Chapter 464 Shadow of the Past Life
In other words, no matter how Zhao Junze plays this game, losing is only a matter of time, and the white pieces have no way out.
Yu Shao finally turned his gaze away from the chess game and glanced at An Hongshi.
“It is indeed very strong.”
This game was not as exciting as the one between An Hongshi and Kong Zi, but even so, An Hongshi still showed his profound calculation and accurate judgment of the board.
An Hongshi executed almost all the best moves he saw accurately.
Even if there are multiple ways to play some parts, such as one way to play is 99 points and another way to play is 100 points, An Hongshi will play the one that is 100 points.
He even saw some of An Hongshi's choices in dealing with the complicated board situation. Even though he saw that move, when An Hongshi really made it, he couldn't help but feel a sense of pressure.
So much so that when watching this game of chess and seeing every powerful move of An Hongshi, Yu Shao couldn't help but have the urge to sit opposite An Hongshi and fight with An Hongshi himself.
It’s not that I want to compete with each other, I just see that a chess player can play so well. As a chess player myself, I want to compete with such an opponent!
"When he really sits across from me, that game of chess will be really worth looking forward to."
Yu Shao took a deep breath and couldn't help feeling a little excited.
Seeing the two of them start to pack up the chess pieces, Yu Shao finally took his eyes off An Hongshi and looked at other tables.
The game between Zhao Junze and An Hongshi was a long and fierce battle. After all, Zhao Junze was not an easy opponent to deal with. After this game, the games at other tables were basically over.
Even the few tables that were still betting had already started counting down and were entering the final stages of the game.
Ta-da, ta-da, ta-da…
Inside the competition venue, the sound of chess pieces dropping became increasingly sparse. Finally, after only about ten minutes, there was no more sound of chess pieces dropping onto the board, and all the matches had been decided.
"In this round, the players who entered the winner's group are: An Hongshi, Su Yiming, Yu Shao, Araki Ye, and Jiang Hanen..."
Not long after, Zhao Zhengyang walked onto the stage again and announced the names of the 32 players who entered the winner group. As for the remaining 32 players, they naturally fell into the loser group.
"Su Yiming also defeated Zhu Huaian..."
When he heard Su Yiming's name in the winner group, Yu Shao realized that in the game between Su Yiming and Zhu Huaian, Su Yiming was the final winner, while Zhu Huaian fell into the loser group.
Soon after announcing the results, Zhao Zhengyang spoke again, "Today's competition ends here. Competitors who have fallen into the loser's bracket, don't be discouraged by this temporary loss. You'll have a chance to make a comeback in the next competition!"
"If you perform well in the future, even rising from the loser's bracket to become the champion isn't impossible!"
"As for the players who have made it to the winner's bracket, don't let up. This is just the beginning. The competition will become increasingly difficult as time goes on. I hope to see you perform brilliantly tomorrow and become more courageous as the game progresses."
Applause soon broke out from the audience, but it was not very enthusiastic. Almost all the players who fell into the loser group had extremely gloomy expressions.
Indeed, losing the game today does not mean elimination, but falling directly into the loser group so early in the first and second rounds means that they will almost miss the finals.
All chess players who have ever fallen into the loser group of the World Championship know how tortuous the road to the loser group of the World Championship is. They will be under unprecedented pressure and fight for their lives with their opponents along the way. The mentality is completely different from that in the winner group.
It would be fine if you started this path near the end of the game, but to go straight from the beginning to the end, finally to the finals, and even to win the championship, might be more difficult than winning the championship without losing a single game.
In fact, in most world competitions like the Phoenix Cup, the champions win all the way. There are very few who climb up from the loser group and eventually defeat the winner group champion.
"I won't go into too much small talk. Everyone should be tired."
Zhao Zhengyang obviously knew this, and seeing that the audience's response was not enthusiastic, he quickly said, "Tomorrow's draw will still be at 8 o'clock, and the competition will start at 9 o'clock. Everyone, go home and have a good rest today."
After hearing this, the people in the audience finally began to leave one after another. Seeing the contestants leave, the amateur players and the players who had been eliminated before also followed them out of the competition venue.
However, no matter whether they were contestants or non-contestants, everyone looked like they were worried.
Yu Shao originally wanted to ask Su Yiming about the process of the chess game between him and Zhu Huaian, but when he saw Su Yiming, he couldn't help but be stunned.
Su Yiming frowned slightly, his expression solemn, as if he was thinking about something. He just lowered his head and walked out.
"Didn't he win?"
Yu Shao was a little surprised, but seeing that Su Yiming didn't seem to want to talk, he didn't ask.
I got up at eight o'clock this morning and all the competitions are over now. Because eating will make me dizzy due to carbohydrates, which will affect my performance in the competition, Yu Shao has not eaten anything yet and I am a little hungry.
Yu Shao thought about it and decided not to go back to the B&B immediately. After leaving the competition venue, he quickly came to a noodle restaurant near the competition venue and walked in.
Yu Shao found a chair and sat down, then quickly ordered the dishes: "Boss, I'd like a large serving of beef ramen and a fried egg."
"Okay, handsome, do you want it spicy?"
The proprietress responded and asked.
"Medium spicy is fine." Yu Shao replied.
Not long after, the proprietress brought a large bowl of beef noodles and placed it in front of Yu Shao. Yu Shao let out a breath, picked up the chopsticks, and began to gobble it up.
Just when Yu Shao was halfway through his meal, a voice suddenly sounded above his head.
"Yu Shao?"
Hearing someone calling him, Yu Shao stopped using his chopsticks, raised his head, and then saw Zheng Qin sitting at the table.
Seeing that it was indeed Yu Shao, Zheng Qin sat down opposite him and asked, "Why don't you go back to the B&B to eat? It's World Championship time, and there are a lot of Go enthusiasts here. If you eat out and someone recognizes you, asking for autographs and photos, wouldn't that be a huge hassle?"
"I was so hungry and afraid of getting a carb stun, so I simply skipped breakfast. If I go home, I'll have to wait for the takeaway to arrive, which will take a while."
Yu Shao smiled, slurped another mouthful of noodles, and asked in confusion, "You didn't have any competitions, didn't you eat?"
"I ate, but not much."
After Zheng Qin finished speaking, he quickly turned around and called out, "Boss, give me a serving of beef noodles too, a little spicy."
"Okay, right away."
The proprietress responded quickly.
While waiting for the noodles to be served, Zheng Qin looked at Yu Shao, who seemed to be worried about something and seemed to be hesitant to speak.
"What's wrong?"
Yu Shao saw that Zheng Qin wanted to say something. After waiting for a long time without seeing Zheng Qin speak, he put down his chopsticks and said with a smile, "Just say it if you have something to say."
"nothing."
Zheng Qin finally shook his head without saying a word.
Yu Shao was speechless, but since Zheng Qin didn't say anything, he didn't know what to ask, so he picked up his chopsticks and started eating noodles.
But after Yu Shao had taken a few bites, Zheng Qin finally couldn't help himself and asked, "Yu Shao."
"explain."
Yu Shao had expected that Zheng Qin would not be able to hold it back in the end, and said with some annoyance.
"You are interested in winning the World Championship..."
Zheng Qin thought for a moment, then finally asked, "Are you confident?"
This question stumped Yu Shao. If he answered directly that he was confident, it would seem immodest. If he answered that he would try his best, it would seem like he was showing weakness.
But Yu Shao thought about it, and finally nodded, and answered seriously: "Yes."
When Zheng Qin asked this question, he didn't expect to get a positive answer, and he obviously didn't expect that Yu Shao would actually give this answer. He was stunned for a moment.
Just then, the proprietress brought a bowl of beef noodles and placed it in front of Zheng Qin. Zheng Qin came to his senses, picked up the chopsticks, and began to slurp the noodles.
But after taking a few bites, Zheng Qin stopped using his chopsticks.
"I told you before that Mr. Arakino is very strong. Have you ever watched Mr. Arakino play chess since then?" Zheng Qin suddenly asked.
Yu Shao was a little surprised and couldn't help but glance at Zheng Qin again before replying, "I saw it. I went to watch the second round of the single-elimination tournament."
"How does it feel?"
Zheng Qin suddenly became alert and asked quickly.
"That chess game..."
Yu Shao pondered for a moment, thinking about Araki's game, and replied, "He has gone beyond the heavy rain pattern and used complex changes in the giant horn shape. His understanding of the real situation and the external situation is more profound than I expected."
"Every move after that was also very precise and powerful. The attacks were wide-ranging and he seized the opponent's weaknesses and attacked fiercely all the way. In the end, he successfully slayed the dragon. It was a very beautiful move."
Yu Shao felt that Zheng Qin was still upset about Araki Noboru being eliminated in the first round of the single-elimination tournament after not competing for ten years. He smiled and consoled him, "So, even though he hasn't competed in ten years, he's still quite strong. It's normal for you to lose to him. It's not that you're weak."
"Yeah?"
After receiving this answer, Zheng Qin seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and a smile finally appeared on his face: "That's good."
Yu Shao frowned slightly and wondered, "Why do I feel like you're a little weird?"
"No way?"
Zheng Qin shook his head and said with a smile, "I never expected you to actually say you were confident of winning. If you actually win, you'll make history!"
"We definitely have the confidence to win the championship, but having the confidence to win the championship doesn't mean we will definitely win it."
Yu Shao joked, "Didn't you also have confidence in reaching the top 64 at the beginning?"
"Don't expose people's shortcomings!"
Zheng Qin rolled his eyes and said with a smile, "Anyway, I'm really looking forward to you really being able to punch Yasuhiro Seki, kick Arakino, slash Honinbo Shingo with your sword, and chop Sho Misaki with your knife, all the way to the championship. By then, I'm afraid the entire Go world will be boiling with excitement, right?"
Hearing this, Yu Shao was a little surprised, wondering why Zheng Qin put Araki and An Hongshi together.
In his opinion, although Arakino's chess skills were indeed strong and his understanding of the terrain was so profound that it surprised him, he was still not comparable to Yasu Hiroishi.
Even if he just watched An Hongshi's two games, he could feel a sense of pressure in these two games.
However, Yu Shao did not think about it too much, and felt that Arakino should be of the same generation as Yasu Hiroseki and Honinbo Shingo, so he was ranked together with Zheng Qin.
Of course, it is also possible that because Zheng Qin lost to Arakino, he put Arakino and Yasu Hiroishi on the same level to make up for himself.
"Speaking of which, did you see the chess game between Su Yiming and Zhu Huaian?"
Yu Shao suddenly remembered and couldn't help asking Zheng Qin.
"I didn't watch that game, but I heard that Zhu Huaian made a nasty mistake and Su Yiming swallowed up the left wing."
Zheng Qin slurped two mouthfuls of noodles and answered as he ate, "Although Zhu Huaian played extremely tenaciously in the end, you know that among top players, even the slightest mistake can lead to total annihilation, let alone such a drastic mistake. So, it is said that Zhu Huaian was completely wiped out in the end."
"Did he commit a terrible crime?"
Yu Shao was a little surprised to hear this answer. He had never considered the possibility that Zhu Huaian would make a mistake. In fact, it was not just Zhu Huaian. It seemed that he almost never considered the possibility that his opponent would make a mistake in every game of chess.
"Yeah, it's a little unexpected, but it's Go, so it's normal."
Zheng Qin sighed, "Go is so dangerous. Even the strongest are not necessarily the winners. No matter how strong a player is, they will succumb to unexpected storms. Even Zhu Huaian, the youngest Go Master, is no exception."
At this point, Zheng Qin was suddenly stunned. He looked at Yu Shao with some surprise and doubt, wondering, "Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen you play the spoon move very often. Logically speaking, a chess player like you who is good at attacking and killing is like walking on a tightrope, so you are more likely to make mistakes, right?"
"Well……"
This question stumped Yu Shao. After thinking for a moment, he explained, "Perhaps I have too many concerns, so I always think things through more thoroughly."
"?"
Zheng Qin was a little dumbfounded. "A more thoughtful and forceful fighter? That's still called a forceful fighter? Shouldn't a forceful fighter be tough to the end and fight all the way to the end?"
Yu Shao was also stunned when he heard this. Indeed, when he thought about it carefully, he usually didn't think so much when playing chess now, but he inexplicably felt that he seemed to have considered a lot.
Maybe...
Yu Shao seemed to understand something in an instant.
The shadow of the previous life.
He always felt that he had embarked on a path that was completely different from his previous life. If he could not get rid of the bad habits of his previous life, he would not make much progress in this life.
But that’s not entirely true.
Even though he is only fighting for one life now, the countless chess games he played in his previous life are subconsciously supporting the overall situation and looking forward to eternity.
This means that even though he often only focuses on what is in front of him, he actually has a vague feeling about the whole board through his chess sense without the need for complicated calculations. Therefore, he rarely makes any bad moves.
Even in blitz chess, it doesn't appear often.
It's just that he only realized this now.
"Forget it, forget it. I have to admit you're a genius. I was presumptuous."
Zheng Qin shook his head, picked up his chopsticks, and prepared to eat his noodles. He said, "Anyway, I hope you can continue to dominate the World Championship and win consecutive victories in the next few days!"
(End of this chapter)
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