LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 575 You're not tough enough.

Park Jung-hwan held several chess pieces in his hand.

Lin Ruo calmly placed the chess piece she had picked up onto the chessboard.

Two, an even number!
Seeing this, Park Jung-hwan was suddenly a little dumbfounded for some reason.

Why are there two? He clearly remembered that Lin Ruo's habit was to always only pick one piece from the chessboard, no matter where she was.
Why did I only catch two today?

He felt he had been deceived, but there was no clear evidence.

Normally, the person who guesses correctly gets to play black first, but Park Jung-hwan planned to play white, so he drew an odd number of pieces from the box, following Lin Ruo's idea of ​​only drawing one piece at a time.

The purpose was to let Lin Ruo play black, so that he could play white.

Actually, the night before the match, Park Jung-hwan had done a lot of research on Lin Ruo because of her unwavering habit of guessing the first piece.

What he studied was how the white side could make better moves to leverage its advantages.

He thought a lot about it and at least made some progress.

But who could have imagined that Lin Ruo, who had always placed only one stone since her debut in Go competitions, would suddenly stop playing like that?

Park Jung-hwan now seriously suspects that Lin Ruo has installed surveillance cameras in his room, otherwise why would she change her habits at this crucial moment?

He couldn't figure it out.

But now a problem arises: Lin Ruo has an even number of pieces in her hand, while Park Jung-hwan has five pieces on the board when he opens his tightly closed palm, which is an odd number.

The two sides are not equal.

Lin Ruo guessed wrong, so Park Jung-hwan got the right to play black first.

"This is really black," Park Jung-hwan shook his head, feeling a surge of despair.

Lin Ruo also noticed that Park Jung-hwan's expression seemed a little unpleasant, but he didn't think much of it.

As for why she suddenly grabbed two chess pieces, Lin Ruo never had any other thoughts.

If I'm tired of grabbing one, can't I just grab two now?

People always grow up; Lin Ruo simply felt that it was more interesting to grab a couple of them now.

Unaware of this, Park Jung-hwan still believed that Lin Ruo had deliberately tricked him, which fueled his desire for revenge.

At worst, we can just forget about what we did last night. Yes, let's just pretend we didn't do anything at all last night.

Now he must focus all his efforts on launching an offensive from the black side to win this must-win game.

Even though I have a better chance of winning as white, why can't I win as black?
Of course! I'm going to be a complete and utter hater.

As the clock began to tick, the epic battle, which had already begun in the round of 16, officially kicked off with countless viewers in live broadcast rooms in China and South Korea, as well as on-site media.

Both sides tacitly adopted the strategy of setting up two stars at the start.

Black occupies the upper and lower right sides of the board, while White holds a watchful position on the left side.

Then, on the fifth move, Park Jung-hwan immediately started playing the 3-3 point in the lower left corner.

Without much thought, Lin Ruo went to block, placing three small pieces in front of the black pieces. After a brief test of skill, the two sides separated.

On the tenth move, Lin Ruo manipulated the white pieces to switch from defense to offense, moving to the bottom right area to imitate the corner attack and threaten the star point.

At this point, Park Jung-hwan has a lot of options. He can choose to defend the corner above his own black stones, or he can choose to clamp down next to the white stones.

Not wanting to fall into a disadvantageous position, Park Jung-hwan thought for a moment and chose to flank the situation, trying to pull things towards chaos.

Lin Ruo, who still favored flexible offense, did not respond with a counterattack in this local area, but instead shifted her focus to the upper right.

Well, I'm also planning to try a 3-3 hand, mainly focusing on symmetry with the lower left corner.

That's how calm my mindset is.

However, after four moves, when Black made that flying move, White chose to push, and the two sides no longer had to calculate three points on the top, but instead formed the Mi Dao joseki formation.

Park Jung-hwan doesn't want to play anymore.

He responded forcefully with a black move to the 3-3 point on the star point, which was a flying move, thus forcing both sides into a fierce battle in the opening stage.

As a skill that revolves around corner-based combat, the Mi Dao (芈刀) has complex and varied patterns that can easily lead to chaos throughout the game, making it an ideal choice for causing trouble.

This is also one of the major changes to traditional chess games since the emergence of AI.

Lin Ruo's choice to use a proxy is tantamount to saying, "Come on, bring it on."

If I back down, I'll change my surname to Lin.

After all, when White pushes, Black's move is most likely to trigger a ko fight.

"Both sides are playing a very intense game."

At this moment, in the FoxGo livestream room, the Go commentator was also a little shocked when he saw Mi Dao's playing style emerge.

The Mi Dao opening pattern didn't appear very early, as it only truly emerged this year and was popularized with the help of AI. The person who created this style of play is the Chinese Go player Mi Yuting, which is why the concept of the Mi Dao opening pattern exists.

But actually, although it has been out for a while.

The Mi Dao stance is still not widely used in professional matches.

The reason is that this pattern is too complex and too risky, so its usability is relatively low, but now it has appeared in this kind of top-level game.

Sure enough, the more capable a person is, the bolder they are.

However, from the perspective of supporting Chinese players, the commentator thought this was a very good omen, because Lin Ruo's forte is attacking back and forth, otherwise he wouldn't have made that move.

So isn't Park Jung-hwan's move basically like offering himself up for the taking? That's great!

Moreover, as a top-level Go player, Park Jung-hwan's choice to play such a risky move as the Mi Dao move is tantamount to taking a gamble.

What does this tell us?
Isn't it just that Park Jung-hwan has a problem with his mentality? Or perhaps he doesn't believe he can beat Lin Ruo in a normal match, which is why he took this unconventional approach.

Whatever the situation, it's a good thing.

Anyway, if you play like this, Park Jung-hwan either kills quickly or collapses quickly. Today's match is destined not to be a protracted battle.

If you're not going to fight a protracted battle, then Lin Ruoke is good at leaving get off work at lightning speed.

On the chessboard.

The two sides then played a few rounds back and forth using the standard routine, and on the twenty-seventh move, Park Jung-hwan's move once again changed the situation.

Perhaps he felt the situation was acceptable, or perhaps Park Jung-hwan was a bit scared and thought that he would definitely suffer if things continued, so he chose to stick to it.

Paste in column 16, row 15.

This gesture represents both simplification and tranquility.

He didn't want to escalate the Mi Dao opening into something more complicated. If he still wanted to continue the struggle here, he could have made a move when White played the opening earlier.

However, Park Jung-hwan did not, but instead chose the gentler stickiness.

Lin Ruo also cooperated by setting up a move, forming the most standard Mi Dao stance that did not become more complicated afterward.

Park Jung-hwan then planned to capture stones on the top, aiming to build a strong position on the right and gain a significant advantage. He continued to play horizontally, further solidifying his position and increasing the pressure on White.

In that case, Lin Ruo cannot escape first, because if she does, she will be easily taken advantage of.

This can be considered a variation of Park Jung-hwan's signature move in the Mi Dao style, because at this stage, sticking is no longer part of the signature move, and flying is the most appropriate.

Even AI, at this point, would actually suggest going down to the open area on the outskirts and flying around.

However, Park Jung-hwan had his own ideas; he wanted to stick it on.

What is being prevented is Lin Ruo's move to leave the board first, because if it is a regular move, it is not good for Black to have a good position on the top side if White leaves the board first.

The move of the pasti stone, on the contrary, temporarily restricts White's movement space.

However, as far as Lin Ruo was concerned, Park Jung-hwan was clearly being too self-important.

I wasn't planning on taking my leave. You didn't think I was going to run away just because I gave you a break.

How is that possible.

Lin Ruo, who had no intention of retreating, continued to grow, expanding horizontally towards the middle.

What awaits him is the relentless pursuit and follow-up from the black pieces.

And then.

Lin Ruo definitely won't extend any further; any further extension would be developing in line with Black's plan. If Park Jung-hwan knows to make a move on top to coordinate, then it would truly be a so-called encirclement and annihilation.

So instead of letting him dismantle it, I'd rather I just go up there and make a move near the top.

Even if Black is preparing to open a move below to capture the four White stones that are stuck together, Lin Ruo still has a way to jump out and connect with this move.

It won't be easy for Park Jung-hwan to eat him.

Conversely, if things really go according to Lin Ruo's plan, resulting in a localized battle, Park Jung-hwan, who focuses more on building up his strength on the outside, will find his inside killing moves insufficient.

Then the white pieces will instantly stand up.

So after White made his move, Park Jung-hwan, who knew perfectly well, didn't dare to move or capture any pieces. All he could do was follow up and press down, placing his piece on White's lower side.

He pressed his face against hers, continuing to intimidate her, telling her not to make any small movements, as he would be watching her every moment.

Next, Lin Ruo followed the momentum and waited for Black to extend before immediately pressing down to create space for a jump.

He moves one space further than he should have, creating a gap to face his opponent and protect the piece that is stuck to him.

Park Jung-hwan saw that the best option was to continue building up his position, maintaining a strong defensive line on the periphery.

Then, after White followed up by extending its territory to fill the gap, it pressed forward again.

When the two of them still didn't make any transformative moves in their next two steps, the so-called Mi Dao stance was completely finished, because it was already set at that moment.

This is another reason why the Mi Dao stance is not popular in professional matches.

Because if the offensive exchanges don't escalate, this pattern will reverse and present a very boring rhythm.

You take a step, I take a step, we just need to move the pieces on the chessboard.

This is also what Lin Ruo can't understand. In fact, the reason why a fight didn't break out was precisely because of Park Jung-hwan's previous move of playing it safe and sticking to the side.

If not, by this time the fighting would have already raged on.

Park Jung-hwan did not do that, which has led to the rather boring situation we see today.

"We didn't see any real fighting, which is a bit of a shame. Park Jung-hwan was a little conservative in a few moves and didn't meet the requirements of this routine."

In the Wild Fox live stream, the Go commentator was also a bit puzzled. Park Jung-hwan, you made those moves, why did you have to slow down in the middle? It's really a bit contradictory.

After all, you're the one on the offensive. If you don't attack yourself, you can't expect Lin Ruo to take over the baton and attack.

But okay.

Park Jung-hwan did gain a certain advantage in this way, and he also created a problem for Lin Ruo.

Regardless of whether this issue exists or not, it doesn't stop many viewers who understand Go from criticizing the game in the live stream.

[Damn it, I've been waiting for this for so long, and you two just stopped there?]

[Park Jung-hwan is such a coward. He started the game and then just quietly ended it. His buddy was already raising his baton, how could he possibly take it down himself?]

[From now on, he can no longer be called South Korea's number one person; he should be called South Korea's number one coward.]

[After all that planning, is it all just to gain such a tiny, conservative advantage? Do you think that's fair to this established pattern?]

This is ridiculous! Seriously, this is ridiculous! Have some decency, Mr. Park! I thought you were all set, but you went soft faster than anyone else at the crucial moment.

[It's really funny. It's not as good as Lin Gengxin's attack in the Mengbaihe Cup final. He could attack whenever he wanted and he couldn't fight back at all throughout the whole game.]

……

At this moment, Park Jung-hwan was sitting calmly drinking water. He admitted that this was indeed a bit too conservative.

However, the process of his journey is not important at all, as long as the result is good.

At least I have an advantage, although this advantage may be a little insignificant, but it is still better than the last time I faced Lin Ruo.

Park Jung-hwan felt that it was already very good.

His advantage now lies in the fact that White needs to disrupt Black's formation on the right side.

The fact that his black stones are all placed on the bottom perimeter makes it a formidable threat. If he can coordinate with the bottom, the threat level will be obvious.

At this point, the simplest idea for a player to disrupt the formation is usually to move to the bottom corner.

If I just go and target those few weak black stones at the bottom, wouldn't it be much easier to break their formation?

But this is not the case.

Lin Ruo, who can read ten lines at a glance, doesn't think playing to the corner is effective at all, because it gives Black too much space, and Park Jung-hwan will follow suit.

You asked him to fill it in?
He can continue building defensive formations below.

Therefore, Lin Ruo's idea was to first attack the higher-ups, and then create space for himself to advance. This was the best approach, bar none.
Therefore, Lin Ruo decided to decisively aim at a point and shoot. In his opinion, as long as he found the right direction, this problem was not a problem at all. You don't think that forcing me to take action is an advantage, do you? You're overthinking it.

The seventeenth column and tenth row.

This is the spot Lin Ruo found to make his move. It's not far from the cluster of black stones above, perfectly creating a position to disrupt the shape of the stones.

The real key to this disruption lies in my aiming to cut off your cluster of black stones in the next move.

In other words, if Park Jung-hwan dares to come down and prevent me from continuing my attack, then I will use this as a basis to cut off the attack.

If you dare to drive me away, I'll demolish your house.

Therefore, Park Jung-hwan dared not make any aggressive moves to attack this very close white stone. All he could do now was to reinforce and defend a little.

The move in the 16th column, 11th row is good. Adding a tiger's mouth move here and continuing to solidify one's shape is what Park Jung-hwan believes is the best course of action.

(End of this chapter)