Chapter 372 National Team Challenge
China, the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea...
People all over the world are turning their attention to this upcoming chess game!
As everyone is eagerly waiting, time continues to move forward, the National Team Challenge has entered the final countdown, and there are more and more posts discussing the National Team Challenge on the Internet.
However, when it was eight o'clock in the morning and there were less than two hours left until the game, the discussions became smaller and smaller, and countless people flocked into the live broadcast room and began to wait.
The number of online users in the official live broadcast room of the National Team Battle began to rise at an alarming rate. The number of online users in the domestic live broadcast room alone has reached an astonishing 10 million, and this does not include other live broadcast rooms.
You should know that in addition to the official live broadcast room, there are many other live broadcast rooms where professional chess players will observe this game. If you calculate the number of people in all the live broadcast rooms, I am afraid it will be an extremely terrifying number!
Finally, at nine o'clock in the morning, Yu Shao had already put on his clothes, quickly left the hotel, came to the Northern Chess Institute, and then walked towards the chess talk room.
Not long after, Yu Shao finally arrived at the door of the chat room, and then gently pushed open the door.
In the chess room, not only the referee and the scorekeeper had all arrived, but Jiang Changdong had also sat down beside the chess table. When they heard the door being pushed open, everyone looked up and looked towards the door.
Under the gaze of everyone, Yu Shao walked towards the chess table in the middle of the chess talk room, and soon came to the opposite side of Jiang Changdong, then pulled out a chair and slowly sat down.
The two sat opposite each other and talked in silence.
A referee looked at the two people sitting opposite each other. For some reason, he felt a little pressure and couldn't help but take a deep breath.
"One is Mr. Jiang Changdong, who has been famous for a long time, has experienced many battles, and is well-known in the world chess world."
He looked at Jiang Changdong, then turned to look at Yu Shao.
"And the other one, who just got promoted to professional Go last year, made it to the title challenge tournament at an astonishing speed. He is regarded as a genius who has led the new era of Go!"
"This match is bound to shock the chess world!"
The referee thought silently in his heart: "How will the final victory or defeat be? Who will be the winner?"
Squeak.
At this moment, the door of the chat room was pushed open again.
The referee and the music notator were both slightly stunned, and then immediately looked towards the door of the chess talk room again, and then saw Zhuang Weisheng walk into the chess talk room.
"Teacher Zhuang Weisheng? Isn't he in the Central Chess Institute?"
Seeing that it was Zhuang Weisheng, the referee looked a little surprised: "So you came here specially to watch this game?"
As soon as this thought came to his mind, he saw another person following Zhuang Weisheng into the chat room.
When the referee saw this person, his eyes suddenly widened, a look of disbelief appeared on his face, and his body uncontrollably and almost subconsciously wanted to stand up.
"An...An Hongshi Chess Master!"
Not only him, but also another referee and scorekeeper could not hide the shock on their faces when they saw An Hongshi coming.
"Why is Chess Master An Hongshi here?"
Even Jiang Changdong couldn't help but frown slightly when he saw An Hongshi coming.
As one of the few chess players in the world who can compete with An Hongshi, he and An Hongshi are old rivals. An Hongshi's arrival today also caught him off guard.
Yu Shao was also a little surprised when he saw An Hongshi. Although this was the first time he met An Hongshi, even he was no stranger to An Hongshi.
Someone once asked on Zhihu who is the strongest chess player in history.
There are various different answers to this question, and everyone has a different idea of the strongest chess player.
The most highly praised answer was:
"This question is too easy to attract hatred. Everyone has a different opinion of the strongest chess player. For example, a chess player who likes to watch the grand and spectacular battles may not like the solid style of play."
"And those who like the style of chess that is like flowing water without competing for the first place, and those who hide their strategies in the calm, don't like the aggressive and attacking chess players."
“So, there is no one standard answer to this question.”
“But if you add a restriction, there is a standard answer.”
“More than 180 years ago, no matter who you asked, everyone would answer that the strongest chess player was Shen Yi.”
"Ninety years ago, no matter who you asked, they would answer that the strongest chess player was Inoue Genan."
"And the strongest chess player right now is——"
"An Hongshi."
Yu Shao never thought that the first time he met An Hongshi would be here.
Although the game had not yet begun, Zhuang Weisheng and An Hongshi remained quiet without saying a word. They walked silently to the referee's seat and stood there, waiting for the game to begin.
The two referees subconsciously took a deep breath again, calmed their minds, looked at their watches, and saw that there was still some time before the game started, so they continued to wait.
After a while, with a creak, the door of the chat room was gently pushed open again.
"Anyone else coming?"
The referee looked a little surprised and turned his head to look at the door of the chess talk room again.
You should know that although it is not forbidden to watch the game in the chess talk room, the staff will not let other chess players in unless they are related to the competition.
Otherwise, if everyone came to the chess room to watch the game, wouldn’t the game be able to continue?
Now it is the national players' challenge tournament, which means that the only players related to this game are Yu Shao and Jiang Changdong. Logically speaking, Zhuang Weisheng and An Hongshi cannot enter either.
However, they were Zhuang Weisheng and An Hongshi after all, so it was understandable that the staff let them in.
Why are there still people coming now?
Then, the referee saw Su Yiming pushing the door open and walking in.
"It turned out to be Su Yiming."
Seeing that the person coming was Su Yiming, the referee was relieved. If he was a staff member and saw that Su Yiming wanted to watch Yu Shao's game, he would probably let Su Yiming in.
Su Yiming glanced at Yu Shao, then turned to look at Zhuang Weisheng and An Hongshi. Seeing that they were both looking at him, he nodded slightly at them.
Soon, Su Yiming took a step forward and also came to the referee's seat and stood next to Zhuang Weisheng.
With the arrival of An Hongshi, Zhuang Weisheng and Su Yiming, the already dull and depressing atmosphere in the chat room seemed to become even more oppressive.
"Everyone is paying attention to this game..."
The female music notator had a complicated expression and mixed feelings in her heart.
"Each title match is very long, from the qualifiers, to the main tournament, and then to the final challenge, it takes a full year to complete everything."
"Now, this year is finally coming to an end."
"All the chess games played in the National Championship this year will finally end with this final round!"
“This is the final answer!”
Time has entered the countdown! Ten.
Nine.
eight.
…
one.
finally!
The referee kept staring at his watch. When he saw the time had reached nine fifty-five, he finally stood up slowly and said in a deep voice, "The time is up!"
As these four words came out, the eyes of the other referee and the scorekeeper became serious.
"This competition is a title challenge match. The format is three games. The winner is the one who wins two of the three games. The winner will get the title of national champion!"
"In the first game, the two sides will decide who will go first by guessing. In the second game, the two sides will switch between black and white. If there is a third game, the two sides will continue to switch between black and white!"
"The match time is three hours for each side, the countdown is two minutes, and black has a handicap of seven and a half points!"
The referee cleared his throat and looked at Yu Shao and Jiang Changdong with a stern expression. For some reason, he felt a heavy pressure coming over him: "Now, please ask the two players to start guessing the first move!"
Hearing this, Jiang Changdong was the first to reach into the chess box, grabbed a handful of white pieces, and clenched them in his palm.
On the other side, Yu Shao also reached into the chess box, grabbed two black pieces, and placed them on the chessboard.
Jiang Changdong loosened his hand, and the white chess piece immediately bounced onto the chessboard with a "click", making a crisp sound of metal and stone!
"Two, four, six, seven."
Jiang Changdong counted the pieces with his fingers, then quickly raised his head, looked at Yu Shao opposite him, and said, "Odd number."
Yu Shao nodded slightly.
This means that in this game, he will play black and Jiang Changdong will play white.
Jiang Changdong put the white piece back into the chess box and bowed slightly to Yu Shao. Seeing this, Yu Shao immediately bowed his head in return.
"Well, guessing is over!"
After the two finished their greetings, the referee immediately announced loudly: "Yu Shao, 3rd Dan, will attack first with black, and Jiang Changdong, Guo Shou, will attack first with white!"
The chess game begins!
Yu Shao lowered his eyes and stared at the empty chessboard in front of him. After thinking for two or three seconds, he immediately took a chess piece out of the chess box. His wrist was suspended in the air, his fingers hung down, and the chess piece fell to the ground.
Ta! Sixteen columns and four rows, stars! As soon as the chess piece was placed, Yu Shao quickly pressed the timer.
"The first move was a good one indeed."
Seeing Yu Shao make his move, Jiang Changdong looked at the chessboard quietly, his eyes reflecting the black piece in the star position.
Since a month ago, he has been studying and analyzing Yu Shao's chess records almost every day. In so many chess games, although Yu Shao's first move when playing black was not without small eyes or even three-three, most of his moves were in the star position.
Therefore, Jiang Changdong was not surprised to see that Yu Shao, playing with black, placed the piece at a star position this time. In his mind, all of Yu Shao's chess moves at star positions appeared one by one like a revolving lantern.
"Although he is still young, he is... not an ordinary opponent. He is not an opponent that can be underestimated just because of his young age."
"The more I dissect and study his chess games, the more I am shocked. His thoughts are thorough and his calculations are profound. Even on the most complex and ambiguous board, he can still make the most dazzling moves."
"He seems to have the experience of having been through hundreds of battles, as if he has the feeling of a life-or-death moment..."
"Even I can't believe it. He actually became a professional chess player only last year."
"Although I have always looked down on young chess players and thought they were too immature, even Zhang Dongchen felt the same way. They have only been playing Go for a few years. How could they possibly compete with me who has been playing for more than 30 years?"
Jiang Changdong's mind kept appearing every move made by Yu Shao in Yu Shao's chess records.
"But I have to admit that he is indeed a strong opponent who can compete with me until the end and fight to the last half goal!"
"But... I have seen through his weakness."
"I will lead the situation into the most intense and complicated one, and then wait for him to join the game and reveal his flaws!"
"Yes, you don't need to find his flaws yourself. In fact, if you actively look for them, you won't find them!"
"His moves are so aggressive that he often puts himself in danger!"
"So, we have to wait, wait for the moment when he reveals himself!"
"That moment is when White's true intentions are revealed!"
Jiang Changdong finally reached into the chess box and slowly picked out the white piece.
"In one battle, victory or defeat will be decided. Everything will be decided in one battle. A direct fight to the death, leaving no room for any chance!"
"The continuous research and review over the past month have indeed been useful. If it were a month ago, I have to admit that I might not be his opponent."
"But I am not the same person I was a month ago!"
Jiang Changdong's eyes became sharper, his wrist was suspended in the air, and the white pieces between his fingers fell onto the chessboard like meteors!
Da! Four columns and sixteen rows, a star! Seeing Jiang Changdong place his chess piece at the star position in the lower left corner, Yu Shao immediately took out another chess piece and quickly placed it on the board!
Da! Sixteen columns and seventeen rows, small eye! Jiang Changdong followed closely behind, making moves quickly! Four columns and three rows, small eye! …
…
New York, USA.
"Xing Xiaomu versus Xing Xiaomu?"
Even though the two sides had only played four moves at this point, the blond man was already becoming a little excited, as if he had already glimpsed an upcoming shocking battle!
"The characteristic of the star small goal is balance. It has both the external force and speed of the star and the solidity and stability of the small goal. It is easy to build a battle formation, and it is also possible to break up the board and form a fine chess pattern!"
The blond man muttered to himself, "Both sides chose Xing Xiaomu. Obviously, they both want to wait and see. Now it depends on who will make the first move!"
"One is Yu Shao, a genius who almost overturned the traditional understanding of Go!"
"The other is Jiang Changdong, who has fought in the world chess arena for more than 20 years, experienced hundreds of battles, and created the legend of 'Dragon Slayer'!"
“What will happen next?”
The blond man seemed to be possessed, and kept muttering to himself: "Who will win?"
"Who will be the national player this year?"
“It’s really worth looking forward to!”
Soon, on the chessboard, both sides made several moves in succession. After the two sides formed a star-shaped small eye against a star-shaped small eye, Yu Shao chose to hang a small eye high in the lower right corner to guard the corner.
For this move, most chess players would make the Worry-Free Corner without hesitation if they were to use a small eye to defend the corner. However, Yu Shao did the opposite and chose the extremely strange high-hanging corner defense. The blond man was not surprised at all.
Yu Shao had played the small eye high to defend the corner too many times before, and everyone was no longer surprised by this and was completely used to it.
At this moment, on the computer screen, Jiang Changdong slowly dropped the white chess piece.
Da! Fourteen columns and three rows, Xiao Fei is dead! "National player Jiang Changdong took the lead!"
…
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