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

Chapter 231 First Division League [Bonus Chapter for 2000 Monthly Tickets This Month]

"The first division league is about to start this year, with a total of sixteen teams. Our team's strength is considered to be at the T1.5 level."

This year's team members are: Yun Linglei 9-dan, Shen Guhong 7-dan, Yan Ran 7-dan, Yi Zheng 1-dan..."

The top-tier league kicked off on time this year, with all the teams gathering at the opening ceremony to jointly launch this year's world-class top-tier league.

This project, co-organized by China and the United States, is arguably the most important tournament in Go, and even the best stage for Go players from many small countries to stand out and receive resources for training.

After the opening ceremony, most of the teams went back to their rooms to prepare for their first match tomorrow, and the Muye Fox team was no exception. Just now, Yun Linglei, as the captain, gave everyone a brief introduction to the team.

When Yun Linglei read Yi Zheng's rank, he couldn't help but shake his head: "Yi Zheng, why don't we go and play some promotion matches sometime? Your rank is really something."

You're probably the first player in history to play in the top-tier league with a first-dan rank; that's truly an amazing story.

"You've already reached such a high rating, you should at least raise your rank a bit, so it looks more professional when printed out."

We're not in Naruto, so there's no such thing as the strongest genin here.

Isn't it really tough being at this beginner rank? It should be pretty easy to climb up, right?
"It's too much of a waste of time. Let it be. I don't like giving advice to others. First dan is fine too."

Yi Zheng couldn't help but shake his head, completely forgetting his earlier accusations that Elder Ke was unwilling to give him guidance.

Yun Linglei didn't know what to say. All the direct promotion competitions were the top nine tournaments, so winning the championship wouldn't be easy.

The ranking promotion in the Nine Tournaments is actually for those who advance from 7th dan to 9th dan. There is no precedent for a 1st dan to directly advance to 8th or 9th dan.

Actually, other competitions should also have some ranking system, such as winning a national championship and getting promoted two dan, or winning the Rookie King championship and getting promoted five dan directly.

But if you think about it, in essence, there's only one prodigy like Yi Zheng; the others don't need this rule at all.

Yun Linglei briefly explained the rules: "Actually, it's the same as the second division league. The first division league still uses a temporary fixed-table system, with a total of four tables for the competition: one for the main player, one for rapid chess, and two for regular chess. A-Zheng, you seem to be quite good at rapid chess, so you can go and play on the rapid chess table."

However, the difference between us and the second division is that we have playoffs. After a 15-round round-robin regular season, the top eight teams in points enter the playoff championship zone, while the bottom eight teams enter the relegation battle.

First of all, we can't even get into the relegation zone, let alone be pushed down to the second division. As the team leader, I will definitely do my best, and I hope everyone will do their best as well.

Apart from today's first game which was held together with the opening game, all the regular season games are home and away games. The playoffs, on the other hand, are all team battles that go all the way to determine all the rankings.

In the first round, we faced the England team, whose members were Ethan 9-dan, Alexander 9-dan, Pete 9-dan, and Brian 9-dan. They are a traditionally strong team and a favorite to win the Division A championship this year.

And considering we were last year's runners-up in the top division, the pressure on us for the first game is quite high. I hope everyone can stay focused and get off to a winning start.

"Those last two names are awful..."

Old Ke seemed to have thought of something strange and couldn't help but make a comment.

Yi Zheng didn't pay attention to Ke Lao's complaints. He didn't expect to run into Ethan's team in the first game of the A League. In a way, it was like enemies meeting on a narrow road.
However, Ethan will most likely be the main player, so Yi Zheng should not face him.

The England team, with all nine-dan players, is a typical top-tier league powerhouse. With two world-class players and two standard nine-dan players, they are a well-rounded team with no weaknesses.

In comparison, the Wood Fox team is a step below their opponents. Yun Linglei is a world-class player, and the other three are all mid-level players, making them a decent but slightly weaker team.

This year's First Division League opening ceremony was held in Singapore. As an important gateway for maritime trade, Singapore has made a fortune in peacetime thanks to its geographical location, and it is even one of the few countries in Asia with legal red-light districts.

Japan appears to have a highly developed industrial sector, with some industries even becoming pillars of the economy, but in reality, many things there are illegal, whether it's filming or...

The shop owner simply stated that he was only providing a proper service, but that it was something they couldn't predict or prevent when a customer and a server developed feelings for each other.

"The opening ceremony just now really brought together all the world's top chess players."

Yi Zheng shook his head as he recalled the scene at the opening ceremony. Both the opening ceremony and the first match were held collectively, in order to bring all the teams together.

The team will play seven home games and seven away games in the remaining fourteen regular season games.

The World Go League basically encompasses all Go players in the world with a rating of nearly 100.

Yi Zheng is the only exception. Although his ranking has risen very quickly, he is not yet in the top 100 in the world, and is even far from it. He can be said to be the player with the lowest rank and the lowest ranking in this Division A league.

However, no one would underestimate Yi Zheng, after all, he won the national championship of the Rookie King Tournament in China, and all of his opponents were key players or even main players in the top league, not to mention that he also defeated Ethan, who was ranked among the top five in the world.

With such a record, it's impossible for anyone to look down on it.

No, it should be said that Ethan is now ranked sixth in the world.

Ethan's ranking dropped significantly after losing to Yi Zheng, falling to sixth place last month. This was the first time in nearly two years that Ethan's ranking had fallen out of the top five.

These achievements have led most people to take Yi Zheng seriously. There is no intention to provoke him or anyone who wants to suppress him because they think his level is too low.

Even in real life, very few people would directly jump out and become the villain; most would only stab someone in the back.

"Let Alexander be the commander tomorrow. Put me in another position. He has a good chance of defeating Yun Linglei."

"I'll just put it in one of the three spots randomly. It's a one-in-three chance; let's see if I can catch that guy!"

Meanwhile, in the English team's room, Ethan and the others had no objections to Ethan's decision to give up their star player and go to another match.

After all, their team is too hexagonal. The first and second ranked players are both in this team. Either of them would be a strong general, and even the other two could barely hold their own as generals.

Seeing Ethan's clenched fists, the other team members could only shake their heads and mourn for Yi Zheng.

It's because Yi Zheng won a game against Ethan; if they were to actually meet, he would only be facing a losing start.

Let's mourn for Yi Zheng's unfortunate journey in the top league.

P.S.: Please vote for me, guys! I still update at 10 AM on normal workdays.

(End of this chapter)