The Way of the Blind Girl Chess Saint

Snap... Just a few seconds later, although Niu Xiaochai kept her eyes on the chessboard, she didn't seem to think much as her right hand quickly placed a chess piece.

! ! ! ! ! !

Ji Yingting's purple starry eyes opened slightly. If her previous move had surprised Ji Yingting, then Niu Xiaochai's move... was enough to shock Ji Yingting.

Two-way jump...?

Is she... really a professional Go player?

Ji Yingting thought about it for a long time but couldn't find the brilliance in this move.

No, to be precise... her moves were a bit too conservative; this kind of opening is unlikely to occur in a game between professional players.

Could it be that Senior Sister Niu Xiaochai prefers to use white because her playing style is particularly stable?

No... some professional Go players' opening moves might be on the conservative side, but Senior Sister Niu Xiaochai's moves... are completely too conservative.

Snap, snap, snap. The game continued, and Ji Yingting continued with her normal moves to confirm Niu Xiaochai's intentions... However, every move Niu Xiaochai made made Ji Yingting feel a slight discomfort.

Was she deliberately walking so conservatively?

...Although I don't know what Senior Sister Niu Xiaochai's intentions are, the opening of this game is about to end. Senior Sister Niu Xiaochai is already about 15 points behind when playing black, and with the komi, the difference is a total of 22 points.

I have already won this game.

Ji Yingting was slightly distracted. She wanted to peek through the branches of the Star Jade Mother Tree to see what Xin Yufei and Teacher Lin Hong were doing in their debriefing.

Ok……

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

What's this?

Before she could even see clearly what was happening, the giant star tree in her mind vanished in an instant. Ji Yingting's two purple star-like eyes widened in shock, replaced by an endless expanse of yellow sand.

desert?

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, the boundless yellow sand filled the entire world.

Ji Yingting looked up in confusion, and then she suddenly saw Niu Xiaochai standing right in front of her...

"Junior Sister Sakuraba, I heard from our teacher that your playing style also belongs to the type that enhances your playing strength, right..."

“Also…?” Ji Yingting stared blankly at Niu Xiaochashi.

Niu Xiaochai's beige Taoist robe was blown about by the strong wind, her long flaxen curly hair danced wildly in the air, and her eyes turned into a chilling scarlet red.

Above her long, flaxen curly hair, two long, curved steel bull horns grew out from the top of her head! The two three-meter-long bull horns and fangs looked ferocious, as if they were about to pierce the sky.

Rumble! Sand and stones flew everywhere.

The yellow sand on the ground was blown up by the strong wind, and a huge yellowish-brown tornado of sandstorm swept up her figure. Ji Yingting's expression was somewhat dazed. She could only see Niu Xiaochai's wild, scarlet bull eyes in the sandstorm.

[Sakuraba-sensei should be able to sense it... Let me show you my Go Strategy: Wild Bull!!]

Chapter 59: The Correct Way to Use the Chess Position

Niu Xiaochai's beige Taoist robe was blown about by the strong wind, her long flaxen curly hair danced wildly in the air, and her eyes turned into a chilling scarlet red.

Above her long, flaxen curly hair, two long, curved steel bull horns grew out from the top of her head! The two three-meter-long bull horns and fangs looked ferocious, as if they were about to pierce the sky.

The yellow sand on the ground was blown up by the strong wind, and a huge yellowish-brown tornado of sandstorm swept up her figure. Ji Yingting's expression was somewhat dazed. She could only see Niu Xiaochai's blood-red pupils in the sandstorm.

*****************************************

"call"

Niu Xiaochai's right hand slammed onto the chessboard amidst a violent sandstorm, and the steel bull horns on her head vanished in an instant; her chess moves had dissipated.

“2 points… I only won by 2 points…” After counting the points, Ji Yingting had a complicated expression on her face as she looked down at the game that had already ended.

However, after Niu Xiaochai used her chess moves, she seemed to become a completely different person. Ji Yingting had never seen an opponent with such a fierce attack before. Her attacking moves were almost crazy to the point of being unreasonable.

At the very end of the opening phase, Ji Yingting was leading by more than twenty points, but Niu Xiaochai caught up by nearly twenty points in the middle game...

Ji Yingting rubbed her light green hair and pondered, "My middle game and endgame skills are absolutely top-notch among professional Go players, but my opening isn't particularly strong. If Niu Xiaochai had played white, I might have lost this game..."

"Huff, huff, huff," Niu Xiaochai's long, flaxen curls fell down her cheeks, her hair soaked with sweat. She was panting heavily, her head bowed. Clearly, maintaining her position in the game from the middle game to the end was a very strenuous task for her.

"Junior Sister Sakuraba is really amazing!" Niu Xiaochai exclaimed, looking up.

"No, it's Senior Sister Xiaocha's layout that's flawed."

Ji Yingting said seriously that she was also wondering if Niu Xiaochai was holding back, because Niu Xiaochai's strength in the middle game was too extreme, and it was completely unlike the conservative approach in the opening.

It's hard to imagine that Niu Xiaochai, as a professional Go player, would be so conservative in his opening moves...

But precisely because of this, Niu Xiaochai was able to fight so recklessly in the mid-game.

……

and many more……

Ji Yingting frowned instantly, her light green eyebrows furrowing as if she had guessed something.

"Could it be that Senior Sister Niu Xiaochai, you deliberately laid out the moves that way?" Ji Yingting tilted her head in confusion.

"No, Junior Sister Yingting," Niu Xiaochai patted her chest and calmed herself down for a moment before standing up from her seat, lifting her beige Taoist robe.

"Let's go out for a drink, I'll explain everything to you slowly."

"Hmm," Ji Yingting also stood up from her seat, she was very curious about Niu Xiaochai's chess skills.

************

With a clang, Niu Xiaochai leaned gently against the corner of the wall at the vending machine on the first floor and asked with a soft laugh.

"Junior Sister Sakuraba, do you think my mid-game is strong, but my opening is weak?"

"Mmm," Ji Yingting took a sip of her drink and nodded obediently.

“When I first came to the chess academy, my chess strength was just as you can see, too conservative, so I was stuck at amateur fourth dan and couldn’t get promoted to fifth dan... But... in fact, I had a strong position.”

"Hmm, so does that mean Niu Xiaochai only became stronger after awakening her chess skills?"

Ji Yingting nodded, swaying her long, light green hair, and then asked.

“No… I already had a good hand when I first became an amateur first dan…” Niu Xiaochai shook her head.

"Is that so...? That's hard to understand. And then what?"

"In stark contrast to my actual skill level, my position, Wild Bull, as you can see, possesses an extremely strong offensive capability, which could even be described as exaggerated."

Seeing Ji Yingting nod, Niu Xiaochai continued, "Actually, my chess moves were so unreasonable that they might not even be as good as my actual skill level... so I stopped using them much later."

"Sigh...we should really study this amazing thing properly," Ji Yingting murmured in agreement.

"Until later... Teacher Lin Hong decided to select a student from the chess academy as his disciple... That time, in order to show off and look cool, I used a chess move that I hadn't used in a long time."

As she said this, a faint smile appeared on Niu Xiaochai's lips.

"...Pfft," Ji Yingting burst out laughing, covering her mouth as she thought to herself.

Senior Sister Niu Xiaochai clearly knew that her position was inferior to her own, yet she still used it. She really has a childish mentality.

However, Ji Yingting probably already knew how things would develop after Niu Xiaochai used the chess move.

"That's right, just as you guessed... In that game, the teacher was initially shocked by the strength of my moves, but of course, I ended up losing badly."

Ji Yingting shook her long, light green hair with both hands and asked, "Then the teacher told you to play well in the opening and only use your positional advantage after the middle game, right? The conservatism in the opening and the aggression in the middle game can complement each other?"

Niu Xiaochai nodded seriously and replied, "Yes, I didn't even think of something so simple at first. I really felt so stupid at the time... But at that moment, I had a feeling that this chess position was created for me."

Without strategic positioning or without me... it would have been impossible to reach this level. Both my strategic positioning and my own are constantly improving. At least now, if I use strategic positioning in the opening stage, I won't make random moves..."

As soon as Niu Xiaochai finished speaking, Ji Yingting stopped rubbing her long, light green hair.

Really... So there are chess players like this in the world... Ji Yingting felt a strange mix of emotions, a little confused and a little excited.

The chess position... is not an external thing; it is part of the soul of the chess players and can also communicate with their hearts.

In this era of strategic maneuvering, Ji Yingting had a hunch that she might be able to reach a level even higher than completely mastering the Divine Move…

"Then, what is the purpose of Junior Sister Sakuraba's move?" Niu Xiaochai asked curiously. It was such a pity that Junior Sister Sakuraba's move had already been used in the game this morning.

Ji Yingting thought for a moment and then chuckled softly, "It's probably... to make every move I make a divine move!"

In her past life, although Ji Yingting had lost to many professional Go players of lower rank than herself, Niu Xiaochai was the first professional Go player who made her realize the special nature of the game. They relied on each other, rather than simply borrowing each other's strength!

"It's the presence of so many different types of opponents that makes this pursuit of that endless road so enjoyable," Ji Yingting murmured to herself, pinching a strand of her green hair under Niu Xiaochai's astonished gaze.

Chapter 60: Peach's Tail

"Phew, I've finally finished cleaning up the new room..." Niu Xiaochai threw the light blue pillow onto the bed, sat down, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Ji Yingting asked her senior sister Fei Qiluo to move all her important furniture from her home to the chess academy so that she could stay there tonight.

Her room was also on the third floor, very close to Niu Xiaochai's room and toilet. It took Ji Yingting a while to familiarize herself with the layout of the room in the afternoon, so that she wouldn't bump into the wall while walking.

Of course... the reason why Ji Yingting wanted to move in so quickly, besides being able to play chess often... was that she no longer had to worry about not having dinner at night.

"Sakuraba and Kocha, you two have fun. I'm going home now..." Hishira tossed her pink curly hair and waved her hand.

Goodbye, senior sister.

Goodbye, senior sister.

Hearing Fei Qiluo's footsteps as she walked down the stairs, Ji Yingting asked in a low voice with some confusion, "Senior Sister Xiaocha, is Senior Sister Fei Qiluo in a hurry? She seemed to be walking very fast."

"Oh...she has to train. Let's take a shower first," Niu Xiaochai said casually, her hands starting to unbutton her shirt, making her beige Taoist robe much looser.

"...?"

"Don't let Fei Qiluo's appearance fool you; she's actually a professional Dota 3 player. In her spare time, she trains with her team or participates in matches."

"Oh, I didn't expect Senior Sister Fei Qiluo to be so amazing!" Ji Yingting exclaimed in surprise. She had heard that Fei Qiluo was about to be promoted to professional seventh dan.

Many people become professional high-ranking Go players at a young age and also achieve great success in other fields. There are many such people, after all, Go requires strong calculation ability.

Ji Yingting guessed, and pretending not to understand, she nodded, shaking her long, light green hair.