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

Chapter 189 Everyone’s Attention
"Hello everyone! We are now broadcasting the finals of the China-Japan Agon Cup from Yunyi Chess Academy in Lin'an."

In this final match, Yi Zheng, a first-dan player, will face Yun Linglei, a ninth-dan player who currently holds the title of "Divine Calculator" in East China. Coincidentally, Yi Zheng, a first-dan player, also comes from Yunyi Go Academy, and both of them are disciples of Ma Zhaoxu, a ninth-dan player.

In a sense, this can be seen as an internal conflict within the sect, with the youngest junior disciple challenging the current most powerful senior disciple.

Or, to some extent, the outcome of this match will determine the future of the East China region's top fortune teller title; it may be a warm-up match for the title change.

Yi Zheng, a first-dan player, became the first player in history to become a professional player by winning the national amateur tournament last year. It can be said that he has performed extremely well in various competitions over the past year.

Last year, he defeated a Japanese 9-dan player with a 1-dan rank in the first game of the World Second Division League, and then eliminated Shin Junmin 9-dan from Silla in the Asian Cup qualifiers to advance to the main tournament, causing a huge sensation.

Domestically, he consecutively defeated the three established masters to win the Rookie of the Year championship, and has continued his unstoppable run to the finals of the national tournament, the Agon Kiriyama Cup.

I think the viewers of our program are all knowledgeable about Go. Generally speaking, someone who can achieve this kind of performance after more than a year of professional status can only be described in two words: a complete idiot (crossed out) cheater!
It can be said that Yi Zheng's performance in the year since he became a first-dan is unmatched by any other first-dan. He has been called the strongest new first-dan in history.

If Yi Zheng, a first-dan player, wins the Agon Cup China Regional Championship this time, he will not only break the record of winning the national championship at the age of seventeen years and eleven months set by Jiang Mobai, a ninth-dan player, but also become the second youngest person to win a national championship.

Furthermore, it can be said that the new generation of rising stars is constantly proving to the world with their formidable strength that their era has arrived. Perhaps it won't be long before they showcase their brilliance on the world stage.

Similarly, we have invited Ma Zhaoxu 9-dan, who trained two outstanding students in the finals, to commentate on this exciting game for us. Please welcome him!

The live stream on the Muyefox platform was hosted at the Yunyi Chess Academy in Lin'an, while the live stream on the television station was hosted at the China Chess Academy in the capital, with Jin Wan, a 9-dan professional, as the special guest.

It can be said that not only the offline competition, but also the online competition between the two platforms is fierce, a battle between traditional media and emerging media, with both sides starting to compete for viewers.

On one side are traditional media with their large existing user base, and on the other side are emerging online media in the information age. Everyone is vying for users of the world's most important sporting event.

Not only domestic audiences, but also international audiences on online platforms. After all, as a new generation of Chinese athletes, their appearance on the world stage is an unstoppable trend.

Not only in China, but its reputation has also begun to spread abroad.

Therefore, before the competition even started, the comment sections of the online platforms were flooded with viewers from various countries. They had friendly and cordial conversations, exchanged opinions, and enhanced mutual understanding. The comment sections were beneficial, but all parties expressed great indignation at the opinions expressed by each other.

After all, most chess fans support their own country's chess players, unless their country really has no outstanding players, like Chinese football.

Of course, there are also rare cases in the world where players from one's own country blindly support the opposing player in international battles, doing so every time, and even claiming to be rational and objective. After all, this kind of thing is a kind of biodiversity.

"They're on the field! They're on the field!"

Looking at Yi Zheng's image on the television screen, Kuroki Ryuji said something with some excitement.

The television screen showed that Yi Zheng and Yun Linglei both walked into the camera's view. Yi Zheng, showing respect for his elders, let Yun Linglei go up and sign first, and then he also signed his name on the chessboard as a souvenir.

This is a common practice in many competitions, where the finalists sign their names on the chessboard as a memento of the final match. Yi Zheng also saw the championship trophy inscribed with "Unmoved by the Eight Winds," with ribbons marking the names of the champions from each edition to date. If Yi Zheng wins this competition, his name will also be inscribed on the trophy.

Kuroki Shino lay on the ground and used her foot to pick up the other bag of potato chips: "Yi Zheng has actually made it directly to the finals of the national competition? Does that mean it's about as prestigious as our title challenger finals?"

Upon hearing this, Teruto Kuroki paused for a moment and then nodded.

Although it's hard to admit, many Chinese title holders don't participate in national business competitions like this because they don't have the time. At most, only one or two title holders with real strength participate each year.

Even so, the prestige of this competition is comparable to the title matches that anyone in Japan can participate in, because the difference in the number of mid-level and top-level players on both sides is too great.

The overall strength of the contestants in the China National Business Competition is probably no less than that of the contestants in the Japan Title Battle.

In other words, if Yi Zheng were in Japan, he would already be a potential contender for the title and begin his fight for it.

Thinking of this, Kuroki Ryuji immediately shrank into a corner and started drawing circles. It was another day of being so discouraged that he became withdrawn.

Less than two years ago, they were evenly matched opponents; a year ago, they competed on the same stage in a team competition; it all seems like it just happened yesterday.

Why has the gap between the two of us become so large now? Am I no longer worthy to be your opponent, Yi Zheng?

If Mr. Ke were here, we would definitely have to provide background music of snowflakes falling and north wind howling, because it would be just too fitting.

Kuroki Ryuji has been in this state for a long time, and the brother and sister are used to it. Anyway, he will get better on his own after a while. It's just an intermittent illness.

Watching the two taking a photo together, Kuroki Shino took a potato chip and chewed it, saying indistinctly, "Brother, I remember you said in an interview that Japan's luck is about to change? If I remember correctly, we've lost to Agon Kiriyama for four years in a row, right? Are you so confident this year?"

The Agon Cup, a Go tournament sponsored by Japan, has seen Japan lose to Japan in the finals of the China-Japan Go competition for four consecutive years.

After losing three consecutive tournaments, Teruto Kuroki couldn't sit still any longer. He didn't usually participate in this competition, but he decided to join in order to save face for Japanese Go.

After all, they lost so badly that they had no shame left.

Who knew that after seeing that Kuroki Teruto had registered, Jiang Mobai actually joined the competition last year and once again defeated Kuroki Teruto in the final of the China-Japan showdown.

This has led to Japan losing four games in a row, and if they lose again this year, it will be their fifth loss.

Kuroki Teruto knelt on the tatami mat, looking unusually serious even while watching TV: "It's because the final opponent is either Yun Linglei or Yi Zheng that I said Japanese Go is about to have a change of fortune, and we will definitely win this time."

(End of this chapter)