that changes with each other, and every game is different.

Forcing oneself to learn and imitate without seeing that future chess strength will only backfire, because they cannot control the variables that lead to the future!
Take this game for example. He may have had the advantage the whole time, but at that time, he felt it was a difficult game to play, or rather, he was at a disadvantage. Only when he saw the moment of the ko fight did he have the advantage!

He can see now.

……

All around remained silent.

"it's over……"

The people around were somewhat bewildered.

This game of chess has finally come to an end.

They had played many games, witnessed many brilliant moves, and seen countless tesuji, but now they felt that those countless brilliant moves and colorful tesuji were far less shocking than the shock brought to them by seeing the world's ko more than fifty moves in advance!
Looking back now, Yu Shao didn't make any brilliant moves in this game.

If one knew that a catastrophe was about to befall the world, then every move Yu Shao made would seem normal and ordinary. Therefore, looking back at this game now, one might even feel that it wasn't such a big deal.

That's not entirely unreasonable.

But looking at it from another angle, before the catastrophe unfolded, weren't all those fifty-odd moves brilliant? Were they all masterful moves? Weren't they enough to make all the world's chess players bow down, enough to be recorded as an eternal mystery in the theory of chess?!
To solve this game, one must anticipate the impending doom more than fifty moves in advance, during the complex and intense middle game; otherwise, it is impossible to solve, which is beyond human capability!
The winner of the World Championship upper bracket has been decided.

In other words, one of the two empty seats in the Phoenix Cup World Championship finals has already been taken, and everyone else will compete for the last seat!
Over the years, the number of players who have won the world championship has remained the same, but will another one join the ranks now?

"I lost."

After a long silence, Araki finally spoke and slowly lowered his head toward Yu Shao.

Upon hearing this, Yu Shao finally snapped out of his reverie, looked at Araki across from him, his expression becoming more solemn, and bowed his head in greeting.

Frankly speaking, Araki is the strongest player in terms of both strength and calculation that Yu Shao has ever seen, without exception.

Although Go AI has brought about tremendous changes to the Go world, making the understanding and knowledge of Go among professional players in the past on a completely different level compared to the pre-AI era, the computational speed remains unchanged.

No matter how powerful AI is, it cannot make someone who can only calculate ten moves calculate eleven moves. Arakino's calculation speed has almost reached the limit of human capability. He can calculate further than any other player, which makes Arakino feel respect.

After finishing this game, Yu Shao finally understood why, in this world, Araki alone was able to push Go from an era of "overall balance" to an era of competition between "strength and calculation".

In the past, it took several generations of people to develop Go from a game of balance and power to an era of calculation.

Araki didn't have Su Yiming's imaginative and groundbreaking ideas, nor did he have Zhuang Weisheng's ability to capture all the subtle changes in the whole situation, nor did he have such a profound overall perspective. Araki was simply able to calculate further than others!
If others calculate to ten steps, he calculates to eleven steps; if others calculate to twenty steps, he calculates to twenty-one steps; if others calculate to thirty steps, he calculates to thirty-one steps.

It is simple, straightforward, and crude, but it is very useful.

Even if top players from the past or the AI ​​era face Araki, because their calculations are not as far-reaching as Araki's, even if they use some unique moves from the AI ​​era, the probability of losing is still very high!
This method is strong in terms of numerical values. Its only drawback is that if the overall direction is wrong, no matter how far into the future you calculate, it will be meaningless.

In this game, he was able to calculate further than Arakino because he could see further ahead. By working backward, he arrived at the best path. If one were to calculate every possible change on the board, he would not be a match for Arakino.

The only drawback of Arakino's approach is that if the overall strategy is wrong, no matter how far ahead he calculates, it's meaningless. Its greatest strength lies in the fact that as long as the overall strategy is correct, and no one can out-calculate him, he's very difficult to defeat. Just thinking about this world—with Arakino's pure reliance on calculation to overwhelm others, Su Yiming's boundless imagination, and Honinbo Shingo's meticulous attention to endgame moves and unwavering composure unaffected by external factors…

Yu Shao suddenly felt that heroes of the world were truly as numerous as carp crossing a river.

Their qualities in these areas even surpass those of top chess players from the previous AI era who possessed similar qualities!

However, given that the number of chess players in this world is more than ten times that of the previous life, and the top chess players are even more talented than in the previous life, it is reasonable.

Soon, after the two finished tidying up the chess pieces, Araki slowly stood up, glanced at Yu Shao again, and then silently turned and left.

The crowd watched Araki leave, as if they could see endless disappointment in his departing figure.

"Ten years..."

A young man, his expression complex, murmured softly, "Araki-sensei's dream of winning the world championship has been shattered once again..."

He felt a surge of emotion. Ten years ago, when Araki and Yasuhiro were vying for supremacy, he was a young man aiming to become a top player, and he witnessed the glory days.

Unfortunately, after losing 1-2 to Yasuhiro in the best-of-three match ten years ago, Araki faded out of the Go world. He thought he would never see Araki's heroic figure on the field again, but unexpectedly Araki made a comeback.

Not only that, Araki fought his way through the competition, becoming even stronger than before, and even defeated An Hongshi, making it all the way to the winners' bracket final.

As a result, this time he was not stopped by An Hongshi, but by Yu Shao.

"What did you say?"

The person next to him paused for a moment upon hearing this, then said, "This is the winners' bracket final. Araki-sensei just fell into the losers' bracket, right?"

"Ok?"

The young man froze for a moment, blinked, and then finally realized what was happening. He slapped his forehead in sudden realization: "That's right! This is the winners' bracket final! Araki-sensei still has one more chance!"

"Yeah, what are you thinking about?"

The man looked at the young man with a strange expression and said, "Moreover, we've already beaten Su Yiming and An Hongshi, who are still in the loser's bracket. It's only been a few days. If we face them again, our chances of winning are not small. So the possibility of us making it to the finals again is very high!"

"That's true."

The young man scratched the back of his head and smiled somewhat awkwardly: "This game was really amazing, and the sense of pressure that ran through it from beginning to end made me subconsciously think it was the final of a world championship."

"That's true."

The man nodded, somewhat wistfully, "The winners' bracket final has actually gone this far. What will the final be like? Will it be even more exciting than this game?"

"That's incredible! I can't even imagine it!"

The young man joked, "Maybe I'll have to use a divine move?"

Upon hearing this, the people around the young man couldn't help but laugh. The somewhat oppressive and tense atmosphere caused by this chess game suddenly became relaxed.

However, seeing Yu Shao also stand up and walk towards the loser's bracket match, they fell silent again.

Watching Yu Shao's retreating figure, a thought that Yu Shao had just had also crossed their minds—

The heroes of this world are truly as numerous as carp crossing a river!
In their eyes, Yu Shao was just one of them.

Ten years ago, there were Yasuhiro Ishi and Arakino!

During this decade, there were figures like Sho Misaki, Honinbo Shinkai, and Kimura Go...

Strictly speaking, we are now in a golden age of Go, with a plethora of geniuses, numerous top players, and a mix of new and old talents.

Many people initially thought that after Arakino's semi-retirement, Yasuhiro would have no rivals and might become invincible like Shen Yi back then. However, Sho Misaki, Honinbo Shingo, and even Inaka Sera suddenly emerged, making the Go world lively again.

Therefore, many people later felt that since things had come to this, there would be no outstanding new talents emerging for quite some time. Only when players like An Hongshi and Zhuang Weisheng gradually faded from the chess world would new talents emerge.

The reason is simple: Zhuang Weisheng and his friends have already reached this level of genius. They have broken through the encirclement of countless geniuses and finally reached the top of the Go pyramid. They are at their peak. How can the later ones catch up this time?

This time it seems like they were right, and that's indeed the case.

For a period of time, the most dazzling players in world championships were always the same few. Although there were countless newcomers, and some were noteworthy, no one could rival them.

As a result, Hans suddenly emerged. As a German player, he went against the tide in the Go world dominated by China, Japan and South Korea, and fought his way to the finals. In the best-of-three finals, he defeated Ahn Hong-seok!

At that moment, the whole world was astonished!

After a few years of relative calm, Yu Shao and Su Yiming have emerged, and even two of them have emerged at once. In less than two years, they won titles and both made it to the world championships. To this day, neither of them has been eliminated!
Yu Shao has already secured a spot in the World Championship finals!

Even setting aside Yu Shao and Su Yiming, and even in this World Championship, Higashiyama Kaoru is still worth looking forward to.

In this situation, how can one not sigh, "Heroes of the world are truly as numerous as carp crossing a river"?
"The winner of the winners' bracket has been decided, but who will win the losers' bracket?"

All eyes turned to the losers' bracket, where the match was still ongoing.

The game between Yu Shao and Araki was exciting and intense, but because it was so intense, the game ended with the capture of a dragon, so it didn't actually take too long. If Yu Shao hadn't spent twenty minutes thinking, it probably would have ended even sooner.

So, the games in the losers' bracket are still going on, but it looks like they won't be long before they end.

The winners' bracket matches have ended, and there will be no more matches in the winners' bracket for the next few days, but the losers' bracket matches will continue until a final losers' bracket champion is determined.

With the thought of today's match that will decide the winner of the upper bracket, everyone is filled with anticipation for the match that will decide the loser's bracket champion.

(End of this chapter)