The world of film and television begins with Hikaru no Go

June 17th, the 8th LP Cup.

Zhang Rui, as a seeded player, directly entered the main tournament.

My first opponent was a Japanese player, Kobayashi Koichi 9-dan's disciple, Mizokami Tomochika 7-dan.

They are quite strong, but it depends on who they are compared to.

In this game, Zhang Rui played black.

The opening sequence is: Star, Small Eye, Three-Three.

Mizokami Tomochika had clearly studied Zhang Rui's recent game records and was much more cautious in his response than with his previous opponents.

But caution is necessary; the gap in ability cannot be bridged by attitude alone.

In the middle game, Zhang Rui played a move called "2-5 invasion" in his own black formation.

This move is considered "over the top" in traditional theory because Black's outer influence is too thick, and the second and fifth stones are easily surrounded, becoming isolated.

But Zhang Rui insisted on playing, and after playing, he did his job with ease.

Mizokami Tomochika stared at the chess piece, lost in deep thought.

He couldn't understand why, even though he felt he had various means to take down this piece, he just couldn't kill it.

Later, during the review of the game, he realized that Zhang Rui had laid the groundwork for all the living stones in the previous dozen or so moves.

Each step may seem random, but they are actually interconnected.

On the 161st move, Mizogami Tomoaki resigned.

On June 19, in the second round of the LP Cup main tournament, Zhang Rui faced Xu Hou.

Xu Hou has been doing quite well lately, successfully advancing to the fifth dan, and his results in other major competitions have also been decent.

Furthermore, he was facing what he considered his "arch-nemesis," so he played extremely hard, engaging in fierce combat from the very beginning, attempting to use brute force to counter Zhang Rui.

But Zhang Rui's response was flawless; the white pieces were like a wall, and no matter how the black pieces tried to break through, they couldn't.

In the middle game, Xu Hou played a move called "cutting," attempting to forcibly sever the connection between the white stones.

Zhang Rui directly countered by cutting off the black stones, rendering the black's attack futile, and even captured two of the black's key stones.

Xu Hou looked at the two seeds that had been eaten, his heart bleeding.

But he also knew that the game was over.

On the 103rd move, he resigned.

Meanwhile, in a conference room at the chess academy, several veteran chess players gathered together, with Zhang Rui's recent games laid out in front of them.

Kuwabara sat in the main seat, holding a folding fan, and gently tilted the tabletop: "You've all seen it, haven't you?"

"I watched them all." Zhao Bingfeng nodded. "From the Fujitsu Cup to the LP Cup, I watched every single one."

"What are your thoughts?"

Zhao Bingfeng was silent for a moment, then said, "I don't understand."

Kuwabara smiled and said, "Can't understand it again?"

"It's not that his chess is so profound that I can't understand it; it's that I don't know why he plays those moves. Each move, viewed individually, seems strange, even illogical. But when combined, they are simply unstoppable."

"That's what makes Zhang Ruiliu so terrifying." Kuwabara closed his folding fan and pointed to a section of the board. "Look here, White's 87th move is a reverse cut. It's really outrageous. I feel even Xu Hou, a 5-dan player, was stunned when he saw it, because Black could have easily created a ko here."

"But White has ko threats."

"Yes, but the use of that ko threat needs to be calculated after thirty moves. And in those thirty moves, Black has at least three options." Kuwabara paused, "It feels like Zhang Rui 9-dan had already calculated all the options before making his move."

A few seconds of silence followed. Lin Li, a ninth-level martial artist, muttered to himself, "Is this kind of computational power... really something a human could achieve?"

"He has done it."

Everyone fell silent.

Kuwabara walked to the window and looked at the street outside: "I'm getting more and more curious. How does Zhang Rui, a 9-dan player, practice Go? How did he develop such terrifying calculation ability?"

The setting sun outside the window dyed the horizon orange-red, and several birds flew across the sky, leaving behind a string of clear chirps.

"Regardless, it's a good thing that the Chinese Go world has such a genius." Kuwabara turned around, returned to his seat, and picked up a Go stone. "But we old guys can't let the younger generation look down on us, can we?"

As they were talking, a white piece was placed on the chessboard, making a crisp sound.

Let's continue setting up the game.

In July, Fangyuan City entered the hot summer.

The air conditioning in the dojo was on from morning till night, but the classroom was still filled with a stuffy, hot atmosphere.

The trainees, dressed in shorts and short-sleeved shirts, sat in front of the chessboard, sweat streaming down their faces.

The countdown to the professional ranking tournament has begun. Ban Heng hung a sign in front of the game room, which read out how many days were left until the tournament.

Every day, the numbers decrease, and the trainees' anxiety increases.

Time sat in the corner, a chessboard in front of him, his brow furrowed.

"No, this isn't right."

He muttered to himself as he picked up the chess piece he had just placed and put it in another position.

Chu Yingpiao stood beside him, saying nothing, simply watching quietly.

After several months of systematic training, Shiguang's chess skills have made significant progress.

Although there is still some gap compared to the top-ranked students in Group 1, at least he is no longer the newbie who couldn't even figure out the basic stances when he first came to the dojo.

"Chu Ying, look here." Shi Guang pointed to a section of the chessboard. "If I cut here, would that be valid?"

Chu Ying looked at it and shook his head: "No, White has a support here. If you cut in, both of your pieces will be dead."

"What if I prick you here first?"

"That's fine."

Time nodded, rearranged the chair as instructed, and then leaned back in satisfaction.

"Not bad, at least there's been progress."

"There has been considerable progress," Chu Ying said with a smile, "but we are still far from achieving a high level."

"I know." Shi Guang stood up, stretching his stiff body. "So, aren't I trying?"

At the doorway, Zhang Rui lay on a recliner, facing the air conditioner, a magazine covering his face, seemingly asleep.

Shi Guang looked at that figure and remained silent for a moment: "Chu Ying."

"Um?"

"What does my brother do every day?"

Chu Ying thought for a moment: "After returning from the competition, it seems like he's either sleeping or watching TV dramas..."

"That's all?"

That's all.

Shi Guang frowned: "Doesn't he practice chess at all?"

"I don't know, I've never seen it."

On July 7, Zhang Rui faced off against South Korean player Cho Hun-hyun in the Fujitsu Cup final.

The Fujitsu Cup is a single-elimination tournament, with each match determining the winner.

Zhang Rui, playing white, won in the middle game.

After the match, reporters surrounded him, shoving microphones and recorders in his face.

"Congratulations Zhang Rui 9-dan on winning the championship again! This is your ninth world title. How do you feel right now?"

Zhang Rui looked at the blinding flashes of light and remained silent for two seconds: "Not bad."

Are you satisfied with your performance?

"good."

What are your plans for the future?

"rest."

The reporters exchanged glances, but they were all used to it, and no one pressed for further questions.

That's how Zhang Rui, a 9-dan player, is; he never answers more than ten words in interviews.

Back in his hotel room, Zhang Rui closed the door, sat on the bed, and opened the system panel.

Main Quest: Complete 4000 Go games (4000/4000)