The world of film and television begins with Hikaru no Go

Chapter 33 The Divine Move?

The chessboard became increasingly complex. Zhang Rui's black pieces were cut into two pieces by Yu Xiaoyang's invasion, and the black piece in the center became an isolated piece.

The AI's blue marker is flashing—first capture that white stone that's broken across the perimeter.

Zhang Rui did as instructed and ate it.

But Yu Xiaoyang's next move once again surprised everyone.

White doesn't reinforce the cut or save the stone, and ignores the move – the lower right corner, 3-3.

Yes, Yu Xiaoyang used Zhang Rui's trick and drew a three-three.

In the spectator room, Xu Hou almost fell off his chair.

"He—Teacher Yu, is he teaching 33?"

Fang Xu opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything for a long time.

Using Zhang Rui's methods against Zhang Rui is "fighting fire with fire."

But Zhang Rui's 33 is backed by precise calculations, while Yu Xiaoyang's 33 relies on what?

Intuition? Experience? Or something beyond calculation?

Kuwabara stared at the screen, his eyes narrowed into slits: "Interesting! Really interesting!"

Inside the game room, the blue marker in Zhang Rui's field of vision disappeared again.

This time it wasn't three seconds.

It's seven seconds.

Zhang Rui sat there, his fingers hovering above the chessboard, motionless.

Yu Xiaoyang's gaze fell upon him from the opposite side, not as a provocation, nor as an expectation, but simply as a stare—as if to say: Did you see that? This is the essence of Go.

Zhang Rui's mind went blank; he couldn't understand the situation on the chessboard.

White's move at the 3-3 point is considered a "bad move" in traditional Go theory—Black's outside influence is solid, and moving in there would be tantamount to suicide.

But Yu Xiaoyang made the decision, and after he did, the rhythm of the entire chessboard changed.

Half of the black stones in the lower right corner were hollowed out; the isolated stones in the center were in even greater danger; and Yu Xiaoyang's influence on the left side suddenly changed from "thin" to "thick".

How did all this happen?

Zhang Rui didn't know.

Seven seconds later, the blue marker reappeared, pointing to the isolated piece in the center.

Zhang Rui placed a black piece.

AI is AI after all; once the blue marker returned, it never disappeared again.

Following instructions, Zhang Rui gradually recovered lost territory.

Black has made its isolated group of stones in the center live. Although half of its territory in the lower right corner has been captured, Black has gained compensation on the outside, and the point difference is gradually narrowing.

Yu Xiaoyang's offensive began to weaken.

It's not that he doesn't want to attack anymore, but that the "seeing" is no longer sustainable.

The moment he crossed the line and made the point at point 33, he had captured something at a certain instant—but that kind of thing isn't always available.

Once the time limit has passed, the rest still requires calculation.

Computation is the domain of AI.

On move 131, Zhang Rui placed a black piece – a sharp one.

This move strikes right at the heart of White's central territory.

Yu Xiaoyang began to think deeply, calculating many possible scenarios, and each one pointed to the same result—the middle part of the body could not be held.

They were not killed, but annihilated.

After circling for a long time, only a few pieces remained.

Not enough. Even including the points, we're still short three and a half points.

Yu Xiaoyang closed his eyes, sighed deeply, and put the white piece back into the chess basket.

"I lost."

There was a few seconds of silence in the game room.

Zhang Rui stood up and bowed slightly.

Yu Xiaoyang stood up and returned the greeting.

Then he smiled.

It wasn't a bitter smile, nor was it self-deprecation; it was a genuine, heartfelt laugh.

It's like someone on a long journey finally seeing a beautiful view—not the end, but the beauty of that moment is enough to make them feel that the trip was worthwhile.

"Thanks."

Zhang Rui was taken aback for a moment: "Thank me for what?"

"Thank you for not going easy on me."

Zhang Rui didn't say anything, turned around, and walked out of the game room.

In the corridor, reporters swarmed forward, flashes went off everywhere, and microphones and recorders were thrust out in a rush.

"Zhang Rui 9-dan! Congratulations on winning the LP Cup! This is your tenth world championship. Could you talk about it?"

"Zhang Rui, 9-dan! Coach Yu Xiaoyang's performance today was completely different from the first two games. What do you think?"

"Zhang Rui, 9-dan! The third game was much more intense than the first two. Did you feel the pressure?!"

Zhang Rui didn't stop, ignoring the reporters who squeezed in front of him, and walked straight away.

The crowd gradually dispersed from the viewing room.

Kuwabara didn't leave; he was alone, staring at the chessboard.

Fang Xu walked over: "Old Sang, what's your opinion on this game of chess?"

After a long silence, Sang Yuan finally spoke: "This game of chess is the best game Yu Xiaoyang has ever played in his life."

"But the teacher still lost."

"So what if he lost?" Kuwabara turned his head. "He found something that could stand against 'invincibility.' Although it only existed for a short while, he found it."

Fang Xu fell silent.

"Your teacher isn't playing chess with Zhang Rui today; he's playing chess with the word 'impossible.'"

"And the result?"

Kuwabara stood up and picked up his folding fan: "The result is—the word 'impossible' has been torn open today."

Fangyuan City, the Yijianghu Dojo.

The TV in the match room was still on, displaying the words "16th LP Cup, Zhang Rui defeats Yu Xiaoyang 3:0".

Time sat in the chair, staring at the screen, motionless.

Chu Yingpiao stood beside him, without saying a word.

"Chu Ying".

"Um."

"Did you understand Yu Xiaoyang's move—the cross-cut followed by the 3-3 point—?"

Chu Ying paused for a moment, then said, "I understand."

"What do you mean?"

"At that moment, Yu Xiaoyang may have seen the 'chess game'."

"We saw the chess pieces? Haven't we been watching the chess pieces the whole time?"

"It's different. We look at the pieces on the board, he looks at the 'chess pieces' on the board. The pieces are dead, but the liberties are alive. He seized the liberties and then played those pieces in one go."

Shi Guang thought about it for a while, and seemed to understand but not quite.

"So... this is the divine touch you've been searching for?"

Yes and no.

"What do you mean?"

"Yu Xiaoyang's move might have been a divine move, but it only lasted for a moment."

"In an instant?"

"Hmm. He seized the opportunity, made his move, and then—that was it." Chu Ying looked out at the night sky. "If he could have held onto that moment, if he could have made those moves repeatedly, Zhang Rui might have been the one to lose today."

Shi Guang was stunned: "So what you're looking for..."

"What I'm looking for isn't a fleeting shooting star, but an eternal star."

"But does such a thing really exist?"

Chu Ying remained silent for a long time: "I don't know, but I believe he exists."

Time bowed its head, looking at the scattered chess pieces on the chessboard.

"Chu Ying".

"Um."

"If I can occasionally flash that kind of brilliance when playing chess in the future, I will be content."

Chu Ying looked at him gently: "You will."

"Why are you so sure?"

"Because you are time."

Time opened its mouth, wanting to refute, but swallowed the words back, lowered its head, and looked at its hands.