Chapter 473 I’m not old yet!
The next day.
At around seven o'clock in the morning, the Phoenix Cup competition venue was already noisy.
"I never expected that Mr. Arakino is still so strong even after not competing for ten years. No, I should say, he feels even stronger than before."
"Yeah, yesterday's game was so scary that it made my scalp tingle. I wonder who Mr. Arakino's opponent will be today. Will it be Mr. Yasuhiro Seki?"
"If so, that would be something to watch!"
A group of amateur chess players seemed extremely excited and were still discussing yesterday's game. Unlike professional chess players, they did not have any psychological pressure about Arakino's performance in yesterday's game.
For many people, as long as the game is exciting, that's enough, not to mention that yesterday's game was so exciting. As for who will be the champion of this competition, they also hope that it will be a chess player from their country who wins, but if he fails to win, there is nothing they can do.
"It doesn't feel good. I'm a fan of Su Yiming's chess. We fell into the loser group in the second round. It will be difficult from now on. The competition is originally a high-intensity chess battle, and it is even more so in the loser group..." Someone else seemed worried and spoke.
"Su Yiming made it to the top 32 of the winner's bracket in his first World Championship appearance. This is quite an achievement. Even if he doesn't win the championship this year, he still has great opportunities in the future."
While everyone was discussing, some participating chess players also walked into the competition venue one after another.
When they saw these chess players walking in, the discussions in the competition venue suddenly became much quieter, and everyone couldn't help but look at these contestants.
Honinbo Shinai!
Jiang Hanen tenth dan!
Congratulations to Huaian, the chess master!
…
After so many days of continuous single-elimination and double-elimination tournaments, those who can still survive are naturally, without exception, the top chess players in today's chess world.
Everyone's name is familiar to anyone who has a little knowledge of Go. Even if you have no interest in Go at all, you will have some impression of these names.
Honinbo Shingo and others who arrived at the competition venue first had heavy expressions and a hint of fatigue on their faces. After two days of high-intensity competition, they were obviously feeling a little tired.
Although the games are played one day instead of one after another, and there is a night's rest, it is still very tiring because after the top 64, the opponents are quite strong.
Even for them, if they want to defeat their opponents, they have to spend a lot of energy. After such an intense game, the energy consumed is no less than that of a football game.
The audience at the competition venue watched as the players walked to the chess table and sat down. Someone couldn't help but sigh, "Only five games remain to decide the winner of the upper bracket. The competition has already reached a fever pitch..."
As time passed, more and more chess players arrived at the competition venue one after another.
An Hongshi, Su Yiming, Yu Shao, Zhuang Weisheng, An De, Zhang Dongchen, Jing Zhongqin, Dongshan Xun...
When Arakino arrived at the competition venue, he instantly attracted the attention of the entire audience. Even An Hongshi couldn't help but look at Arakino.
As the contestants gradually arrived, the originally noisy competition venue gradually became quiet. When all 48 players arrived, the competition venue was already silent.
The draw is about to begin!
“Ahem!”
Soon, not long after all the players arrived, Zhao Zhengyang walked onto the stage, coughed twice, and then said loudly: "No more nonsense, since everyone is here, let's start drawing lots!"
Upon hearing this, all the players stood up, walked onto the stage and began to draw lots. Soon, Yu Shao also drew the lot for his round, and on the lot paper was written - Number One!
Not long after, all the participating players had drawn their lots. Seeing this, Zhao Zhengyang began to ask each player about the lot number they had drawn.
"Please raise your hands, both players who drew number one."
As soon as Zhao Zhengyang finished speaking, Yu Shao raised his hand. The next moment, a blond and blue-eyed young man wearing glasses in the crowd also slowly raised his right hand.
Seeing this scene, the crowd around couldn't help but get agitated!
"Yu Shao's opponent is Ande, a 9th dan player!"
It has to be said that the titles of various countries do have considerable value. At this point in the World Championship, the vast majority of chess players who are still able to stay hold titles.
There are only a handful of chess players who do not hold a title, and Ander is one of them.
In fact, at this point in the competition, the honor of the title is no longer sufficient to measure the chess skills of the players. After all, title holders such as Kong Zi and Kimura Go have also been eliminated.
Ander can be said to be the most eye-catching dark horse in this World Championship, except for Araki.
You know, American chess players who were once highly regarded, such as Ma Dong and Xi Rui, have been eliminated. Instead, Ander has fought his way through the siege and even defeated Zhang Dongchen in the previous game!
It was because Araki attracted too much attention in the past two rounds that he stole the limelight from Ander. Otherwise, Ander would probably be the center of everyone's discussion these two days. But even so, Ander also received a lot of attention.
"Where's number two?"
Zhao Zhengyang continued to ask.
The next moment, Zhuang Weisheng and An Hongshi raised their hands almost at the same time in the crowd.
After seeing their opponents, they were both stunned and looked at each other.
Seeing this scene, Yu Shao was a little surprised, the crowd around him was instantly in an uproar, and the audience in the live broadcast room was also in an uproar!
"Holy crap! Isn't this the finals lineup? I'd believe it if they said it was the early finals!"
"Zhuang Weisheng and Mr. An Hongshi collided in the third round? That's too fast!"
"It's actually quite normal. After all, there are only sixteen people left in the winner's bracket, so the chances of running into each other are quite high!"
"These are truly old rivals. Teacher An Hongshi and Teacher Zhuang Weisheng have fought so many times over the past decade or so that it's hard to say who will win now!"
"I still remember the Red Sun Cup World Championship that year, when Mr. Sho Misao and Mr. Yasuhiro Seki played a three-game match. In the final game, Mr. Yasuhiro Seki deliberately made a mistake, setting a brilliant trap. Honinbo Shingo, who was commentating at the time, didn't even see it and thought Mr. Sho Misao was doomed to lose."
"In the end, Zhuang Weisheng mastered the Yin-Yang double kill and successfully won the world championship. Honinbo Shingo master was stunned. Even now, thinking about it, my blood boils!"
The live broadcast room was abuzz with discussion and comments were flying around.
Not long after, Zhao Zhengyang finalized all the contestants for the eight games in the winner's group. It can be said that every match is very interesting and everyone is looking forward to it.
It is worth mentioning that Arakino's opponent in this round is the North Korean chess player Shin Ji-woong, a 9th dan, who is also a veteran who has reached the world championship finals twice and is only one step away from the world championship.
If it were before, most people might have been more optimistic about Shin Zhixiong, but now, after watching the game between Arakino and Su Yiming yesterday, almost everyone on the Internet believes that Shin Zhixiong has little chance of winning.
After finalizing the arrangements for the eight games in the winners' group, Zhao Zhengyang began to finalize the schedule for the losers' group.
After yesterday's game, sixteen people were eliminated, but sixteen more people from the winners group fell into the losers group. That is to say, there were a total of thirty-two people in the losers group, and a total of sixteen games.
Soon, Zhao Zhengyang had confirmed fifteen games, and now only the last one was left.
Although Zhao Zhengyang hadn't opened his mouth to ask, because the opponents of the other players had already been determined, the names of the two players who would face off at the final table were naturally about to come out -
"The last table, Su Yiming, yes, Dongshan Xun."
Zhao Zhengyang looked at Su Yiming and Dongshanxun in the crowd and asked, "That should be the case, right?"
Hearing this, Su Yiming nodded slightly, while Dongshan Xun glanced at Su Yiming, took a deep breath, and his expression became extremely serious, obviously agreeing.
"In that case, all contestants, please prepare yourself. The competition will begin promptly at 9 o'clock!"
After finalizing all the match arrangements for the winners' and losers' brackets, Zhao Zhengyang said, "I hope everyone can still perform well in today's match!"
After saying that, Zhao Zhengyang turned around and walked down the stage.
Upon hearing this, most of the players went straight to their seats at the tables where they were assigned. A small number of players left the venue, some to go to the restroom, some to smoke, and some to wash their faces.
Yu Shao did not leave the competition venue, but went directly to table number one, pulled out a chair and sat down. Then Ander also came to table number one and pulled out a chair.
"Yu Shao, a national team player, this is our first time playing against each other, right?"
As Ander sat down, he smiled and said in English, "Although I've never played chess with you before, I've heard your name countless times, especially the chess disputes that embarrassed us."
The smile on Ander's face gradually faded. He looked at Yu Shao and said, "From point three three to the three difficult fixed patterns, to the shoulder charge and the peak, you are really not simple."
"I've always wanted to fight you, and now, I finally have the chance."
Yu Shao was slightly stunned and didn't know what to say, so he nodded.
"National Team Yu Shao, you seem to have misunderstood. I'm not saying this as a fan expressing admiration for my idol, but rather I want to say—"
Ander took off his glasses. Due to wearing glasses for a long time, his eyes were slightly out of focus, but they were extremely sharp. He looked at Yu Shao and said again: "Even so, I think I can win."
Hearing this, Yu Shao looked at Ander opposite him, frowned slightly, and said in a colder tone, "Then give it a try."
"What a coincidence."
Ender wiped his glasses with a tissue, put them back on, and said, "I thought so too."
The other side.
Zhuang Weisheng and An Hongshi returned to the competition venue together and walked side by side towards chess table number two where they were assigned.
"Teacher Zhuang Weisheng, I heard that your son has become a professional chess player, and his record is quite impressive."
As An Hongshi walked, he chatted with Zhuang Weisheng about family matters.
"It's currently a 21-game winning streak."
Zhuang Weisheng shook his head and said, "However, that kid hasn't met a truly strong opponent yet. There's not much to talk about this winning streak. I can only say it's barely acceptable."
"Twenty-one consecutive wins is barely acceptable? That's a bit too demanding."
An Hongshi couldn't help but smile, and said with some emotion: "I always feel that the Chinese chess world is now full of talented people. New stars like Yu Shao, Su Yiming, and Zhu Huaian have all made great names in the world competitions."
"Rising stars like Fang Haoxin, Zhuang Fei, Zheng Qin, Le Haoqiang, Qin Lang, Che Wenyu and others are also beginning to make their mark."
"Even a veteran like you, Mr. Zhuang Weisheng, has played quite beautifully in recent games. I feel like you've changed and are much stronger than before. Even when I look at the chess records, I can feel a strong pressure."
"And there's the famous Kong Zi. Although I won the game between him and me, to be honest, he gave me a scare that game."
Zhuang Weisheng smiled faintly and said, "I'm a little surprised that you, Mr. An Hongshi, are so knowledgeable about all the Chinese chess players. You even know Qin Lang and Che Wenyu."
"The same is true in the Japanese chess world. Fumio Toyama's performance in this world championship completely exceeded my expectations. Of course, what surprised me the most was Mr. Arakino," Yasu Hiroishi continued.
Hearing the name Arakino, Zhuang Weisheng's expression became more serious. He said, "Teacher Arakino, indeed... I didn't expect this at all."
"It's really unexpected. Even though he's been in contact with Go and keeping up with the progress of Go because he's a Go teacher, he hasn't competed in ten years after all."
An Hongshi frowned slightly and said, "But what surprised me most was not his chess skills, but the determination to win hidden behind every move he made."
"How do you say that?"
Zhuang Weisheng was a little puzzled.
"Generally speaking, after such a long absence from competition, one's fighting spirit will fade somewhat, and this is especially true as one ages. This is why most chess players, even if their calculation ability hasn't declined, often begin to level off around the age of fifty, and their fighting power declines significantly."
An Hongshi said, "For example, over a hundred years ago, during Shen Yi's time, there was a Chinese Go player named Fang Xin. When he was young, he was known for his aggressive and aggressive style. But later in life, his style became more moderate. He would often fight tooth and nail in endgames, ultimately winning by half a point. So, in his old age, he was known as Banmu Fang Xin."
"There's a Chinese idiom called 老办法深算 (old and cunning)," which means that when people get old, they become good at scheming rather than engaging in head-on confrontation. Actually, it's not that people become good at scheming when they get old, but that they lose the fighting spirit they had when they were young."
"However, when I watched Arakino-sensei play, I felt that his fighting spirit was even stronger than it was ten years ago. I have never seen this kind of fighting spirit in any other chess player. It even made me feel a strong sense of oppression."
"He's determined to win, and he's going all in."
At this point, An Hongshi shook his head and said, "Maybe I'm overthinking it. Anyway, China and Japan are both catching up. On the other hand, we don't seem to have any outstanding players in recent years, except for Jiang Hanen."
"Although Li Junhe is also very talented, he is obviously not as good as Dongshan Xun, and he is even less comparable to Yu Shao and Su Yiming."
The two chatted and soon came to table number two. An Hongshi pulled out a chair and continued, "I say this to say that our Korean and Korean chess worlds are facing great challenges right now. I sense a crisis."
"but……"
An Hongshi sat on the chair, looked at Mr. Zhuang Weisheng opposite him, and said: "Although it is a big challenge, but-"
"Teacher Zhuang Weisheng, I'm not old yet!"
(End of this chapter)
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