Chapter 459: The strong prey on the weak, but there are no weaklings here
The popularity of the Phoenix Cup World Championship continues to rise. These two days seem to be extremely long. After everyone's eager anticipation, two days have finally passed.
Early in the morning, countless viewers from all over the world gathered in front of their televisions or computers, waiting with their relatives and friends for the Phoenix Cup global live broadcast to begin soon.
On the other side, at around 7:30 in the morning, a group of contestants finally arrived at the competition venue one after another.
The huge competition venue only has 32 chess tables in the center left today, which makes it look extremely empty. However, there are still many people in the venue.
In addition to the amateur chess players who were invited to watch the world championship, all the players who were eliminated in the previous single-elimination tournament also came to the competition venue.
After being eliminated, some chess players did not come to the single-elimination tournaments in the following days. Some people thought they had left, but unexpectedly, on the day when the round of 64 started, all of them came back without a single one missing.
As they watched the players who advanced to the top 64 enter the competition venue one after another, there was a slightly complicated look in their eyes.
Not long after, Yu Shao also arrived at the competition venue. After taking a quick look around, he found an empty chair and sat down like other contestants, waiting for the draw to begin.
Soon, Su Yiming, Honinbo Shinkazu, Yasu Hiroshi and others also arrived at the competition venue one after another, found a seat and sat down, waiting.
At around eight o'clock, all the participating players had arrived, without a single one absent. The entire competition venue was quiet, yet faintly filled with a sense of oppression and solemnity.
finally--
"It's half past eight!"
After Zhao Zhengyang finished speaking, he slowly walked to the stage and looked around the competition venue with a serious face. His whole body exuded an aura of majesty without even being angry.
The whole place suddenly became quieter, and you could hear a pin drop.
Zhao Zhengyang paused, then finally spoke again in a clear voice: "Everyone is here, let's go on stage and draw lots!"
After hearing this, everyone in the audience became more serious, even An Hongshi was no exception.
There are only sixty-four people left, so the draw will naturally not be like the protein round-robin tournament, where lots are drawn from multiple lottery boxes. All the lots are in the same lottery box.
No matter who is drawn in the draw now, it is impossible for him to be an easy opponent. However, even so, everyone wants to draw an opponent who is relatively easy to deal with among the difficult ones.
At this stage, the lottery has already determined your destiny, and if you draw the right lot, you have drawn your future.
Soon, Zhuang Weisheng, who was the first in line, walked onto the stage. Under the watchful eyes of the whole world, he slowly took out the signature paper from the signature box and then walked off the stage.
Then, Zhu Huaian, who was second in line, also walked up to the stage and took out the paper to sign, followed by the third, the fourth...
Not long after, it was Yu Shao's turn.
Yu Shao also walked onto the stage and grabbed a piece of paper from the lottery box. As soon as he walked off the stage, the American chess player standing behind Yu Shao followed him onto the stage and grabbed his own lottery paper.
At this time, Yu Shao, who had walked off the stage, also opened his signature paper and saw the number he had drawn in this round.
Sign number: sixteen.
Because there were only sixty-four players left to draw lots, the drawing ended very quickly. After a while, everyone had finished drawing lots and each was holding a piece of paper with different expressions.
"Okay, everyone, please check your signature numbers."
Seeing that all the players had drawn their lots, Zhao Zhengyang scanned the participating players, took out a pen from his pocket, and said, "Now I'll call out the number. The two players who drew the same number will respond."
After saying that, Zhao Zhengyang spoke again: "So, which two contestants drew number one?"
As soon as Zhao Zhengyang finished speaking, a thin, blond, and handsome young man wearing round-framed glasses raised his hand: "I'm number one."
All of a sudden, everyone around couldn't help but look at the young man and immediately recognized his identity.
Ander, who is a ninth-dan player, has always been quite famous in the United States, but he is not well-known worldwide. It was not until he won the championship in the European and American leagues this year that he attracted the attention of the world.
However, even so, it was still very unexpected that Ander was able to overcome all obstacles and enter the top 64.
In comparison, Ma Dong, who was once a popular American chess player, was defeated in the single-elimination tournament, which was a big surprise.
"I'm number one too."
At this moment, Zhang Dongchen slowly raised his hand, with a serious expression, and spoke.
Table one, Zhang Dongchen, yes, Ander!
"Um."
Zhao Zhengyang nodded slightly, quickly wrote down the two names on the paper, and then asked, "Where is number two?"
"I'm number two."
At this time, a man in his forties, with a strong build and a dignified face slowly raised his hand and answered.
Seeing this scene, some people couldn't help but feel a little relieved that their signature number was not number two.
Zheng Cui, with a rank of 9th dan, has defended the title of North Korea Go Saint for three consecutive years.
Although the Go Saint title was taken away by Chang Hsiao-yoon last year and he failed to make a comeback this year, it is still remarkable that he has been able to hold the title for three years given the outrageously fierce competition between North and South Korea. He is obviously a very difficult opponent to deal with.
"Teacher Zheng Cui, what a coincidence, I'm also number two. Looks like we're going to fight again."
At this moment, in the crowd, Zhuang Weisheng looked at the man and said with a smile, "The last time we fought was at the Hundred Star Title Invitational Tournament, right?"
Seeing that his opponent was Zhuang Weisheng, Zheng Cui couldn't help but frown deeply, looking as if he was facing a formidable enemy.
Obviously, the outcome of the game between him and Zhuang Weisheng in the Hundred Stars Title Invitational Tournament mentioned by Zhuang Weisheng should not be optimistic.
"Number three."
Zhao Zhengyang quickly wrote down their names and table numbers, then shouted again.
Two more people in the crowd responded immediately. One was the British chess player Ed, who currently holds the titles of "Master" and "Chess King" and is also a battle-hardened warrior.
Although he has never won the world championship, he has an outstanding record of reaching the finals twice, and is arguably the most famous chess player in Europe besides Hans.
And what's interesting is that Hans is Ed's nemesis. It is difficult for Ed to win whenever he plays against Hans. Someone has calculated that between Ed and Hans, Ed only won two out of ten games.
However, Hans, who was Ed's nemesis, was defeated in the single-elimination match, while Ed made it to the top 64, which was a pity.
Ed's opponent is the Russian-Chinese chess player Feng Tong. As a young rising star, he has achieved quite good results in recent years, but he is also the last Russian chess player in this world championship.
"Number four."
Zhao Zhengyang shouted again quickly.
Just like that, number five, number six, number seven...
Soon, the game arrangements for the first nine tables were finalized, and netizens who saw this scene through the live broadcast room couldn't help but start discussing it excitedly.
"Holy crap! It's truly worthy of being the World Championship! Just hearing the first round schedule is enough to make my blood boil. What a top-tier lineup!"
"It's truly a battle of swordsmen on Mount Huashan. There will be duels between newcomers like Zhang Dongchen and Ande, battles between veterans like Teacher Zheng Cui and Teacher Zhuang Weisheng, and fights between rookies and veterans like Ai De and Feng Tong. I'm really looking forward to it!"
"That year, Teacher Zheng Cui fought a bloody battle against Teacher Zhuang Weisheng. They fought to the death, but lost by just a point. It's still vivid in my mind. I didn't expect the two of them to face off again this time!"
"I don't know if Mr. Ed can fulfill his dream of winning the World Championship. Mr. Ed is truly consumed by the pursuit of the World Championship. He's participated in every World Championship for over 20 years, and he keeps fighting despite repeated failures. He's truly dedicated."
“…”
Soon, after recording the names of the two players at the ninth table, Zhao Zhengyang continued without even looking up, "Number 10."
The next moment, Su Yiming in the crowd raised his hand and said, "I'm number ten."
Hearing Su Yiming's voice, Zhao Zhengyang was stunned for a moment, then he couldn't help but raised his head, looked towards the crowd, and asked, "Where's the other one?"
"Here."
A young figure in the crowd slowly raised his hand and answered.
Everyone couldn't help but look towards the young figure, and no one was unfamiliar with this figure -
I wish you peace.
Title: Go Master, Tenth Dan!
Zhu Huaian looked at Su Yiming with a serious expression and said slowly: "I am also number ten."
Seeing this scene, Zhao Zhengyang's expression changed slightly.
Although the probability of a civil war has greatly increased and is almost unavoidable at this point in the game, he had anticipated this, but he still had some hope in his heart. Maybe he would be lucky and there would be no civil war?
But he didn't expect that in just the first round, the scene he least wanted to see happened.
Zhu Huaian and Su Yiming, no matter who wins or loses, it will be a tragedy for their loved ones and a joy for their enemies. For him, who wants to see Chinese chess players achieve good results, it is definitely not good news.
Indeed, this is a double-elimination tournament, and losing a game does not mean elimination.
but……
After falling into the loser group in the first few rounds, trying to climb out of the loser group is almost like climbing to the sky. The competition in the loser group is often more intense than that in the winner group.
Because falling into the loser group means there is no way out. Without a way out, even dogs know how to jump over the wall, let alone humans?
In a life-and-death situation, the match in the loser group will be much more brutal than that in the winner group, and it’s not just one game, all the subsequent games will be like this!
In all subsequent games, the players in the loser group will be under extreme pressure and must not make any mistakes. However, this is the World Championship, and it is easy to make mistakes due to nervousness, not to mention that there is no way out?
Looking back at previous World Championships, there are very few teams that fell into the loser group in the first two rounds and eventually made it to the finals!
And there are only a handful of people who fell into the loser bracket in the first two rounds and finally beat the winner of the winner bracket and finally won the championship!
Therefore, Zhao Zhengyang was unwilling to see a civil war at the beginning of the double-elimination tournament.
Unlike Zhao Zhengyang, most viewers around the world watching TV became excited when they saw the draw result!
"Su Yiming versus Zhu Huaian, it's going to be something to watch! I've been looking forward to seeing these two fight, but I didn't expect it to be at the World Championship!"
"It really is the Huashan Sword Contest. Ten games in a row, every one of them is Qiankun Da Neng Yi versus Six Meridians Divine Sword. I don't know which one to focus on!"
“Speaking of which, Su Yiming has the style of Shen Yi, and Shen Yi was the only chess master more than a hundred years ago. Does this count as a chess master competition?”
"Zhu Huaian holds two major titles, and he's poised to become China's top chess player. Yu Shao and Su Yiming are also incredibly popular, but Zhu Huaian has never played against any of them. Today, he finally gets his wish!"
The Internet is in an uproar!
Without thinking too much, if we only look at the honors, then it is true that Zhu Huaian is now the only chess player in Chinese chess who holds two major titles at the same time, and he is the number one Chinese chess player in the open.
If a person knows nothing about Go, it is easy for him to think that Zhu Huaian is the strongest Go player in China just because the title is one of the highest honors for a Go player and Zhu Huaian holds two major titles at the same time.
Because Zhu Huaian does have two major titles, if someone puts forward this point of view, most people will have no way to refute it, not to mention that Zhu Huaian is indeed strong enough.
This is just like how many people who know nothing about Go think that a 9th dan player can definitely beat a 1st dan player, and that a title holder can definitely beat a 9th dan player. It's hard to explain, but you can't say there's no truth to it.
In short, the performances of Yu Shao and Su Yiming over the past year or so can be described as jaw-dropping. Therefore, many people have been looking forward to the confrontation between the two and Zhu Huaian for a long time.
Zhao Zhengyang took a deep breath and had to face the internal competition between the two players who had the potential to win the championship in the first round. He wrote down the names of Su Yiming and Zhu Huaian on the paper, and then continued, "Where is number 11?"
Soon, the two chess players who drew number 11 raised their hands.
…
Not long after, after writing down the names of four chess players, Zhao Zhengyang spoke again: "Number 16."
When Yu Shao heard Zhao Zhengyang read out the number he had drawn, he quickly raised his hand: "I'm number 16."
When Zhao Zhengyang saw that it was Yu Shao, his heart tightened and he immediately looked towards the crowd: "Another one?"
"It's me."
In the crowd, a tall, strong man with a stern expression looked at the signature paper in his hand and spoke slowly.
Everyone looked at the man, including Yu Shao, and everyone was familiar with the man's name!
Norio Ishida Throne!
Seeing this answer, the amateur chess players around couldn't help but get excited.
"Are you kidding me? Our luck is a bit too bad, isn't it? Teacher Zhang Dongchen is facing Ande, Teacher Zhuang Weisheng is bumping into Teacher Zheng Cui, Su Yiming and Zhu Huaian are fighting each other, and Yu Shao is bumping into Ishida Norihiko's throne again?"
"Indeed, this is luck."
"Damn, I thought there were quite a few Chinese players who made it to the top 64, so I thought we should do well in this year's World Championship. But this..."
"It just happened to be Ishida Norio, who has the highest win rate against China. I'm going to bark my teeth."
"No."
Hearing this, someone in the crowd shook their head and said solemnly: "It's not bad luck."
"At this stage, apart from the civil war between Su Yiming and Zhu Huaian, it is normal to draw this kind of opponent."
"The reason you think you're unlucky is because you're only paying attention to our players. If you think about it from the perspective of other countries, you'll find that they're not very lucky either."
He looked at the contestants not far ahead and said:
"This is the World Championship, and it's also the cruel and fascinating part of it—"
"The strong prey on the weak, but here, there are no weaklings."
He paused and continued, "If you want to survive, you have to bite off a piece of flesh from the strong."
…………
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(End of this chapter)
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