Riding the wind of rebirth

"Let's go to the chess room and talk in detail," Dean Chen said with a smile. "And while we're at it, let's see Xiao Zhi show off his power against Xiao Chang!"

"Old Chen, why are you siding with outsiders?!" The chess master, who had just been praising Xiao Zhi, scolded, "We haven't even started playing yet, how come you're already boosting the enemy's morale and diminishing our own?"

"What do you mean 'others' or 'self'?" Dean Chen waved his hand. "They're all ours! We haven't even criticized you, Old Nie, yet. This report is a bit late!"

"You just said that Go is more complicated than chess." Nie Weiping's face actually showed a sly smile, like a fox that had stolen a chick. "If I had reported this earlier, Xiao Zhi might be playing chess now. It's only natural to start with the easy and then move on to the difficult!"

"Actually, we do have specific considerations." Zhou Zhi quickly stopped the chess master's joke: "Go is the game with the simplest rules but the most complex variations that humans have invented so far. Although it is still a rule-based game under strong logical constraints similar to mathematics, the variations are too complex, so it is difficult to solve the problem in a short time by pure calculation. Therefore, it is necessary to replace the precise logical results with fuzzy probability results, and then form a high-probability correct judgment through continuous learning."

“This working mode is a huge breakthrough from the traditional computer working mode, and it is much closer to thinking activities.” Zhou Zhi smiled and said, “However, it is still within the scope of mathematical thinking activities.”

"From a methodological point of view on solving the Go problem, this path has theoretically solved it. I want to thank the leaders of the Go Academy and Mr. Nie for their tolerance of information technology and for not treating it as a monster that would take away their livelihood."

"I'm not that obsessed with cleanliness, but the old hero Da Zhu might be," Nie Qisheng said with a smile. "In any human sport, the ultimate challenge is to oneself, to become a stronger version of oneself."

"If a person tries to compete with a machine, it's like a runner trying to race against a car, or a weightlifter trying to lift a hydraulic press. They're just asking for trouble."

"Our achievement lies in the fact that runners and weightlifters in the past had equipment to help improve their performance, but we Go players don't. There are also sparring partners, which are very hard to find. Therefore, it is also very difficult to improve the overall level of Go players across the country."

"Now that we have Xiaozhi and the internet, things are different."

Zhou Zhi finally realized the extraordinary nature of the lifetime honorary chairman of the Go Association. This man wasn't just considering local issues, but rather how to improve the overall level of Go in the country.

The Go academy has two types of Go rooms: one Chinese-style and one Japanese-style. This is a product of the special period in recent years. The Japanese-style Go room was built with donations from more than 100 companies in Japan, and the decoration and furnishings were all provided by the Japanese side.

When I passed through Zhouzhi, I took a look around. Inside, there were all those large Japanese-style kaya wood chessboards, which shows how much money they had invested in this place.

However, I also couldn't help but marvel at the accuracy of Chen Shuai's words. After the island nation suffered a major defeat this year, it was no longer so enthusiastic about Go, while China and South Korea began to rise strongly, eventually becoming a two-horse race. Later, South Korea also began to experience a generational gap, while China's new generation took over the baton from their predecessors, eventually forming a situation where one country almost stood out.

After passing through the chess rooms sponsored by the island nation, we arrived at a large, "modern" chess room, where about twenty people had already gathered.

"Where's Brother Chang? I haven't congratulated him in person yet." Zhou Zhi looked around and found that all the experts who participated in the China-Japan Tournament were there, but the biggest contributor, Chang Shentong, was missing.

Nie Qisheng sat down and patted the sofa next to him, saying, "Xiao Miao, come sit here. I need to hear your professional explanation today. You can play as you like with the elbows." He then explained to Zhou Zhi, "Xiao Chang is preparing in the chess room next door. Chess should be played quietly. Our group of people making noise will be a disturbance."

Ma Xiaochun turned on the projector, and the screen showed the scene from the chess room next door. Sitting opposite Chang Hao was another young and excellent chess player, Kong Jie, but Kong Jie also had a laptop next to him.

"This is……"

"This is to simulate a real chess playing environment," Ma Xiaochun explained. "Xiao Kong is only responsible for faithfully transferring Xiao Zhi's pieces to the chessboard, and also to take into account the players' habits and avoid emotional interference."

"We've also come up with some methods for playing against Xiao Zhi." Nie Qisheng picked up his thermos, and he's already reached the age where he "sips goji berries from his thermos": "You must gain an advantage in the opening and middle game, and at the same time, you must not make any mistakes in the late game and endgame to have a chance of winning."

"The opening and middle game often test intuition and imagination." Yu Bin drew a small circle in the air in the middle of the chessboard used for live commentary: "Because of the limitations of calculation ability, we cannot compete with Xiao Zhi in this aspect. Therefore, we can only try to keep Xiao Zhi on the side lanes to fight when the human brain has the advantage in the early stages, and try to gain more of a winning chance."

"As the game progresses, the moves become more intricate and the variations less pronounced. The advantage of computational ability will become increasingly apparent. We can then shift from offense to defense, secure the position, and prevent Xiao Zhi from turning the game around with his computational power." Nie Qisheng took a sip of tea. "These are the tactics we can come up with right now."

"To be honest, I'm still not convinced. Human strength has its limits. In a game where the two sides are evenly matched, it often comes down to who makes fewer mistakes." Ma Xiaochun sighed. "Now, encountering a player who never makes a mistake in the middle or late game is really a test of one's brain."

"We also have the ability to control the center," Nie Weiping said. "Our opening moves are mostly based on the sidelines. This is to reduce the amount of calculation and expand the shape of the pieces within the range that we can control."

"Xiao Zhi is able to set up an opening in the center because the variations are so great that we can't control those kinds of moves. But Xiao Zhi can play some imaginative opening moves that are beyond our understanding. And in the later development of the game, these seemingly random moves often turn out to be deadly killing moves."

"I believe this is a new type of strategy that Xiaozhi has developed by leveraging his computing power advantage. This is a direction that we humans have never considered before. In this sense, Xiaozhi has now reached the level of a grandmaster who has 'founded a school of thought' and created his own style," Yu Bin said.

"This school of thought will drive the old hero Daitake crazy," Nie Weiping laughed. "It's called Wild Fox Zen, the Computational Power School!"

“That’s a good name. I suggest we call our Go website ‘Wildfox.net’ and the virtual Go players’ IDs ‘Wildfox Divine Calculator’!” Zhou Zhi said with a smile.

“I think calling him Xiao Zhi would be a good idea?” Nie Weiping frowned and said, “Wild Fox Diviner sounds like some kind of heretical sect.”

“Then let’s call him Wild Fox Xiao Zhi,” Ma Xiaochun said. “Wild Fox isn’t a derogatory term; it refers to Xiao Zhi’s self-taught Go skills. Xiao Zhi sounds much better than Divine Calculator, which sounds like a fortune teller.”

Everyone thought the name was good, and so, in just a few words, the mysterious Go master who would later become famous on the internet, crushing countless高手 (masters) – Wild Fox Xiao Zhi – was officially born. (End of Chapter)