Go: Is the portable old man the nine-time champion?

Chapter 143 Confidence
"Old Shen, long time no see. I didn't expect to see you in a place like this. Are the seed spots for Silla really that scarce? Or has your skill level dropped so much that you can't even get a seed spot anymore?"

Yun Linglei looked at his old friend in front of him and said with a hint of sarcasm, "Shin Junmin is the second-best player for Silla. We often meet him in various competitions in Asia. In fact, the two of us were teammates in the same club for a year."

However, the two of them are in completely different roles today. Yun Linglei is serving as the chief referee for this large-scale preliminary competition, while Shen Junmin is participating as a contestant.

If this were ten or twenty years from now, when everyone had retired and met again in this setting, they would probably reminisce about their glorious past. But both of them would still be chess players in their prime.

Yun Linglei did this kind of odd job for two reasons: firstly, he was already a seeded player who directly entered the main tournament; secondly, it was being held on his own turf, so he could make a show of things when there was nothing else to do.

But it's somewhat inappropriate for Shin Junmin to be in this kind of place now.

Shen Junmin, unfazed by his old friend's sarcasm, said, "That's called strategy. We're taking a risk here too. If we get upset and eliminated in the qualifiers, the quality of our players in the main tournament will suffer a huge loss."

However, I remember an old Chinese saying: "The bigger the storm, the more expensive the fish." I think that makes a lot of sense! You're all welcome to participate; let's have a fair competition.

"The bigger the waves, the more expensive the fish? Do you think you're Gao Qiqiang? Bah!"

Old Ke appeared beside the two of them without them noticing, and spat out a word after hearing what Shen Junmin said.

Yun Linglei chuckled upon hearing this, and increased the force in his hand: "Then I wish you don't capsize."

"Of course, I remember today's opponent is your junior brother, right? His opening move was quite unusual. I took a look, so I won't choose any complicated variations to get entangled with him."

Young people always have to pay their dues in competitions. We've all been there. To learn how to fight, you have to learn how to take a beating first. You have to be prepared for that.

Although he said that, Shin Junmin did take it seriously, but not very much.

No matter how you look at it, Yi Zheng was the best possible draw. Shen Junmin said he would take it seriously, but deep down he thought Yi Zheng was just an immature kid who wasn't worth mentioning.

After glancing at the time on his watch, Shen Junmin waved and turned to enter the competition venue.

If we only consider this one instance of behavior, it's not actually that egregious. However, Silla's recent underhanded tactics are becoming increasingly increasingly distasteful.

Yun Linglei scoffed, clearly annoyed, "I curse you, you bastard, to have diarrhea today!"

"Then you'd need to pierce two little ones."

Seeing Yi Zheng walking towards them from the restroom next to the corridor, Yun Linglei sighed helplessly: "You're here? Your luck is pretty bad, sigh..."

It's normal that Yi Zheng's current ability isn't enough to pass the qualifiers, but encountering such an unlucky opponent is indeed quite unfortunate.

Yi Zheng confidently said, "Not necessarily. Maybe he's just unlucky. If two of Silla's top-ranked elite players are eliminated in the qualifiers, it will be a big blow to their morale."

Judging from his attitude, he completely disregards me. Anyway, it's a good thing; pride comes before a fall more often than not.

"That's what I say, but it's difficult."

Yun Linglei shook his head upon hearing this. Although it was not uncommon for top experts to fail, it was because there were a large number of them, and everyone took turns.

In reality, it's considered good if someone actually makes a mistake once or twice a year, except for exceptional cases.

"Difficulty does not mean it cannot be done."

"Why are you suddenly so confident? What do you think your chances of winning are?" Yun Linglei couldn't help but glance at the confident Yi Zheng. It was indeed surprising that Yi Zheng had made it to the finals of the Rookie King competition.

However, no matter what, Yi Zheng's current strength is definitely weaker than the Three Musketeers, and the Three Musketeers are weaker than Shen Junmin.

Successfully overcoming a challenge of a higher level is already difficult enough; to attempt another challenge after already overcoming a higher level is practically impossible.

Yi Zheng confidently held up five fingers: "If it's 100%, it's 50%."

Yun Linglei couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing this: "How can you say something like that with such confidence?"

My junior brother is becoming more and more interesting, but unfortunately he still hasn't accumulated enough experience.

Yi Zheng stood with his hands behind his back: "A five percent chance is enough. It's not like there's no hope at all. As long as there's even a sliver of hope, we can win. Even if it's only a one percent chance, if we can seize it, it'll be a one hundred percent win rate in the end!"

A fountain's height will never exceed its source, just as a chess player's skill will never surpass his inner conviction!

Upon hearing this, Old Ke said with some displeasure, "No, you copied the lines I just recited last night again! You're copying them faster and faster now!"

"Would you like me to describe Shin Junmin's style and characteristics?"

Looking at the match that still had some time before it started, Yun Linglei wondered if he could cram at the last minute. As the saying goes, even last-minute preparation can be effective.

"I was prepared long ago. His style is quite similar to that of the number one player in Silla, so theoretically he is the most difficult to deal with."

But he always seems to falter in the second half of the game, and that's my chance.

Yi Zheng's confidence in winning today was not unfounded; he had thoroughly studied Shen Junmin's game records from the past year.

One characteristic that has finally been identified is that this guy is prone to making a blunder in the second half of the game. However, many people cannot detect this kind of blunder, but it can easily lead to a loss in matches between top players.

Yi Zheng and Master Ke carefully studied his weaknesses in scooping the spoon, while Master Ke had extensive experience in scooping the spoon in the second half of the game, and could be said to have been teaching and imparting his knowledge to him for the past few days.

Yun Linglei naturally knew this, but shook his head: "It's a bit difficult for you to grab his spoon, but don't feel pressured. Losing is normal, but winning is a huge win."

"Stop saying such unlucky things, we'll win!"

Yi Zheng waved his hand and walked directly into the competition area of ​​Group 30.

The Asian Cup qualifiers can be considered a major event in Go, with more than a thousand participants. Each group has nearly thirty people on average, making each group the size of a regular tournament.

Even Coach Ke couldn't help but sigh, this number was a bit too outrageous; he himself could never have gathered so many people for the World Championship preliminary rounds.

This is just the Asian Cup. What will the World Cup qualifiers look like in the continental qualifiers?
Despite this situation, many participants from various countries felt they had no chance of advancing and were unwilling to compete internationally, resulting in a significant decrease in the number of participants.

It's fair to say that the professional scene in Lin'an has been completely packed these past few days, with even the hotels near the competition venue filled with professional players.

Following the staff's directions, Yi Zheng found his seat and saw that Shen Junmin 9-dan was already sitting there waiting, so he sat down directly.

(End of this chapter)