The Way of the Blind Girl Chess Saint

"It's finally about to begin, the first all-out match of the Chess Saint Tournament."

Staring at the two on the screen, Ji Yingting was a little curious about Ji Xuehuang's strange single-finger movement of the chess pieces. It seemed that she had learned something from her chess moves, but she was slightly taken aback when she saw Xiao An.

"This child... has actually fallen asleep?"

The chess match of the Chess Saint was extremely complex, beyond Xiao An's comprehension. Her tired mind received such complex information that it was forced into a dormant state.

Ji Yingting draped the cotton-padded jacket over Bai Chang'an, covering her soft, long, black hair.

Winter is almost here, a year has passed, and she has now been promoted to professional fourth dan.

Ji Yingting silently sat down next to Xiao An. If he wanted to reach the pinnacle of the professional Go world, there would be countless winters to endure in the future.

"Unfortunately, I don't have the opportunity to play against a player of Feng Kuangyu's caliber right now. Even if I win the Three Lives Cup, there's still a long way to go."

"…………"

"Ah? Um..."

As night approached, Bai Chang'an groggily raised his head, feeling extremely uncomfortable with a dry mouth and throat, and the outside world had become pitch black.

"Huh?! Did I fall asleep?!" Bai Chang'an hurriedly stood up. She was so tired that she even experienced a slight loss of consciousness. She remembered watching the Chess Saint Tournament. How did it suddenly become night?

Ji Yingting was lying on the sofa playing on her phone. "Awake? There's takeout in the lobby."

"Sakuraba-nee!! I'm sorry, I think I fell asleep."

Ji Yingting gently shook her head. "You don't need to get up early tomorrow either. Let's rest for another day."

"Hmm... By the way, how did the Chess Saint Tournament go?" Bai Chang'an stuck out his little tongue. It seemed that Sakuraba-nee wasn't angry.

"Feng Kuangyu, 9-dan, playing white, won by half a point, forcing the game into the final round."

"Huh!? She actually managed to beat the Go master?"

Xiao An sighed inwardly, lamenting the unpredictability of life, but this result couldn't be considered an accident. After all, everyone regarded Feng Kuangyu as the player closest to becoming a chess saint, so winning a game was to be expected.

Since the Kisei (Kisei) didn't win by a margin, the final match will have to be postponed until next month. For the sake of both players in the Kisei match, they need a break every two rounds until they are both physically and mentally fit before they can play again; this is the same for title matches.

After resting for two days, Bai Chang'an resumed her chess training. Her mental state had clearly improved a lot, and before she knew it, her chess games with Ji Yingting were becoming more and more impressive...

However, as the date of the professional exam drew ever closer, from more than a month to the twentieth day, Bai Chang'an's progress remained extremely limited.

She was also a little anxious, after all, the people who are least likely to notice a chess player's growth are themselves.

Everyone wants to transform, to achieve a qualitative change, but improving one's chess skills isn't something that can be done easily. Just like An Ruotong in the past, before she understood her own limitations, no one could help her.

*Smack!* During the debriefing, Ji Yingting tapped Xiao An on the head with a small fan, angrily saying, "You made a move again without careful consideration! Have you forgotten how you lost the day before yesterday?! Compared to a long deliberation, making a move involves much more risk. Don't make a move if you haven't calculated all the possible scenarios."

"Waaah~ I know I was wrong."

"And here, even after I chased them down three times, they still haven't learned their lesson. In Go, managing isolated groups is of paramount importance. Professional players would rather give up a 20-point or more side expansion than compromise their group's survival. Amateur players just don't understand this concept!"

Ji Yingting was genuinely angry. Many amateur Go players often leave a game unfinished halfway through, thinking that a certain group of stones could live and then ignoring it. Even if they could live, they would be attacked and forced to flee in panic, or even gain a huge advantage in points.

Sometimes, killing a piece isn't about actually killing it, but about gaining points by attacking the opponent or strengthening the defensive formation. She really hoped that Xiao An would pay attention to this.

In professional exams, she will not be allowed to make even the slightest mistake, especially when facing a powerful enemy.

..............

The chess academy has been open for half a month, and many passersby have come to inquire out of curiosity. They wanted to send their children to learn chess, but after learning that it was a chess academy specifically for professional chess players, they gave up the idea.

It looks like a nice place, what a pity... Professional Go players are very rare. There are many Go academies in downtown Yongyue City, but almost no professional Go players. Many of them are just Go hobby classes like children's palaces.

In the final ten days, all the players who had registered for the professional exam were preparing with all their might, seeking out strong players for individual training or joining semi-professional training centers.

At the same time, Ji Yingting also asked Shang Gongying to find complete information and received a list of professional examinees from the Crescent Moon Chess Academy.

Bai Yongye, Lü Binghu (who won all the provincial competitions), and Luo Qiu'er (the senior sister) – the three strongest members of Group A in the semi-professional dojo have all registered for this exam.

Also included is Luo Xinglu, who has just joined the semi-professional dojo, and six other members of Group A.

Qin Hanyue, who also had a perfect record and came in second place in the provincial competition, also registered. Besides her, there's Xin Yufei from Qingcha Academy; they are all very promising candidates to become professional Go players. And then there's Ma Gongling, who has already graduated from a semi-professional Go academy…

"Ji Yingting, the Crescent Moon Chess Academy would like to ask you to be the referee for their professional chess exam."

"Huh? Wasn't it originally supposed to be you who took the position?" Ji Yingting asked curiously.

"For various reasons, I angered Dean Chu... Sakura, I'll have to trouble you this time." Shang Gongying's voice was somewhat apologetic. She couldn't say it was Ji Sakura's fault, and besides, she herself wasn't particularly concerned about whether she could serve as a referee.

"Yes, I will seriously consider it."

After hanging up the phone, Ji Yingting looked at Xiao An, who was studying a life-and-death problem.

With her long, pure black hair reaching her waist, the petite girl was completely baffled by the extremely difficult "Continuous Cherry Blossom" life-or-death puzzle.

"Little Dark, that's enough for now."

"Huh? Is today a holiday?"

Xiao An asked bitterly. Although she also wanted to rest, if things continued like this, all her efforts would be in vain in the professional exam.

"Yes, you played very well in yesterday's game. Your chess skills have almost reached their limit; you're now considered a top-tier amateur player. In the short term, this kind of training won't be very effective anymore. You need to focus on real games. I'll find some professional players... Don't worry, playing chess is much easier than solving life-and-death problems and studying game records. They'll play instructional games with you."

"........."

Hearing that she would finally no longer have to do life-and-death problems, Xiao An breathed a sigh of relief.

If you could actually set up a chessboard, that would be fine, but just thinking about it like this... you'd be lucky to solve one life-and-death problem correctly in half an hour.

During this time, she finally understood the pain of those players who joined the chess academy from a young age and did life-and-death problems every day. Xiao An returned to her room to rest, but Ji Yingting stared at her back for a long time without saying a word.

"Although there's nothing we can do... unfortunately, her skill level is still far from that of a professional player. If all else fails, will we have to wait until next year?"

Ji Yingting shook her head in disappointment; she had originally thought highly of Xiao An.

Xiao An is far from reaching her true limit. As long as she doesn't break through that barrier, she will never be able to enter the professional field. Perhaps her expectations for Xiao An were too high.

But no... I can't give up yet!

Ji Yingting shook her head, tossing her long, light green hair. Even Xiao An herself hadn't given up. She washed her hair back to black as she wished and joined the Moon Demon Palace to learn chess from him.

More like a younger sister than a student.

If Ji Yingting can't help Xiao An surpass her sister in this professional exam, she will also be sad, watching helplessly as Xiao An's level becomes higher and higher, and more and more comprehensive.

and many more……

Ji Yingting's pale green eyes narrowed slightly as she recalled Xiao An's chess learning process. Suddenly, she remembered something strange.

Because the two played against each other twice a day, she was extremely familiar with Xiao An's moves.

Shiro is incredibly aggressive; his desire to capture pieces is no less than his thirst for victory. Sometimes he would rather lose than let his opponent capture a group of pieces.

Under his tutelage, Xiao An's strength grew stronger and stronger, and his killing techniques also improved. He kept solving life-and-death problems in order to improve this.

but……

During the twenty-day game, Xiao An would make more brilliant moves when forced to defend than when attacking.

Yesterday, despite her strong offensive, Xiao Anzhi Bai only seemed to lose by six and a half points... Her layout and endgame were surprisingly delicate and meticulous.

Was it a coincidence? Was it just a chance encounter?

She doesn't want to manage isolated pieces; she only wants to attack! Could it be that she's actually more talented at defense than offense?

Was it simply because her preferences buried all of this, and her true talent was hidden away?

How is that possible?!

Despite finding it hard to believe, Ji Yingting quickly opened the chess box and laid out the ten games they had recently played on the chessboard.

really……

Chapter 510: Professional Examination - Lottery

New Moon Chess Academy, even though Ji Yingting had just ordered chessboards from here not long ago.

Today, she has come here again, as a professional chess player. After a year, she has come to the professional examination site once again, this time as a referee.

There were significantly more people at the Crescent Moon Chess Academy today than usual, and some of the younger players were even brought by their parents.

"Xiao An, go find your room first. It's on the basement level of the chess academy."

Bringing the black-haired girl to the chess academy, Ji Yingting patted her little head.

This time... the chess rooms for Group A and Group B are much closer together, both being held underground, and the dormitories are also located in the underground area, so that the players are slightly closer to the chess venue.

"Referee for Group A, Ji Yingting"

"Referee for Group B, An Ruotong"

In the conference room, a girl with black hair and red eyes sat next to Ji Yingting, flipping through the list of members who would be taking the exam.

The Crescent Moon Chess Academy originally wanted to find Hua Shenxi, who had a perfect record in Group B last year, to serve as the referee for Group B. Unfortunately, Xiao Xi's performance this year was not good, so they found An Ruotong, who had already been promoted to professional 3-dan.

"Xiaotong, do you know who's the strongest among us?"

"No... I haven't paid attention to these things for a long time since I became a professional Go player."

The black-haired girl shook her head. However... this year's level should be stronger than last year's, and the group distribution should be more balanced. Last year... the average level of Group B was too weak, almost enough to guarantee a professional player.

Even without Ji Hongying's guidance, An Ruotong would most likely become a professional Go player, but... so what? A Go player who has reached a bottleneck in their skill level cannot make any waves in the professional Go world.

Not to mention Hua Shenxi this year, even Cui Jinlie from Group A has not achieved any results yet, and has not even made it into the Sansheng Cup.

Time was running out, and the two walked into the lobby outside the conference room. The lobby, with its diamond-shaped structure, was surrounded by crystal pillars and was quite a beautiful facility.

This year, there are not only elites from semi-professional dojos, but also geniuses from small families, as well as many new generation amateur 5th dans and newcomers taking the professional exam for the first time.

only……

Looking at the two girls in front of them, many people felt a surge of emotion. They had also taken the professional exam last year and had, of course, played against the two referees this year.

One by one, the candidates entered the hall, their expressions ranging from solemn to expectant, and... indifferent.

Many players who experienced setbacks last year are now highly anticipated this year.

A cute girl with long white hair styled in a hee cut and sapphire blue eyes, Luo Qiu'er is the senior disciple of the semi-professional dojo.

In addition, there was a girl wearing a light blue Taoist robe, whose waist-length black hair and petite figure attracted the attention of everyone present.

"Huh? Isn't she wearing the uniform of the Qingchayuan tea house...?"