Chapter 538 Putting Lots

At 1:20 p.m. on January , Tengjiang Pavilion Xihuan Hotel, Hongdu City, Pohu Province.

Du Weichen, the head coach of the Pohu team, dressed in casual winter clothes, gave a final speech to the players who were about to go to the stadium:

“Ahem!
"Everyone! We have finally reached the last round of this Weiqi League!

“This is the situation now… This is the situation.

"We had 9 points in the match and 14 points in the set, ranking second from the bottom. We were 1 point behind Qiannan team, which was third from the bottom, and 3 points behind them.

“Today we are going to face the second-ranked Qiantang team!
"Although objectively speaking, there is a big gap in strength between the two sides, we still have to..."

"...Eh? Qiantang Team?"

Before Elder Du finished speaking, the young general Wei Zhenzhong in the team couldn't help but raise a question:

"Are they still in second place? Didn't their ranking drop after Ni Jue's accident?"

Hearing this, Elder Du couldn't help but roll his eyes at the team member:

"No, Wei!

"It's not enough that you haven't made much progress in the last half of the season, but why don't you even pay more attention to the situation in the league?

“It’s true that my nephew is still recovering from his illness, but the Sky-Howling Dog under the Queen’s seat is really powerful!

“Since he started to take Ni Jue’s place in the tenth round, he has won four and lost one in five rounds!
"Except for losing to Xiao Ji, he defeated Geng Zhizhen, Ying Yalou, Teacher Yang, and even He Wei failed at his hands!
"I guess that even if my nephew goes into battle himself, this is probably the best he can do! How low do you think the Qiantang team's ranking will drop?"

"what--?"

Wei Zhenzhong, who had been thinking about going home for the New Year recently and had not paid much attention to the results of other teams, could not help but exclaimed:
"Isn't he originally the weakest seventh dan? I was counting on meeting him this time to have a fight!"

"Oh! What the hell are you talking about?
"If I had talked more with Xiao Gu or my second niece, I wouldn't have such an outrageous perception!

"Right, Xiao Gu, my second niece!"

Seeing Elder Du looking at him, Gu Chuxiong smiled and nodded:

"Well... to be honest, in the past six months, I feel that Fatty Zeng has become much more powerful.

"I used to often mock him for being the weakest among the senior players in our class, but now Lao Geng and I are no longer qualified to say that."

"……Eh?"

At this time, Rui Zhao, who was standing by, suddenly spoke up after realizing it belatedly:
"Brother Zeng... has he become stronger?"

"Hmm? Don't you practice with him often? Don't you feel anything?"

"Hmm... I've had limited practice with Brother Zeng recently..."

Facing Gu Chuxiong's question, Rui Zhao pondered for a while, shook his head and said:
"From the perspective of chess content, it seems to be a bit improved?

"But the winning rate is not very good..."

"Well, I think that might not be Fatty Zeng's problem...

"The problem is with you!"

"In my...?"

"Yes!"

Gu Chuxiong and Rui Zhao explained:

"Although you have been unlucky recently, having faced Guan Ye, Xiao Ji, Tuo Shu, Le Le and other top 9th dan players in a row, your record does not seem ideal, but judging from the content of the chess..."

"alright!
"Let's not talk about that anymore! Let's just win the game right now!"

Seeing that the topic was going off topic, Du Weichen quickly said:

"Let's continue what I just said! Although the opponents in this round are very strong, in the reverse bubble match of the post-New Year playoffs, the difference between 14th and 15th is still very big!

"Please work hard and try to bring down the team from my hometown! We'll have more lives and more protection after the New Year!"

"Good!" ×2
"Oh!"

"Okay, everyone, make your final adjustments. We'll go to the chess room in fifteen minutes!"

Elder Du clapped his hands after he finished speaking, and the three players dispersed to prepare for the final pre-match adjustments. Rui Zhao also planned to use this time to do life and death or hand-twitch problems. However, at this time, Elder Du seemed to have thought of something, and after dismissing the players, he quietly approached Rui Zhao and asked in a low voice:
"Uh, niece, let me ask you something!

"Recently, nephew...do you have any new news?"

"……what?"

Rui Zhao's expression suddenly became a little unnatural:

"Du, Brother Du, why are you asking this all of a sudden?"

"Oh! How can I not ask? February 2th is the third stage of the Nongshim Cup!"

"Until now, the chess association and my nephew have not disclosed any information about his current health condition. There are all kinds of rumors among chess fans! I want to see if your nephew's junior sister has any exclusive news!

Du Weichen is right.

Since Ni Jue went on recuperation due to illness, there has been no other news about the Chess Association and Ni Jue, except for announcing their withdrawal from the LIG Cup qualifiers and postponing the three-game Celebrity Tournament to the first half of next year.

Originally, it was a player's personal freedom to recuperate due to poor health, and other people should not interfere. However, it has been two months since there has been no news about Ni Jue, which has gradually caused a stir in the chess circle.

The reason is simple - Tian Yuan is the most important player of the Chinese team in this Nongshim Cup, and there is no other player who can compare with him. Therefore, his health condition has attracted the attention of many chess fans.

During this period, viewers kept leaving messages on the official account of the Chess Association to inquire about certain situations, but as to whether Ni Jue would be able to play, the Chess Association simply replied that "it depends on the player's physical condition." Even Du Weichen, a professional player in the inner circle, asked Ni Jue, but he did not read or reply to any of their messages, which inevitably made people feel a little suspicious.

As time went by, despite the external statements from the Chess Association and the celebrity Tianyuan himself, there were constant "rumors" in the market that Ni Jue had actually undergone brain surgery in late November and needed a long time to recuperate, making it basically impossible for him to play, which made public opinion increasingly ferment.

Under such circumstances, it is not surprising that Elder Du wants to learn more from Rui Zhao.

Unfortunately, Elder Du did not get any information from his own team members.

Rui Zhao blinked, revealing an expression that couldn't be purer:

"Hmm... I don't know what's going on with my brother!
"The last time I went to the hospital to see him, he just said there was nothing wrong and sent me back.

"But Senior Brother Ni just said that he was fine and sent me back..."

"That's it..."

Seeing Rui Zhao's innocent and beautiful appearance, Du Weichen did not doubt him at all and thought that Rui Zhao really knew nothing.

I never expected that this silly-looking girl in front of me was the biggest reason why Ni Jue's physical condition had been concealed until now...

...

...

At noon on the same day, at 12:45.

The last round of the Weiqi League, the match between Pohu team and Qiantang team at home is about to be held.

Fans of Queen Zhaotian are naturally looking forward to this round of competition - even if Ni Jue is not there, there are already two people on the opposite side who are quite familiar with Rui Zhao.

One is Xiong Siyi.

As one of the guests who occasionally appear in the live broadcast room of [Go Xiaozhao], although Sha Heitian's overall condition has not been good in the past year, he is simple-minded and has not shown too much frustration. He still eats and drinks as usual, plays chess as usual, and looks for "Little Bear Two" as usual.

Because he often makes shocking remarks and creates a great show effect, he is very popular among fans of Queen Zhaotian.

The second is Zeng Xigou...He is an old acquaintance, so I won’t mention him much.

Therefore, all the “queen’s die-hard fans” hope that these two people will draw these two lots, which will be more interesting.

If that doesn't work, it would be nice to draw another 7th dan chess player, Yi Xiaogang.

He is recognized as the weakest among the original four main players of Qiantang team, and is just the right person to help Rui Zhao, who has lost three out of four games in the recent Weiqi League, improve his record.

It's a shame, though.

When the final match result came out, Rui Zhao's opponent was surprisingly not any of the three people mentioned above, and he even drew the worst lot...

In the last round of the Weiqi League, the Pohu team played against the Qiantang team at home.

Rui Zhao, 7th dan, who is in charge of the fast chess table, will face the world's top two endgame players nicknamed "Guan Ye".

——The "world's best official" who holds one championship and two runner-ups was promoted to the ninth dan.

(End of this chapter)

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like