LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 319 Our minister has taken a fancy to you, come here.

The qualifiers are over.

The semi-finals and finals of the Go ranking tournament were moved to Rizhao Radio and Television Hotel.

Early in the morning of December 12th.

The local Go Association arrived at the competition site early to make arrangements. In addition to the competition, the semi-finals were preceded by not only an opening ceremony but also a media interview session.

They also have channels for real-time live broadcasts, aiming to promote Go to the outside world and expand its influence.

Wang Yi, the Go director of the National Go Institute, also attended the event in person. He looked at the list of players in the rematch and saw the familiar figure at a glance.

Just last month at the National Games, Wang Yicai, as the Minister of the Go Association, attended the opening ceremony and then presented awards to the winning players at the closing ceremony.

So he was naturally familiar with some of the players on the list, but no matter how familiar he was, he could not be as familiar with the most dazzling child in the National Games.

"As an amateur, how can he have such an astonishing level?"

Wang Yi had wanted to ask this question for a long time.

What he meant by amateur was not only his current rank, but more of his background and identity. Those who had participated in the rank-fixing tournaments and were students of dojos in various places were collectively called "youngsters who are striving for rank" in the Go field.

Those who have not joined any dojo and participate as independent individuals are generally called amateur players in the Go world, specifically referring to players who have not received formal and professional training.

Such players will generally achieve achievements such as four-level rankings or five-level ranking kings in the ranking tournament.

In short, they are just here to run along and experience the atmosphere, and they pose no threat to most young people who are striving for the title.

Nowadays, it is unheard of that young chess players who are striving to become professional chess masters cannot pose a threat to amateur chess players.

Wang Yi put down the list and said that this year's National Games and ranking tournament were both eye-openers for him.

He felt it necessary to carefully assess the chess player's potential.

The venue for the rematch was still set up in the hotel lobby. As the opening ceremony was approaching at nine o'clock in the morning, all the chess players arrived one after another.

A media conference was also held at the same time.

Because the first round of the rematch will be held in the afternoon, there is plenty of time in the morning.

"Do you have to go?"

"Of course you have to go. Others might be able to secretly be absent, but if you don't go, I guess no one here will know."

Zhang Ruo spread his hands in the elevator and said, "I estimate that more than half of the media here are planning to interview you. If you don't go, the consequences will be very serious."

The two people who were talking had just gotten off the elevator and reached the first floor when they bumped into a group coming down from another floor.

"We meet again."

Yu Yao couldn't help but sigh when he saw Lin Ruo. Fortunately, he performed well in the preliminaries. As long as he maintained the first place in the group in the semi-finals, they would basically have no chance of meeting in the finals.

Wu Yiming thought for a moment, then curiously asked, "Since you're so devoted to Go, Lin Ruo, do you have any thoughts on becoming a professional player?"

"Yes, I will consider it if I can't enter the World Championship." Lin Ruo said honestly.

If I can't enter the World Championship, I will at least have four months of free time, and it won't be a problem to participate in the World Championship after I finish the exam.

Of course, the premise is that you can't get in.

Otherwise, you probably won't have much time to participate in the highly cyclical Go competitions.

"What world competition is he talking about?" Wu Yiming turned and asked Yu Yao.

"Honor of Kings World Championship." Yu Yao answered without hesitation.

Lin Ruo glanced and then looked away, feeling as if he had accidentally made an enemy by winning the game.

When I walked to the entrance of the hall, the scene was already crowded with people. Counting just a hundred chess players wouldn't be impressive, but counting the reporters and staff, plus all kinds of equipment and instruments, the scene was packed with people.

The venue, which was not very large, seemed very crowded.

Lin Ruo, who walked into the range, was naturally warmly welcomed by the reporters on the scene.

Fortunately, he arrived just in time, and once the opening ceremony began, there was naturally no unrest among the crowd.

As soon as 10 a.m. arrived, Wang Yi, the head of the Go department who was responsible for the opening ceremony, stood on the temporary stage holding a microphone.

"Good morning to all the players who have entered this round of the tournament. I am Wang Yi, Director of the National Chess Academy. I am very happy to give the opening speech for the dan ranking tournament today."

There was spontaneous applause and numerous cameras filming the scene.

"Before we get to the main topic, I'd like to congratulate all the players for having gone through the brutal preliminaries and successfully entered the final stage of the Go college entrance examination. Being able to stand here means that you will surely be the rising hope of Chinese Go in the future."

"Seeing more and more players like you participating in the dan tournament each year, and seeing them becoming increasingly skilled, is a great blessing for both the Go industry and traditional Chinese culture."

"Everyone knows that this year is a very significant year for Go. The country..."

Lin Ruo knew without even listening that the next part would be a policy briefing. This year's Go environment was indeed much better than in previous years.

At least it has gradually been taken seriously from the margins of traditional culture, and will go further in the future.

I just don’t know how much longer I’ll talk about it.

He was leaning back in his chair, his head tilted, when a staff member stepped into his sight. "Contestant Lin Ruo, please stay for a moment. We'd like to invite you and the minister for a media interview."

Lin Ruo suddenly stood up and couldn't help but wonder why the chess association invited him to the external interview...

"What else can they do? They're attracted by your traffic, world champion, Go genius..." Seeing the staff member walk away, Yu Yao next to him said calmly.

Lin Ruo curled his lips and said nothing.

He saw it.

Yuyao is different from the two little girls. He is following the League of Legends.

Of course, he should have seen that when he came out of the elevator.

I don’t know if they are haters or passers-by, but in short, they are definitely not fans of his.

"Do you know how great an honor it is to be interviewed together with the director of the Go Department of the Chinese Chess Academy?" Zhang Ruo next to him could hardly believe it.

She didn't understand what Lin Ruo was trying to avoid. If it were her, she would have jumped up and followed him, and wouldn't have to sit here and bother others to come and inform her.

"Why didn't you invite me? I won all the qualifying rounds, and I'm much younger than him. I definitely have more hope than him to revive Chinese Go in the future."

Wu Yiming muttered for a long time, and Yu Yao, who listened patiently, only said: "Junior sister, what championship are you?"

...

Around 10:30, Lin Ruo sat in the interview seat. Next to him were the director of the Chess Academy and several leaders of the Chess Association of SD Province.

All in all, the scene was quite spectacular.

Below are more than twenty media reporters, asking questions in turn.

Lin Ruo naturally didn't need to answer too many questions, he was more of a mascot.

As Yuyao said, it is for drainage.

In the CCTV live broadcast room, a bunch of people came to have fun after hearing the news.

[Is this Lin Gou? What level is he? The person next to him can sit with him.]

【Reverse the Tiangang.】

[I'm participating in a dan ranking tournament, and Lin Gou is being so arrogant. I can't stand it.]

[This is much more exciting than playing games. Lin Gou, change your career. As an RNG fan, I firmly support you.]

[Good fellow, your calculations have hit me on the head. ]

[Lin Gou changed careers? You don't want EDG to die, you want the entire LPL to die. Teng Jing will blacklist you the next day.]

If Lin Gou changes his career and can live stream every day, I'll support him, hehe. [I'll live stream you playing Go every day, I wonder if you can handle it.]

"Ah, have you forgotten? Lin Gou never liked working. If he changed his career, he definitely wouldn't livestream Go. Instead, he'd livestream League of Legends every day."

[That makes sense. I support it.]

[I wholeheartedly support this. Who's against it? It didn't pass.]

...

"Contestant Lin Ruo, what are your thoughts on this qualifier tournament?"

At the interview site, after a long silence, Lin Ruo finally picked up the microphone from the table and said, "The atmosphere is great. I hope to have more opportunities to participate in such competitive events in the future, and I also hope to achieve ideal results."

"You're undefeated in the qualifiers and leading the league, so you should be very optimistic about your chances of qualifying. How would you rate the level of your opponents?"

"It's good. Everyone is strong."

"But you win every game easily."

"Oh, that should be because I am stronger than them." Under the relentless pressure of the media reporters, Lin Ruo finally made a dirty remark during the most serious interview.

The live broadcast room suddenly became lively.

[I feel good. What kind of interview is it if Lin Gou doesn't talk dirty?]

This is actually pretty average, so I'll give it a six-star rating, with the extra star going to Lin Gou.

[I give it four stars, you know why I don't give it five stars.]

[I don't understand, please explain clearly.]

[Be brave. At most, the post-match broadcast will be blocked due to excessive arrogance.]

[We've withdrawn, Lin Gou didn't perform well today due to the on-site environment. As true fans, we can't force him.]

[True fans don’t watch the game? ]

What's so interesting about the show-offs during the game? It's like I can understand it. Who knows how many times the camera cuts in ten minutes? If there's a post-game interview, I might consider watching it.

The German Cup Round of 16 has begun. Are you watching Go instead of League of Legends?

[You fake fans, the game was only in the afternoon, and the interview ended right after that.]

【If you didn't tell me earlier, I'd retreat.】

...

After finishing the most high-quality interview in history, Lin Ruo went back to eat and rest.

14 pm.

The first round of the rematch kicked off.

In the conference hall captured by the camera, crisp sounds echoed one after another.

The chess pieces kept falling one after another. During the stalemate game, the two sides fought back and forth, and everyone was immersed in the struggle to get the first victory.

Da…da…da.

Lin Ruo calmly reached into the chess box, and methodically followed his moves step by step to break his opponent's attack.

Entering the semi-final stage, as the opponent's level improved, the corresponding thinking time during the game also increased.

The time limit for each side is at least 2 hours, and the countdown will begin only after the basic time is used up. As long as you don't give up easily, it is very common for a game of chess to start at least three hours.

This is also the reason why the rematch is held one day at a time.

The first fifty moves were very stable, and it was only after the eightieth move that Lin Ruo really began his fierce offensive.

Press, calm, eat.

Continuously encroach on the black pieces' area, thereby expanding the space that the white pieces can occupy.

The opponent watched, took a deep breath, and immediately took out a chess piece from the chess box to fight back.

But soon he began to feel uneasy because he couldn't understand the intention of Lin Ruo's move.

It’s just like a joke that’s been going around among the young guys trying to get a dan these days.

When you face Shang Linruo, if later on you cannot understand the purpose of his moves, then don't doubt that he made a mistake. It must be that you have fallen into his sophisticated game and cannot extricate yourself.

This is indeed the situation today.

Every step I took became more difficult, and it would take at least ten minutes to think about something. The longer the time went on, the more anxious I would become.

And looking at the still normal expression on the opposite side, the sweat oozing from the forehead can't help but flow down.

There is no chance of winning at all.

"If I go down here, I can survive, but... I'll be half-dead. The situation on the side is also very critical. One step won't solve the problem at all."

The opponent gritted his teeth and made another move.

He could only take one step at a time, trying to save as many places as possible, although it was just a temporary solution and could not play a decisive role.

In a flash, Lin Ruo's next step added new difficulties to him.

The more the cracks are repaired, the smaller they become, but the more cracks there are where leakage occurs.

Well, now let alone not playing a decisive role, it doesn’t even have a local effect.

The final result is predictable. The black pieces were killed by the white pieces and were torn to pieces, with leaks everywhere.

Some players who had finished the competition early saw that the competition was still going on. As allowed by the rules, they walked over to take a look in surprise, and then left with expressions of pity.

It’s better to vote now.

One hundred and seventy-six moves to slay the dragon, and White wins.

"Thanks for the advice."

"Thanks for the advice."

After the two sides exchanged greetings, Lin Ruo finished collecting his chess pieces and ended the first game of the rematch, and followed the crowd out of the field.

"You're a little slow today. I came out earlier than you." As soon as I walked out of the venue, Zhang Ruo's slightly arrogant voice sounded behind me.

You can tell you won at first glance.

"It's okay. As long as my opponent isn't desperate, I'll give him some hope."

Coming from the preliminaries, Lin Ruo changed his approach appropriately. It is not advisable to blindly seek speed.

Well, it’s not advisable for the opponent, so let’s give them more hope.

Of course, the main reason is that he is particularly patient today, which probably depends on his mood.

After going back and having dinner, it was another short break, waiting for the second game of the rematch.

The three days passed quickly.

In the second round, the one who slays the dragon with one hundred and sixty-six moves wins.

In the third round, the one who kills the dragon in one hundred and forty-five moves wins.

At the end of the semi-finals, Lin Ruo, who won all the games according to the plan, still advanced to the final as the first in the group as expected.

After the brutal elimination of the bottom two in 14 groups, there were only 28 people left in the competition, and half of these players had to go through the finals to be eliminated.

The qualifying tournament has not ended yet, it has just entered the next stage. Only those who can survive the finals are true professional Go players.

(End of this chapter)