LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 454 You want to flip through it? I'll flip through it too, just teasing you!
White has no reason not to push forward, so Black pushes back. When White retreats, Black presses down again.

At this point, Park Jung-hwan has entered the first stage of his test: the black stones in the upper part of the board are becoming increasingly thick, which will subtly put unavoidable pressure on the white stones in the lower left.

This made him consider whether to play a move in the upper left area to strengthen his own position and prevent Black from launching a large-scale southward attack.

However, while it is important to maintain a stable state in the early stages, it would be too cowardly to keep retreating like this. If too much is given away, it will be difficult to exert force in the mid-game.

After much deliberation, Park Jung-hwan decided to launch a counterattack, not wanting to waste the opportunity he had previously used in the upper right corner.

Therefore, the next move is also on the top, while the area for placing pieces has moved to the middle.

It grows.

By leveraging the connecting lines on the left and right, the surrounding pieces can be activated and solidified, allowing the pieces to be prioritized for conversion into real territory under Black's aggressive pressing.

Lin Ruo was both surprised and delighted by this. He thought Park Jung-hwan was going to play some kind of "longevity of the divine tortoise" game with him, but instead he took the initiative to come up above and do something real.

Isn't this exactly what he wanted?
Lin Ruo's purpose in suppressing the situation was never to create any dramatic plot twists above, but rather to lay the foundation for advancing to the lower left.

The key point throughout is that White's large group of stones originated in the lower left area, and capturing this large group is the core gameplay of Go.

If you have the opportunity to pressure the dragon from the very beginning, then you should pressure it relentlessly.

If you don't suppress others, you're not human.

Since Park Jung-hwan had already come up, Lin Ruo stopped pretending and went down without any pretense, launching a strong attack on the white group of stones.

It's not impossible for you to be on top and me to be on the bottom.

Park Jung-hwan, regaining his senses, tried to use the lower part of the platform to consolidate his position, using offense as a form of defense.

But in reality, he only stabilized the situation inside, while on the contrary, Lin Ruo's subsequent move deepened the regional traces on the outside.

Black's position on the left side has been strengthened, and White's exchange is not considered a gain.

Especially in Lin Ruo's eyes, the bottom black pieces were not a good ecosystem to begin with, so what difference did it make if you captured one more piece or one less piece of mine?

The bottom will remain the same, but if you actively abandon the external environment to prioritize consolidating the bottom, then you've made a mistake. No matter how strong the internal momentum is, it can never compare to the external momentum.

It can enclose anything in a big mouth and swallow it whole, no matter how hard it is, without even having to bite it.

Fortunately, Park Jung-hwan understood and began to move his pieces to the right at the bottom to strengthen himself, lest he be completely surrounded by the black stones.

This can be considered timely loss mitigation.

However, Park Jung-hwan, who did not want to be constantly suppressed by his previous strategy, was still eager to make a move.

First, White invaded the upper right corner and exchanged moves with Lin Ruo. After more than ten moves, White took away territory, while Black solidified its position.

Based on this alone, it seems that White has a slight advantage.

However, what still bothered Park Jung-hwan was that Black still had the initiative, which meant that Lin Ruo could still jump around in front of him as usual.

Given Lin Ruo's attacking abilities, the pressure he will undoubtedly face is immense.

Therefore, Park Jung-hwan focused all his energy on helping the orphan.

In other words, we should try our best to help the pieces in other areas that are under attack to survive, form an effective shape, and avoid being destroyed on a large scale.

The attack in the upper right corner is based on this principle, and after Black made the first move, White took the lead in occupying the last large area in the middle right corner.

This is also a thorough implementation of the principle of caring for orphans.

However, he overlooked one thing from beginning to end: Lin Ruo only wanted to attack the lower left corner.

With this mindset, Lin Ruo found it laughable that White had gone to such lengths to secure a living group in the upper right corner.

The attack from the lower left is still ongoing, and the threat hasn't been completely eliminated yet. So why are they so focused on controlling the upper right, even going so far as to occupy a large area below to ensure their safety?

If you like taking it, then take it.

Lin Ruoke didn't care. The upper right corner was fine now, so she decided to continue wandering around where she was supposed to be.

The lower left is always the main point of attack, but the direction of attack does not necessarily have to be from above or directly inside.

Lin Ruo chose a feint, placing his finger at the lower right corner to create a threatening trend to the left.

White pressed down, and Black continued to probe with another move, leaving Park Jung-hwan feeling like he was haunted.

So they chose to forcefully grow it, but under Lin Ruo's light and effortless strike, the so-called growth did not play a significant role.

Then, Park Jung-hwan inevitably started to have a headache, and he didn't know which way to go.

After much deliberation, I decided to use force directly, and after the move, I forced a move to prevent Black from switching pieces.

Lin Ruo calmly placed her pieces in the corner, blocking while threatening the white pieces' weak points on the side.

White only then remembered to cut, but Black could also cut and block.

White moves longer, then Black moves longer still.

Park Jung-hwan was still thinking about making up for his move when Lin Ruo, without saying a word, forcefully captured two white stones in the corner.

The situation suddenly became clear: Black gained a huge amount of territory in the corner, while White was completely isolated in the lower right corner.

However, Park Jung-hwan did not appear to be in despair at this moment.

Even though Lin Ruo's moves were fluid and effortless, he still managed to find an opening.

Park Jung-hwan believes that exchanging the loss of the right side for this gap is perfectly acceptable.

No, it's not that I accept it, but rather that he clearly profits more.

The move that opens the gap is the 82nd move, which moves from the bottom to the left and places a piece in the 17th row of the second column, called "ban".

This piece is earth-shattering because it completely blocks the view of the black piece on the right.

Furthermore, the black stones on the bottom left side were already surrounded by white stones, and a sudden, unexpected break point on the right side prevented them from contacting for help. This blockade directly led to a situation where the black stones on this side were likely to have no way to retreat and were in a predicament where they would be slaughtered.

Such an exchange is by no means a loss for the White side.

Upon seeing this move, anyone who understands chess, even those watching on screen, couldn't help but be shocked.

This was an absolutely brilliant move, completely turning the tide of the entire situation.

"The bottom left corner is where White's large group of stones is located. If Black's stones are completely wiped out, then White's large group of stones will undoubtedly be very active and it will be difficult to stop its growth trend later on."

"This move was truly brilliant. As the number one Go player in Korea and even the world, Park Jung-hwan finally swept away the gloom and showed his own style with this move."

"So now the problem lies with Lin Ruochu. If the result is as described earlier, then the actual gains in the lower right corner seem rather insignificant."

"Once you suffer such a loss, it will be very difficult to recover it later."

Wild Fox's commentary went on to analyze the severity of the situation, almost explicitly stating that if the current circumstances were not handled properly, it could very well be fatal.

This may be Lin Ruo's worst moment in the game so far. Despite having a clear advantage in the lower right corner at the beginning, White made a move on the side, which cleverly combined with the subsequent move of Ban.

This amplifies the predicament in the lower left corner, thus affecting the overall situation.

Lin Ruo originally targeted the lower left corner, and his so-called attack on the lower right corner was also part of his plan to launch a large-scale attack.

However, Park Jung-hwan moved even faster.

No, it wasn't faster; it was simply that being in a favorable position gave him an advantage, and he was the first to find a way to break the deadlock.

Is Lin Gengxin about to break down all of a sudden? I thought he was being pretty aggressive.

[The layout in the lower left corner was somewhat neglected; the focus was solely on attacking from other directions. While losing a couple of units at the bottom isn't a big deal, being completely wiped out at once is quite frustrating.]

[It's definitely difficult to beat Park Jung-hwan. Once he gets back into form, he's terrifying. Otherwise, how could he have crushed Ke Jie?]

Just one question: Is there still a chance?

Listening to the terrible commentary, almost every viewer in the live stream wanted to ask, "Do you think there's still a chance?"
Lin Ruo's long pause for thought indicated that the current situation was indeed troubling him.

However, it's not entirely hopeless. At least he didn't end up like Park Jung-hwan in the previous round, sweating so much he couldn't even lift his head.

However, in the eyes of many prejudiced people, there was absolutely no chance, simply because of this move that could have completely wiped out the black stones in the lower left corner.

As seen in the Korean live stream broadcasting at the time, because Park Jung-hwan didn't gain any advantage at the start, the chat was almost entirely filled with pessimistic and critical comments.

However, after this step, the Korean commentator felt relieved and shouted excitedly.

"Nice! Ah, Park Jung-hwan, 9th Dan, did a great job! This move is enough to defy fate!"

Park Jung-hwan, 9-dan, finally unleashed his full potential today. After holding back for so long, he delivered a fatal blow. This move was truly divine; he reversed the situation from the brink of defeat.

This prompted Korean netizens to quickly change their tune, switching roles and starting to comment.

[Shiba, is he finally here? I thought we were going to lose again today.]

That was an amazing move! Park Jung-hwan, 9-dan, did a fantastic job.

[Is Black out of luck? Then give him a good beating! He got thrashed last game, so make sure Lin Ruo isn't laughing after the match, thank you.]

[Come on, our national team player! You just handed them a crushing defeat. These young players are the easiest to lose their composure. This crushing victory will put them out of the game for the rest of the matches.]

The outcome was no longer in doubt; they were even discussing how to use this game to create an early advantage for the third or even fourth round.

However, with a gasp from the Korean commentator, all the Korean viewers inevitably tensed up again.

The Korean commentator, who had just been extremely excited, looked at the action on the field and his smile faded considerably.

"Lin Ruo, a first-dan player, is thinking so fast? She's already picked up her stones and is about to make her move."

This doesn't follow the usual pattern.

Faced with such a life-or-death situation, it wouldn't be unreasonable to think for 20 minutes, but in the Korean commentator's memory, Lin Ruo only thought for less than 5 minutes.

It's not long at all.

So, thinking so quickly, is it because you can't think of a solution and have simply given up, or...?

...

From Lin Ruo's casual gaze, Park Jung-hwan gradually sensed something amiss.

He was already thinking about how to press his advantage, but after glancing at Lin Ruo, his gaze never left her.

Because the opponent's performance did not seem like that of someone in a major disadvantage; they were calm and composed, as if they were still proceeding at their own pace.

Why should that be?

At the very least, their expression should be serious.

Regardless of the outcome, just based on this mindset, Park Jung-hwan felt that the remaining rounds of the competition would only be more difficult, rather than a matter of crushing the opponent in one fell swoop.

However, in this game...

Park Jung-hwan was convinced that he would win and bring the situation back to a 1-1 tie.

Just then, the chessboard was finally set up, and the short thinking time completely heightened the attention of the entire audience.

Lin Ruo's move after careful consideration was to cut off the white stones blocking his path. However, it didn't seem like a particularly good move in terms of a single step.

As Park Jung-hwan watched, his tense heart relaxed considerably. It was wishful thinking to think he could turn the tide with just this one move. No wonder he had such a short time to think; he hadn't come up with anything useful at all.

As expected, White placed a stone nearby to target and capture the Black stones at the bottom.

Calmly observing the situation, Lin Ruo quickly took the next step she had devised.

Eat from above.

Park Jung-hwan only thought for a moment before making his move to capture and attack, further weakening the already severed connections between the black stones.

This further weakened Black's position. If Lin Ruo had been any slower, even if she had found a way to break the deadlock after a few moves, it wouldn't have made much difference.

Park Jung-hwan was almost certain of victory. All he had to do now was wait for Black's next move. As long as Black didn't make a positive move, the situation would likely settle down over time.

Nothing can stop a dragon that can fly freely from moving forward.

The situation has shifted back to Black's side, and Lin Ruo, preparing to make her move, calmly assesses the situation.

There is never a dead end in a game of chess, because this is still within the first hundred moves. A dead end only occurs when the opponent has not found the real winning move.

Although this game was indeed unsolvable at the beginning, it is impossible to solve it with just one move, but it is entirely possible to turn the tide with three moves.

The key is whether the other party notices it. Obviously, Park Jung-hwan did not notice the problem in the first two moves, nor did he know what he was trying to do.

Then Lin Ruo had no choice but to clearly show Park Jung-hwan what he was up to.

If you can make a brilliant move to turn the tide in chess, why can't I?

Sorry, I'm better at it.

Lin Ruo picked up a chess piece from the chess box, paused for a second on the top of the board, and then gently and slowly placed it on the chessboard. This was his eighty-seventh move, and the one that truly determined the outcome of the game.

Dig, dig in the center, dig relentlessly between two white stones poised at the top.

That digging by hand could be absolutely deadly.

As the sound of the chess piece hitting the board rang out, everyone held their breath. Park Jung-hwan, who was originally going to play according to the original plan, couldn't help but tightly grip the chess piece he had already picked up from the chess box.

He needs to think about this move.

(End of this chapter)