LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 442 Preparing to Close the Net (Supplement to Yesterday's Chapter)
The next scene was a possibility that Byun Sang-il would never have imagined.

In his view, reinforcing the corner was an inevitable outcome, because not reinforcing it would be tantamount to leaving the corner empty for him to play freely.

So, what can White do next? Compared to this, giving him some advantage in the center is a worthwhile trade to preserve his position.

Therefore, Byun Sang-il was more confident than anyone else, and had even planned how to use his initiative in the center to gain momentum.

However, the moment the gleaming white stones were placed on the board, Byun Sang-il's confidence was shattered, leaving him in an incredulous daze.

Move 92, White, prepares to capture.

Lin Ruo chose to abandon the three white stones in the corner, and his focus shifted to attacking the lone black stone outside the corner.

If Byun Sang-il makes no further move, he can easily capture the black stone.

But what could Byun Sang-il really do? He stared blankly as Lin Ruo placed her piece and struck the clock in less than three seconds, and suddenly felt uneasy.

Nothing more than that; he placed his pieces quickly, showing great confidence. Could it be that Lin Ruo has a way to break the deadlock?
After thinking about it for a while, Byun Sang-il quickly realized that he still knew addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

He traded three white stones in the corner for one black stone outside. Even if he calculated it a thousand times, he would still have gained an advantage. Although he couldn't capture the three white stones directly at the moment, he had already blocked most of them and was just waiting to close the net.

So Byun Sang-il gritted his teeth, beamed with joy, and immediately cut off the supply to prepare for strengthening his strategy.

Now we don't need to worry about the top anymore; let's just block the white stones' escape routes in the corner first.

Lin Ruoti captured the black stones that were surrounded, and in doing so, forced the white stones to move to the bottom position.

He felt fine.

You don't really think you can block all the white stones in the corner in just two or three moves, do you? Actually, no. Black can't block them at all because no matter how big the space problem is in the corner, White will still have room to maneuver.

As long as the three white pieces are still alive, even if they are half-dead, Lin Ruo will not feel that his giving up was a mistake.

If you still can't capture my pieces, then I'll have to make a huge demand and capture your pieces elsewhere first.

My movements are quick and ruthless, unlike yours where you block me and then think about how to kill me.

After Black pressed in the corner again, it seemed that Black had captured White's stones and made the edge stones live in this area, but in reality, it was still a bit short.

Just as Lin Ruo was thinking, the white pieces still have room to turn the tide and escape. This doesn't mean he has to go and rescue them, but it means he can use the time he has gained to do something else of equal value.

Or create a greater threat to force Byun Sang-il to be unable to carry out a full-scale encirclement and suppression of his flanks.

The ninety-sixth move: a bottom-up attack to capture the enemy.

White directly and solidly blocked the upper part of the living black stones.

Byun Sang-il dared not slacken his efforts and temporarily abandoned the slaughter of the corner, because in his view, the corner was already completely in his hands, and the slight chance of White to escape was not worth mentioning.

Since they're already surrounded, killing them sooner or later makes no difference.

Clearly, his judgment on this point is completely different from Lin Ruo's.

Byun Sang-il, playing Black at the top, chose to respond to the attack first and took the initiative to expand the central battlefield, attempting to gain the first direction.

Lin Ruo's natural task was to step forward, but before that, he had the foresight to make a move on the second line on the right.

"What a brilliant move! Lin Ruochu's strategy was remarkably prescient."

"Although there was no obvious action targeting the lower right corner, the moment this hand landed, it was like a knife hanging over our heads. It could always be used to respond to probing attacks at crucial moments."

"Moreover, it also plays a significant role in securing the upper right corner of the white stones, serving as a pivot point to continuously assess the situation and then respond accordingly."

Wild Fox, the commentator, couldn't help but shake his head and sigh at this stroke of genius that hadn't even been made yet.

Playing Go requires a strategic perspective, and Lin Ruo's strategic perspective is, in his opinion, already at its peak.

It's amazing that they were able to anticipate the most crucial moves on the board.

This is like paving the road before you can walk down a main road, and Lin Ruo was already paving the road before even deciding which path to take. The saying "an army marches on its stomach" perfectly describes this situation.

This move clearly stimulated Byun Sang-il's multi-step strategic thinking. Deep down, he was afraid that Lin Ruo would make some unexpected move next, so he quickly clamped down in the central area, cutting off the white stones while looking for an opportunity to attack.

We can no longer allow Lin Ruo to move freely; we must pull him into the battle we've set up.

Byun Sang-il had a clear plan: he needed to take the initiative and ensure that his attack points were fully equipped within his control. Only in this way could he guarantee that he would gain the upper hand in the battle against White.

White moves out with a tiger's mouth, Black moves to the top.

Then White made a light and agile jump to open up the space.

Lin Ruo chose a two-pronged approach, which allowed him to give Black the initiative in the lower center area, but at the same time, Black had to maintain tight liberties and not easily extend its territory in the upper area.

That's the purpose of his jump.

Give small benefits but not big ones.

Let you have a taste of sweetness first; if you don't cherish it, you'll suffer endless bitterness later.

Move 106, Black extends.

Byun Sang-il, relentlessly, focused his attention on the upper right, preparing to launch the most intense attack on the white stones in that area.

Undeterred, Lin Ru rushed out from below, ready to engage in a fierce battle with the black pieces.

He wasn't afraid of Byun Sang-il fighting him; what he feared was Byun Sang-il striking once and then running away. They had just been trying to have a final showdown down below, but now he had flown here again.

Black blocks, White cuts.

White's shape in the upper area is not very good, which shows that Byun Sang-il found the right angle, but in fact, Black's position in this area is not very clean either.

Therefore, Black is temporarily unable to launch a large-scale attack on White's pieces above.

We are all divided; I am divided into three, and you are divided into two.

So, if you split into two groups, will you be united? And will you be able to fight against a group that splits into three?
Obviously it is impossible.

In conclusion, Byun Sang-il is still messing around with him.

Eat, grow, stick, beat.

After both sides made two moves, Byun Sang-il, who was in the wrong, was starting to struggle and dared not attack anymore because his formation was not strong enough.

Such an offensive approach is too easy to expose weaknesses. While defending, Lin Ruo attacked the weak point several times, as if hitting its vital spot. Black had no room to withstand the attack.

Byun Sang-il also tried to threaten White's connection space, but this gave Lin Ruo an opportunity to fill in the gaps.

He wasn't on the offensive, so defending was perfectly normal for him.

However, Byun Sang-il's attack was too uncoordinated, which was not a good thing.

As we all know, there are consequences to a prolonged siege, especially when Byun Sang-il tries to engage him in a decisive battle from below while simultaneously resorting to deceptive tactics from above.

When Black slows down its pace, it's time for Lin Ruo to launch a counterattack.

Byun Sang-il made a move to connect the pieces at the back, which was a proactive way to strengthen his own formation, and in doing so, he successfully gave White the opportunity to attack.

If you don't press me down, then I'm sorry, I'll turn around and crush you like Mount Tai.

Move 116, White, opens the cover.

The white stones, positioned in the small, empty space in the very center, quietly watched the cluster of black stones on the right, seemingly poised to form a large net and cover them up in the next moment.

And Byun Sang-il knew that this was true.

(End of this chapter)