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

Chapter 245 The Responsibility of the First Person
"Hello everyone, we are currently broadcasting the 16th China-Japan Agon Kiriyama Cup Championship Match live from Yunling Temple."

Legend has it that the second-generation Chinese Go master and the second-generation Honinbo of Japan played their last game here. And today, a new Sino-Japanese rivalry is also unfolding here, giving it a strong sense of historical destiny.

As you can see, the weather is great today. It was a bit drizzly this morning, but by this afternoon it's sunny and warm, perfect for our competition.

Anjing, acting as the host, is introducing the history of Lingyun Temple, the venue for this competition, to the audience in front of the live camera.

As the competition venue and partner, Lingyun Temple not only didn't ask for a penny, but even provided additional support, naturally in order to promote its own scenic spot, so it definitely needed some visual appeal.

The scenic area used the Go competition as a venue to further enhance its reputation and increase revenue through ticket sales.

This is also the approach taken by many scenic spots around the world, especially those that can be associated with Go, who try to sponsor Go competitions, especially invitational tournaments.

After all, in terms of attracting traffic, invitational tournaments generate more viewers than regular competitions, because you know who has the most viewers and who will get more people to watch.

Moreover, if they accidentally manage to play a famous game that becomes a historical anecdote in the future, the scenic area will make a fortune!
After finishing her introduction outside, Anjing walked into the prepared live broadcast room: "This China-Japan competition features Yi Zheng, a 17-year-old Chinese player, against Kuroki Teruto, the number one player in Japan. The match is sure to be full of highlights."

It's not just a confrontation between China and Japan, but also a confrontation between the new generation and the current main force, seemingly foreshadowing the arrival of a new era.

Yi Zheng, a first-dan professional Go player, achieved his professional status last year, but his performance over the past year has been extremely impressive. He has accomplished what seems to be the entire journey of many professional players in just over a year.

After becoming a professional, he first won the Qinglong Cup team championship with a perfect record, and was named the best newcomer in the World Go League B. He then won the Agon Cup and the Newcomer King championship. In the World Go Tournament Junior Group, he single-handedly defeated ten European and American players, including Ethan 9-dan, who was ranked fifth in the world at the time, creating numerous miracles. In this year's World Go League A, he achieved a perfect record of five wins in five games.

In a pre-match interview, Yi Zheng, a first-dan player, was hailed by Kuroki Teruto, a ninth-dan player, as his biggest future rival.

On the other side, Kuroki Teruto, a 9-dan player, is eleven years older than his opponent and is currently the number one Go player in Japan, having achieved an incredible record of seven consecutive Honinbo titles.

Although she lost several titles at the beginning of the year due to some unexpected circumstances, she quickly recovered in the second half of the year. She not only retained her Honinbo title, but also had outstanding performances in the top league and the World Championship. She is currently ranked fourth in the world.

Now we can see in the scene that the two players are preparing for the coin toss ceremony. According to Japanese etiquette, the player who is to the left wipes the board as a sign of respect for his work in Go.

This also tells us that as Go players, we should have reverence for the Go board, because all the victories and defeats are determined on the Go board.

The two players will now coin toss, and Yi Zheng, a first-dan player, won with white. The players will now exchange positions.

According to the rules, the position to the right of the referee's table in a Go game is the superior position, meaning that the player in this position directly lets the opponent guess who goes first.

The definition of "being proficient" is actually quite simple. It is mostly determined by rank. If both players are at the same rank, then age will be considered.

Kuroki Teruto is naturally far superior to Yi Zheng in both rank and age, so it's normal for him to be in the superior position. Yi Zheng, playing white, wanted to switch positions with Kuroki Teruto, but because Kuroki Teruto is left-handed, he always subconsciously moves his left leg first when giving way, causing the two of them to give way at the same frequency.

The two tried to pass each other several times but failed, creating a spectacle even before the competition started.

However, neither side took this little incident to heart. After they were all seated, Ishida, the referee, immediately started the timer.

Kuroki Teruto took out a black stone and placed it on the star position, then looked up at Yi Zheng.

The wave of China's new generation of chess players is coming on strong, and not only China's top chess players, but also chess players from other countries have felt it.

Kuroki Teruto felt the pressure more and more because China's young generation had already reached the stage of the top league, Asian competitions, and even world competitions. However, compared to them, Japan's young generation was still only in the stage of fighting among themselves and could not even break out of Japan.

"Perhaps in two or three years, the younger generation in Japan will also grow up, but if we do not stop it, the younger generation in China will be even more terrifying in two or three years."

I hope I can withstand Jiang Mobai and suppress China's younger generation for two to three years to buy time.

As the number one figure in Japan, Teruto Kuroki naturally feels a sense of responsibility and duty, hoping to withstand the pressure and buy time for the younger generation in Japan.

For example, right now, we need to break down Yi Zheng's momentum in the competition!

"The emergence of AlphaGo showed me a higher level of Go, and it also prompted me to take another step forward, allowing me to reach the best state of my professional career."

Perhaps you younger generation are already thinking about seizing power, but on the world stage, we won't be bowing out so soon!

Ishida didn't have as many inner monologues as Kuroki Teruto; he simply looked at the pieces on the board.

Both sides opted for a 3-3 opening, immediately starting by vying for control of the opponent's corner territory.

Ishida couldn't help but sigh inwardly. It's true that you can see all sorts of things when you live long enough. Starting with a 3-3 point was something unthinkable in their time, but now it's appearing in the most elite matches.

And then there's that rumored AlphaGo, which beat all the top five players in the world to a draw and then disappeared. What kind of business is that?! They just vanish after showing off!
Kuroki Teruto also chose the 3-3 point in the last star position in the upper left corner, while Yi Zheng simply used Zheng Shuang's signature move to reclaim the corner that originally belonged to him.

In this way, apart from the small eye of Kuroki Teruto in the lower right corner, the other three corners form three different point-3-3 fixed patterns.

This game can be seen as a microcosm of professional Go today. AlphaGo's influence on Go, especially professional Go, continues to grow.

P.S.: It's the last day of the month! Please vote with your monthly tickets, everyone! Five updates a day tomorrow, even though it's a holiday!
(End of this chapter)