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

Chapter 170 Leaping Over the Dragon Gate [Bonus Chapter for every 2500 words]

"The final match will be a best-of-five series."

Yi Zheng arrived at the competition venue early, feeling a little nervous.

This was his first time ever reaching the finals, so it was impossible for him not to be nervous.

Many players who made it to the finals for the first time paid the price because of a bad mentality, which led to a loss of technique.

Compared to many single-game matches, best-of-three series games truly test a player's comprehensive qualities, including skill, experience, and mentality; it is a holistic test.

Especially in the first final for many players, there is a certain mystical element involved, particularly between two extremely important competitors, which may be related to their luck in the game.

The victor leaps over the Dragon Gate and transforms into a true dragon, while the loser can only return to the depths to lie low and settle down.

Well, sometimes you can't see or touch luck, but you can definitely feel its presence.

As the saying goes, when fortune smiles, heaven and earth lend their strength; when luck turns, even heroes are powerless.

Back in the day, in the world of Master Ke, a boy also entered the finals of the world championship at the age of seventeen, but lost to the top player in the country at the time, thus winning his first world championship.

Then this top domestic player embarked on his legendary journey of winning eight world championships, while that young genius remained silent for six or seven years before once again breaking into the finals of a world championship.

If that young prodigy had won, the landscape of Go might have been very different.

"Relax and don't be nervous. Compared to strength, the best-of-three series is more about mental fortitude. Whoever can relax more and perform at their usual level will win."

Mr. Ke also provided psychological counseling to Yi Zheng from the side.

However, even though that's what he said, Mr. Ke also knew that this kind of thing couldn't be learned just by talking; it required more practice and experience.

Back then, when he first entered the finals, he lost the best-of-three match in the Tianyuan tournament after winning the first game. He lost to the top young player at the time and paid a price for his learning.

Finally, in October of the same year, they won the final, but the final was a single game, not a best-of-three series.

Therefore, the experience required for the best-of-three final is really important. If you haven't played a lot, it's sometimes hard to develop a calm and composed mindset.

Mr. Ke could only offer a few tips: "In the first game, try to play black whenever possible. If you lose the first game, you're more likely to win the second game if you play white. Coming back to win the second game and regaining match point puts more pressure on your opponent's mentality."

Unfortunately, in China, if you guess correctly, you get the black pieces; it's not like you can freely choose which side to play.

Otherwise, the feasibility of this strategy would be further enhanced, because if the opponent is free to choose when they guess correctly, they will most likely choose white, while if you guess correctly, you can choose freely.

"I know."

Yi Zheng nodded upon hearing this, because there was a day of rest after the first game of the best-of-three series, but there was no rest between the second and third games.

So if you win the first game, you have a day to adjust your mindset, but if you lose the second game, the time to adjust your mindset is greatly shortened.

"It's alright, it's just a rookie king competition. There's also the Agon Kiriyama Cup next month, so we'll take it down big time!"

Back in the day, I was also riding high in that same competition in my world! And I even have a famous quote prepared just for you.

Coach Ke didn't pay much attention to domestic competitions in the past, so after his peak period, many people criticized him for not being dominant in domestic competitions.

But in reality, even though he selectively avoided participating in a lot of low-prize tournaments, he still had the most domestic champions among the 90s generation.

He has twelve national championships plus the National Games title, not counting invitational tournaments. He also won many invitational tournaments with high prize money, or rather, he played very aggressively in those tournaments. His other good friend is slightly less accomplished than him, but even that friend, known as the "King of Domestic Championships," only has eleven national championships plus the Mind Games title.

Despite all that, Yi Zheng still felt a lot of pressure, or rather, the more he wanted to win, the greater the pressure became.

"Come, come, let me teach you a breathing technique! Follow my rhythm and use your breathing to adjust your mindset!"
Inhale, exhale, inhale, inhale, inhale, inhale, inhale!

"Are you trying to suffocate me...?"

After taking several deep breaths, Yi Zheng finally couldn't hold it any longer: "You son of a bitch, are you trying to suffocate me?! What kind of breathing technique is this?!"

Is this the breathing method of a human being? Your family members only inhale and don't exhale!
Looking at Yi Zheng, whose attention had been diverted by him, Old Ke smiled and said, "Exclusive secret, see, you're not so nervous now."

There's nothing to be nervous about. The opponent isn't stronger than you. Trust me, you'll soon be invincible!

"To be invincible, I have to beat you first."

Yi Zheng sees no hope of defeating Ke Lao at all; he is being thoroughly humiliated every time.

Upon hearing this, Old Ke immediately raised his head and said, "Don't use me as a benchmark. I'm invincible, I am the sky!"

"Then I'll poke a hole in the sky sooner or later."

Upon hearing this, Old Ke immediately waved his hand and said, "I'm a bit ketogenic! I'm not gay!"

Yi Zheng was speechless when he heard this. You really have a way of making connections, and it's obvious that your usual remarks are more like those of a man.

Prejudice in people's hearts is like a Sichuan province.

The two were joking around when Shen Guhong, Yi Zheng's opponent in today's final, also arrived at the final and sat opposite Yi Zheng.

Compared to Yi Zheng, Shen Guhong has significantly more experience in the role. He has already reached the finals of the Rookie King competition several times, and he has also reached the finals of the National Tournament.

Therefore, in terms of competition experience, Shen Guhong is much more experienced than Yi Zheng, so he naturally knows what it feels like to enter the finals for the first time.

However, Yi Zheng, sitting opposite him, looked unusually calm, as if he wasn't nervous at all.

"As expected of you."

Shen Guhong looked at Yi Zheng, who was about two years younger than him, and silently made a mental assessment.

"I was surprised to see you sitting here. I thought it would be at least a few more years before you could appear on the final stage with me."

But today, only I will win the championship; it won't be like it was back then.

"..."

Yi Zheng felt a little helpless when he heard this. Shen Guhong liked to hum a couple of times when he had nothing to do, especially after he joined the national team. Yi Zheng even asked him what was going on.

Shen Guhong remained silent, only continuing to hum.

Ko said that this is all Batman's fault, for driving the Riddlers out of Gotham, and now the whole world is full of Riddlers.

(End of this chapter)