LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 425 World Championship Round of 32: First Dan vs. First Dan?

If Lin Ruo's defeat of Park Young-hoon 9-dan is to be considered the biggest upset in the Go world this year, then there is no exception.

Then, the victory of 10-year-old Japanese prodigy Sumire Nakamura over Chinese Go player Wang Chenxing, a 5-dan player, can also be considered one of the upsets comparable to this.

The difference between 5th dan and 9th dan is huge, but the difference between 10 years old and 18 years old is also ridiculously large.

When a 10-year-old girl defeats a 20-year-old professional female Go player, the shock to the audience is no less than when Lin Ruo defeats a 9-dan player.

And that's how it turned out in the Round of 64 of the Mengbaihe Cup. The young Sumire Nakamura miraculously defeated Wang Chenxing, a 5-dan player who had performed well in the preliminaries and made it into the Round of 64, against all odds.

The commentator in the Wild Fox Go live stream was also incredulous at the result: "Nakamura Sumire, a 1-dan player, actually accomplished this feat in her first world tournament! My goodness! She ultimately defeated Wang Chenxing, a 5-dan player, by 2.5 points, making a great start to her first world tournament."

"Congratulations to Sumire Nakamura for successfully securing a spot in the top 32 on the first day and advancing to the next round."

For a while.

The huge live stream room exploded.

[666, a 10-year-old who couldn't even eat properly yet really beat a 5-dan Go player?]

[A 10-year-old who can't even eat properly? Dude, are you mentally challenged?]

[Holy crap, no wonder he was specially recruited by the Japan Go Association, he's terrifying! He's the world's number one prodigy! At first, I thought the Japan Go Association was just doing this to create hype.]

[Didn't Japan stop playing Go with us? How come such a genius suddenly appeared?]

I remember that Japan's playing style is outdated; nowadays, rapid chess is popular, but they're still playing the kind of super slow chess where the game can be paused and a match can be played every two days.

[The rules are just different. Even Japanese national team player Ichiriki Ryo still participated in the Mlily Cup, playing in a style very much in line with the current mainstream AI play, only he followed tradition in China.]

[Congratulations on your victory! It's time to let the Japanese have their fun, otherwise they might completely shut themselves off from all major international competitions in the future.]

[Regardless, it's really outrageous that a ten-year-old girl can defeat a professional player who has been competing for several years. I wonder if Lin Gou could do that if he had started learning Go at ten.]

[That can't be right. At ten years old, Lin Gou would probably still be a net addict, not even knowing what Go is.]

The viewers in the live stream started discussing Lin Ruo.

Meanwhile, Lin Ruo, whose match had already ended, took advantage of the huge attention brought by Zhongyi Jin's victory over her opponent and slipped away from the competition venue without giving a single media interview.

This time, he was finally not silenced by countless microphones.

There was nothing that could be done, since defeating Surma was something that all the viewers expected.

However, it is definitely not true that Sumire Nakamura defeated Wang Chenxing, a 5-dan player, so it is only natural that she has generated a lot of buzz.

This caused the media at the scene to immediately shift their attention to the area in the middle of the field. Lin Ruo, who had just come out of the restroom, found that no one seemed to be blocking him, so he naturally took off running.

We can't let it fall into the hands of unscrupulous media outlets again, becoming their free tools for creating sensational stories.

Lin Ruo felt a sense of relief upon leaving the chess academy. Her immediate priority was not to return to the hotel, but to find a place outside to fill her stomach.

Li Weiqing, who wanted to discuss chess with him, had made a reservation at a nearby restaurant well in advance, so Lin Ruo only needed to sit and wait for her meal.

"How did you manage to play the 'Twisted Sheep Head' move today? I really didn't see it at all in the first half. I thought you were just playing along."

They had just met at the restaurant, and before they had even had a bite to eat, Li Weiqing started bombarding them with questions.

On the internet right after the match ended, besides the news of Sumire Nakamura defeating a 5-dan player, the most talked-about topic was Lin Ruo's twisted sheep head move.

Many Go enthusiasts are discussing how Lin Ruo made his moves step by step, marveling at his terrifying computing power.

Lin Ruo smiled but remained silent.

How could you possibly see this kind of move in the early stages? After all, you can't just push someone to the edge of the board right from the start.

His planning process was very long, requiring him to constantly dig holes and then fill them in. Unless one knew from the beginning what Lin Ruo was going to do, it would be impossible to see the clues before the momentum started.

Therefore, it's perfectly normal not to notice it; it would be unreasonable to think you need a discerning eye to see it.

"You should be free this afternoon. Could you give me some more guidance? My opponent tomorrow is a bit troublesome; I feel he'll be difficult to deal with."

Li Weiqing was probably one of the most hardworking chess players Lin Ruo had ever seen; he spent almost all his free time playing chess and studying game records.

However, what Lin Ruo found remarkable was that the girl was too clingy. She wanted to practice with him right after the match, which was like she was trying to take advantage of him.

After all, Lin Ruo had been entrusted with a task by team leader Tian Bin, so she couldn't refuse, especially since...

"What? You're treating this meal? You're treating tonight too!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Ruo coughed and immediately put on a righteous expression: "The capable should do more, of course I can accompany you to practice for a few hours this afternoon. Prepare well, I believe you will definitely be able to advance to the top 32 tomorrow."

He still believed that Li Weiqing had the ability to advance. Well, the most important thing was that he could stay a few more days and treat him to a few more meals.

After helping to get a feel for the craft in the afternoon and having dinner, Lin Ruo felt extremely tired when she returned to the hotel.

He can stream games all day long, so playing Go the next day won't make him feel too tired. What's tiring is not only playing but also being responsible for guiding, explaining and reviewing the moves and content.

This left Lin Ruo quite exhausted. It was the day he had talked the most, so he didn't waste any time and went to bed early, around 21 p.m.

Tomorrow is the second group of the round of 64, and there is no match for him. However, this does not mean that he is free from all worries and can focus on preparing for the round of 32 to be played the day after tomorrow.

Because after the list of the top 32 is released tomorrow morning, there will be a draw ceremony at 14 pm, and according to the requirements of the Chess Association, all those who advance must participate.

With Mengbaihe reaching the top 32, the level of competition will undoubtedly rise to a new level, naturally attracting more attention than ever before.

Before the match, there was an even bigger topic: two first-dan players had advanced to the top 32 of the Mengbaihe Cup, an unprecedented phenomenon that became the biggest point of discussion among all the viewers tonight.

In the long-awaited Go forum, many enthusiasts are speculating on how far Lin Ruo and Nakamura Sumire can go and how many more upsets they can cause.

Lin Ruo was unclear about the outcome, but based on Zhong Yijin's narrow victory over Wang Chenxing, the audience in the forum almost unanimously agreed that this ten-year-old prodigy would not survive the so-called second round.

After all, the female player Wang Chenxing, who she was facing, was already ranked at the bottom of the top 64. If she were to face any male player from another group, the audience on the forum did not believe that Sumire Nakamura would have any chance of making a name for herself.

However, this does not affect the popularity of her on the Baidu Tieba forum. At the age of 10, she has reached such a level, and her future Go career is obviously limitless.

After discussing the little genius, the forum users immediately moved on to another topic: Lin Ruo's opponent tomorrow.

[Could we please arrange for Lin Ruo to be a 9th Dan in tomorrow's draw? I'd love to see that.]

[Yes, I suggest calling over Park Jung-hwan, the current South Korean national team player, or Shin Jin-seo, who is currently in the best form in South Korea. If our Lin Shen is going to play against the strongest, we can skip the rest of the matches and go straight to the awards ceremony, no problem.]

[Let's play Ke Jie. I don't have any particular ideas; I just want to see two pretentious people clash.]

[I'm fine with it, any 9-dan is fine, just please don't assign another wildcard player to Lin Ruo. He had a blast, and we didn't see anything.]

In conclusion, after the discussion, the audience unanimously wanted to see Lin Ruo engage in a fierce battle.

Lin Ruo also wanted to, but whether or not to draw lots was not up to him.

……

The second round of the Mengbaihe Cup Round of 64 kicked off at 9 a.m. the next day amidst heated discussions.

This time, it's not as focused on big names as yesterday. Strong contenders for the championship, such as Ke Jie, Park Jung-hwan, and Shin Jin-seo, are all starting, and there are several key matches between China and South Korea.

Ke Jie and Park Jung-hwan both easily advanced in their respective national team matches.

In the China-Korea match, the gap between Chinese 9-dan Go player Gu Lingyi and Shin Jinseo widened significantly by the 22nd move.

Gu Lingyi's reckless move led to Shin Jinseo cutting off the White stones, which then began a fierce battle. Although White managed to survive the large group of stones by fighting a ko, the cost was too high. Black not only captured the huge corner in the upper right but also successfully made its way out in the center.

He continued to suffer huge losses in a series of battles in the lower and middle areas, and after only 167 moves, Gu Lingyi had no choice but to resign.

"Advancing to the top 32 without any pressure, Shin Jinseo's form is as good as ever. He truly deserves to be the strongest post-2000 generation player in South Korea at this stage."

The commentator, Yefox, was also deeply impressed, noting that Shin Jinseo's performance was simply flawless. His current popularity and performance in South Korea have essentially surpassed that of national team player Park Jung-hwan, making him arguably South Korea's greatest hope for the future.

Meanwhile, Chinese player Peng Liyao's situation against Shin Minjun was not much better. Peng Liyao, playing black, fell behind in the opening phase, and his opponent steadily chipped away at his large territory.

The biggest mistake was the move to the bottom right corner, which led to a prolonged and difficult battle. Although the three pieces below were saved, the large territory below was captured by White, and the large territory on the right side of Black was also destroyed.

With White's 42nd move being very sharp, White not only managed to secure a group in the center but also captured the Black stone in the upper right corner, gaining a very substantial amount of territory.

In the end, Black made a desperate attack on the Black dragon in the upper left corner, but due to insufficient ko threats, the exchange resulted in a huge loss, and there was no way to recover.

In the match between China and South Korea, they started with two consecutive losses.

With all the morning's matches concluded, in this round of five China-Korea matches, only Wang Yuanjun from Taiwan defeated Korean player Wu Yuzhen; the other four players all lost. In the first round of China-Korea matches, Chinese players were completely at a disadvantage.

This surprised viewers on various live streaming platforms, including WildFox.

Despite having a numerical advantage, China had 23 players advance to the round of 32, while South Korea only had 7.

But this comparison is no more representative than direct dialogue; in fact, they have been completely crushed by South Korea in the current clashes.

[What kind of nonsense is this? Shin Jinseo hasn't even won a world championship yet, and he's already this terrifying.]

[Their performance was really poor. Although we received more slots, the quality of our entries felt completely inferior to that of the Korean team.]

Fortunately, Ke Jie was in good form today, and we'll likely still need him to help us beat South Korea in the upcoming matches.

[And then there's Lin Ruo. I believe our Lin Shen will go all the way with this dark path, okay?]

[Haha, until Lin Ruo wins in his match against another strong opponent, I'll just take it as a joke for now. The biggest fear is that the higher the hopes, the greater the disappointment. So it's better to have more faith in Ke Jie, who has already won a world championship.]

Let's see how the draw goes. The results are very important; it's much more disgusting than some civil war. The two teams are directly matched up.

Amidst the discussions among the viewers, the live stream was temporarily shut down at noon. It wasn't until the lottery ceremony began at 2 PM that a large number of viewers flooded into the WildFox live stream once again.

The draw ceremony was quite simple and straightforward. A box for drawing lots was placed on the stage in the center, and the contestants went up to draw lots according to their wishes. Each number represented a corresponding contestant.

The person who draws the number will face off against the other contestant in the Round of 32.

There are no strong or weak groups or half-group settings; everything depends entirely on luck, including the round of 16 and the round of 8.

As the time came, all 32 players took their seats. After the chess association and organizers introduced the rules, the draw ceremony officially began in front of a large number of media cameras.

Perhaps for the sake of fairness and transparency, the Go Association unsurprisingly chose Japanese prodigy Sumire Nakamura as the first player to go on stage for the draw.

"I wish I could be drawn by Nakamura Sumire, please bless me." At the edge of the players' seats, Li Weiqing, who had fought hard and barely advanced today, clasped his hands together, hoping that the first number he would draw would be number ten.

This would allow him to face Sumire Nakamura in the round of 32. Although the young girl is exceptionally talented and successfully defeated a 5-dan professional player to advance, she is still too young, and her chances of advancing against any of them are not very high.

"Do you really enjoy bullying young girls?" Lin Ruo couldn't help but tease him from the side. It was really shameless of him to say such things to his face.

Li Weiqing sighed: "Sigh, she's the only one here at the first dan level. Who wouldn't want to secure a sure-fire spot for advancement?"

After saying that, Li Weiqing added, "You don't count. Your first dan is too valuable."

It's not that he lacks confidence; the main reason is that those who make it into the top 32 are all seasoned veterans, and there are only two female contestants among them. He can only have a high probability of advancing if he draws one of these two.

Besides ten-year-old Sumire Nakamura, the other female player is Rui Naiwei, a veteran from their Shanghai team.

Li Weiqing had no choice. Old Rui's current strength was still not bad, but his age was really getting older. If he could outlast him, his chances of advancing would be very high.

"Bless, bless." Seeing that Nakamura Sumire on the stage had already taken out the ball while standing on tiptoe, Li Weiqing quickly bowed his hands again, and then stared intently at the number on the ball.

Since it's not a two-digit number, it completely misses out on the number 10.

Li Weiqing was numb. Looking at the dazzling number seven, he couldn't help but mutter, "Who is number seven? He really got lucky."

Hearing this, Lin Ruo subconsciously shook her head: "I took a taxi as soon as I left the hotel today, and I haven't even landed many times. How could I possibly step in dog poop?"

“No, I meant the seven…” Li Weiqing, who was about to turn his head away, suddenly remembered something and subconsciously glanced at the name tag on Lin Ruo’s suit chest, which was a striking number 7.

He was immediately speechless, his eyes widening as if they were about to pop out.

My own failure was painful, but my brother's success was clearly even more painful.

"No, why are you number 7? Do you have to bully a little girl like that?" Li Weiqing was on the verge of tears.

Lin Ruo then stood up and patted him on the back: "Being a beginner against another beginner is no problem at all."

They were of such equal skill level that Lin Ruo felt they were bound to meet.

However, he didn't expect such good fortune to actually come his way. Sure enough, the hardship of the grueling qualifying group was not in vain. After the storm, his luck suddenly turned around, and he achieved two consecutive first-dan rankings.

"Number seven, please welcome Lin Ruo, first dan, to the stage." As soon as the host finished speaking, Lin Ruo, who was already prepared, slowly walked onto the stage and shook hands respectfully with his opponent, Nakamura Sumire, who was much shorter than him.

Lin Ruo, who had never studied Japanese, naturally couldn't communicate with the little girl. If he really had to say a few words, he probably only knew those two words.

One is expressing anger, the other is crying for help.

But it doesn't matter, a handsome and sunny smile is enough to melt everything. Regardless of her personality, Sumire Nakamura with her braided hair is definitely not averse to handsome men.

"Tomorrow's first match of the round of 32 will be between Lin Ruo, 1-dan, and Nakamura Sumire, 1-dan." As the host continued speaking, the staff hung the nameplates of the two players on the match wall behind them.

The president of the Japan Go Association, sitting in the audience, smiled and said, "Is this your most dazzling genius player this year? I didn't expect to run into him."

The chess association leaders were beaming with joy. Regardless of their skill level, the match between two suddenly emerging geniuses was guaranteed to generate massive viewership.

He thought this was an incredibly lucky draw, and the discussion surrounding it was bound to be explosive.

Facts have proved that this is indeed the case.

The moment the draw results were announced, viewers in the WildFox livestream chat flooded the screen with question marks.

[Damn, did Lin Gou bribe the Chess Association? How come he played against the weakest opponent in two consecutive matches...]

[This luck is unbelievable! Just two days ago I congratulated Lin on securing a spot in the top 32 without even playing, and now I'm congratulating him on securing a spot in the top 16 without even playing? Next time, will he secure a spot in the top 8 without even playing?]

[This draw is incredibly lucky, completely the opposite of the qualifiers. It's giving Lin a huge boost, allowing him to advance to the round of 16 effortlessly.]

No, but I want to see Lin Gengxin play against a South Korean player, a professional 9-dan.

Fortunately, it wasn't the worst outcome; at least we didn't draw one of our own.

[Wait two more days, and he'll definitely face a strong opponent in the round of 16, unless Lin is eliminated in the round of 32.]

Look at the smug grin on Lin Gou's face. There's no way he'll be eliminated by Zhongyi Jin. He'll probably pull off another big, sweeping move next time.

To be honest, hoping that Zhongyi Jin can eliminate Lin Ruo is less helpful than hoping that Lin Ruo won't make Zhongyi Jin cry. If he really gets serious, how can a little girl withstand it? See Wu Yiming for details.

Stop talking, I'm already looking forward to the round of 16 draw.

...

"Ke Jie 9-dan will face Shi Yue 9-dan, and Shin Jinseo 9-dan will face Fan Tingyu 9-dan."

As the draw results were released one by one, the matchups gradually became clear, and Ke Jie faced another inevitable internal battle.

Li Weiqing, on the other hand, had a very unfortunate encounter with South Korean national player Park Jung-hwan, a veteran from West Brazil whose strength is still as good as ever.

Li Weijie sighed, feeling utterly defeated. He looked at Lin Ruo beside him and said, "If possible, you must avenge me in the future."

Lin Ruo's mind went blank for a moment. Was she already making arrangements for her own demise before the game even started?

(End of this chapter)