LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 373 Sorry, your genius is not as good as mine.
On April 10th, the start of the Mengbaihe Cup, Lin Ruo, who was on time, boarded a flight to Beijing, the capital city, the afternoon before the competition began.

This time, to avoid the hassle of going to internet cafes, he specially bought a laptop and put it in his backpack for easy carrying and use.

"I won't come back if I don't make it to the main tournament." Lin Ruo said goodbye to his teammates very solemnly.

Abu, who was not very convinced, was forced to support him, otherwise, what if the kid really didn't come back...

Thanks to team leader Tian Bin's timely assistance, Lin Ruo, who had just boarded the flight, received notification of the Mlily tournament group assignments and schedule.

The eight-day Mengbaihe Cup preliminary tournament was held at the China Chess Academy, and was divided into men's professional group, women's professional group and amateur group.

The men's professional group has 216 players, divided into 19 groups; the women's professional group has 66 players, divided into 2 groups; and the amateur group has 16 players, divided into 2 groups.

A total of 298 chess players from home and abroad gathered together to compete for 23 spots in the main tournament through a single-elimination group format over a period of time.

With a success rate of less than one in ten, the difficulty of advancing to the main tournament is self-evident.

As for the actual match schedule, Lin Ruo only knew that he was assigned to Group 11, and his first match would be against Huang Yizhong, a professional 7th Dan player.

He started learning Go at age 6, joined the provincial team at age 11, and joined the national youth team at age 13. He won the runner-up title in the 8th China Newcomer King competition and the champion title in the 16th China Go Tianyuan Tournament in 2002. He also achieved a remarkable result of reaching the semi-finals of the Samsung Cup in 2007.

These are Huang Yizhong's representative achievements. He is now 37 years old, more than a full twelve years older than Lin Ruo.

Lin Ruo felt that the schedule was not very friendly to him. It was supposed to be that he would usually face junior players of the third or fourth dan in the first round, and then he would face players of the seventh dan or higher in the second round.

"You better watch out, kid. They're not as bad as me, a semi-retired 7-dan. Take it seriously, it's not shameful to lose."

Seeing Tian Bin's reminder, Lin Ruo casually replied with an "okay" and put away her phone to rest.

Losing to such an opponent is certainly not shameful, but winning would surely be quite prestigious.

……

4 month 12 day.

On the day the Mengbaihe Cup officially opened, Lin Ruo, who had landed and rested for a night, arrived at the area outside the China Chess Academy in excellent spirits.

This morning was both the opening ceremony of the Mengbaihe Cup and the final of the Rookie King Tournament, although the two events were held at the same time in different locations within the Go Academy.

Today, only the opening ceremony of the Mengbaihe Cup was broadcast live in the main hall of the chess academy, while the final of the Rookie King, which has fewer participants, was held separately in a more spacious room.

Lin Ruo ran into her old partner Wu Yiming as she entered the hall. It was understandable that Wu Yiming was there, since he had only been eliminated yesterday.

However, he really didn't expect that Zhang Ruo, who had been eliminated early, would be here. He thought she had left, so he hadn't contacted her much before coming. It seems that she really is a girl who likes to watch the excitement.

"Lin Ruo, we meet again."

"Call me brother."

Lin Ruo first reiterated the proper manners, then teased, "You two have already been eliminated, why are you still staying at the chess academy?"

"Let's watch the Rookie of the Year finals. Anyway, we have nothing else to do, so staying a day or two longer won't make a difference," Zhang Ruo explained earnestly, her eyes lighting up when she saw Lin Ruo.

"Lin Ruo, don't be so arrogant. Maybe we can leave together tomorrow."

Wu Yiming pointed to the 3D wall next to her, where a newly released match schedule was displayed. The final of the Rookie King Tournament had not yet started, and the reason the two of them were gathered in the hall was to study the group assignments for the Dream Lily Cup.

"You're in trouble, Lin Ruo. Your group has three 7-dan players, one 8-dan player, my senior sister Yu Zhiying, and former world champion Park Young-hoon from South Korea."

Wu Yiming's seemingly gloating words carried an unavoidable sense of regret, because she hadn't expected Lin Ruo's luck to be so bad. Not only did she encounter a 7-dan veteran right from the start, but she also faced clashes with 8-dan and 9-dan players one after another.

She had initially thought that Lin Ruo had a sliver of hope of making it to the end, but now it seems that all possibilities have vanished.

"That's really bad," Lin Ruo joked to herself, her sharp eyes quickly scanning the complex preliminary match schedule.

The eleventh group, filled with strong competitors, has a total of 11 professional players. Yu Zhiying, the only female player, along with world champion Park Young-hoon and two other professional players he is not familiar with, all have special bye rights and directly enter the second round.

If there's any good news, it's that Shi Zhiying and Park Young-hoon aren't in his half of the bracket.

In other words, in the upcoming four-round elimination tournament, Lin Ruo can only encounter one of these two top-tier powerhouses, and they can only face each other in the final round of the qualifying matches after advancing through the first three rounds.

Lin Ruo felt that this was alright. Although Yu Zhiying was currently the number one female player in China, her actual skill level had only recently reached the professional seventh dan.

Based solely on his rank, he's considered to be in the lower ranks within the group; his skill level isn't exactly top-tier.

As for Park Young-hoon 9-dan, despite being a world champion, he didn't get a seeded spot in the main tournament and has to compete with a group of newcomers for the very few qualifying spots.

This only proves one thing: this South Korean world champion has performed very poorly in recent years' international competitions, which is why he has been relegated to the qualifiers.

However, Lin Ruo remembered that Park Young-hoon was in the semifinals of the previous Mengbaihe Cup, but he still couldn't get a seeded spot to advance directly.

Regardless of all this, Lin Ruo remained as low-key as ever: "I think it's alright."

After chatting and laughing with Zhang Ruo for a while, Lin Ruo followed the crowd into the hall and found a cool spot to sit down and wait.

At nine o'clock in the morning, the opening ceremony of the Mengbaihe Cup arrived as scheduled amidst great anticipation. All the players who participated in the preliminary rounds gathered in the hall and took their seats as spectators, including Yu Zhiying, who took the initiative to sit with Lin Ruo.

Yu Zhiying spoke neither jokingly nor enthusiastically, but simply said casually, "I really didn't expect that we would be in the same group."

“Although we’re in the same group, it’s probably unlikely that my senior sister and I will meet in the final round,” Lin Ruo replied calmly.

Yu Zhiying nodded and remained silent, as the opening ceremony had already begun. She could also roughly understand Lin Ruo's meaning, which was that it would be difficult for either of them to make it to the final round.

Of course, that's not what Lin Ruo meant. He thought his senior sister probably wouldn't live to see him, but there was no need to explain.

After the usual opening remarks by the host, the familiar segment of speeches by leaders followed. As this was a world-class competition, with professional players from various countries gathered together, there were also quite a few chess association leaders present today.

There are various titles and positions within the Go Association, including chairman, honorary chairman, vice chairman, former vice chairman, former vice chairman, deputy secretary-general, and the director of the provincial sports bureau, among others.

The number of attendees was enough to fill the first two rows, which clearly indicates the high importance that the Mengbaihe Cup is placed on the event in China.

Lin Ruo, on the other hand, was bound to suffer. Taking turns to speak was another painful ordeal. He had never envied those contestants who had entered the main competition early and didn't have to attend the opening ceremony.

"How about we start a game later?" Yu Zhiying, who was sitting next to her, spoke up immediately after the leaders finished speaking. She really wanted to play a game with Lin Ruo. She had had this idea since the National Games, but she never had the chance to play.

Considering that although they were in the same group, there was little chance of them meeting and playing against each other, Yu Zhiying decided to ask now.

Upon hearing this, Lin Ruo asked a thought-provoking question: "Senior sister has a competition tomorrow, is it appropriate for us to waste time on internal strife?"

Yu Zhiying paused for a moment, then said awkwardly, "I have a bye tomorrow, so if you have a match, then forget it. I'll contact you again after the qualifiers."

She had completely forgotten that Lin Ruo had a competition. It seems that the pressure of preparing for the men's competition all the time was inevitably too great.

"Never mind, you can play if you want, Senior Sister." Lin Ruo didn't actually think that playing a game of chess would take much mental effort; what he was worried about was something else.

Senior sister, can you bear this karma?

After leaving the Go academy's main hall, they went to have lunch first, and later the two played Go at a nearby dojo.

"welcome."

When the receptionist saw a guest arrive, she immediately put on a professional and standard sweet smile, but after seeing who it was, she instantly had the urge to cover her mouth.

Since she was able to work as the receptionist at the chess club, she must have a certain foundation in chess and would also pay attention to the major and minor events in the Go world. There was no reason why she wouldn't recognize the two people in front of her.

"Since you invited me, Senior Sister, you should pay." After saying that, Lin Ruo went to a vacant chess table by the window, pulled out a chair, and sat down to make all the preparations.

Yu Zhiying looked at the person, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back, wondering why she had to bring up such a small matter as paying money, making her seem like a miser.

Since she invited them, she naturally knew she should pay.

Okay, she can now be pretty sure that Lin Ruo is most likely a complete miser.

"Can I sign my name?" After Yu Zhiying finished paying, the receptionist asked tentatively, looking rather embarrassed.

Yu Zhiying readily agreed and reached out to take the paper and pen, but the receptionist thought for a moment and realized there seemed to be a significant problem.

"Excuse me, I'd like Lin Ruo's autograph. He's really handsome."

Yu Zhiying: ...

"You're finished today." Yu Zhiying pulled out a chair and sat down, her expression becoming more serious, as if she were determined to have a showdown with Lin Ruo, even to the point of life and death.

Lin Ruo was taken aback, wondering if his senior sister was a greedy miser like him, who wasn't happy about paying the initial fee.

...

"Was the person who paid the bill Yu Zhiying? And wasn't the one sitting down Lin Ruo, who won all her matches and qualified for the professional rankings half a year ago?"

"It's him! I just saw on the news yesterday that he's coming to participate in the Mengbaihe Cup."

"To participate in the Mengbaihe Cup at the very beginning of a professional career, that takes real guts."

"They're now challenging Yu Zhiying, a professional 7th dan, so it goes without saying how bold they are."

"But from what I overheard their conversation when they were paying, it sounded like Yu Zhiying was challenging him."

The customers in the chess hall never expected that they would have the opportunity to witness a professional match today, and their lively discussions came to an abrupt halt as the game began.

The crisp sound of a piece being placed rang out, and everyone unconsciously turned their gaze to look, but they couldn't be too obvious, let alone stand right in front of it as so-called spectators.

This is a chess hall after all. You can come in and play chess, but you absolutely cannot come in to watch others play chess, because not everyone likes being disturbed like this.

Fortunately, the game ended relatively quickly, lasting just over an hour. The two sides determined a fairly clear winner in just over 150 moves, and the game ended with one side resigning.

There was no further review after a short while, and the two left the chess hall one after the other with expressionless faces. Lin Ruo was probably just pretending to be aloof, but as for why Yu Zhiying had no expression, that remains a mystery.

As soon as the two left, the surrounding customers rushed forward like hungry tigers, eager to see the layout of the chess pieces.

"Let me see who wins."

"Is there even a need to look? Yu Zhiying is definitely going to win. Even if Lin Ruo wins, can he really crush the current number one female professional 7th dan?"

"Look at that, White is playing so skillfully, his attack is fierce and decisive, no wonder he's Yu Zhiying." The middle-aged man with a beer belly looked at the game and couldn't help but marvel.

He would never be able to pull off such a crushing victory in his entire life. As expected of Yu Zhiying, she is simply terrifying.

At this moment, the bespectacled young man next to him adjusted his glasses and said in a puzzled tone, "Um, although I have 400 degrees, I clearly remember that Lin Ruozhi was the one who was white. Uncle, I'm nearsighted, so don't try to lie to me."

"Ah, is Lin Ruozhi a white-robed one?" The beer-bellied uncle tilted his head forward, completely bewildered.

Lin Ruo is actually on the white side?
Well, I'm sorry, he was prejudiced and assumed that Yu Zhiying would definitely win. Therefore, he drew a conclusion based solely on the advantage of the game and naturally misjudged the colors of the pieces on both sides.

"So, did Lin Ruo defeat Yu Zhiying, the number one female fighter, in such an overwhelming way?" The whispering crowd had various strange expressions on their faces.

The conversations in the chess hall gradually quieted down, as everyone was caught in an unprecedented shock, completely unable to extricate themselves from it.

It is clearly not a concept that ordinary people can understand that a first-dan player who cannot even be called a professional could easily defeat Yu Zhiying, a female seventh-dan prodigy who has been studying Go for more than ten years.

Perhaps both of them are geniuses, but it is clear that one of them is more of a genius.

...

"How could this be? I didn't even have a chance to fight back..."

Back at the hotel in the afternoon, Yu Zhiying kept muttering to herself in the corridor. Feeling very upset, she recalled the chess game, opened the door, and without saying a word, brought out the chess table, picked up the chess pieces, and placed them in order.

He quickly reconstructed all the game situations with Lin Ruo and began to carefully ponder and think about them.

"How dare he kill me like this? And how did he dare to step down from that position?" The more thoroughly Yu Zhiying analyzed it, the less she could understand the so-called logic behind it.

This is even more irrational than cutting through a mess with a quick knife or beating a master with a flurry of punches.

(End of this chapter)