Chapter 497 A Wrongful Conviction That Caused Snowfall in June!
Time quickly passed to midnight.
Generally speaking, no matter what the topic is or how popular it is, once it reaches the early morning, when most people are resting, the popularity will drop significantly.
However, this time, the discussion about the winners' final game has intensified.
Even a well-known Go content creator rushed to produce a commentary on the game overnight, titled "[A Shocking Game, Winners' Final, Araki 9-dan's Fifty Heartbreaking Moves]!"
The video was released at 2 a.m., but even so, it garnered two million views in just half an hour, attracting countless people to give coins, collect, and share it, and even the number of bullet comments exceeded 100,000!
It's the middle of the night!
In the video, Qi Jian Shuo Qi, a well-known content creator who is a former professional 6-dan Go player and is affectionately known as "Teacher Jian" (meaning "cheeky teacher") by many netizens for his witty and often humorous commentary, said the following by move 123:
"At this point, Araki-sensei suddenly set off a raging fire from all directions, burning down the iron chains that linked the boats! I know many people don't understand it, but that doesn't matter! For a player like him, a move that is incomprehensible is a good move!"
"In short, White is in a very dangerous position on the board. My first thought was to play a downward move, but upon closer inspection, the variations of this downward move are actually quite peculiar. If Black cuts, White can play a defensive move, and when Black plays again, White's position seems strong, but it also seems a bit too heavy!"
"Now, let's take a look at White's small knight's move. It looks good here, but if we play a few more moves and have a deeper exchange with Black, Black will inevitably block, White will make a fierce attack, Black will dig... After a very intense and exhilarating exchange, look at how treacherous Black is! Black actually intends to assassinate me after the sixteenth move!"
"Therefore, it seems that the best response for White is to cut. Although Black will gain a lot of initiative by cutting, Black has a large position and must be patient. A small act of impatience can ruin a big plan. We should prolong the battle and hone our skills. We have always been very pragmatic."
"But White didn't play that way in the end."
"So, where exactly did White place its piece?"
At this moment, the video was flooded with comments such as "He's back," "High energy ahead," "Only a god could pull this off," "The beginning of bloodshed," "Everyone stand up," "A deceitful move," and "A famous scene."
As a white piece was placed, the voice of the content creator "Chess Sword Talks Chess" rang out again—
"Yes, White actually played here! He blocked it!"
At this moment, the barrage of comments went even more frantically, with messages like "The first move in fifty moves", "???", "Holy crap", "Crack?", "Awesome", and "It's obviously a good move".
In short, although the video was released late at night, it became an instant hit within just one hour, and by 6 a.m., before dawn, the video had already reached five million views!
The sensation caused by yesterday's winners' final game far exceeded everyone's expectations.
The following morning, the online discussion about the fifty-odd moves in yesterday's winners' final did not diminish with the upcoming match; instead, it intensified.
Even at 8 o'clock, when the contestants began to enter the venue one after another, the official live broadcast room of the Phoenix Cup World Championship was still filled with discussions about yesterday's fifty-odd moves.
...
Meanwhile, the debriefing room in the competition venue was already packed with people. A group of professional chess players were sitting in the debriefing room, with chessboards already set up in front of them, waiting for the competition to begin.
Just then, with a click, the door to the debriefing room was pushed open.
Everyone in the debriefing room turned to look at the door, and when they saw who had entered, they were all stunned for a moment.
"Yu Shao? What brings you here?"
Wu Zhixuan broke the silence first, asking with a look of surprise, "Aren't you going to watch the competition at the venue?"
"I'm not going."
Yu Shao shook his head and laughed, "There are too many people in the competition venue, so I won't squeeze in with them. Although there are also many people in the review room, it's still better than the competition venue."
He hasn't had any matches in the last two days. He originally wanted to watch the matches at the venue, but seeing that there were too many people there, he went to the review room instead.
Moreover, the people watching the game were generally older. He was only thirty years old in his previous life, and those people were all much older than him in his previous life.
In the review room, most of the players were professional Go players around twenty years old, which made him feel more comfortable around them.
The others also realized what was happening, and were both surprised and delighted. Many even looked at Yu Shao with deep admiration, considering that the room where they reviewed the game was almost entirely filled with professional Go players.
Congratulations to Yu Shaoguo for advancing to the World Championship finals!
"That game against Araki-sensei was so amazing, I was completely mesmerized! It was truly historic!"
"Master Yu Shaoguo, let's add each other as friends, how about a game sometime?"
The room erupted in chatter as everyone congratulated Yu Shao.
Yu Shao smiled and made a few perfunctory remarks. Seeing that there was an empty seat next to Xu Zijin, he went into the review room and sat down next to Xu Zijin.
"Yu Shao, who do you think will be the champion of the loser's bracket?" Xu Zijing thought for a moment, turned her head to look at Yu Shao, and asked.
How would I know?
Yu Shao was somewhat speechless, and said, "If I had known, I wouldn't have watched today's game."
"Do you not have any players that you particularly favor, Yu Shaoguo?"
A young North Korean Go player, somewhat curious, asked with a smile in English, "Of the four players in today's match, one of them is your opponent in the final. Or rather, who do you most hope to face in the final, Master Yu Shao?"
"Who would you most like to face in the finals? That's way too offensive!"
Yu Shao found it somewhat amusing; if he were to say those words aloud, he feared he would offend that person terribly.
If they were all acquaintances, he could just say it and let it go. But here, there are more than just Chinese chess players. If he were to actually give an answer, I bet it would be reported by major media outlets tomorrow.
The North Korean player seemed to realize this as well, and said, "Speaking of which, you've played against three of the four players in the losers' bracket, including Yu Shaoguo. The only one you haven't played against is Teacher An Hongshi, right?"
"Yes, it's quite a pity."
Yu Shao nodded: "If I have the chance, I would also like to play a game with Teacher An Hongshi."
Now only four people remain in the loser's bracket: Su Yiming, Araki, An Hongshi, and Jiang Han'en.
Su Yiming needs no introduction; he just finished playing against Araki yesterday. Jiang Han'en had already faced off the day before yesterday. Among the four, the only one Yu Shao had never played against was An Hongshi.
"There are still two rounds left in the competition. I'm afraid it will be difficult for Su Yiming to break through the encirclement, right?" Wu Zhixuan said with a somewhat melancholy tone.
As a Chinese player, she naturally wanted to see Su Yiming win the loser's bracket final, so that the world championship final would be an all-Chinese battle between two players.
In most cases, an internal war is something no one wants to see, but an internal war in the finals is obviously an exception, because an internal war in the finals means that no matter who wins or loses, the champion will be a Chinese player.
However, even if she wanted to see Su Yiming win the loser's bracket championship, she had to admit that it would be quite difficult.
Su Yiming fell into the loser's bracket too early, and all the matches in the loser's bracket are known for being life-or-death. For example, in the loser's bracket matches, the "big rain" pattern appeared in eight out of ten games, and the remaining two games were also full of complex battles, which were spectacular.
In such a life-threatening situation, it puts tremendous pressure on the players' physical and mental well-being. Su Yiming fell into the loser's bracket too early, while the other three players had only recently fallen into the loser's bracket and were still full of energy.
Moreover, Araki had previously defeated Su Yiming, and he is now one of the four remaining in the loser's bracket.
Upon hearing this, Yu Shao fell silent for a moment.
He also felt that it would be extremely difficult for Su Yiming to win the loser's bracket final. Su Yiming was certainly a brilliant player, but the other three were no less talented.
Araki was the most powerful Go player he encountered in both his lives, without exception.
Although he had never played against An Hongshi, after watching so many games, he could roughly tell that An Hongshi's strength lay in his extreme balance and unparalleled control over the game.
Whether in the opening, middle game, or endgame, An Hongshi had no weaknesses. Moreover, whether pursuing external influence or solid territory, An Hongshi handled it perfectly, which seemed extremely incredible to him.
Almost all Go players have a distinct personal style, but Ahn Hong-seok does not. Or rather, he is proficient in all Go styles and is extremely skilled in all of them, able to flexibly switch between them.
This means that when you think An Hongshi is about to seize external forces and prepare in advance, An Hongshi will find himself scrambling to gain ground while others suddenly change their strategies, which can lead to inconsistencies and significant losses, but not An Hongshi.
Therefore, An Hongshi is very difficult to counter. Araki won one game against An Hongshi, but if the two were to play another game, could Araki still win? Yu Shao thinks it's not necessarily the case.
Of course, if Arakino really wins another game, Yu Shao would think it's normal, but if Arakino can win seven or eight out of ten games, Yu Shao thinks it's unlikely.
In a sense, An Hongshi's style of play is quite effective against Araki, because An Hongshi can easily change the direction of his moves, sometimes aiming for a strong position, sometimes for agility, sometimes for initiative, and sometimes for stillness to counter movement. Araki cannot possibly calculate all of these variations.
Therefore, it is quite normal that Araki was completely unable to defeat Yasuhiro.
Araki probably realized this himself, discovering that An Hongshi was his nemesis. He might be able to beat the players who beat An Hongshi, but he himself found it very difficult to beat An Hongshi even once, which is why he faded out of the Go world ten years ago.
"This is really frustrating..."
Thinking of this, Yu Shao couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Araki.
Ten years ago, Arakino had a slight advantage against almost anyone, but he just couldn't beat Yasuhiro no matter what. At that time, Honinbo Shingo, Shō Misaki, Inaka Sera, and others were just beginning to emerge, and Yasuhiro was the only opponent who could rival him. Anyone would be depressed in that situation!
Since no other player has emerged who could defeat Hiroshi Ahn in a best-of-three match in an official tournament, and Arakino has lost most of his games against Ahn, it's natural to conclude that Arakino is far inferior to Ahn.
This is truly a miscarriage of justice, like snow falling in June!
If a top player specializing in external influences or territory had emerged at that time, there would have been a chance to defeat Ahn Hiroshi in a best-of-three match. However, that player would likely have been easily defeated by Araki.
Therefore, if there had been such a player to balance things out at that time, it would have been difficult to conclude that Yasuhiro was far superior to Araki, but unfortunately, there wasn't one.
So Arakino suffered a lot.
But this is no one else's fault. Ultimately, it's because Araki's understanding and knowledge of Go was indeed insufficient at that time.
Now that Araki's weaknesses have been greatly improved, he is even more able to leverage his computing power advantage.
In conclusion, Yu Shao, in his two lifetimes, has only seen An Hongshi's comprehensive and balanced approach to Go, as seen in Go AIs; even he himself could not achieve such balance.
Although his overall playing style is relatively balanced without any obvious bias, it is easy to see that he tends to focus on gaining influence, using external influence or shape to set up and fight, and using the judgment and utilization of influence to invade or transform.
Su Yiming, on the other hand, did not care about the actual territory at all, but focused on the shape and judged the success or failure by the attack and defense of the center. Therefore, he played the game freely and unrestrainedly, without regard to details, and often made amazing moves.
Both Sho Misaki and Honinbo Shingo were clearly players who focused on securing territory first and then consolidating their position. They played with great precision and had a keen eye for changes in territory and influence on the board.
In comparison, Jiang Han'en may be slightly inferior, but Jiang Han'en also has the advantage of having ingenious ideas and being a first-class fighter. If he cannot finish the battle quickly, he will often be dragged into a tough fight. Moreover, he has only recently fallen into the loser's bracket.
Therefore, after so many rounds of hard-fought battles in the loser's bracket, Su Yiming's chances of breaking through the loser's bracket and winning the loser's bracket championship are probably not very high, now that he faces Araki, Ahn Hong-seok, and Kang Han-eun.
"The lottery has begun."
Just then, Xu Zijing, looking at the TV screen, spoke up to remind her.
Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at the television screen, and Yu Shao also snapped out of his reverie and looked over as well.
With only four players remaining, the draw was very quick; in fact, unless absolutely necessary, only two people needed to draw lots to decide the arrangements for today's two games.
However, to emphasize the formality of the competition, the four people took turns drawing lots on stage.
Soon, the final draw results were announced.
"Table number one, Araki, yes, Jiang Han'en!"
"Table number two, An Hongshi, yes, Su Yiming!"
Upon seeing this result, the expressions of the Chinese players in the debriefing room immediately turned grim. They also realized that among the four, Jiang Han'en was the easiest to deal with, but Su Yiming was facing An Hongshi directly in this round!
Unlike the Chinese players, the North and South Korean players in the post-game analysis room had their eyes light up instantly upon seeing this result!
(End of this chapter)
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