Riding the wind of rebirth

However, White abandoned the idea of ​​continuing to attack on the lower side at this time, and switched back to the right side, choosing to connect.

This move not only strengthens the formation but also consolidates the outer perimeter. "A brilliant move!" Hu Tianyu exclaimed upon seeing it: "The standard move of the Cosmic Style."

The two commentators in the live stream were also praising Otake Hideo's move.

“But Xiao Zhi judged that this move was a disadvantage.” Mai Xiaomiao looked at Xiao Zhi’s statistics: “Xiao Zhi believed that his next move could increase Da Zhu’s winning rate to over 68%, but Da Zhu’s move reduced the winning rate to 62%.

"Where did Xiaozhi choose?" Zhou Zhi asked.

“Here it is.” Mai Xiaomiao pointed to the second piece on the second line in the lower right corner.

"Finishing a move?" Hu Tianyu frowned slightly. "Was this made near the crucial stage?"

An Chunjia picked up her phone and walked outside, saying, "I'm going to call Old Master Nie."

"He even has the Go master's phone number?" Zhou Zhi asked curiously as An Chunjia walked out of the meeting room.

"He probably has the phone numbers of famous Go players, right?" Hu Tianyu said. "Didn't he work on the Oracle Bone Script assembly project in the capital before? After finishing that project, he went on to work on the Go system and has been dealing with teachers at the Go academy for a long time."

He finished speaking and smiled smugly: "I specially ordered a kaya wood Go board from Japan and asked Chunjia to add the signatures of several famous people to it."

"A custom-made kaya wood chessboard from an island nation? Those things are expensive." Zhou Zhi laughed, "Making something so plain and fancy is just a waste."

The Japanese kaya wood chessboard is very heavy. It is made from a whole tree trunk that has been stored for many years before being taken out and made into a chessboard. It is called a chessboard, but it is actually a large wooden stump. Because the grain of kaya wood is very light and almost invisible, the Japanese believe that the chessboard made of kaya wood is elegant and clean, and the chess player will not be affected by the wood grain.

In this island nation, this is an intangible cultural heritage. A good chessboard can easily sell for over a million yen. These things are also heavy, and with customs duties and shipping costs, they can easily cost 150,000 to 160,000 RMB.

That money could have bought a Santana. Hu Tianyu is a rising star in the IT industry, riding the wave of opportunity with plenty of money to burn. Yet, he went through all that trouble to bring over such a simple item and then made the signature all fancy. Therefore, Zhou Zhi wanted to laugh at him.

At this moment, An Chunjia entered, and Zhou Zhi asked, "What did the Chess Master say?"

An Chunjia said, "Old Nie said we'll find out if we keep watching the live stream."

At this point, the game had changed, and the two players were vying for control of the center of the board.

At this moment, Zhang Xuan in the video seemed to be called away by someone off-screen. She returned shortly afterward, holding a fax paper in her hand, and said, "I just received a good move from the Go Academy. If Otake plays like that, we'll have a great chance of winning this game."

Gu Li took the paper and looked at it: "Hey? Brilliant!"

"It can't be called an absolute masterpiece," Zhang Xuan said, "but it was definitely a worthwhile exchange."

The two players removed the two moves made by Da Zhu and Chang Hao, restoring Da Zhu's position to the center of the right side. Zhang Xuan took a white stone and said, "Place it here to cut off Chang Hao's white stone on the bottom line."

Ma Li placed a piece on the lower right side of the right flank: "At this point, Black can only choose the tiger's mouth to make contact with the piece above."

"This is another small point by White, which has entered the corner." The next few moves are a contest for the lower right corner. After White enters, Black still has to stick to the top to prevent White from making a big move. White continues to play first, and with a thrust in the middle of the right side, it can obviously cut off White's connection on the right side and the lower corner, breaking a large area of ​​territory.

Then a small change will occur in the middle. After a few moves, Black's empty space will be significantly reduced, and Black can only try to survive in the lower lane.

The key point is that White still maintains the initiative in the lower right corner and can choose to continue attacking. White will also cut off a piece of Black's corner. After this game, even Zhou Zhi can see that Black's struggle in the lower right corner has completely failed, and White will occupy a large area of ​​territory.

“That’s how Go is,” Zhang Xuan said with lingering fear. “The players on the field think independently, unlike us now where we can brainstorm together. If Mr. Otake had chosen to reinforce the board with that move, he could have almost secured the game. Fortunately, he didn’t play there, but instead chose to contest the center.”

Gu Li said, "Although this move is ingenious, it is not elegant. To make such a move so early in the game, if you only look at this move without considering the subsequent exchanges, it seems a bit... stingy. For Mr. Otake, who advocates 'aesthetic Go', this choice may never appear in his game."

“That’s true.” Zhang Xuan nodded and restored the chessboard to its current state as a real game: “If this move had been made here, Mr. Otake would have seemed unfamiliar to us. Let’s put aside this little analysis and continue watching the game.”

Next, both sides used the bottom right and middle right lanes as a base to gradually begin to fight for control of the middle and bottom lanes.

Otake Hideo's opening strategy was fully utilized, constantly threatening Chang Hao's two black groups on the lower and right-middle sides. However, Chang Hao's response was very steady and calm, and the two sides gradually formed a situation where the two dragons were intertwined.

The situation only became clear after the game returned to the right side. The point where Black had left White a "cut" allowed White to make a move there, forcing Chang Hao to make a comeback. Meanwhile, Otake Hideo was able to break free of the blockade and develop towards the upper center of the board.

After a series of moves, Black finally gained connection between the lower right and the middle right, taking control of the entire right side. However, White blocked the key stones, retaining the initiative and gaining a strong position in the lower middle and on the outside of the right side.

Judging from the game, Otake Hideo still firmly holds the advantage, but the prodigy is cleverly turning the tide little by little. According to Xiaozhi's judgment, Otake Hideo's chances of winning have quietly dropped below 60%.

White then made a jump, and from this point onward, the battlefield shifted to the upper right side.

In the next move, Otake Hideo only needed a simple connection to stabilize White's advantage in the right middle and upper right lanes. However, at that moment, he chose to make a big capture.

Ash judged this move as a huge disadvantage.

An Chunjia went out to make another phone call, but this time she didn't get the result from the chess academy. This was because Da Zhu's move actually complicated a simple move that could have secured an advantage. The subsequent variations were too complex, and no one could judge whether it was superior or inferior.

However, making a simple approach complicated is clearly not a good thing.

It was precisely because the subsequent changes were too complex that both sides had some unclear judgments. After a long period of deliberation, Otake Hideo chose to return to a relatively simple situation. The price was that Chang Hao took the opportunity to seize a large, solid empty space in the upper right corner.

White has clearly suffered losses in this series of games, with its winning percentage dropping to a mere fraction of an advantage.

Next, Daitake Hero chose to rely on the advantage of the right middle lane to build a solid position, so he chose to lean on the middle and upper lanes.

Xiao Zhi raised another objection to this move. His first choice was to connect in the middle and upper lanes now, take the upper left, and then consider the advantages in the middle and upper lanes.

"This move..." Hu Tianyu was a little confused: "Why does it feel like Xiaozhi is playing like Dazhu, and Dazhu is playing like Xiaozhi?" (End of this chapter)