LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 434 I have the advantage, it's your turn.
Lin Ruo gently opened the chess box, took out a black piece, and placed it in the conspicuous upper right corner, thus initiating the battle.

Shin Jinseo did not hesitate and quickly placed the chess piece on the star position in the lower right corner.

After four moves.

Black moves towards the small eye, White moves towards the star point.

The so-called "small eyes" refers to placing the two small eyes in the corners on the same straight line to form a relative layout. Lin Ruo's straight line position is the small eye position on the upper left and right sides, which is an opening that pays great attention to the actual struggle.

The fifth move.

The sixth column, fourth row, two spaces are used to guard the corner.

With three black stones positioned in a straight line, it's easy to see with the naked eye that they can quickly form an external influence, which will benefit the subsequent development of the game.

This is a strategy that can create a certain advantage in a short period of time.

As an opening technique, compared to the Big Jump corner defense and the Worry-Free Corner defense, the Two Jump corner defense is not as secure and is easily invaded by the opponent, so there are naturally many ways to counter it.

On this point, Shin Jinseo, on his sixth move, chose to move to the area around the black stones in the upper right corner, employing a small knight's move to invade.

When White plays a small knight's move to connect with Black's small eye, Lin Ruo then places a Black stone on the same side of the star point, separated by one line.

It is called a high-altitude enclosure.

With the support of the surrounding areas, a pincer attack is formed against the isolated and weak white stones that are invading.

White jumps, Black flies; both sides' responses are clearly well-prepared.

Shin Jinseo paused briefly on his turn, then moved directly to the left side where Black was defending the corner, creating conditions for subsequent development and attack along the sideline.

Between the ten hands, the two sides had already formed the initial shape of a head-on confrontation in the upper area.

"It's a very strategic move by both sides. They've already clashed, neither side wants to let the other go, and it looks like they're determined to fight."

We don't need to say much about Lin Ruo's playing style. Whether it's the famous game against Park Young-hoon, a 9-dan player, or the 90-move swift victory over the Japanese prodigy, he has fully demonstrated the style of fast chess.

When they encountered Shin Jinseo, the two sides were now evenly matched.

Without a doubt, this will be a hysterical, all-out offensive battle; judging from the opening, it's already begun without holding back.

In the WildFox live stream room, Cao Dayuan pondered for a while before setting up the trading platform, already looking forward to it.

Shin Jinseo, before winning the world championship and reaching his peak, was a completely different person, which was first reflected in his changing playing style.

It can be said that Shin Jinseo's early playing style was mainly aggressive, with precise calculations and powerful moves, often showcasing fierce confrontations and strategic maneuvering in matches.

At his peak, due to his long-term study of AI, Shin Jinseo's playing style gradually shifted from an aggressive, fighting style to a solid endgame style, which began to focus on stability and precise calculation.

Therefore, it is no exaggeration to call today's battle a complete offensive war.

Even though he knew that Lin Ruo's offensive ability was unprecedentedly strong, Shin Jinseo still thought it would be difficult to go up against him, not because he was confident that he could defeat his opponent in a head-on attack.

However, players who excel at relentless attacks often share a common trait: if their attacks are poor, they can easily collapse completely.

The early stages of the game were therefore a battle of wits; whoever made the first mistake would face a mental challenge for the attacking player.

On the chessboard.

On the straight line, Lin Ruo immediately executed a move that split and clamped the stones, occupying a favorable position to strengthen the outer influence while targeting the white stones.

White jumps, and Black continues to pursue. Four stones are placed in succession to form a square loop. For both players, the attack is never-ending.

The fourteenth move.

White's star point is close, and although it's late, it's not a problem to deal with Black's earlier small eye and two-space corner defense.

By placing the stones diagonally opposite each other, Lin Ruo did not intend to give White too much space to expand its offensive.

White blocks, Black blocks, and then Shin Jinseo blocks and then plays a tiger's mouth, forming a common local joseki with clusters on both sides in the upper left.

After capturing the white stones in the corner, Lin Ruo responded by not immediately cutting them off. This seemed like a good approach, but in reality, it resulted in a large number of white stones being close to each other.

Once you're inside, it's often difficult to tell whether you'll be the one eating others or being eaten.

As White extended its position below, Black followed with a press, and after more than twenty moves, the two sides settled on the shape in the upper left corner.

Black gains control of the corner area, while White has a more practical advantage in suppressing Black and surrounding isolated stones.

With this advantage, Lin Ruo immediately activated her cheat in the lower left corner.

He naturally couldn't continue to fight with White in the upper area for the sake of a single piece. Now that he had gained the corner, he had to preserve his substantial interests.

Shifting the direction of the attack is the best approach.

While seizing the initiative to suppress the white corner in the lower left, it also prepares for the possible battle in the upper right next.

Lin Ruo's reason for believing that the upper right would become the new battleground compared to the upper left is quite simple.

White has a slight advantage in terms of territory. Shin Jinseo could take the initiative to attack and expand his advantage to control the rhythm. There's no need for him to be led by the nose because of the large empty space blocked by a stone in the lower left corner.

If things continue like this, he will only suffer from both top and bottom attacks, so maintaining his offensive rhythm is very important. This is also why Lin Ruo believes that Shin Jinseo will start the battle in the upper right area.

The upper left corner is already set; to expand our advantage, we need to move to the right.

His guess turned out to be correct. Shin Jinseo was very aggressive and went straight to the right, starting a hysterical, large-scale invasion plan.

However, somewhat surprisingly, Shin Jinseo held back a bit, not completely overwhelming him, clearly testing his response in order to take better measures.

This made Lin Ruo change her mind. Since you are testing me in a nonchalant way, there is no need for me to come, because the situation is not critical.

Lin Ruo then directly pressed down in the lower left corner, strengthening the restriction on the corner area of ​​the white stones.

The attack in the upper right corner wasn't very aggressive, but the encirclement and pincer movement in the lower left corner made it difficult for the white stones, which were controlled from both sides.

Shin Jinseo felt like he had screwed himself over. It was because of his seemingly aggressive but actually probing attack from the upper right that Lin Ruo had left him completely unattended from below.

The situation suddenly turned sour, because he could no longer afford to worry about the upper right corner.

If we continue to manage the lower left corner, it's likely we'll lose everything.

After all, one black stone is not very useful, but two black stones that surround each other can truly become kings of the mountain.

Shin Jinseo's next move is to move down and defend, in order to strengthen his ability to cope with the pressure from Black.

Black extends its stones, continuing to occupy better external terrain. White also extends its stones.

With another move, Lin Ruo used his ever-changing tactics to show Shin Jinseo that there was no reason for him to stubbornly stick to one place.

The lower right corner was the only area not yet engaged in combat at the start of the game. Lin Ruo used a small flying hook to pull the enemy into the battle, also aiming to corner them.

White placed a piece here earlier, so if he places a black piece here now, Lin Ruo won't worry about not being able to protect the other positions in the future, no matter what fierce battles occur above.

Seeing Lin Ruo's method of looking around, Shin Jinseo involuntarily lowered his head and began to think.

Clearly, he felt that his understanding of Lin Ruo was still too superficial.

Based solely on his previous game against the Japanese prodigy, where he won by over 90 points, he assumed Lin Ruo was a tenacious player who would relentlessly pursue and defeat her opponent at a single point.

After all, that's the style that was shown in the previous game.

Including his match against Park Young-hoon, there was a tendency to apply constant pressure in the same area.

However, Lin Ruo's moves were too fast today, and Shin Jinseo, who thought he had figured out the pattern, couldn't keep up. He was constantly being moved around in the opening, leaving him momentarily at a loss.

This put him in an unavoidable passive position, especially in the following stages, where he was busy defending and the initiative was obviously handed over to Black.

And as expected, that's exactly what happened.

Just after White responded to the defensive move, Lin Ruo turned around and fiercely pressed forward in the upper right position, doing what Shin Jinseo dared not do.

Shin Jinseo was ultimately forced to press forward as planned, Black retreated, and White pushed.

Just when it seemed that one side was about to be afraid, Black suddenly turned around and found the right position to cut in, ruthlessly severing the connection between the two White stones that had pressed in.

White captures, Black extends, and White turns around and connects again.

Shin Jinseo, who is extremely skilled at local calculations, immediately saw through a very confusing move. Black's move seemed to give him a significant advantage, but in reality, within ten moves, his white stones would truly turn the tide.

This point is the 14th column, 6th row. Black is very likely to capture here, thereby cutting off the connection and formation of White's pieces on both sides.

but.

Shin Jinseo believed that he only needed to make a simple press, which seemed to be a response to the pressure from the black stones. However, the more subtle point was that he was getting closer to the two black stones on the right.

If there's an opportunity to turn the ball around later, he will gain the initiative on the right side.

This was a move he made to deceive others by taking advantage of the pressure from the black pieces, thus making the move he most wanted to make.

By sacrificing the small for the big, White will gain an advantage in the upper right corner layout, as he controls the trend on the far right.

But... this was ultimately just Shin Jinseo's own fantasy.

In fact, Lin Ruo did not take the step he had expected. Instead, he landed in the position that Shin Jinseo was supposed to press down on the black stones, which resulted in the black stones being closer to the black stones on the right.

As a result, Black gained a better momentum, which, although not large, will pose a considerable threat as time goes on.

Shin Jinseo, sitting in his seat, glanced at the chessboard, thought for a moment, and then started pulling at his hair.

He couldn't understand why Lin Ruo didn't leave, even though the central position was such a strategically important location.

Is there any danger? Actually, no, on the contrary, it can indeed block the flow of the virus.

However, Shin Jinseo believed that he gained more benefits from his own efforts.

This is an exchange, and the advantages he gains from the exchange will actually become greater and greater as time goes on.

Lin Ruo didn't give him a chance, and her move to seize the position he craved completely crushed any chance of turning the tide in the upper half of the bracket.

All White can do is move to the spot Shin Jinseo was thinking about, the place where Lin Ru might place her stone, to form a connection and barely secure the central area.

But the threat on the right will always be a threat, and he hasn't gained any advantage on the left either. In a neutral situation, he's actually looking at the other side more closely.

However, if he goes to the right, he might fall into an immeasurable disadvantage.

Regardless, a fierce struggle has already formed between the two sides above.

In the live stream, Cao Dayuan exclaimed in amazement, "Lin Ruo's style is very versatile; it's not as one-dimensional as we thought."

In his view, if Lin Ruozhen had been playing an offensive role from beginning to end, how could he have thought of abandoning the blocking in the middle and instead going to contact the right side?

This vividly illustrates the terrifying power of strategic vision, enabling Lin Ruo to find better opportunities to place his pieces and thus appropriately delay the attack through continuous deduction and judgment.

The so-called offensive strategy remains the primary approach, but it must always yield to potential crises.

Only after the potential crisis has been dealt with will the subsequent attack have real damaging power.

"Lin Ruo, a first-dan player, has a slight advantage right now. This opening is quite good, which undoubtedly increases the chances of Black's position."

Veteran commentator Cao Dayuan provided professional analysis, while a commentator constantly reminded viewers of the current situation.

While it's true that one should understand Go to watch a Go match, there are bound to be many viewers who don't know anything about Go. Because of Lin Ruo's status and popularity, the audience attracted will be of varying quality.

That's why the commentators need to announce the moves every twenty moves, letting the audience know whether they have a chance or not.

And now there is great hope.

[What? Lin Gou is really going to do it? No way, no way, are you really going to be a savior?]

[It's a small advantage, not a big one. The AI's win rate is still 50/50, but Lin Ruo has a slightly larger advantage, closer to 60/40. The hope is very high.]

[Judging from the early opening moves, Lin Ruo really has a good chance. After moving from the upper left, Black is basically leading White by the nose. Having the initiative is really important.]

[Who said Lin was tanking yesterday? It's obvious he was adjusting his pressure and relaxing. Look how well he's doing today. Yesterday, Ke Jie wasn't in a good position at this time, but at least he didn't make us this nervous.]

With Black gaining an advantage, the tension among viewers in the live stream eased considerably. However, with only a quarter of the game completed, it was far too early to truly relax.

Because the situation was so unpredictable, the two commentators in the center of the arena seemed to have reached a tacit understanding and quickly exchanged six moves back and forth between each other within four or five sentences.

The pace was too fast, and the situation was moving too quickly.

In Cao Dayuan's opinion, the three moves made by Black in these six moves were not very good.

On the contrary, White played much better.

Shin Jinseo did anticipate one thing: gaps would always exist as a matter of course, and it was impossible for them to be completely sealed off so that he couldn't see them, nor could Lin Ruo completely block them up for him.

(End of this chapter)