The Way of the Blind Girl Chess Saint

"..."

Wang Murou was a little curious. She had never seen Ji Yingting like this before. Ji Yingting had always been the epitome of kindness and gentleness at Minghai Ji Middle School.

However, I didn't expect her to have this side to her. Could it be that she has some unspeakable secret?

However, as Ji Yingting's friend, Wang Murou didn't want to interfere too much in her family affairs, so she simply kept quiet.

"Ding-dong!" Soon, a message came through on my phone.

"Sakuraba, your money really came through!"

Wang Murou exclaimed, but seeing that Ji Yingting was clearly in a bad mood, she simply gently took Ji Yingting's hand.

Okay, let's go.

"Yes, thank you, Rou Rou. I'm fine now."

After a few seconds of silence, Ji Yingting shook her head.

"Heh heh, you can tell me what's on your mind."

Wang Murou reached out and gently patted Ji Yingting's bluish-green hair.

"whee"

After buying the chessboard, Ji Yingting squinted her eyes and smiled, revealing a hint of purple in her starry eyes. She seemed very happy and had completely forgotten her earlier unpleasantness.

Because... the chessboard is more important than Dad.

Chapter 9: The Battle for Spots

"Oh dear, this child has been blind since birth, but the doctors can't find anything wrong with his eyes no matter how they examine him."

A cute little girl with light green pear-shaped hair and bangs that covered her green willow-leaf eyebrows closed her eyes. She was being led by the hand by a beautiful woman while wearing a dark blue Hanfu. She kept her head down in silence.

The beautiful woman was also holding the hand of a little girl. The little girl was wearing a bright red cheongsam, had bright red twin ponytails, and her two bright red eyebrows were arched upwards to the extreme. Her spirited face was looking straight ahead.

"Although she is the eldest daughter, how can our renowned Go family allow a blind person to be the head of the family and the heir? Let's just hire a caregiver and go to another city to take good care of her."

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

"Now, let's decide who will participate in the competition..."

Wang Xi and the members of the Go club sat in chairs.

“Sakuraba, since you are the strongest, would it be alright for you to be the commander?” Wang Xi asked.

"kindness"

Ji Yingting nodded. It didn't matter, although some people would use the so-called "Tian Ji's horse racing" strategy to put the weakest member in the main general position.

However, most schools' strongest players probably have their own pride and chess ethics, so the position of captain is usually held by the strongest player or the president of the Go club.

Seeing Ji Yingting nod in agreement, Wang Xi continued, "Then Lin Hao will be the deputy general, and I will be the mainstay."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Apart from the commander, the other positions were not arranged according to the order of strength.

"Zhao Xiao, you're the striker."

The quiet-looking man with big black-rimmed glasses nodded; he had the skill level of an amateur 1-dan Go player.

"Finally... Liu Tongtong, you are the second striker."

“…………Yes!!!” Liu Tongtong nodded excitedly.

Although everyone already knew that the competition positions were basically fixed.

But when the actual participants were announced, many people were still somewhat disappointed.

"Club President! I want to challenge Senior Liu Tongtong!"

At that moment, Xin Yufei suddenly stood up from her seat and said loudly in a very excited tone.

With a whoosh, countless gazes turned to Xin Yufei, instantly drawing everyone's attention to her.

"Huh? Are you sure you want to challenge Liu Tongtong?" Xin Yufei's unexpected challenge caught Wang Xi off guard.

"Yufei, Liu Tongtong is already in her final year of junior high, and this is her last chance to participate. You'll have opportunities next year and the year after, and besides, you have a lot of potential. Don't be in such a hurry."

A senior in the second year of junior high school who was on good terms with Liu Tongtong spoke up to persuade her, and she walked over and patted Xin Yufei on the shoulder.

"But……"

Xin Yufei was still somewhat unwilling, even though she knew that doing so would make the senior students dislike her.

I don't want to give up, I want to participate in the junior high school league!!!

Xin Yufei clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, her mind wavering on whether or not to challenge Liu Tongtong.

"It's alright, you two can go to the next match."

After careful consideration, Wang Xi nodded and agreed to Xin Yufei's request.

She felt that Liu Tongtong, an amateur level 3 player, had a better chance of winning than Xin Yufei, who was at level 5. Moreover, as the president of the Go club, she couldn't possibly show favoritism at this time.

Since Wang Xi had agreed, Liu Tongtong, the black-haired senior with a single ponytail, could only nod and say, "I have no objection, let's play the next match with Yufei."

She believes her chess skills are better than Xin Yufei's.

"This is fantastic!!" Xin Yufei's heart pounded wildly; she knew this was her only chance to participate in the league...

How can I possibly beat Senior Liu Tongtong? She sat down across the chessboard as she pondered this question.

After the coin toss, Xin Yufei played black, and Liu Tongtong played white.

"Star position"

Xin Yufei started with a star-shaped opening that she was quite familiar with.

Liu Tongtong's layout is a double star formation.

Before a player reaches a certain rank, or even a professional rank, most people cannot escape the constraints of established patterns.

Simply put, their opening strategy is to first complete the "standard opening" in the four corners before considering other moves. Of course, there's nothing wrong with simply playing standard openings... after all, even professional players often play standard openings.

However, there are some people who, after completing the standard opening moves, have absolutely no idea how to play the game anymore.

A player who doesn't know how to fight and only plays defensively, focusing on securing territory, is known as a "study room chess player."

Liu Tongtong is a pure scholar who plays chess in the study, which is also a shortcoming that Wang Xi once pointed out to her. Xin Yufei is certainly aware of her weakness.

The game began, and all the members gathered around the two players.

Xin Yufei's pupils were very focused. Liu Tongtong was only an amateur level three, but she was slightly better than her in terms of calculation ability and overall situational awareness.

Liu Tongtong had an advantage in the first three corners. Facing the black stones approaching the corners, Liu Tongtong showed no intention of fighting at all. This move, however, made it difficult for Xin Yufei, who was playing black.

In the rules of modern Go, Black, as the first player to move, must give a komi of 7.5 points (7.5 points: Black must have 7.5 points more than White at the end of the game to win).

Therefore, under normal circumstances, Black will usually take a very proactive attack. If Black simply tries to enclose territory against White, Black's winning rate is lower than White's.

Liu Tongtong's style of chess was indeed typical of someone who played in the study. With several excellent opening moves she chose, White not only did not fall behind in points, but also had a greater thickness than Black.

"Flying low with small eyes"

Liu Tongtong placed a piece in the last small corner of the black stones.

Black quickly followed up with a low clamp.

This is an opportunity!!! I must win!!!

Xin Yufei's heart skipped a beat. Although she had lost the battle in the scheme, her private tutor had taught her quite a few tricks during this time.

Those who study at professional chess academies and memorize standard opening sequences generally don't encounter deceptive moves too early in their careers. Xin Yufei nervously broke out in a cold sweat. White, please don't jump out!!!

“Under this layout, White will definitely not choose to jump out, because that joseki is more advantageous to me. Senior Liu Tongtong should be able to sense that.” Xin Yufei nervously clenched the sweat on her palms.

Normally, the position of the "small eye" will not be directly opposite the enemy's "star position".

In this situation, whoever gets to the opposite corner first will gain a slight advantage.

Therefore, when White's star point is attacked by Black's small eye, White might choose not to occupy the corner on the fourth move, but instead directly connect.

Naturally, Xin Yufei's small eye is aimed at her own star point. If the white stone that is trapped chooses to jump out, the following joseki will be very advantageous to the corner of her star point.

Xin Yufei's mind raced.

Black's move at the star point is a "split-cut joseki" facing the small point, which has a certain thickness. So if White were to jump out rashly, it would only run into a brick wall. Senior Liu Tongtong would definitely not jump out.

Therefore, White's only option is to move the knight to cover the small corner!

pat!

White finally made her move, and the outcome was exactly as Xin Yufei had predicted. She was so excited that she almost trembled, and her right hand holding the chess piece trembled restlessly a few times.

"I will win, I can win!"

Liu Tongtong's move was a flying attack with a small eye, and Xin Yufei's eyes lit up. She grabbed a black stone, gracefully gripped it with two fingers, and with a snap, followed by Liu Tongtong's right hand, which hadn't yet retracted, slammed the black stone onto the board. "Snap!!!"

"Hmm?" When Xin Yufei withdrew her arm, Liu Tongtong frowned sharply. She was not only stunned by the force with which Xin Yufei placed the piece, but also shocked by the way Xin Yufei placed it.

"She suddenly split two pieces when I was using my flying shield. Could she have made a mistake?" Liu Tongtong suddenly lowered her head and stared intently at the chessboard, thinking to herself.

What is Xin Yufei trying to do? Did she make a mistake? Was that powerful move just a ploy to scare someone?

A group of Go club members around them frowned.

Chapter 10: 18 and a half eyes

"Eighteen and a half points? Where did Xin Yufei learn that from?"

Wang Xi silently recited the name of the move in his mind.

"Hey, Wang Xi, come here for a second!"

Just as Wang Xi was secretly surprised, Ji Yingting waved her hand and whispered to her.

"Hmm? Sakuraba, is there something you need?"

Ji Yingting sat alone, quite far away from the two players, on the opposite side of the chessboard.