Chapter 416 New Battlefield
The interview lasted for nearly an hour before it finally ended.
When Yu Shao left the press interview room, it was already dusk. This game of chess had started at ten in the morning and ended at the end. He also gave an interview after the game. Most of the day had already passed.
"The determination to risk everything..."
After parting with Su Yiming, Yu Shao was walking on the way out of the Southern Chess Academy. He couldn't help but think of what Su Yiming had said before, and his mood became a little confused again.
He knew that what Su Yiming said was true.
Just like today's game, if he played black, he would be confident of surpassing Su Yiming in the first half or even the middle game. However, if he played the latter part of the game, he would probably not be able to compare with Su Yiming.
In the final moments of the game, Su Yiming faced millions of people alone, and finally broke out of the encirclement. With his own strength, he fought against thousands of troops and both sides suffered heavy losses!
There are no ancients in front of me, and no future generations behind me.
This requires more than just chess skills.
Courage, determination, and fighting spirit!
All three are indispensable!
However, even though he knew that Su Yiming was right, he couldn't change his mindset for a while. Even though he repeatedly told himself to give it a try, it was just self-deception.
Lack of fighting spirit means lack of fighting spirit. It’s not that I should have fighting spirit and then I will have fighting spirit.
And he could feel this power in Su Yiming.
It would have been fine if Su Yiming hadn't said anything, but as soon as he did, Yu Shao immediately thought of a lot of things.
In his previous life, except for him, all the other chess players ranked in the top five in the chess world were, without exception, new generation chess players who emerged in the post-AI era.
Chess players who have experienced both the pre-AI era and the post-AI era will more or less lack fighting spirit. Only those chess players who have risen in the post-AI era can move forward.
Because they have not experienced the collapse of their Go perspective, nor have they experienced the despair of having everything they once believed in denied, or the sadness of having everything they once paid go to waste.
He once thought that he was no longer young, so his chess skills declined and he was no match for the younger generation, but now it seems that this may not be the case.
"Perhaps...when I regain that fighting spirit, my chess skills may not change much, but my chess strength will improve by leaps and bounds."
Yu Shao looked up at the setting sun in the sky and couldn't help but take a deep breath.
"In this life, my sense of life and death, and my ability to attack and kill in complex situations, have been honed. Although I haven't reached my peak yet, it's only a matter of time."
"If I could completely integrate attacking and controlling the game, and at the same time regain the fighting spirit I once had..."
"My chess skills may reach a whole new level!"
At this moment, a shout came from behind, interrupting Yu Shao's thoughts.
"Yu Shao!"
Hearing someone calling his name from behind, Yu Shao stopped, turned his head and looked behind him.
Not far away, in the sunset, Zheng Qin was waving his hand and walking towards him quickly. Behind Zheng Qin were Xu Zijin, Wu Zhixuan, Le Haoqiang and others.
Soon, Zheng Qin was the first to arrive in front of Yu Shao. He then reached out his hand, patted Yu Shao's shoulder firmly, and said with a smile, "Beautiful move, Yu Shao! We watched the entire game in the broadcast room today."
"I didn't win the game today, so what's so great about it?"
Yu Shao smiled, took Zheng Qin's wrist off his shoulder, and said, "With such a big advantage, we should win anyway, right?"
"Who said that? Doesn't this look more beautiful?"
Zheng Qin shook his head and smiled, "The four-disaster cycle at the end of the game was a battle worthy of becoming a god, but even so, in the end, we only ended up in a draw. Isn't that impressive?"
Even now, when Zheng Qin recalled today's game, he couldn't help but be shocked. He sighed, "But I really didn't expect it."
"Under such a huge disadvantage, Su Yiming actually created a miracle and turned the tide. It made my blood boil. Yu Shao, it seems you still need to practice!"
In the past, Zheng Qin and Yu Shao often played against each other at the Shanhai Chess Hall. Now their relationship has become very good, and they have reached the stage where they can joke around casually.
"Who said that! Who said that! Although Su Yiming's performance at the end of the game was indeed amazing, it's obvious that Yu Shao is more powerful, okay!"
Hearing Zheng Qin's words, Wu Zhixuan immediately became unhappy. She clenched her fists, wrinkled her nose, and spoke up for Yu Shao: "Yu Shao is the most powerful!"
"Indeed, Yu Shao is the most powerful!"
Le Haoqiang nodded in agreement, agreeing with Wu Zhixuan's words, and then whispered, "Su Yiming is not here anyway."
Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but laugh.
"Why don't we go eat together?"
At this moment, Xu Zijin tucked her hair behind her ears, looked at Yu Shao, and suddenly said, "I'll treat you."
Hearing this, everyone's eyes suddenly lit up.
Before Yu Shao could say anything, Le Haoqiang raised his hand and said, "Let's go!"
"I usually don't let a girl treat unless she's really, really rich!"
"How about hot pot?"
“Korean food is also good!”
Hearing what everyone said, Yu Shao couldn't help but smile. He followed Zheng Qin and his group while chatting as they walked towards the outside of the Southern Chess Academy.
As they walked, Zheng Qin suddenly thought of something and asked, "By the way, Yu Shao, you should sign up for the Phoenix Cup, right?"
"Yes, what's wrong?"
Yu Shao glanced at Zheng Qin and asked.
Zheng Qin smiled and said, "I've signed up too."
"Have you signed up?"
Yu Shao was a little surprised to hear this, but then he thought about it and realized that Zheng Qin had already made it to the title match and was indeed qualified to register for the World Championship.
"right."
Zheng Qin nodded, his expression filled with uncontrollable anticipation, and said, "After all, it's the World Championship, and it's being held in China. Experts from all over the world will be coming here to compete. Just thinking about it makes me excited!"
"Honinbo Shin'ei, Go Saint Yasuhiro Seki, 9th Dan Kimura Go... These are names I only saw in books when I was learning Go. Behind each name is a heart-wrenching Go legend!"
"Now, I also have the opportunity to compete with them!"
Zheng Qin raised an eyebrow at Yu Shao and said, "Perhaps, we will meet as rivals again."
Upon hearing this, Le Haoqiang said, "If I really meet you, it won't be good news for Yu Shao."
Hearing this, everyone was stunned. Zheng Qin was also a little puzzled and asked, "What do you mean?"
"Yu Shao had a duel with you before he became a professional chess player, right?"
Le Haoqiang complained: "He has already won the national team title, why did he have to compete with you for the first place after all this time?"
"What's the meaning?!"
Hearing this, Zheng Qin didn't react at first. After he reacted, he immediately became furious and rolled up his sleeves to fight Le Haoqiang to see who was better and who would die.
"I think it's okay. The chances of encountering it are low."
At this moment, Xu Zijin said calmly, "Unless we face each other right from the start, if we still meet later, I'll have to doubt the quality of the World Championship."
Everyone was stunned when they heard Xu Zijin's words.
Even Yu Shao looked at Xu Zijin in disbelief. He didn't expect that such vicious words could come out of Xu Zijin's mouth.
“I…I…”
Zheng Qin was furious and said, "Do you understand what it means to be in trouble for 30 years?"
Everyone couldn't help but laugh again, and the air was filled with a happy atmosphere.
However, even Zheng Qin himself knew very well that he participated in the World Championship just to feel the atmosphere of the World Championship, and it was basically impossible for him to achieve any results.
Although reaching the title match makes one an extremely top-notch player, this level is not good enough on the stage of the World Championship.
Having the chess skills to enter the title match is only the minimum requirement for participating in the World Championship. However, if you want to achieve certain results, let alone win the championship, you must at least have the level of a title holder.
Of course, this does not mean that you can only achieve results if you have a title. In the world competition, there are also examples of nine-dan players who defeated all the title holders and won the championship, such as the Japanese player Kimura Go.
However, although these chess players do not have titles, their level is already at the title level, which is incomparable to ordinary 9th dan. It’s just that they may not have performed well in the title battles.
After all, there are only seven titles in total for each country, but if there are chess players in the country with the chess skills of the title holders, the number may far exceed this number.
If there are too many monsters in the country, even if their level is far superior to other nine-dan players, they may not be able to obtain the title as long as they perform poorly in the title match.
Therefore, when they participated in the World Championship, it seemed that they were just like Zheng Qin, and they only met the minimum requirement of "entering the title match", but in fact they were not at the same level as Zheng Qin, and many title holders had to avoid him.
What's more, among the participating players, there must be players like Jiang Changdong and Fu Shunan who have just lost their titles for one or two years. Even if they have lost their titles, they are still strong contenders for the world championship.
Players like Zheng Qin, who have gone through great efforts to enter the title match, basically cannot make any waves in the world championship and can only serve as an atmosphere group.
"The World Championship..."
Yu Shao was also a little dazed for a moment.
In his previous life, he had played very few domestic games, and the only battlefield was the World Championship. After all, he usually advanced directly to the World Championship as a seeded player.
Now, he is finally about to return to the battlefield that he was once most familiar with.
In this world, he has played against domestic chess players too many times, but as for top foreign chess players, he has basically only heard of them but never seen them in person, and has never played against them face to face.
"Since our overall chess strength ranks third in the world, are there any other strong players ranked behind us besides the chess players from Japan and South Korea?" Yu Shao thought for a while and asked curiously.
"Of course."
Zheng Qin laughed dumbly and said, "The World Championship and the overall Go level of each country are not the same thing. Some small countries, even if their overall Go strength is far inferior to ours, may still have players of exceptional strength."
"That's why the World Championship is so exciting. It's a personal showcase for chess players from all over the world, and only the strongest players are selected. As long as you're strong, nothing else matters."
"If you underestimate your opponent just because he comes from a small, unknown country, you may have to pay a bloody price."
Zheng Qin smiled and said, "Teacher Zhuang Weisheng has more say on this point."
"oh?"
Yu Shao was stunned and asked curiously: "What do you mean?"
"German Go has always been at a low level internationally, even now. Back then, Mr. Sho Misao lost to Mr. Honinbo Shinka and fell into the loser's bracket, only to then meet Mr. Hans."
Zheng Qin thought for a moment and continued, "You may not be familiar with the name Hans. His chess name is Hans. He is currently the holder of the five major titles of German Master, Chess King, Tianyuan, Chess Saint, and Meiren."
"Holding five major titles at the same time?"
Yu Shao couldn't help but be a little surprised.
"right."
Zheng Qin nodded and said, "However, this is now. Back then, Teacher Han Si didn't even have a title and was unknown. Teacher Zhuang Weisheng underestimated his opponent and was ultimately defeated by Teacher Han Si."
"Later, Mr. Hans rose from the loser's bracket and made it all the way to the finals. In the final match, he achieved a stunning upset victory over Mr. An Hongshi, leaving everyone astonished. He ultimately won the first world championship in German Go history."
Hearing this, Le Haoqiang nodded and said quickly, "I remember the final game too. It was thrilling and exciting. Both sides fought fiercely, and in the end, the victory was decided by half a point in the endgame!"
"You have no idea how big of a sensation this incident was back then! That was Teacher An Hongshi!"
Le Haoqiang couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, "The entire internet went wild that year. No one could believe that Mr. An Hongshi had lost to a German player."
"Yes, I still remember that after the match, because Mr. Hans won the first Go world championship for Germany, the whole of Germany had a three-day holiday. It was a national celebration."
Zheng Qin nodded in amazement and said, "Examples like this actually happen almost every year. Every year, one or two Go players from underdog countries whose names you've never heard of emerge and achieve great results in the world competition."
"From obscurity to world-famous fame, all it takes is a single game of chess at the World Championship."
"Even if the overall level of Go in a country is low, the emergence of a genius can make everyone in the country hold their heads high!"
"The presence of these players also inspires other players in their countries. For example, in Germany, although the overall Go level is still not very high, thanks to the presence of Teacher Hans and the strong support from the country, it is now on a completely different level than before!"
"Therefore, all chess players who come to the World Championships are carrying the expectations of the entire country on their shoulders and will give their all."
Le Haoqiang nodded and said with anticipation, "In short, the World Championship is a true Go feast. I have to work harder and try to get into the title match as soon as possible and participate in the World Championship!"
At this point, Le Haoqiang's expression turned somewhat gloomy again: "It is said that Qin Lang has also signed up for the Phoenix Cup."
"oh?"
Yu Shao was really surprised this time and asked, "Qin Lang also made it to the title match?"
"Yes, it's also a celebrity match."
Le Haoqiang took a deep breath and said, "But I feel like I'm almost there. My name, Le Haoqiang, will definitely be on the roster for the next World Championship!"
"Is that so..."
After listening to what Le Haoqiang and Zheng Qin said, Yu Shao was thoughtful and couldn't help but look forward to the Go World Championship in this world.
This world is different from the previous life. Go players are spread all over the world, the game is popular, and the competition is extremely fierce. The minimum requirement to participate in the world championship is to enter the title match, which shows how valuable it is!
Dragons and snakes rise up together, and heroes compete for supremacy.
This will be a new battlefield!
(End of this chapter)
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