Riding the wind of rebirth

“That’s the kind of person who consistently performs well in exams,” Mai Mingdong said with a smile. “The kind of person teachers like best.”

“It seems that’s really the case.” After hearing Mai Mingdong say this, Zhou Zhi thought of another question: Chang Shentong was a disciple of the Chess Saint, and later “replaced” the Chess Saint to become the dean of the Chess Academy. Maybe Lao Nie really liked him.

However, these were all just rumors. When the three of them arrived at the conference room of the data center, the live broadcast on the TV had already begun.

The commentators were Liu Meng and Zhang Xuan. Gu Li had a good personality and a bit of a sense of humor, but it was even funnier to have Zhang Xuan commentate on the game. Zhou Zhi knew that Zhang Xuan and Chang Hao would get married in two years. The two were actually dating, but it was still a secret, and probably only a few people in the chess academy knew the inside story.

It's obvious that the person who arranged today's game commentary must know the inside story.

Zhang Xuan, with her hair tied up, exudes tranquility and intellect. Her features are delicate, and she has the approachable charm of a girl next door. Today, she was probably caught by CCTV's makeup artists and given some light makeup, making her even more elegant and beautiful.

An Chunjia and her team had already debugged the Go analysis system on the large projector and were waiting to input the game.

At the start of the game, both sides seized the corner positions. The real "battle" actually began with Otake Hideo's sixth move, when he directly chose to interrupt on the right side, placing the white piece in the middle of Chang Hao's two black pieces.

It's obvious that Otake is trying to overwhelm the prodigy with his presence.

Chang Hao made a jump, which also separated Da Zhu's white stones, which seemed like a tit-for-tat move, but in reality, it was a step back.

While White was thinking, Gu Li and Zhang Xuan were also having a discussion in the live broadcast room. After a series of small exchanges, Black gained a relatively strong external influence, while White gained an example in the side area.

However, Chang Hao actually chose to jump to the second line, and White clamped Black's stones in the lower right corner. Instead of a brief exchange, both sides continued to work on the opening, aiming for long-term development.

Zhou Zhi actually appreciates this kind of play. Although he doesn't understand chess, there's a subtle undercurrent of tension on the board between the two players, while they appear calm and collected on the surface. To someone who doesn't know much about chess, this is intuitively very pleasing to the eye.

"What's Xiaozhi's choice?" Zhou Zhi asked.

"More or less," Mai Xiaomiao said. "Focus on the overall strategy."

The two commentators then put away their own opening moves and switched to a real chessboard situation, starting to discuss how to deal with this pincer attack.

Here, a brilliant move can also be made. After a few moves of encircling, cutting, connecting, and reconnecting, Black can capture two disconnected White stones and gain a very thick position on the lower right side.

"How about it?" Zhou Zhi found this to be a very interesting thing. The way the chess players played the game on the chessboard was one thing, the way CCTV explained how to play the next move was another, and Xiao Zhi's own analysis was yet another, and he could even explain his own strengths and weaknesses for each.

Then Gu Li made another move, deliberately abandoning the impending battle on the lower right side and instead placing a piece in the lower left corner, preparing to occupy that corner.

“This way we’re not actually at a disadvantage,” Zhang Xuan explained. “The black piece on the right flank still has potential and room for development, so there’s no need to worry too much. Going to another location first is a good strategy.”

"However, this puts us at a disadvantage in terms of momentum, and Chang Hao wouldn't choose that." Xiao Zhi clearly didn't share Zhang Xuan and Gu Li's thinking. He believed that White could gain an edge and corner through an exchange, while also obtaining an empty space in the center to connect with the rest of the stones. Black could also gain a thicker shape in the lower area, which would be satisfactory for both sides. This is a variation that can be balanced.

In other words, Ash is actually still eyeing the later plans.

"Is Xiaozhi's way of making moves a bit... like he always likes to make big moves?"

"To be precise, it has a bit of the flavor of 'cosmic style' combined with Lee Sedol's 'algorithmic Go,' and Xiao Zhi seems to lean towards this style," Hu Tianyu, who was the most knowledgeable about Go among everyone present, commented.

However, Chang Hao made a sharp move, and in the next few moves, Black gained control of the corner, but White cut off the opportunity for external connection. In order to consolidate, the prodigy chose to add another stone in the lower right corner. White chose to capture the territory, and at the same time, the shape of the stones surrounded the three black stones that were cut off, and immediately gained a clear advantage on the lower right side of the board.

"Holy crap, how did it turn out like this?" Even Zhou Zhi could tell that things weren't looking good.

"The win/loss probabilities are out," Mai Xiaomiao said. "Xiao Zhi judges that with the current board position, Da Zhu Yingxiong's winning probability is 63.56%, and Chang Gege's is 46.44%."

"This number is rather unlucky," Zhou Zhi said, both amused and exasperated.

"But Xiaozhi just judged that White should first make a move on the bottom to consolidate the bottom, and then jump around Black's three stones. Not only would it have the same effect, but it would also block Chang's possibility of attacking the bottom center."

"That does seem to be true. What do you think, Brother Hu?"

"Yes, Xiaozhi's choice is very wise. Even experts can see the advantage of this move," Hu Tianyu said. "I guess Otake Hideo got a little excited when he saw such a rare opportunity to gain an advantage."

Sure enough, the two commentators also noticed the problem and agreed that they should play the moves as Xiaozhi suggested to maximize their advantage.

"In other words, Otake Hideo was spurred on by gaining a significant advantage, and as a result, he made a basic mistake here." Zhou Zhi was somewhat amused and exasperated: "Is that what you mean?"

“Yes, if Black makes a move, White’s three stones on the bottom will be in danger,” Hu Tianyu said. “The local advantage will be diluted again.”

In the actual game, Black chose to block, while White chose to jump one above, making Black's three stones more solid. Black then chose to point the white stones below, intending to escape. White added a move below, choosing to be safe. Black then chose to block again.

"This move is problematic. Xiao Zhi judged that he should have jumped, allowing White to gain living stones in the lower area, while he himself could connect and completely create a living path."

“Choosing to block here does leave White with a gaping hole.” Gu Li frowned. “It doesn’t feel quite right.”

Next, White pushes, Black retreats, and White connects. The two sides then engage in attack and defense on the lower part of the board. Soon, White makes a living move on the lower part, and Black surrounds White. However, the cutting point becomes more obvious. Once White gains an advantage elsewhere, this will inevitably become a powerful attacking point.

But the game has already progressed this far, and it must continue. (End of Chapter)