Chapter 172 Unexpected Opponent

The Torch War finally came to an end.

Although previous Torch Wars have also attracted much attention, no other Torch War has caused such a sensation as this one.

Even though the Torch War ended a few days ago, discussions about this Torch War are still endless and the heat is unabated on the Internet. Posts related to Xu Zijin, Yu Shao, and Su Yiming are endless!

Needless to say, Xu Zijin has attracted much attention because of his status. What's more, Xu Zijin is not only good-looking, but also has good chess skills, so the attention he receives is still extremely high.

Even those who know nothing about Go can be attracted by Xu Zijin's looks. After all, even if you can't understand the chess pieces, you can always understand her face.

Then, in the Torch War, there was Yu Shao, who performed an incredible act.

In the game of Xinhuo Battle, after the black piece reached point 33, it made a completely new change that it had never made before, changing the sticking move to climbing, and finally breaking into the enemy's formation, successfully destroying the white piece's formation and gaining the upper hand.

In the end, after gaining all the advantages, Yu Shao and Kong Zi's exquisite cooperation and sharp attacks finally succeeded in defeating Bai Zi, which was shocking and breathtaking.

This new idea of ​​not sticking and pulling, but climbing two routes in a row, which goes against the principles of chess, leaves a slight taste for the white pieces and shakes everyone's understanding of the three-three point.

As for whether the 33-point move is feasible, there are still different opinions and no conclusion.

Most people still think that point 33 is disadvantageous. The reason why the white piece was able to gain an advantage in this game is mainly because the white piece did not realize that there was danger in the lower left corner. If it could have paid more attention to it, the white piece should still have the advantage.

The remaining small number of people are taking a wait-and-see attitude towards the One-Hand Three-Three strategy. They think that this new change makes sense, but it is difficult to say whether it is good or not. It requires long-term observation and continuous practice.

Of course, there are still a very small number of people who think that point 33 is a feasible way to play.

But no matter what, this game of chess did cause everyone to rethink the move of Point 33, which was unimaginable before.

Yu Shao, who made this new change, immediately attracted much attention.

Finally, it was Su Yiming who stepped out with Tianyuan.

Although Su Yiming lost the game, the Xinhuo War was just an exhibition match. It was difficult to master the Tianyuan move, let alone when two people were playing together. It was normal to lose.

However, even in this situation, the black piece was still able to force the white piece into a tough fight and fight with the white piece for a long time without losing the upper hand, which was enough to make people jaw-dropping.

Compared to winning or losing, what is more important is that everyone can see that although he and Yu Shao are only beginners, they are both making bold attempts and exploring new patterns in Go.

This attempt is unorthodox, but the courage to break the old order is moving and makes people excited.

Everyone began to look forward to the future.

This may be the meaning of the Fire War——

Connecting the past and the future, passing on the torch.

…

…

A week later.

The national team qualifiers have begun again.

Early in the morning, all the professional chess players who had competitions came to the Southern Chess Institute and walked towards the game room one after another.

"Wu Shuheng, since you won the game today, you will be promoted to the fourth dan, right?"

A young man with long hair asked Wu Shuheng who was walking beside him as he walked towards the game room.

"Um."

Hearing this, Wu Shuheng nodded and said, "If I win today, I will be promoted to the fourth dan."

"You've been in the third section for almost a year and a half, right?"

The long-haired young man said with some emotion, "After you were promoted to the third dan, you kept losing and basically never won, but later on you managed to hold your record back."

"You've been unstoppable lately, winning streaks and are now almost at the fourth dan level. It can be said that hard work has paid off."

The long-haired young man looked somewhat envious, shook his head, and sighed, "I'm afraid I'll have to continue struggling at the third level for a while, and I don't know when I can get promoted to the fourth level."

“That’s right!”

At this point, the long-haired young man couldn't help but turn his head to look at Wu Shuheng and asked, "Who is your opponent today? Are you confident?"

Hearing this, Wu Shuheng fell silent.

Seeing Wu Shuheng's reaction, the long-haired young man was stunned, and then seemed to realize something, and asked hurriedly: "What's wrong, who is it? You can't be so unlucky, to be promoted to a high-level chess player?"

"no."

Wu Shuheng shook his head with a complicated expression and said, "It's the first dan, Yu Shao first dan."

"It's actually him?"

Hearing this name, the long-haired young man was a little surprised. He was obviously not unfamiliar with the name Yu Shao. He asked, "I remember that you are his senior, right?"

"Um."

Wu Shuheng nodded, and his mind couldn't help but emerge the handicap chess game he played with Yu Shao at Jiangling No. 1 Middle School a year ago. He said, "A year ago, I played a handicap chess game with him."

"Handicap chess?"

The long-haired young man looked at Wu Shuheng and asked in surprise, "Who won?"

"Of course he won. I lost very badly."

Wu Shuheng laughed bitterly and said, "At that time, how could I know that there were chess players of this level in the school?"

"After that game of chess, I knew he would become a professional chess player..."

Wu Shuheng shook his head and said, "But when he really became a professional chess player and was about to play against me, I still felt very complicated..."

The long-haired young man wanted to say something, but seeing that Wu Shuheng didn't seem to want to talk, he immediately shut his mouth in dismay.

The two quickly walked into the game room, then sat down in their respective seats, waiting for the game to begin.

Not long after, a group of chess players came to the game room one after another. When Zheng Qin, wearing a plaid shirt, came to the game room, he instantly attracted a lot of attention.

As soon as he arrived at the game room, Zheng Qin couldn't help but cast his eyes towards table number 16.

At this time, a man about 27 years old, with a serious expression and thin face, was sitting on a chair beside table 16, with his eyes closed.

Zheng Qin's expression suddenly became solemn. He took a deep breath, then walked towards table number 16. Finally, he came to the table opposite the man, pulled out a chair and sat down.

The moment Zheng Qin sat down, the man opposite Zheng Qin heard the noise, opened his eyes, and looked at Zheng Qin sharply.

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"Zheng Qin, 2nd Dan's opponent today is Ban Hao, 6th Dan..."

Seeing this scene, everyone's eyes were slightly stern.

Today is not the first round of the national team competition qualifiers. Before today, the national team competition has already held several rounds of qualifiers.

Because there will be more and more players signing up before the registration deadline for the national championship qualifiers, and the number of participating players will continue to increase, so there will be many rounds in the qualifiers.

The qualifying round format is a round-robin tournament. The fact that Zheng Qin can compete against Ban Hao in the qualifying round proves that both Zheng Qin and Ban Hao had very good results in the previous qualifying rounds.

Ban Hao is a sixth dan, so it is not surprising that he performed well in the national team qualifiers. However, Zheng Qin is only a professional second dan, and he only became a professional chess player last year!

Everyone in the game room could be said to have witnessed with their own eyes that Zheng Qin's chess skills had improved by leaps and bounds over the past year. He had won all the levels and was now able to compete with professional 6th-dan players.

Seeing the latecomers catching up and eventually surpassing them, their feelings are naturally indescribably complicated.

"How long?"

Ban Hao stared at Zheng Qin across from him and suddenly asked, "It's been almost half a year since our last game of chess, right?"

"Um."

Hearing this, Zheng Qin nodded and replied, "To be precise, it was ten months and fourteen days. At that time, I met you in the first round of the Tianyuan Tournament qualifiers, and I lost miserably."

"In that game, the gap between us was clearly revealed."

Ban Hao looked at Zheng Qin and said slowly: "Today's game of chess will show me how much you have improved in the past year."

"That's right, I thought so too."

Hearing this, Zheng Qin's eyes flashed with sharpness. He looked up at Ban Hao and said, "I will not let you down."

Hearing this, Ban Hao couldn't help but frowned slightly.

He originally wanted to use the chess game from a year ago to put Zheng Qin under psychological pressure, but he never expected that Zheng Qin not only seemed to be unaffected, but even looked more aggressive.

Not long after, a handsome young man of about sixteen or seventeen appeared at the door of the game room. His arrival instantly attracted everyone's attention. Ban Hao and Zheng Qin couldn't help but look at the young man.

Under the gaze of everyone, Yu Shao slowly walked into the game room, then glanced around the room and soon saw Zheng Qin, feeling a little surprised.

Zheng Qin?

Speaking of which, he and Zheng Qin haven't seen each other for a year.

Yu Shao remembered that the last time he saw Zheng Qin was during the city high school Go league. After that, he occasionally heard some news about Zheng Qin from other people.

Seeing Yu Shao looking at him, although they hadn't seen each other for a year, Zheng Qin remained very calm and just nodded slightly to Yu Shao.

Yu Shao was slightly startled, and immediately nodded to Zheng Qin. Then he retracted his gaze and looked towards table number six. He soon saw Wu Shuheng, who had been waiting at table number six for a long time.

The memory of the round-robin match a year ago instantly came to Yu Shao's mind.

"Another acquaintance..."

Yu Shao felt a little emotional.

A few days ago, when he received the match list for the first round of qualifiers for his national team match and saw his opponent's name, he was a little surprised. He did not expect that his first professional opponent would be Wu Shuheng.

Yu Shao calmed himself down, walked towards table six, and soon arrived opposite Wu Shuheng.

"haven't seen you for a long time."

Wu Shuheng raised his head and looked at Yu Shao with a complicated look. He opened his mouth, hesitated for a moment, and finally said slowly: "Yu Shao first dan."

"haven't seen you for a long time."

Yu Shao nodded, pulled out a chair and sat down, saying, "Wu Shuheng, third dan."

They did not communicate with each other as seniors and juniors, but addressed each other by their professional ranks, because since the two met in the competition, their identities could only be opponents.

In the upcoming game of chess, life and death are bound to be decided!

(End of this chapter)