LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 437 A decisive mid-game victory over Shin Jinseo!
Survive a hundred times.

The chessboard was brimming with murderous intent.

As Lin Ruo launched a fierce attack on the large white group that was not yet stable, Shin Jinseo also began to fight back with all his might. The two were constantly exchanging moves.

The intense battles and clashes are both breathtaking and subconsciously breathless.

After a series of frictions and probing maneuvers, this game finally reached its most exciting moment: a clash and a series of dramatic exchanges that were truly eye-opening.

More than ten moves passed in a row.

Shin Jinseo stared intently at the chessboard, his expression growing increasingly serious as time passed.

There is no other reason.

It appears to be an offensive battle, but in reality, he is the one who is truly being attacked; everything he does is merely a defensive counterattack.

Before he can launch a counterattack, he has to endure countless rounds of defensive play.

Black already occupies more influence in the center, so it's no surprise that Black would exert pressure on Black after gaining the initiative.

The key issue is that this suppression is perhaps a bit too fierce and powerful.

"A direct, predictive press to prevent White from connecting later, and a continued fierce attack on the large group. Again, they didn't even risk capturing two stones that were safe. What a ruthless move!"

Upon seeing this, the expressions of the two people responsible for commentating in the live stream changed.

Lin Ruo played too decisively, not only giving White no chance to breathe, but also leaving him no room to hold back.

Clearly, the word "steady" is no longer appropriate to appear on this chessboard.

This is a life-or-death struggle.

White extends its stones, and Black presses down again. Shin Jinseo, who has been pressed down twice in a row, understands that if a decisive battle were to take place in the center, then given the current situation, the disadvantage is self-evident.

Knowing that he could not avoid a fight to the death, Shin Jinseo decisively switched to the lower area.

He prepared to set up his formation at the bottom, where neither side had a clear advantage, to engage in a decisive battle with Lin Ruo, who wanted to fight him to the death.

But how could Lin Ruo possibly agree? There are plenty of sunny places, why would he insist on going to a place with continuous rain? He's not some rat in a gutter.

Directly clamp down on the right side, preparing to secure territory, first attacking the scattered white stones, while also continuing to threaten the large white group on the left side.

Lin Ruo still hadn't given up on the bold idea of ​​cutting off the dragon's head, but cutting it off directly wasn't as good as cutting off the dragon's tail first to force the dragon to hand over its head.

"White has fewer positions to play in the lower area, so there aren't many good spots to make eyes. At most... we can only make two." Li Weiqing said, looking at the board with a clear understanding.

The blank intersections formed by pieces of the same color are called "eyes," but the bottom is almost at the bottom, so how many eyes can be made?

Therefore, Shin Jinseo's move was clearly ill-considered. He only focused on the overall strategy without considering whether his one-way development from below could compete with the opponent if the opponent moved in other directions.

But the situation took an even more unexpected turn.

Lin Ruo then seized the opportunity to attack back, blocking the White stones in the lower area and denying them the chance to make eyes.

This is completely playing hard to get. They leave one threat over there and another bomb over here, which is making Shin Jinseo quite annoyed.

White then moves again, and Black moves in.

Seeing that even making a single eye position was extremely troublesome, Shin Jinseo quickly scanned the board and, playing a game of back and forth, returned to the upper right side of the board.

He placed a sharp move across the position where Black was positioned, firstly to consolidate his own eye positions and shape which were constantly being targeted by Lin Ruo, and secondly to take this opportunity to threaten the large dragon that Black had formed in the lower left area.

Because of Lin Ruoshang's two hands holding it up, the dragon's formation has grown considerably larger and its range has expanded significantly, making it essential to launch a counterattack.

Shin Jinseo believed this was also the best way to divert attention, letting Lin Ruo look at his dragon more often instead of staring at it.

Lin Ruo then looked at it and successfully noticed the area where the white stones were cut.

Imagine five white stones on the same horizontal line, but one of them is separated from the other four by a clear empty space. Is it necessary for him to break into that space?
That's natural, just rush in and you're done. If you don't squeeze in now, when will you?
Moreover, he is not weak or alone; below the five white stones lies his large dragon.

With people all behind you, are you afraid of the white pieces on your left and right, or the blocking pieces on top later?
As soon as the needle fell, Lin Ruo was waiting for Shin Jinseo to block the hole in his head without hesitation.

Is blocking it useful? Just place another piece on the diagonal line above, and see who surrounds whom.

White moves to the face and sticks to the black stones, which are positioned slightly in the center.

This point is located above the back of the large white group, and there are no pieces that can interfere with it, forcing Shin Jinseo to come over and make a cut.

Lin Ruo looked at the two coiled dragons, and with a casual flick of his right hand, he picked up a chess piece and placed it directly in the rightmost area, making a move that echoed the beginning and end.

The crisp sound of the pieces striking the ground was like gold and jade striking the earth, gleaming with dazzling light.

This is the place, no problem, bro.

This step caused Shin Jinseo, who was still pondering, to momentarily freeze in his thoughts.

The moment that piece was placed on the chessboard, it seemed as if a crack appeared and split open.

To be precise, it should be Shin Jinseo who cracked open.

Because once the rightmost piece was placed, along with the central piece that Lin Ruo had placed earlier, and the black piece that had entered the white stones, the three pieces were connected almost imperceptibly, precisely hitting all the key points of the white stones.

The entire white group of stones was no longer just lifeless, it was practically dead.

Conversely, the black stones, which have a strong presence in the center, connect to form a thicker base below, while the weak white stones struggle to even create a decent eye in the lower area.

At this moment, Shin Jinseo felt uncomfortable, which made his scalp tingle and he didn't know which way to go.

It is completely difficult to handle.

If you can't break free from the initial position, the white pieces on the board will look like they're leaking air everywhere.

If a move to cut off the lower side is attacked by Black on the second line, it's essentially a wasted move.

What if we go for the tiger's mouth at the bottom? Trying to break through Black's territory in the few points where White's stones are clustered together doesn't seem like a good idea either.

Shin Jinseo adjusted his glasses and touched his hair, carefully calculating, but hesitated to make the move.

It seems like he can't find the right move anywhere; no matter where he plays, Lin Ruo will deliver a heavy blow. So, what should he do?

If you can't get the eye position, you can't compete with the external influence, and you can't even make your dragon live. On the contrary, you don't even have the strength to attack the thick dragon wall below the black stones.

Faced with this situation, Shin Jinseo pondered for a long time, but after 10 minutes, he still showed no inclination to make a move.

Even with nearly 20 minutes remaining, he was still struggling to find a viable solution. "Should I cut it off first? There's still a gap in Black's influence on the left side."

This prompted the commentator from Wild Fox in the live stream to offer some advice after some consideration.

Cao Dayuan, a professional commentator, quickly rejected the suggestion: "That won't work. It's like trying to find a loophole. White's real problem is still in the center and the right side. Going to the left side would be putting the cart before the horse and wouldn't make much sense."

Upon hearing this, Wild Fox's commentator smiled, as if relieved, because this was the best move he could come up with.

If this still doesn't work, does that mean Shen is already...? Lin Ruo is clearly close to victory.

After Ke Jie's elimination, if Lin Ruo can also eliminate one of South Korea's current rising stars and win a game, the significance of this Mengbaihe Cup World Championship is self-evident.

"Does Teacher Cao think there are any better ways to salvage this?" Wild Fox Commentary asked excitedly, changing the subject.

Cao Dayuan listened with great interest and shook his head: "There are many methods, but each method has its own problems."

It's almost as if they're saying outright that Shin Jinseo is in a difficult situation.

Lin Ruo's playing efficiency was too high in his opinion, which was the most surprising thing about today's game.

Every move is useful, and its effect can be maximized; how terrifying is that?

He had to admit that, starting with what seemed like a retreat but was actually a strategic block in the lower right corner, he had now completely restricted the large white group.

Lin Ruo's thinking and abilities were so formidable that it was impossible to find a single malicious move. No, it was impossible to find even a single mediocre move.

This is also why Shin Jinseo was in such a difficult position; when the opponent has the initiative, every move has a corresponding effect.

No player would be comfortable in such a passive situation, unless they forfeit.

Shin Jinseo seemed to be struggling on the verge of forfeiting, not because he really wanted to, but because of the time limit for the game.

According to the rules of the Mengbaihe Cup, each minute in the round of 16 has a minimum of two hours, after which the final countdown begins.

In terms of cumulative time, Shin Jinseo spent nearly 50 minutes on two long deliberations. The first one was nearly 20 minutes of thinking about the entanglement in the lower right corner.

The second crisis is the current one involving the Great Dragon. Shin Jinseo has had nearly 25 minutes to think, but he still has no clue what to do.

This also means that Shin Jinseo's time is in jeopardy in terms of basic time allocation.

At this rate, there's no need for a direct confrontation. Lin Ruoguang has plenty of time and can slowly wear down his opponent.

How to prolong the time? It's only a matter of time before Shin Jinseo runs out of his basic time limit, so Lin Ruo just needs to keep presenting him with difficult problems, forcing Shin Jinseo to increase his thinking.

When the time limit is always within 1 minute, and even gets shorter later on, it's hard to say whether Shin Jinseo will exceed the time limit for extra time, but it's 100% certain that he will make a basic mistake due to being in a hurry.

So even though the AI's win rate is still 73% at this moment, the difference in time taken means the two sides are close to 91%.

Shin Jinseo hadn't expected him to think for so long. Seeing that the time issue was a big problem, he finally came to his senses and hurriedly made his move.

Such a tense moment did not affect his final judgment. Under such double pressure, he still made the most appropriate move.

However, as Cao Dayuan just said, every move will have its own problems in the current situation.

Therefore, Shin Jinseo's move was not perfect either; he also had contradictions that Lin Ruo could see through at a glance.

It's impossible to defend; this place is simply undefendable. Even if we abandon our home, we'll still have to threaten them.

They had to cut into the opponent's territory, and after much deliberation, Shin Jinseo chose the episode with the most courage, taking a gamble and splitting the upper right corner.

With a confident mind, Lin Ruo then launched a powerful attack, breaking through the block and striking the opponent's weak point precisely before the opponent could break through.

This can be considered a perfect assessment of Shin Jinseo's desperate struggle.

In conclusion, young man, you need to practice more; this approach won't work.

Actually, this break point wasn't fatal, but for Shin Jinseo, who doesn't have much time left, he had no choice but to make a hasty move.

This move wasn't bad, but it was definitely not the best one either.

This is a description of Shin Jinseo after 120 moves. He's not exactly delirious, but he no longer has the ability to think at his best.

Firstly, time didn't allow it, and secondly, the pressure from Lin Ruo didn't allow it either.

"Lin Ruo is going to win. Shin Jinseo is already at his limit, or rather, he's exhausted and has no strength left."

Li Weiqing, watching from the sidelines, was incredulous and dumbfounded. He had believed before the match that Lin Ruo would win, but there were only 120 moves left, far fewer than yesterday's epic battle between Ke Jie and Park Jung-hwan.

So what exactly is going on?
Why would such a huge gap occur in a match between two strong opponents...?

Moreover, Lin Ruo was playing black, and despite a disadvantageous start, she still completely controlled the situation in the lower right corner in the first three moves, making Shin Jinseo extremely embarrassed from beginning to end.

How embarrassing was it? Because Lin Ruo had been in control of the entire situation.

Shin Jinseo was like a fish struggling for air; he looked lively after a few struggles, but he was quickly thrown into the oil and fried to a crisp.

Now it's time to take it out of the pot.

At this moment, Shin Jinseo, in the center of the field, was still staring blankly at the chessboard, trying to find a way out, while the two sides were fighting a final battle in the lower left corner.

After five moves, Lin Ruo judged that Shin Jinseo's only chance of survival was to fly down to the second line at the bottom, where White could barely increase its chances of winning by 10%.

However, Shin Jinseo had completely lost his mind amidst the countdown, his brain filled with nothing but water and mush.

So he made a move that was a complete disaster, creating a pointless jig, which Black easily countered with a simple flick.

White failed to block the corner and make a living group, but still recklessly squeezed in, trying to cut off the black group in the lower right corner.

However, he couldn't make any cuts, and even if he did, Lin Ruo still had two hands to handle it with ease.

These two moves offered no chance of winning; on the contrary, they dragged the game into a slump.

Time is running out.

There are no more moves left in the game.

The game ended with 129 moves. Shin Jinseo couldn't help but lower his head, cover his face with one hand, and resign with the other.

Thus, the final result was that Lin Ruo, playing black, easily won in the middle game.

(End of this chapter)