Chapter 498 This move will show you the true charm of Go.
After the draw, about ten minutes later, the four players finally began to coin toss their questions—the game had begun!
In the debriefing room, the players sitting in front of their two chessboards opened their respective chess boxes, ready to analyze the game in real time as the match was broadcast live.
Sitting directly in front of the second Go board was a Japanese Go player in his early twenties. As the match began and the players began to coin toss for first place, he remained seated in his chair, his hands gripping the bottom edge of the chair, and moved the chair to the left.
In this way, the area directly in front of the chessboard is immediately empty.
Yu Shao blinked, slightly taken aback.
"Before Master Yu Shaoguo arrived, I was the highest-ranking player here, at the 7-dan level, so I was the one to analyze the game."
He smiled, looked at Yu Shao, and said, "But now that you, Master Yu Shao, are here, the responsibility of analyzing the game should naturally be handed over to you. Wouldn't it be embarrassing for me to do it again?"
Seeing this, the others were stunned for a moment, and then they all started to cheer.
"That's right, Master Yu Shao, why don't you analyze the game?"
"To be honest, Matsuda Shin doesn't understand anything at all; he can't analyze the game properly!"
"Indeed, he could still analyze the moves reasonably well in the initial single-elimination tournament, but in the double-elimination tournament, he couldn't analyze them at all!"
Upon hearing this, Yu Shao thought for a moment, then nodded without refusing. He carried a chair to the front of the chessboard, sat down, and looked at the television screen again.
At this point, the game of chess had already concluded with the players deciding who would go first.
In the first game, Araki played black and Jiang Han'en played white. In the other game, Su Yiming played black and An Hongshi played white.
Soon, Su Yiming made the first move.
Sixteen columns, four rows, stars.
"It's finally starting."
Upon seeing this, the debriefing room fell silent, and everyone's expressions became more serious.
Seeing this, Yu Shao immediately reached into the chess box and, amidst the clicking sound of the pieces colliding, took out a black piece and placed it on the star point in the upper right corner of the chessboard.
Soon, on the television screen, An Hongshi also picked up a chess piece and placed it on the chessboard. The young man sitting opposite Yu Shao also quickly picked up a chess piece and placed it in the same position as An Hongshi.
Four columns and sixteen rows, a star!
It wasn't until then that Araki took out his piece and made his first move on table number one, also at the star point in the upper right corner.
So the professional Go player sitting at another Go board also picked up a black piece and placed it in sync with the live broadcast of the match.
Tap, tap, tap...
The sound of pieces being placed echoed frequently in the review room.
In the opening phase, all four players made their moves quite quickly in both games, unanimously adopting a time-saving strategy commonly used by most professional players: making moves as quickly as possible in the opening phase to leave more time for thinking in the middle game.
The game between Arakino and Jiang Han'en was mostly watched by Japanese players, since Arakino was the only one among them who was still alive.
Most people's attention was clearly focused on the game between Su Yiming and An Hongshi.
"Black's star point is facing White's two star points. Instead of defending the corner, Black first approaches, and then defends the corner with two spaces after White responds. Su Yiming does not directly move the approaching Black stones, but instead counter-clamps on the right side. Seeing this, Teacher An Hongshi actually played a very solid move!"
Seeing the current state of the game, someone stroked their chin and said expectantly, "They've been going head-to-head from the very beginning. This game between Su Yiming and Teacher An Hongshi is definitely going to be very interesting!"
On the chessboard, although only ten moves had been made and no fierce battles had broken out, one could already see the two sides' sharp confrontation, filled with scheming and deceitful calculations.
Black doesn't defend the corner but instead makes a small knight's move to approach it, which is an offensive move. White should respond with a small knight's move, and then Black should return to the lower right and turn around to make a two-space jump to defend the corner. This is the correct order!
"If Black doesn't approach the corner, but instead jumps two spaces to defend the corner, then White's next move becomes unpredictable."
Wu Zhixuan pondered and said, "But Black's first move, forcing White to respond, and then turning to defend the corner and solidify the shape of the lower part, must have a strategic purpose behind it!"
"Teacher An Hongshi played very decisively, directly using a two-space low clamp, which is a good move. It not only disrupts the black formation in the lower part of the stone, but also threatens the black stones in the corner!"
“Normally speaking, following the strategy of responding to each move, facing White’s low pincer attack on the two spaces, this black stone is at risk of being surrounded and attacked, and should be moved immediately.”
"But Su Yiming held back, unwilling to make the move as Teacher An Hongshi had predicted. Instead, he attacked from the right, threatening the white stone that was 'threatening the corner black stone'!"
"White could either continue to besiege the black stones in the corner or escape from the low pincer attack. In the end, White made neither choice. Instead, White solidly defended the corner, observed the black stones' movements, and turned the tables on Black!"
Wu Zhixuan was somewhat amazed. In just ten moves, both sides had calculated every move. Neither side played by the rules, nor were they willing to follow the opponent's lead. Their moves were fluid and adaptable, which was more like that of a true chess player.
They are often able to step outside the game, both logically and unexpectedly, making them true chess players.
Their approach to chess is often less flexible and more textbook-like; they are the chess players who are trapped in the chess books.
Take this board position as an example. Previously, when they were counter-pinched by Black, they wouldn't have played a move, or even considered playing a move. Instead, they would have continued to besiege the Black stones in the corner or escaped from White's position.
These two methods are certainly not bad, and can even be said to be quite standard and reasonable, perhaps even better than the "establish" method. However, precisely because they are too standard, they often lack inspiration.
It can be said that in the first ten moves, the two sides have already been exchanging moves and playing against each other, while most mid-to-low-level professional players are still playing the game step by step according to the score.
The more games she watched in world championships, the more she could see the subtle differences between herself and these top players. She realized that the gap between her and these top players was not necessarily a difference in strength in complex middlegames, but also in their ability to flexibly formulate strategies.
They don't play exactly according to the game records or standard patterns. Instead, they disrupt their opponent's plans and play the way their opponent wants them to play.
Of course, for these chess players, game records and opening patterns are not important, because the opening and opening patterns are created by them in the process of this intriguing game.
"I need to work even harder!"
Feeling the huge gap, Wu Zhixuan was a little disappointed, but she was an optimist after all. She quickly clenched her little fist, cheered herself up, and looked at the chessboard again, worrying about Su Yiming.
Because Su Yiming has been thinking on this board for more than a minute, but has not yet made a move.
It's not good news that they're already taking such long periods of deliberation during the planning stage.
"Su Yiming was already deep in thought when he made his eleventh move. It seems that Teacher An Hongshi's move caught Su Yiming completely off guard."
A long-haired North Korean Go player looked at the group of Chinese Go players who were frowning, and couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and laugh, "I guess Su Yiming has indeed been fighting for too long and is a little tired."
He didn't actually have any major malice, but seeing Yu Shaochun triumphantly win the winners' bracket while two North and South Korean players both falling into the losers' bracket was somewhat frustrating, which is only natural.
Therefore, seeing Su Yiming forced into a long period of contemplation by An Hongshi in just eleven moves, he felt a sense of triumph.
However, although the Chinese chess players were aware of this, they were still somewhat resentful when they saw the long-haired young man's smug look.
"Hmph, the outcome is still uncertain!"
Wu Zhixuan, who always wore her emotions on her sleeve, crossed her arms and said angrily, "It's normal to take a long time to think during the planning stage. Su Yiming is definitely thinking of his trump card! His ultimate move!"
"Yeah?"
The long-haired youth raised an eyebrow at Wu Zhixuan, clearly unconvinced, which immediately made Wu Zhixuan grit her teeth in anger.
Xu Zijin glanced at the long-haired youth, then quickly looked away and returned to the chessboard, her brows furrowing slightly.
An Hongshi's move, which employed a strategy of using stillness to control movement, was indeed unexpected, because in the previous few moves, both sides had adopted a confrontational stance from the outset, with tensions running high and a fierce battle potentially erupting at any moment.
As a result, An Hongshi suddenly changed his stance, using stillness to control movement, which was astonishing and also reflected An Hongshi's chess style. He was flexible and unpredictable. One second he seemed ready to fight to the death, and the next second he was as still as a mountain, which made people quite uncomfortable.
At this point, Black's most desired move should be to fly out, while White can respond by placing a piece next to it. Since White's position in the lower left corner is quite solid after it is established, Black may not necessarily have an advantage in the fight.
Of course, it would be a bit of an exaggeration to say that Black is at a disadvantage by initiating the fight here. However, the outcome of the battle here is definitely unclear, and White seems to be waiting for Black to provoke a conflict. Su Yiming certainly does not want to enter the battle under these circumstances.
"It is indeed difficult to respond."
Xu Zijing thought to herself, "I wonder what Su Yiming will do next."
Suddenly, Xu Zijing thought of something, looked at Yu Shao beside her, and asked, "Yu Shao, if it were you, what would your next move be?"
Upon hearing this, everyone present was stunned for a moment before finally realizing that they had a winner in the winners' bracket!
In the past few days, they had gotten used to the fact that only a few of them, half-baked professional Go players, were discussing the game in the review room, so much so that they had completely forgotten that Yu Shao was in the review room today.
Even the Japanese Go players, whose attention was originally focused on the game between Araki and Jiang Han'en, shifted their gaze from the game to the game between Su Yiming and An Hongshi.
After making a general assessment of the situation, they looked at Yu Shao, waiting for his answer.
"Me?"
Yu Shao pondered for a moment, looking at the chessboard, then picked up a black piece and placed it on the board: "I'll most likely place it here."
Seeing this, everyone craned their necks to look at the chessboard, and were stunned when they saw where Yu Shao had placed his piece.
"As expected of you."
Le Haoqiang stared at the chessboard, his lips twitching slightly. He said quietly, "Although I didn't realize this move at all, it somehow felt predictable. It's your signature move..."
On the chessboard—
Black, four columns and thirteen rows, shoulder hit!
"Is this a shoulder strike?"
The long-haired young man from North and South Korea stared wide-eyed, somewhat bewildered, and asked, "Why?"
And just then, a black piece finally fell gently onto the television screen.
Four columns and thirteen rows, shoulder strike!
"Huh?!"
Upon seeing this, everyone's eyes widened instantly. A Japanese Go player wearing glasses exclaimed in disbelief, "No way, it really was a shoulder hit?!"
Yu Shao was not at all surprised that Su Yiming could make such a shoulder strike.
In fact, if Su Yiming hadn't thought things through for a long time, Yu Shao wouldn't have thought Su Yiming would have made this move. But since Su Yiming had been thinking things through for a long time, then Su Yiming would most likely have made this shoulder strike.
"This move is to show you the true charm of Go."
Yu Shao, with a slightly teasing tone, pointed to the chessboard and explained, "Black first makes a shoulder attack on the left. If White crawls along the three lines, then Black's position looks weak and too deep into the territory, but that's not actually the case."
"If Black jumps along the fourth line, this area will have the beginnings of influence and even shape, which is equivalent to making the outside thicker without being visible. If White attacks, Black can use the momentum to make it even thicker."
"If White doesn't crawl along the third line but instead plays a connecting move, Black can jump. However, what's even more ingenious is to directly ignore the first move, directly lose points, and seize a large area."
"The general trend of change should be like this—"
Yu Shao paused for a moment, and the young man sitting opposite him immediately reacted and pushed the chess box to Yu Shao. Yu Shao took the chess box, quickly picked out the chess pieces, and began to arrange the subsequent variations.
"Of course, what I've shown here is just a general variation. There are many more variations, and it's quite complex. White can also counterattack, but the direction should be correct."
As Yu Shao spoke, he placed his pieces, quickly outlining the subsequent variations.
Upon seeing the variations that Yu Shao had presented, the expressions of the North and South Korean Go players changed slightly. The long-haired youth stared at the Go board, unconsciously biting his right thumb nail, his teeth moving back and forth.
"The points lost on the left side due to the initial mistake can be compensated for by seizing larger areas in the future struggle in the center? And White's territory isn't that solid either, and there are still ways to be invaded and destroyed, so it needs to strengthen its position?!"
The more he thought about it, the more alarmed he became, finding it hard to believe.
"Hahaha, I knew it was a signature move! There's even a shoulder thrust here!"
Seeing this, Wu Zhixuan clapped her hands happily, her eyes turning into crescent moons, and said triumphantly, "How about that? You're dumbfounded, aren't you amazing?"
The long-haired youth's expression shifted between pale and flushed, but he ultimately remained silent.
Yu Shao turned his gaze away from the chessboard and looked back at the television screen. When he saw Su Yiming make that shoulder cross move, his brows furrowed slightly.
This shoulder strike is indeed the strongest move on the board at present, but Su Yiming's move does not mean anything, because for Su Yiming, the most difficult point is still the mid-game confrontation.
Su Yiming's playing style itself destined him to focus on the middle game. Sometimes it didn't matter if he was slightly at a disadvantage in the opening, but An Hongshi's style was to exert his strength at any time throughout the game!
Therefore, Yu Shao felt that after Su Yiming had fought so many rounds in the loser's bracket, his mid-game confrontation with An Hongshi would likely be very difficult.
After Black's shoulder hit, it would be ideal if White could crawl along the third line or make a komi (appendage) here. But the problem is... what if White doesn't play like that?
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(End of this chapter)
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