LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 423 What's the difference between your starting point and the Heavenly Origin Sect?
Arriving in BJ the day before the competition, all Lin Ruo could do was rest. However, with Li Weiqing around, at least his life wasn't too boring.

Yes, it's about answering 100,000 "whys" every day.

I arrived in the afternoon, and before evening, I was taken to the hotel's chess room to review the game.

In fact, Lin Ruo's explanation of the doubts was not very clear. Simply put, he was not good at explaining the knowledge and methods of Go to people; he only knew how to bully people by placing stones.

However, Li Weiqing seems to be a young man with a rich imagination, always able to interpret Lin Ruoming's unclear words as profound and to ponder them further.

Little did anyone know that Lin Ruo, being a novice lecturer, hadn't explained things clearly at all.

The round of 64 of the Mengbaihe Cup will begin at the Chess Academy on Children's Day, June 1st. The first round of qualifying matches will be held over two days, with Lin Ruo's match taking place after the opening ceremony on the first day.

Li Weiqing's round of 64 will start on the second day, but the schedule is different.

Therefore, Li Weiqing still has time to prepare the day before the opening of the Mengbaihe Cup, and does not need to rest too early.

However, since Lin Ruo needed it, the discussion naturally didn't last long and ended around nine o'clock in the evening, with everyone returning to their rooms.

Back in her room, Lin Ruo took a hot shower during the remaining two and a half hours, then played two games on FoxPlay, and around 23 p.m., she stretched out her hands and pulled the blankets tight.

The tournament officially starts at 9:00 AM, preceded by an opening ceremony that lasts for one hour. This means that all 64 participants must gather in the chess academy hall around 8:00 AM.

However, the chess academy did not make it mandatory that night, but only issued a detailed schedule and emphasized the time.

The next morning.

Almost all of the elites in the Go world gathered in the Go Academy hall on time for the opening ceremony, because it was the world championship debut of ten-year-old Japanese prodigy Sumire Nakamura, a first-dan player.

The president of the Japan Go Club also came to attend today's opening ceremony, making all the steps quite grand.

Sumire Nakamura, who is under 10 years old, was specially recruited as a professional Go player by the Japan Go Association in January of this year, thus becoming the youngest professional Go player in the history of Japan. At the same time, the Japan Go Association also arranged for her to receive special guidance from Yuta Iyama, Choi Jeong and others.

The expectations placed upon it are self-evident.

This prompted many Chinese media outlets to focus their cameras on the Japanese girl, eager to find out why she received such exceptional attention from the Japan Go Association.

This caused many favorites to lose some of their luster at the opening ceremony, including Ke Jie and Mi Yuting.

If there is anyone who can rival 10-year-old Sumire Nakamura in popularity, it would probably be Lin Ruo, who has been the only one gaining attention in the past two months.

It was difficult for the media to capture Lin Ruo's image because he didn't arrive at the opening ceremony hall until 8:30.

...

At the opening ceremony's ribbon-cutting ceremony, when Lin Ruo arrived late, eating steamed buns, all the procedures were nearing their end, and the professional players were waiting for the match to begin around 9 o'clock.

Authorized photographers from CCTV, Fox News, Sina, and other media outlets were all simultaneously adjusting their live streaming equipment to provide timely and efficient coverage of the event.

Media reporters who arrived early began snapping photos indiscriminately, following their seat numbers.

"Attention everyone, this is table number 7, which is the table where Lin Ruo, a first-dan player, will be competing today. It's a pity that we didn't see Lin Ruo at today's opening ceremony. I suppose it was delayed by some things."

[What delay? I just saw him leisurely eating steamed buns at a breakfast stall this morning.]

[What kind of character does Lin Gou have? He's already so arrogant after just defeating a 9-dan professional Go player. If he wins the world championship, he'll be unstoppable.]

[What? Lin Gengxin missed the opening ceremony because he was eating breakfast? Well, I take back my criticism. Everyone knows that breakfast is the source of energy for the day and plays a huge role in one's health, so I support Lin Gengxin.]

It's absolutely true. If I don't eat breakfast before work, I have absolutely no motivation to work.

So, is this why you're slacking off at work and playing on your phone?

In the Sina Weibo live broadcast room, the viewers who had been waiting for a long time chatted and joked, waiting for the game to start.

At this moment, Lin Ruo also arrived outside the competition venue hall and met Li Weiqing, who was about to leave after attending the opening ceremony.

"Why are you only arriving now? I thought you knew you were supposed to come to the opening ceremony." Li Weiqing looked at Lin Ruo, who seemed quite relaxed, with great confusion.

Although there was no explicit notification to attend the opening ceremony, this was essentially an unspoken rule for all chess players, since it was impossible not to give face to the organizers.

Lin Ruo's reason was simple: since there was no clear notification, didn't that mean he could come or not?

Well, it's not that I woke up too late this morning and only had time for breakfast, so I missed the opening ceremony.

Absolutely not, Lin Ruo denied this view, and instead said, "I'm sorry, this is my first time participating in this competition and I don't have much experience. I thought the opening ceremony was something that the leaders should do."

Li Weiqing thought for a moment, and realized that this was probably his first time participating in the main competition as well... hence his words.

Forget it.

Li Weiqing gave a wry smile and said, "Keep it up, we'll definitely meet again in the top 32."

His encouragement wasn't meant for Lin Ruo, because there was no reason why Lin Ruo wouldn't make it into the top 32.

Moreover, his opponent was a first-dan player from the European wildcard region. He might only be able to fight back against that ten-year-old prodigy girl; otherwise, he would only be able to endure being hit and insulted.

"Okay, good luck." Lin Ruo gave a thumbs up in response, then turned and walked into the competition venue.

Before he could even notice table number seven, he was forced to notice the media reporters gathered around him; it seemed they were all waiting for him.

His popularity was terrifyingly high, and Lin Ruo couldn't do anything about it. He wanted to keep a low profile, but his abilities wouldn't allow it.

"Lin Ruo, a first-dan player, has arrived."

A reporter in the crowd exclaimed in surprise.

Countless cameras and flashes turned and aimed at the boy entering the venue, and Lin Ruo was almost blinded by the piercing clicks of the cameras.

Fortunately, he was prepared and came in wearing sunglasses. There's no way around it, that's how thorough the preparations are.

Facing the gazes of most people in the arena, Lin Ruo sat down without any embarrassment or unease and then took off his sunglasses. Unfortunately, his opponent, the Polish player, had not yet arrived.

Lin Ruo couldn't help but admire the person who was even better at timing than him.

It wasn't until Lin Ruo saw Sulma arrive at the competition venue covered in sweat that she realized he was probably lost because he was unfamiliar with the area.

"Sorry I'm late, I went to the wrong place on the way." Sulma wiped her sweat as she sat down and began tidying up her side of the table. Lin Ruo nodded and said it was alright, the competition hadn't started yet, she could come anytime.

around.

The media reporters continued to snap photos, with only a small number going to table 11, the competition table for the Japanese prodigy, closer to the start of the competition.

Of the 16 tables of competition held today, none of the big names in the industry, including champion Ke Jie, participated, suggesting that the organizers deliberately set this up to generate buzz.

After all, the first day featured Lin Ruo's appearance, generating considerable buzz, and the second day offered a highly anticipated match between China and South Korea, along with the appearance of Ke Jie, the current king of Chinese Go. The excitement surrounding the top 64 teams for two consecutive days was not diminished at all.

The organizers still know how to have fun.

At 8:45, with only 15 minutes left before the start of the match, the organizers finally began clearing the area for media reporters.

All media reporters must leave the competition venue as required and wait in a nearby location where they can observe the situation inside the Go competition venue.

They also had the opportunity to go in and film after the game started, but the time was very short and the number of people allowed in was also very limited.

There are no restrictions on the post-match interviews after the game ends.

Basically, whoever shoves the microphone in first gets the first right to a face-to-face interview.

At this moment, besides the referees and other staff, there were several large cameras responsible for capturing the live broadcast signal, as well as a small number of operators and debuggers.

On the other side, the FoxGo live streaming room is also ready. Compared to the Sina Weibo live streaming room, which is full of people having fun, FoxGo is more like a gathering place for professional Go enthusiasts.

There weren't any major matchups today, so the audience's attention was focused on the games between the two big stars, Lin Ruo and the Japanese prodigy.

Japanese prodigy Sumire Nakamura's opponent this time is also a female player who has advanced to the round of 64, namely Wang Chenxing, a 5-dan player from China.

There is still a certain gap in strength, but he is the easiest opponent among the players on the list, apart from the wildcard players from Europe.

[She was exceptionally admitted as a professional player before she was even ten years old. Could she be a monster like Lin Ruo?]

[I don't know, but Japanese Go has been declining, and the sudden emergence of such a talented player suggests that he must be incredibly skilled.]

[It's difficult. I find it hard to believe that a ten-year-old can defeat a 20-year-old 5-dan professional Go player.]

[Wait, aren't you all just talking about the Japanese prodigy girl, and not about Lin Ruo's side?]

"Ah, what's there to discuss? Lin Ruo would have to be incredibly lucky to win; her opponent is only a professional novice. Cough cough, although Lin Ruo is also a professional novice, you know how big the gap is."

Viewers who frequently follow Go have immense confidence in Lin Ruo's match; they believe that Lin Ruo, who has fought his way up through sheer skill, cannot possibly lose to a European player.

This view is shared by all media reporters and even commentators in the live broadcast room.

Often, the plot takes an unexpected turn at this point, but unfortunately, Lin Ruo's composure is chilling.

"The game has started. Let's take a look at table seven. Hmm, this is a bit of a start..."

Wild Fox, the commentator, only glanced at the board before falling into deep thought. Finally, he could only laugh to conceal his confusion, saying, "Lin Ruo, the first-dan player playing black, is playing unusually relaxed in the opening. Her first move was even outside the target's eye..."

The so-called "outside the eye" refers to the area outside the "small eye." It is the outer part of the "small eye" extending towards the middle abdomen.

Lin Ruo's second move was another high-angle move to the upper left, which was on the outer path from the star position to the center.

Not only was Wild Fox's commentator speechless with shock, but the viewers in the live stream were also completely dumbfounded.

This is quite unusual.

Because these two techniques are, to put it bluntly, very old-fashioned, and to put it simply, they're just plain pretentious.

After all, these days everyone's using small stars and small eyes, or starting with three points and three points, but you went straight for the most powerful eye outside without hesitation.

While gaining no advantage whatsoever, the opponent normally occupies a favorable starting position, which is equivalent to losing everything in the first two moves.

Some novice viewers don't understand this principle yet, while veterans can already use the most appropriate words to describe Lin Ruo's first two steps.

[My passionate horse, is it coming straight to the point of spawn-camping??]

[Starting the game by slashing yourself, it's clearly giving the opponent an unfair advantage.]

[Do you think this is meant to give the opponent an unfair advantage? So, placing the center point at the start is pointless, and in your opinion, that's also giving the opponent an advantage, right?]

[Is there even a need to guess? Lin is practically taunting them right to their face, like a jungler in League of Legends starting without Smite—pure contempt for the opponent.]

[This is taking advantage of the opponent's weak skill level. I just play aggressively and openly from the start. Do you think you can stop me?]

[This is outrageous! They're not treating the European players like human beings. Can't they be a little more humble, Lin Ruo...?]

[Talented but lacking virtue, talented but lacking virtue, talented but lacking virtue—get out!]

The viewers in the Wild Fox live stream were in an uproar, while in the actual match, Sulma watched Lin Ruo's moves with a knowing smile, finding it extremely amusing.

He had a confrontation with Lin Ruo on the plane when they were traveling to Shanghai together.

Well, he was beaten into a pulp in less than fifty steps, completely unable to resist, and was brutally beaten from beginning to end.

Sulma didn't want today's match to be like this. It wasn't that he was afraid of losing; he just hoped the game would have some exciting moments that he valued.

Instead of coming and going hastily.

That is why Lin Ruo's first two moves today were very unusual; it could be said that he relinquished the initiative and handed the board over to the white pieces.

He didn't mean to mock Sulma; he was simply setting up a stage so that the Polish athlete, who had traveled a long way, could perform to her heart's content.

He won't lose, but he'll also allow Sulma to give it his all.

In contrast to the opening move of the outside, Sulma's opening two moves are much more conventional, with the four lines intersecting at the intersection, emphasizing the development of the outer influence, which facilitates rapid expansion towards the sides and center.

Simply put, it's starting with two star positions, which is considered by AI to have the highest win rate and is also a common move used by over 60% of professional players.

He was serious, and Lin Ruo was watching him intently.

(End of this chapter)