The Way of the Blind Girl Chess Saint

But... this is not bad either.

Ji Yingting gently stroked the marks on the chessboard and thought to herself, "This is so much better than the ordinary chessboard used in the provincial competition... Just smelling the Xingyu wood chessboard has an invigorating effect, making it easier for chess players to think."

"Hello..." A cute girl with medium-length white hair gently sat down opposite Ji Yingting. She used her slender fingers to brush aside her white hair and gently opened her light blue eyes.

"Uh..." But when she saw Ji Yingting's long, light green hair, Luo Qiu'er was slightly stunned. Her expression suddenly stiffened, and her light blue pupils twitched upwards unnaturally.

Ah... what bad luck, Ji Yingting is in the first round...

The white-haired girl's name is Luo Qiu'er. She was one of the people who were promoted to amateur fifth dan along with Ji Yingting a month ago.

Seeing Ji Yingting still casually playing with her light green ponytail, the corner of her mouth twitched slightly.

“Hello…” Ji Yingting nodded, her light green ponytail swaying. She had already seen Luo Qiu’er’s appearance in the starry chessboard, Group A, number 7.

Because he had never played chess with her, Ji Yingting did not know her.

"Although I never thought I could win the first game 100% when the draw took place... losing the first round will definitely make me feel terrible... I can only try my best to see if there is any chance to beat her. Why is she my opponent in the first round?" A bead of cold sweat slid down Luo Qiu'er's cheek. She knew the gap between her and Ji Yingting's chess skills.

In the provincial competition, many monster-level chess players lost to Ji Yingting, and she even achieved a perfect record of ten wins in ten games!

"Shall we begin now?" Luo Qiu'er asked softly. Ji Yingting nodded, swaying her light green ponytail. She pulled the huge light green ponytail to her chest and played with it.

"Her hair is so long..." Luo Qiu'er thought to herself as she observed Ji Yingting's bluish-green hair, but then she shook her head, swaying her snow-white hair.

No… I can’t be distracted by something so strange at this crucial moment. Luo Qiu’er pursed her lips and picked up the white chess box on the chessboard. The professional exam, like the provincial competition, is a game of determining who goes first, not a game of guessing.

The machine randomly determines who plays white and who plays black.

Two slender, jade-like hands emerged slightly from the water lily-colored sleeves, and Ji Yingting also took the black chess piece from the chessboard.

Once you enter at 10:00 AM, you can start playing as long as both players are seated on the sofa. This is more casual and free than starting simultaneously in the provincial competition, but the game cannot last past 11:00 AM.

The official reason for not setting a start time for the game is simply to allow the players to relax a bit, since many players taking professional exams get so nervous before the game starts that they feel like they need to poop.

Compared to some chess players who run away halfway through a game or accidentally wet their pants, this arrangement is clearly more humane.

"Hoo," Ji Yingting exhaled a small breath of cool air again, her pale purple starry eyes fixed on the black chess piece in her hand, which seemed to radiate a breathtakingly dazzling light.

With her pale purple starry eyes fixed on the white-haired girl Luo Qiu'er, Ji Yingting slowly raised her water lily-colored satin sleeves, and her jade-like hand, shimmering with light, landed on the chessboard...

Let's open up my career path... Wait, I suddenly feel like I need to go to the bathroom.

Chapter 157: Chinese Style, Korean Style

After washing her hands, Ji Yingting gently shook off the water droplets and walked out of the bathroom.

Hmm... much easier.

Ji Yingting took a deep breath and re-entered the chess room. Dressed in a light blue Taoist robe, she sat down opposite Luo Qiu'er, who still looked like she was waiting.

After so long, her mood should have calmed down by now... Ji Yingting gently raised her green willow eyebrows, and the sound of pieces being placed around her could be heard.

So... let's begin.

*Snap*... Ji Yingting reached out and gently tapped the timer located on her right side, and two hours slowly began to pass.

With a crisp, echoing sound, the piece was placed.

Holding a black chess piece in her right hand, Ji Yingting's slender hand slowly placed it into the upper right corner of the chessboard. Her two delicate, milky-white fingers gently moved the piece one square upwards to the star point.

Suddenly, a black chess piece appeared on the jade chessboard in the starry sky.

“Very good, I don’t feel like I’m going to lose.” Ji Yingting nodded to herself, swaying her long, light green ponytail.

Despite setting a goal for herself, this kind of strange psychology does indeed occur in Go games, and professional players sometimes use it to judge their own state.

While it's normal for amateur competitors to forget to set the timer when things get tense, in professional exams... not setting the timer is a foul.

Ji Yingting remembered this, of course. She raised her left hand slightly and tapped the timer button. This time it was Luo Qiu'er's turn for the timer to start ticking.

However... a total of four hours of playing time is too long for modern chess players. Many people will not make use of this time, or think that thinking for so long is meaningless.

"Hoo," Luo Qiu'er also gently exhaled through her small mouth. No matter what kind of opponent she faced, keeping a calm mind was the most important thing.

With her right hand, she placed a white chess piece into the white star point diagonally opposite Ji Yingting's black chess piece, and a clicking sound immediately came from the chessboard.

After a brief silence of about half a minute, Ji Yingting picked up another black chess piece with her right hand. This short time was nothing compared to the two hours that had passed. Ji Yingting planned to adjust her mindset by placing the pieces at a steady pace.

With a snap, Ji Yingting's second move landed at the small eye position, forming a star-small eye, while Luo Qiu'er, playing white, also placed her second move at the star position, forming a double star.

The air conditioner in the room was blowing warm air, and if Ji Yingting hadn't been playing chess, she would have definitely fallen asleep because of the comfortable and peaceful atmosphere.

However, at this moment, her pale purple starry eyes were slightly wide open... actually, they were still squinting, but for a blind person, they were wide open!

Her lotus-colored sleeves fluttered gently, and Ji Yingting's two jade-like hands, which held a black chess piece, were slightly tinged with a dazzling turquoise light. Her right hand landed on the chessboard as lightly as a feather, like a stone sinking into calm amber, radiating ripples.

pat.

Chinese style... Will she decide to use Chinese style in her first match of the professional exam?

Luo Qiu'er frowned slightly, her right hand slowly retracting from the white chess box and resting flat on her white Taoist robe knee as she began to think.

Chinese style - a Go term referring to a method of opening moves in Go.

[A Go term referring to a specific opening strategy in Go. It was first created by the Chinese player Chen Zude, 9-dan. Note: Although a Chinese player was the first to study the Chinese opening, later corrections indicate that it was actually first used by a relatively unknown Japanese player, Yasunaga Hajime.]

The Chinese strategic layout emphasizes speed while also considering both external influence and practical matters. It allows for flexible choices between practical matters and external influence depending on the situation, a feature unmatched by other strategies.

Nevertheless... the Chinese style, which was once very popular in the Go world, has a fatal flaw.

Its drawback is that it was too popular hundreds of years ago... Because it was so popular, many variations and routines have been thoroughly studied, and there are far fewer variations. Because everyone knows it, the winning rate of players using the Chinese style has dropped drastically. Players who like to use the Chinese style in major competitions are now very rare.

Was she testing me by posting the Chinese style? Or did she have some in-depth research on the Chinese style?

Luo Qiu'er raised her white willow eyebrows and glanced lightly at Ji Yingting's long, light green hair. Generally, a professional chess player can independently study chess moves, and even some seemingly insignificant innovations may have the ability to deliver a fatal blow.

In that case, let's just use a simple small flying hook...

Wait, perhaps there's a pretty good way to deal with this... Her long white hair floated gently for a few moments, and a flash of inspiration struck Luo Qiu'er.

Luo Qiu'er gently raised her right hand, and the white chess piece landed on the outer side of the star point, in the small knight's move. This is the most basic move.

Ji Yingting swayed her long, light green ponytail, gently smoothing the strands of hair with her left hand. She then gently raised her right hand and placed the black piece on the high ground, a very common move.

Generally speaking, amateur players like to use the small knight's move to create a combination of Chinese opening and encirclement joseki, but many professional players feel that the encirclement joseki is a bit conventional.

"Mmm, that's fine..." Luo Qiu'er seemed much more confident after seeing Ji Yingting just now. She picked up a white chess piece and gently placed it into the chessboard... *thud*.

Ok?

Ji Yingting raised her light green eyebrows, her left hand, which had been stroking her light green ponytail, suddenly stopped. Korean wave...?

Did she decide to respond with a Korean opening after I had already played the Chinese opening... and even while playing white?

A small ahoge (a single hair sticking up) stood out slightly on the top of her long, light green hair, and Ji Yingting suddenly became a little interested in her.

In the 1990s, with the rise of Korean Go, they invented the "Mini Chinese Style" opening (also known as the "Korean Style").

The main characteristic of the Korean opening style is that the direction of the small-eye expansion faces the opponent's corner, rather than their own star point. Therefore, they place particular emphasis on speed and advocate "aggressive Go".

Compared to Chinese pop... Korean pop has become even more exaggerated in terms of speed and expansion......................

I recommend a book, it's very good.

Recommendation: My Chuunibyou Love Story Is Wrong As Expected is very good.

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By the way, I'd also like to recommend my new book, "[After Being Eaten by a Fox in the Apocalypse, I Became a Fox Mother]".................................

Chapter 158: The Right to Move

Tick-tock, tick-tock, the clock on the wall ticked away second by second. More than an hour after the game began, the atmosphere in the competition venue gradually changed from panic to tension.

Once the game starts, one can enter a serious state, something many chess players can do.

Hmm... Ji Yingting held a black chess piece between her right hands, her pale purple starry eyes narrowed slightly as she pondered.

Although it was a slow game, her chess skills were far superior to Luo Qiu'er's; even if Ji Yingting relied on her intuition, she could still win.

However, Luo Qiu'er seemed to know this, and she controlled her time very well. With her frequency of one move every two or three minutes, she was only a few points behind as the game approached the middle stage.

If a professional top player is willing to spend a lot of time thinking during the opening phase, it is difficult for them to widen the gap with a high-ranking amateur player.

The long, light green horsehair whip swayed gently in the warm breeze. Ji Yingting scratched her green hair, feeling an itch, and gently placed a black chess piece into the chessboard with a soft thud.

"Hmm? She's using a big knight's move? I thought she'd play a small knight's move here... I have to recalculate again." Luo Qiu'er's white eyebrows furrowed slightly, and she lowered her slender right hand that was reaching into the chess box with some difficulty.

Hmm... Luo Qiu'er raised her white eyebrows with some difficulty and thought for a full ten minutes before gently placing a white chess piece on the chessboard.

"Hoo!" After Luo Qiu'er placed her right hand on the stone, Ji Yingting let out a soft breath. She placed her two slender hands flat on the hem of her water lily-colored skirt, and her pale purple starry eyes narrowed slightly.

After tossing her long, light green ponytail, Ji Yingting remained completely still, seemingly having stopped breathing. Her beautiful light green eyebrows covered her eyelids, and her lovely face was fair and tender.

Because she couldn't see the timer, Ji Yingting had long been used to calculating time blindly, and she could keep the time difference within five minutes without any problem. Her slender hand gently twirled a strand of her long, light green hair.

Ji Yingting rubbed her light green hair, recalling the past few minutes. Adding the ten minutes she spent defecating, the time should be around 11:50...

If there are no major problems, then we have about ten minutes left before we need to take a break. Who should take over the right to play the game?

Seeing Ji Yingting place her hands flat on her knees, Luo Qiu'er also glanced back at the time: 11:47... 13 minutes left.

So, is she not planning to make another move by acting like this? Is she trying to think things through during lunch? Luo Qiu'er thought to herself.

Because Ji Yingting had been placing a piece every half minute or so, Luo Qiu'er quickly figured out Ji Yingting's intention.

Ji Yingting currently holds the reins. As long as she doesn't make a move within these 13 minutes, she can use the lunch break to think freely, while Luo Qiu'er will have no idea where her next move will be.

On the contrary, Luo Qiu'er, who doesn't have to think about anything, will be able to relax. Some people like to think while they have the right to play, while others like to empty their minds and take a good rest.

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.

The clock ticked away, and Luo Qiu'er tossed her long, snow-white hair and glanced at the clock: 11:59...

Then, she glanced back at the beautiful girl with long, light green hair who was playing chess with her.

Ji Yingting still hadn't made a move... She was just casually playing with her long, light green hair, but her pale purple starry eyes opened slightly, and her light green willow eyebrows were raised a little.

"Time's up..."