Riding the wind of rebirth

Wild Fox Xiaozhi's first game was against Chang Hao, the prodigy who was riding high on his winning streak in the China-Japan Go Tournament.

Kong Jie, who was playing against him, looked relaxed, even a little gloating, because today he was just a "chess-passing boy" and felt no pressure.

Its only purpose is to guess who goes first, and if it loses, the prodigy goes first.

Although it was an internal game, Nie Weiping still arranged for two commentators to display the game on a large chessboard for everyone to discuss. The commentators were Zhang Xuan and Gu Li.

It's no secret within the chess academy that Zhang Xuan and Chang Hao are a couple.

"It seems like the new version of Xiao Zhi has a different style? He's become more seasoned." After only nine moves, Nie Qisheng noticed a subtle change in the atmosphere: "According to Xiao Zhi's previous habits, he should have chosen to move towards the lower right side at this point."

Mai Xiaomiao, working on her laptop next to Nie Qisheng, nodded and said, "Indeed, the optimal solution given by Xiaozhi in the previous version was to choose this approach, which is the subsequent path of the game."

Ma Xiaochun looked at the chessboard. White was choosing to place a stone to lean on the board. Chang Shentong naturally had to respond. The most efficient move was for Black to push the corner, and then White would counter-push. After two or three moves, Black would defend the corner, and White would not only gain influence on the outside, but it would also have a negative impact on Black's future expansion on the lower side.

Everyone nodded in agreement. This was the most traditional approach, and also Ash's previous strategy: to sacrifice the edges and corners to secure the outer position, and then use the computing power advantage to defeat the opponent in the central area.

At this moment, Xiao Zhi chose to make a clamp move on the top lane, allowing Black to choose to jump another piece on the bottom lane, expand the advantage on the bottom right lane, and form a "small chain" on the bottom lane in exchange for the move that restricted Black's development on the top lane.

This represents a shift in thinking, a broader perspective, a focus on the overall picture, and a somewhat unhurried approach.

Then, Wild Fox Xiaozhi chose to move into the corner on the lower right side, disrupting Black's formation.

Black then chose to launch a pincer attack, intending to provoke a local war on the lower right side.

"Is Xiao Chang a bit too hasty in this move?" Yu Bin stroked his chin, leaning back on the sofa as he watched Zhang Xuan place a large piece. "It's a bit too early for her to go head-to-head. If she had chosen to play longer, she could have gained a lot of territory on the sidelines."

“Actually, it’s not a big problem.” Ma Xiaochun and Nie Qisheng arranged Yu Bin’s suggestion on the chessboard: “In this way, Xiao Zhi will consolidate the right side, while Xiao Chang will consolidate the outside influence and the bottom side. The actual territory gained by the exchange is actually about the same.”

"It's better to extend the board, as this will disrupt Xiaozhi's future advantage in the middle lane." Ma Xiaochun pondered the game for a moment: "The situation is also clearer, making it more suitable for us to control."

In the actual battle, Chang Shentong still chose to attack from both sides, while Xiaozhi chose to twist and break, which clearly marked the beginning of a local battle.

After exchanging hands, Ash created a Throwing Weapon, and Chang Shentong, not to be outdone, also launched a pincer attack from the upper left, preparing to create a Throwing Weapon as well.

Nie Weiping laughed and said, "It seems that Xiao Chang is very ambitious in this game."

The two sides then repeatedly created and resolved kos in the upper left and lower right corners, engaging in a fierce battle. The expert spectators were quite satisfied with the outcome. This approach effectively used Xiao Zhi's forte, "small calculations," to stall him while simultaneously creating an advantage on the perimeter, cleverly limiting Xiao Zhi's calculation ability.

Before anyone knew it, Black had gradually gained the upper hand, and it looked like the lower left and lower right corners were about to connect.

To avoid this situation, Xiao Zhi chose to cut off the enemy from the bottom right side. Chang Shentong immediately countered, choosing to flank and trap from the right side.

"Excellent! This move is brilliant!" As soon as the move was made, the chess room erupted in cheers. Chess Master Nie slapped his thigh: "Now the large white group in the lower right corner is completely surrounded!"

What followed was a fierce battle of offense and defense, and the situation became extremely complex. The massive amount of calculation made everyone's brains boil. Yu Bin, Nie Qisheng, and Ma Xiaochun even had a huge debate. They even had Mai Xiaomiao pull out Xiao Zhi's 2.0 version of the opinion to study it. In the end, they still couldn't determine the advantages and disadvantages.

In the final battle, Wild Fox Xiaozhi used his powerful computing ability to forcefully break through the encirclement of the black stones, creating a bloody path for a large white group that was originally extremely dangerous.

However, although the large white group broke through the encirclement, it was not yet stable, because there was a key point that could only be considered "half an eye" and was not fully alive.

Chang Shentong certainly can't let this piece go easily. Even if he can't kill it, he has to find a way to skin it alive.

However, the situation is now quite delicate, as Chang Shentong himself has four unstable stones in the lower left corner. The two groups of stones on both sides are a battleground of offense and defense. White's large group is undoubtedly a tempting target for Black, but Black must also be wary of the instability of his own four stones.

Moreover, this is only the situation in the lower left corner of the entire board. If we look at the whole board, we can see that the five white stones in the upper right corner are also not stable. If these five stones are swallowed up by the black stones, the black square in the upper right corner will gain a visual advantage.

The unknown situation in the upper right is still far from the current battlefield in the lower left, but the authorities need to take the unknown situation in the upper right into account when making decisions in the lower left battlefield.

Also, there's the upper left corner. The white stones in the upper left corner have a very comfortable shape, but there are five stones that look a bit tight. This problem doesn't seem to be related to the current situation, but if the situation develops for another ten or so moves, the battlefield will definitely spread to this area, and these few stones may become the key to the later stages.

Overall, the current situation has met everyone's expectations for Chang Shentong, who has the advantage from the opening to the mid-game.

After some thought, Chang Shentong decided to press his advantage and, on the ninety-ninth move, chose to press down, taking advantage of the weakness of the four white stones in the lower left corner to strengthen himself, while still keeping his sights on the large white group.

The situation on the lower left battlefield is becoming very delicate.

Wild Fox Xiaozhi quickly chose to stick.

"Huh? Xiaozhi backed down?" Ma Xiaochun looked puzzled. "His style has changed again?"

White has two options here: one defensive, the other offensive. The offensive approach is chosen. White extends on move 100, then hooks on move 102, resulting in a very strong stance.

From a local perspective, these two moves are not unreasonable.

“Although Black’s 103rd move could have used the initiative of Black’s 105th move to cut off White’s 102nd move, Black’s liberties are very tight, and White’s lower left corner is already alive. White’s 102nd move is perfectly positioned, so Black’s 107th move and the large Black group in the lower left that is not yet secure cannot be taken care of at the same time.” After setting up a few moves, Yu Bin looked up at Ma Xiaochun and said, “However, when we broaden our perspective to look at the whole game, we will find that if we take into account the fact that White’s large group in the lower right is not secure, and that the fate of White’s five stones on the right is also uncertain, then choosing to exert force in the lower left may not be the right timing.”

“Hmm, that makes sense.” Nie Weiping quickly presented a situation: “White 1 is a defensive strategy. This move looks like it’s retreating rather unwisely, but in this situation, it’s precisely the first thing to do is to pull back your fist, or rather, to withdraw your ‘force’.”

"After White 1 connects, Black 2 must extend, otherwise White will play a two-stone handicap and Black will definitely not be able to withstand it. Then White 3 gently plays a move on the second line. Now look at this move, what do you think?" (End of this chapter)