LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 316: The opening of the qualifiers and the first round of the competition
The flight from Shanghai Pudong Airport to Rizhao, Shandong takes no longer than 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Lin Ruo booked a flight for 17:30 pm. It seemed that it was still very early, so while preparing to travel, Lin Ruo wrapped himself up as tightly as possible.

The weather in December is already quite cold, not to mention Rizhao, Shandong, a coastal city where the temperature is below zero throughout the month. If you go there without being fully armed, you might be walking into a tiger's mouth.

"Boo, I'm leaving now."

"The qualifying tournament will definitely end earlier than the German Cup. Remember to meet up in Qingdao then, and go back together after the competition. Also, you must call and report in every morning and evening for the next two weeks."

The first part was fine, but after hearing the latter part, Lin Ruo paused at the entrance of the base and waved his ID card: "I am an adult."

Abu belatedly realized and waved his hands. It turned out that he was already a so-called adult, so there was no need for him to continue to control him in such meticulous detail.

Next, this requirement should be applied to iboy, who is still 17 years old.

After walking out of the base gate and taking a taxi to Pudong Airport, Lin Ruo received a WeChat call from the boss's daughter: "Where are you now?"

"its me."

Lin Ruo glanced outside before replying, "It's about a kilometer away from the EDG base gate."

As soon as he finished speaking, he was greeted by a gentle chorus of complaints: "Ah, the preliminaries start tomorrow morning. Other dan-chaos come a few days in advance to acclimate themselves to the environment. You, on the other hand, only come the night before the competition. That's impressive."

"Is there anything else?" Lin Ruo listened quietly.

"Send me your ID number and I'll ask the teacher to book a room for you."

Lin Ruo honestly declined: "No, I already booked it online more than ten days ago."

"Ok."

"Ah."

"let me tell you…"

Lin Ruo didn't know how long the person on the voice call had been talking. In short, when he opened his eyes again, it was the driver who was calling him to get out of the car.

After boarding the flight and landing in Rizhao, Lin Ruo did not forget to find a regular internet cafe nearby to gain experience points before taking a taxi to the hotel.

As an adult, he is more confident than anyone else when he walks into an Internet cafe.

……

On December 12, at the RZ Municipal Party School Training Center, the annual Go ranking tournament finally kicked off under the attention of the public.

Lin Ruo arrived at the designated spot, opened the car door, confirmed that there was no problem with the position, exhaled lightly, and walked quickly into the competition venue.

In the huge and crowded venue, a group of reporters and cameramen were constantly taking pictures. There were all kinds of tables, chairs, benches and name tags with numbers, waiting for the contestants to take their seats.

Lin Ruo first went to the hall to complete the registration, and then learned about the competition information on the wall next to it.

This ranking tournament is divided into youth men's and women's groups, as well as adult men's and women's groups, and the final ranking places are determined according to a certain ratio.

Since Lin Ruoshang was still a minor when he registered, he was still assigned to the youth group.

There are more than 600 young men from all over the country participating in the youth men's preliminaries. They will all compete in nine rounds of individual competitions based on a points system, and the top 56 will enter the second round of the competition.

The opponents in each round are random, but there are also specific requirements and restrictions, just like the Swiss round. The winner of the first round will compete with another winner to ensure that they are matched with players with the same number of wins as much as possible to ensure the fairness of the competition.

After the corresponding preliminaries, the contestants will face the semi-finals of the competition.

A double-elimination group elimination system is adopted, with 14 groups, 4 people in each group competing for 3 rounds, and finally the top two players will be admitted. A total of 28 people will advance to the final of this competition.

The final also adopts a double-elimination system. 28 players are divided into 7 groups and compete in 3 rounds. The top two players will be selected. A total of 14 young people will obtain professional first-level certification.

The corresponding grouping requirements for the semi-finals and finals will be formulated according to the points or number of wins in the previous game to ensure that the levels of the teams in the groups are uneven.

Instead of being random so that multiple strong players appear, or multiple players who rank high in the semi-finals or preliminaries are unreasonably selected into a single group.

This is to ensure that there is no possibility of an upset, so that the strength of the person who finally obtains the professional certificate is within a reasonable range.

"Your first match will be held in the venue on the first floor. Your seat is table 18. Here is your entry card. Please confirm your seat on time. If you are not seated within 15 minutes, your results will be disqualified."

The staff handed over the sign, and before Lin Ruo had time to take a look at it, he heard someone behind him excitedly calling his name.

He knew who the childish girl's voice belonged to without even having to think about it.

"Aren't you an amateur player? Why are you participating in this ranking tournament?"

Wu Yiming, who still had her hair tied in a bun, was very surprised. Beside her were her senior brothers and sisters from the dojo, as well as the teacher who accompanied them.

Well, Lin Ruo is an alternative person.

After all, those who are qualified to participate in the ranking tournament generally have corresponding dojos or even Go clubs, and self-taught people are rare.

"What did you just call me?"

"I said, Lin Ruo...Brother." Wu Yiming came to his senses and quickly changed his words. After all, it was not nice to call someone who was 7 years older than him by his name, even though it was a bit awkward.

Lin Ruo smiled and nodded, feeling extremely accomplished.

After greeting several of his peers, Lin Ruo walked into the competition venue alone.

Zhang Ruo was waiting for him at the door: "Why are you so late? I've been here for more than half an hour."

"If I had come earlier, I would have been the same as you." Lin Ruo found a good excuse.

The venue in the hall is much larger than other buildings, and can accommodate 400 people. Many young women's groups hold competitions here, and Zhang Ruo is one of them.

"Let me tell you, I just looked at the rules. Only five people in our junior women's group will be able to be promoted to Dan."

Zhang Ruo broke off one with his fingers, biting his lip with worry on his face. "Wu Yiming will definitely advance, but I don't know if I'll get the next four spots."

"Don't worry, you're definitely there."

"Do you trust me so much?"

"Of course. If I don't say this, what if you lose all confidence?" Lin Ruo said with a smile.

Although these words were speechless, Zhang Ruo still felt comforted. After all, Lin Ruo's way of encouraging people was so unique.

The two entered the venue together later. At this time, there were less than 20 minutes before the start of the competition, and most of the contestants had already arrived and taken their seats.

Lin Ruo found table number 18, pulled out a chair next to the name tag, and sat down, resting his chin on the table, calmly waiting for his opponent.

A tense atmosphere permeated the venue. Before the competition even started, many contestants were already struggling to calm down.

Bored, Lin Ruo glanced at his opponent's name tag: "Zhou Ruimin? Never heard of him."

at this time.

Outside the competition venue, a boy of fifteen or sixteen was listening to his teacher explaining the details of the match.

But judging from his defiant look with his hands folded, it was obvious that he didn't have the intention to listen too much.

"You can't be careless. You have to strive to win every game. This is related to the grouping for the rematch later. Do you understand?"

"I know, teacher. I'm sure I'll be fine. I almost did last year, but if I hadn't been unlucky in the finals and was stuck at 15th place, I would have advanced long ago."

The boy was very angry when he thought about it, but he was relieved immediately: "This year's youth men's group is not as full of monsters as last year. This time it is definitely stable."

And most importantly, he came prepared.

A month before the competition, the elders in my family paid a high price to hire a famous professional fourth-dan teacher to give me one-on-one guidance.

With the diligent study and training in recent months and the help of famous teachers, it would be unreasonable if you still can't get a grade.

The young man just felt that he was terribly strong now and urgently needed to find an opponent to bully.

"The average level of young players striving for dan this year is indeed much lower than last year, but you still can't be careless and must secure your first victory."

The teacher with square glasses continued.

He knew his student's strength and believed that he was more than capable of reaching the highest level.

However, the ranking of players is not only based on their ability, but also on their mentality.

To be honest, this student's mentality is a bit poor. If he fails to win the first game, it will easily affect the subsequent games.

That's why he tried so hard to give instructions before the game started to ensure that no accidents would affect the game.

"Don't worry, teacher. I won't make you wait too long." The boy straightened his clothes and walked into the competition venue with full confidence.

With so many players gathered together, it took some effort to find table number 18.

"Here, I finally found it." Seeing that it was table number 18, Zhou Ruimin confirmed that the nameplate on the table was correct before wiping the sweat off his face and pulling out a chair to sit down.

But as he sat down, he glanced at his opponent's name tag out of curiosity.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t read it, but it’s very important to read it.

"Lin Ruo..."

Zhou Ruiming sat down on the chair uncontrollably and couldn't help wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"It must be a duplicate name. Yes, a duplicate name. That's why I'm so unlucky."

"Besides, Go is just a hobby for me, so why would I want to participate in the dan ranking tournament?"

After some self-consolation, Zhou Ruimin shrank his neck, looked up at his opponent.

A little handsome, no, very handsome, in short, he looks like him.

Zhou Ruimin swallowed and said, "Excuse me...Excuse me, are you that Lin Ruo?" "Which Lin Ruo?" Lin Ruo didn't know what he was saying to his opponent. He was sweating in the middle of winter. He must have caught a cold.

"The one who won the National Games championship."

Lin Ruo thought for a moment and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, it should be me."

Zhou Ruimin nodded with a wry smile, picked up the mineral water bottle next to him and twisted it hard to drink some water, but he couldn't twist it because he was sweating too much.

It's over.

With his strength, there's no need to be afraid of anyone, but this guy has defeated a professional second-dan player...

If he could defeat a professional 2nd dan, why would he need to prepare for the dan tournament here...

"Do you want me to help you?" Lin Ruo asked.

"No, no." Zhou Ruimin opened the bottle of mineral water and took a big gulp to relieve his anxiety.

After a while, the staff finished their rounds and confirmed everything. Then, holding a loud speaker high, they shouted from the sidelines: "The first round of the 2017 National Go Tournament Qualifying Tournament has officially begun. Players, please get ready."

“本次比赛采用中国围棋历来规则，黑棋贴3又3/4子，双方保留时间为2小时，3次30秒读秒。”

“When the game starts, both sides can immediately start guessing who will go first.

Following the referee's notice, Lin Ruo calmly took out a chess piece from the chess box and held it in his palm.

Zhou Ruiminsheng picked up a chess piece helplessly and placed it on the chessboard.

Lin Ruo released his hand accordingly.

Zhou Ruimin guessed correctly and played black first.

"Please give me more advice."

"Please give me more advice." Zhou Ruimin's words were full of helplessness, and he chose to start with two consecutive stars.

Lin Ruo responded with Xing Xiaomu.

The black chess piece attacks from the lower left corner, and the white chess piece quietly uses the small tip of Xiu Ce's move, placing a piece at the diagonal intersection one road away from the original piece, so that the two pieces can keep in touch, control the direction of the chess piece, and move forward to gain one of the upper and lower sides.

Lin Ruo only wanted to express one thing.

Faced with the black piece hanging in the corner, he will not make any hasty offensive moves.

But we should strike back and strike back!
"Using the ancient method on the first hand?" Zhou Ruimin muttered to himself. The Shusaku small tip method, which has a history of more than 300 years, is not common in modern times.

Playing like this from the beginning made him a little uncomfortable. Of course, seeing that his opponent was Lin Ruo was what made him most uncomfortable.

Next, the black piece splits two pieces on the top.

The eighth move, White chess piece, clicks 33 in the upper right corner.

Black blocks, white moves forward.

Single long, flying out! The first ten moves of both sides were basically normal routines.

But with Zhou Ruimin's neat little flying move to the lower right corner in the 13th move, Lin Ruo felt that the situation had begun to enter a stage with obvious advantages and disadvantages.

Because the opponent's moves are contradictory.

After blocking the upper right corner, the black chess piece's goal is not only to resist the attack, but also to develop a larger shape to the right.

So that being the case.

After taking the initiative in the upper right corner, the next step that Black should take is undoubtedly to connect the two sides of the formation from top to bottom.

Ensure that the pattern in the upper right corner can coordinate with the star position in the lower right corner, and a continuous area in the center will naturally form a very broad formation, giving you an advantage at the start.

But the black chess piece played Xiaofei.

Lin Ruo shook his head and occupied the middle point where the black pieces were supposed to be connected.

He gave his opponent a choice, but his opponent chose the worst possible move.

Zhou Ruimin watched helplessly, and the sweat on his face increased.

His formation was disrupted...

So why did you inexplicably choose Xiaofei in the previous move?

Lin Ruo was shaking her head, probably because she was very disappointed with his move...

Zhou Ruimin sighed deeply. He was not a fool. No matter how nervous he was, he would not make a wrong move at the beginning, although he did not see the overall situation.

But he saw another factor that could threaten his situation.

That is Shusaku's small tip in the lower left corner. If he doesn't go down to block it, once the white chess piece hangs over from the left, the bottom position will undoubtedly fall into the control of the white chess piece.

It seems like a mistake, but it is actually a dilemma.

So he should actually go for the link-up and exchange with the formation below?

Zhou Ruimin had no choice but to push his way towards the central area of ​​the contiguous area.

Seventeenth move, White chess piece, breaks in.

The black chess piece intends to force its way up from the wider area below, but Lin Ruo takes advantage of the situation and blocks the middle, creating a pincer attack from both sides.

Zhou Ruimin suddenly had a headache and hurried to the nearest small tip.

If Lin Ruoxiaofei raises his head, it will make the bottom a little empty, but the three black pieces above will also be in a difficult situation.

The black chess piece follows closely to keep the opponent in check.

Below the white chess piece, the black chess piece continues to press.

Hold on and pull, and the black chess piece will grow.

Move 24, White chess piece, click in the lower right corner.

When the opponent has an unpredictable chess pattern in the early stage, the best way to play is to click 33. It is always a favorable move to give priority to gaining real territory.

The black piece goes down to cut off the opponent, and the white piece connects.

The first move is to pull the chess piece together, and the trend is obvious. The second move is to fly the chess piece, and the goal of keeping the chess piece alive in the corner area is achieved directly.

Black's chess pattern became extremely inefficient, neither forming a momentum nor restricting the normal development of White's chess below.

From a macro perspective, the entire right half of the board can be seen from the perspective that the black pieces occupy only a handful of real empty points.

Zhou Ruimin fell into a long silence.

He even estimated that the opponent in front of him might be more powerful than his fourth-level professional master, because he had never been left at a loss after only twenty moves in a fight with a master.

But in the fight with Lin Ruo, he truly experienced this feeling.

After a hasty move, Zhou Ruimin immediately raised his hand and called to the inspecting staff: "Referee, I need to go to the restroom."

This sound attracted the attention of many nearby players. Going to the bathroom before thirty moves? It seemed like he was really in a hurry to pee.

"You can only go to the toilet after you make a move, so are you sure?" the referee walked over and said.

In Go competitions, players cannot leave their pieces to go to the restroom, as this may be seen as wasting thinking time. Therefore, players must wait until their opponent makes a move before they can go to the restroom.

The Go ranking tournament lasts a long time, and it is very common to go to the toilet during it.

But it's not uncommon to need to go to the bathroom right after starting.

At this time, it can't be that he is beaten unconscious and needs to go down to calm down.

The referee had the same idea as everyone else. It seemed that the player was really in a hurry to pee.

"I'm sure it's gone down."

"Okay, let's go."

The referee nodded, and there were special staff outside the field to guide and follow, so as to monitor at all times and prevent any cheating.

Not long after Zhou Ruimin stood up and walked out, Lin Ruo had already made a move to defend himself.

And then it's time to wait.

Zhou Ruimin rushed to the bathroom and washed his face immediately. After making sure he was awake for a few minutes, he reluctantly urinated and left the bathroom.

He couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't think about his next move, but the referee wouldn't give him too much time.

Returning to his position, he looked at the white chess piece that Lin Ruo had already moved.

Zhou Ruimin looked distressed.

How could you get here? It's hard for me to deal with you like this. If I go down, I'll fall into a trap. If I go up, I'll just be caught...

Either attack, or stay put and open up another battlefield...

It seems like every step I take is not a good one.

After Zhou Ruimin finished playing chess, he was exhausted and thoughts beyond the chessboard flooded into his mind.

Referee, I need to go to the bathroom again...

(End of this chapter)