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

Chapter 193 Reactions from all parties
"interesting."

The Agon Cup tournament, broadcast live, has attracted a lot of attention worldwide.

This includes Yi Zheng's last opponent, Ethan, in the World Go Championship Junior Group, and the US National Team research group behind him.

At this point in time, although Yun Linglei has not yet surrendered, everyone can see the devastation below and knows that the outcome is already decided.

Most people are no longer interested in the result of the match; they are just watching the process of this game.

At the same time, he began to wonder, how could Yi Zheng actually defeat Yun Linglei? Wasn't he the reigning champion of the East China region? How could he be so weak, unable to even beat a first-dan player?
Of course, this is the feeling of most people who can't even understand chess. But anyone who can understand the content is amazed that Yi Zheng's strength has reached such a level.

"This guy's progress is too fast..."

The U.S. national team coach, Benjamin, accompanied Ethan, and couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive as he watched the black and white pieces alternate on the computer screen.

He started paying attention to Yi Zheng around the beginning of this year because Yi Zheng was one of the junior members representing Asia.

However, most members of the research team believed that Yi Zheng's strength in the junior group was at most fourth, and although he was very strong, his strength was insufficient.

However, in less than a year, Yi Zheng not only achieved a nine-game winning streak in the first two stages of the competition, but also challenged for the Chinese title and won the championship of the China National Commercial Competition.

This rapid improvement in performance was accompanied by a rapid increase in ability. The reports he produced each month were countless, but once the monthly evaluation was completed, the next month's results were wasted.

It's happening so fast! Last month's data is already completely unmatched for next month. Is this even human? It's changing every single day.

Although Miao Jun, one of the three musketeers, was also a champion in a commercial tournament and was younger, his chess king commercial tournament had a low prize of only 300,000 yuan, and no title holders participated due to scheduling conflicts.

In comparison, Yi Zheng's performance in this match was undoubtedly of higher quality, as can be seen from the fact that he defeated his opponent.

"This guy's level in rapid chess is no worse than in classical chess. He will probably be a tough opponent in rapid chess competitions like the Olympics."

Yi Zheng has now been listed as a key candidate for the US national team to monitor for the next Olympic Games. After all, given his current rate of progress, it is highly likely that he will represent China in the Olympics in the future.

Many players have strengths and weaknesses in terms of game time. For example, some players play very slowly, thinking carefully about each move. They play very well in slow chess when they have plenty of time, but they are particularly prone to collapsing when they play fast chess or when they are under time pressure.

Because they need to think for a long time to obtain information, and if they don't have enough time, it won't work.

Some people are great at blitz chess, making every move incredibly fast, but the same goes for slow chess; it's as if they can only use so much time, no matter how much time they have.

Even if you force him to slow down, his performance may not be as good as when you let him play quickly.

Among the six world-class competitions, there are both rapid and slow chess games. For example, the Asian Games and the Olympics are both rapid chess games, with each side having one hour and three 30-second intervals, and a game must be completed in half a day, which requires a high level of physical strength.

There was a time when two seeded players in the semifinals exhausted themselves, allowing the other, slightly weaker player in the final to sit back and watch the two fight, thus winning the gold medal.

The Asian Cup and the World Cup are slightly longer, with 2 hours per side and five 1-minute overtime periods.

However, the Asian Championships and World Championships last much longer, with both sides having a total of four hours of time left, including five one-minute countdowns.

This is a rare occurrence nowadays, as the competition still allows players to eat for half an hour at noon. After all, these kinds of competitions can sometimes last for more than ten hours, and if you don't let the players eat, they'll really die.

The time allotted for various competitions really tests a player's skill. Only if you are strong in both speed and slowness can you possibly achieve a Grand Slam.

This is why no one has been able to obtain it to this day; the difficulty is simply too high.

This doesn't just require the achiever to be a hexagonal warrior; it means your hexagonal strengths must completely cover everyone else's strengths!

Others' strongest value is five, but yours has to be the highest value that can be displayed. Benjamin silently made a judgment in his mind: judging from Yi Zheng's current performance and age, he is bound to be an opponent that the US team will struggle against for the next ten years, even in the short term.

This is likely to be one of Ethan's biggest enemies in the future. The situation of one superpower and many strong powers is becoming more and more obvious. Now the question is how to consolidate Ethan's superpower status.

If the US can consolidate its position, it can gradually suppress China in the field of Go, moving from a contest with China to a position of equal strength.

Benjamin looked at Ethan, who was sitting in his seat reviewing Yi Zheng's game, and asked, "How do you feel?"

After looking at a few key points with the mouse, Ethan just smiled and said, "Didn't I just say this is interesting?"

"..."

Ethan, seeing the worried coach, knew what he was thinking: "But not much. With his current strength, there won't be any risk in the first game of the third stage. Don't worry."

In the junior division of the World Go Tournament, Yi Zheng made a decisive move, eliminating all the European teams and leaving only Ethan from the American team. Even if the American team was confident, they would still have some concerns.

After all, Ethan is going to fight five All-Stars by himself, and if even one of them fails, the Americas team will lose.

Ethan, however, seemed to feel no pressure, and his focus wasn't even on the game: "I'm more concerned about those in front of me than those behind me who are trying to catch up."

Is there still no news about AlphaGo's release? Their match is almost here! Is it the Mid-Autumn Festival in Asia?
Doesn't he need to go online and practice with other players at all? The difference between reading game records and actual matches is too great; I need to play against him in person.

No matter what, AlphaGo should appear by now, and this time we won't miss it again.

Ethan was eager to figure out just how amazing this online chess master was and when he could finally defeat him.

As Kuroki Teruto watched the final result on TV, he picked up his teacup and silently took a sip. Only when the tea leaves touched his lips did he realize that the tea in his hand had long since disappeared.

Kuroki Shino, being the younger sister she always is, immediately noticed her brother's change and leaned over to ask, "Brother, do you still feel confident of victory?"

"Confidence is the most indispensable thing for top chess players. My fate is the fate of the nation."

Teruto Kuroki could feel the pressure, but he knew even more that he had to withstand it and withstand the impact from China's future, at least to buy time for the next generation of Japan.

The next generation of Japan...

Suddenly it feels like something that's just a shadowy figure... How much longer should I hold on?

"Confidence is the most indispensable thing? Do you have confidence in that AlphaGo?"

Upon hearing Kuroki Shino's words, Kuroki Teruto put down his cup and turned to leave without saying a word.

My sister is getting less and less popular as she gets older. She's become so rebellious now. It was better when she was little. If I hit her, she would cry for a long time. But then I would be tricked into buying snacks and eating them in front of her.

Sure enough, the time when my little sister is cute is only so short.

Meanwhile, Lee Chong Rui from Malaysia was also watching the match on his computer: "Yi Zheng is getting stronger and stronger. Every time I play online chess with him, I can feel that he is constantly improving, but has he reached this level?"

Li Zongrui could sense that Yi Zheng would be a formidable opponent in next year's Asian Cup.

The depth of China...

A dark mass, a legion...

(End of this chapter)