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

Chapter 222 20% Win Rate
"It's already October and the weather is still unbearably hot."

"We hardly see snow in winter anymore. Last winter, it didn't snow where I live."

“It did snow when I was in my hometown during the Chinese New Year, but it didn’t accumulate. I remember it snowing heavily when I was a child, and we could even have a snowball fight back then.”

"Ah Zheng, sit properly! Stop practicing life-and-death problems! Are you even human?!"

Miao Jun, who was having dinner, looked at Yi Zheng, who was still practicing life and death problems on his phone, and said helplessly, "Stop messing around, buddy. Seeing you like this makes me lose my appetite."

You have a competition tomorrow, can't you take a short break? Didn't we agree to play a lot during big exams and a little during small exams?

"The match is tomorrow. I'm going straight back to sleep now. I'll refresh my board while I eat, maybe I'll encounter a similar pattern tomorrow."

Yi Zheng put his phone in his pocket and then quickly started eating.

The third stage no longer has an opening ceremony; there is only a closing ceremony after the competition ends.

The Chinese team still had its full roster of five players, so they simply got together and found a restaurant to cook some food.

Tomorrow is the first game of the third stage of the World Go Tournament, which could also be the last game, or it could be the fifth to last game.

Yi Zheng successfully defeated nine players from the European and American teams in the first and second stages. In the second stage, he even directly eliminated the European team's star player, sending the entire European team home in the second stage.

It could be said that the European teams had previously believed that the large size of China and the United States was the reason for their poor performance, but after the reorganization this year, it turned out to be their worst year ever.

Fortunately, the second stage was held in the Americas, so the European teams wouldn't have been too ashamed to face their hometown fans on the spot.

Of course, the usual blame game followed, with European countries pointing out that players from other countries were simply too weak, seriously affecting the strength of their teams!
The third stage took place in Asia, with Yi Zheng remaining on the field as the defending champion, while Ethan, the last player from the Americas team and also their main player, took to the field to challenge.

Qi Ling seemed worried that Yi Zheng might be under psychological pressure, so she quickly waved her hand and said, "Zheng, you don't need to feel pressured at all. You've already done a fantastic job. We'll open champagne for you if you win tomorrow, and we'll still open it for you if you lose."

"You're already the biggest contributor to this situation. To put it bluntly, if we hadn't beaten Ethan in a series of attacks, we'd all have to kowtow to you."

Just as Qi Ling said, even if they lose this game, most people won't blame Yi Zheng, because nine consecutive wins is already an extremely strong achievement, and it's unprecedented.

Even if Yi Zheng loses this match, he will be one of the biggest contributors if they win, and he will definitely be the one to take a photo with the person who defeated Ethan.

If Yi Zheng were to defeat Ethan again, he would probably be the only one left in the photo.

"That's right! No matter what, the third stage is five against one, which is an advantage..."

Before Miao Jun could finish speaking, Yi Zheng quickly covered his mouth, saying, "You can't say things like that!"

The guy who said that last time has already gained the upper hand, won a great victory, and is now firmly established on Orchid Island!
"Don't worry too much. Although Ethan is stronger than us, he's not so strong that we can't win at all."

Moreover, he needs to fight for five consecutive days without a single day of rest. Even with a series of battles, our chances of winning are high, but Ethan's ultimate probability of victory is at most 20%.

Shen Guhong also commented on this, saying that in terms of strength comparison alone, each of the five Chinese players is weaker than Ethan by one or even two levels.

However, with five people taking turns in the match, Ethan's chances of winning are unlikely to be very high.

This is also the view of the Chinese national team coach. Everyone fought hard, and even if they couldn't win, they should try their best to deplete Ethan's health and mana.

In the end, Ethan, without saying anything else, was bound to be exhausted.

However, everyone still felt a certain sense of urgency, after all, this competition was being held in China, and if Ethan really managed to defeat five of them in one go, the pressure on everyone would explode.

To have your own complete team trampled through by the other side is tantamount to Ethan stepping on the faces of the entire younger generation of Chinese people to complete his final dance in the junior group and graduate perfectly. He'll probably be seen as someone who, even if all the Chinese youth were tied up, is inferior to Alika. He should probably just pack up and go home to study his academic subjects.

Chinese Go pills.

Thinking of this, Miao Jun and the others didn't look too good either, because none of them were entirely confident that they could defeat Ethan, and they all estimated their chances of winning to be around 20% or 30%.

Seeing his teammates start to look worried again, Yi Zheng confidently said, "Don't worry, I'll definitely take down Ethan tomorrow. You guys can just sit back and wait to win."

Don't worry, you'll just take a group photo when you arrive.

If Yi Zheng finishes the competition tomorrow, then China's junior group will be over, and as members of the champion team, everyone can take photos and share the prize money.

You're saying how can someone be considered a champion if they didn't even play a match?
Why didn't you ask all those professional players why I was the only one on this team? Look in my eyes!

Who says a team that doesn't win a single game isn't a champion! What's wrong with riding on someone's coattails? Riding on someone's coattails is great!
However, none of the people present thought that way. Almost everyone was ready to go on stage. Although Ethan's world ranking had recently dropped to fifth, it was still the fifth in the world!

The top five players in the world are all among the world's best chess players, and most of them are either the current or former number one.

For example, in the world of Ke Lao and his group, although the world ranking system only has unofficial rankings and is not recognized by the official authorities or many people, it still has some reference value.

For a long time, the top five on the unofficial rankings were: the then world number one, the former world number one, the most likely future world number one, a former strong contender for world number one, and a current strong contender for world number one.

You should then understand the prestige of the top five rankings. Not to mention those who consistently rank in the top five, those who manage to get in and then fall out are all top-tier players.

Those who rank in the top five in the world can no longer be described as merely top-tier.

Ethan's achievement at less than twenty years old has made him the most likely candidate to dominate the next decade, and his momentum suggests he is the most promising.

"It's tough. I'm about 80% sure I'll win the senior group. The outcome of the no-age group is still uncertain, but we have a high chance of winning, since three of the top five are in our group."

The junior group seems promising, but it's actually the riskiest. With so many strong contenders vying for power, it's anyone's guess who will emerge victorious and end this chaotic era.

Inside the Yunyi Chess Academy office, Ma Zhaoxu looked at the light rain outside the window and couldn't help but sigh.

China's young generation has recently been producing a wealth of talent. New chess players are emerging one after another like leeks, and many young people have achieved outstanding results. However, none of them can be as exceptional as Yi Zheng.

In terms of sheer numbers, China may account for more than half of the top-ranked teams in the world in the future.

But who will be number one?

"Quantitative change leads to qualitative change, but we don't know who that qualitative change will be. At present, the most promising ones should be the Three Musketeers and Yi Zheng."

"No one knows until the very last moment. There was another one called 'Four Heroes' above Jiang Mobai's head back then, and it just happened that he suddenly appeared."

Ma Zhaoxu couldn't help but shake his head. You never know who will step onto the stage of history until the very end: "But perhaps tomorrow's match will be a turning point. Sometimes, the turning point of fate is just one match."

Upon hearing this, the dean of Yunyi Chess Academy said with some surprise, "You think so highly of your apprentice? No matter what, the opponent is ranked in the top five in the world."

"To be fair, from a rational point of view, I think he only has a 20% chance of winning. That's only because he beat Xiaoyun a while ago. Otherwise, I feel he only has a 10% chance."

But miracles are sometimes something a person can repeatedly create; it just depends on whether they can continue to create miracles.

P.S.: Please vote for me, dear readers!

(End of this chapter)