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

Chapter 261 Lucky Star
Besides being places for training professional chess players, a significant portion of the seven major chess academies also serve other purposes. For example, some are museums open to the public, while others are dedicated to professional discussions, offices, and venues for competitions.

Yunyi's Cloud Top Chess Room is the highest-standard competition chess room. The huge area of ​​nearly 200 square meters has only one set of tables and chairs in the middle. The walls are carved with cloud patterns and reliefs of various auspicious beasts, and the two large characters "Cloud Top" are in the middle.

This wasn't Yi Zheng's first time here. Back when he was still a young boy, a bunch of people would sneak up to the door, but they couldn't get in without a key.

Yi Zheng had visited the event after he became a professional player, but this was his first time competing as a player.

Because this chess room is used very infrequently, only for high-level finals, it is basically only opened a few times a year.

Of course, although this is wasteful, it does maintain a high level of prestige. As soon as this place is opened, everyone knows that there is a major competition in East China, and chess players in East China are also proud to be able to play chess here.

This is because it represents the highest level of competitive sports in the entire East China region.

However, as soon as Mr. Ke entered the room and saw the two big characters on the wall, he couldn't help but complain: "Yunding... is this a place to play Go or to play with gold shovels?"

He already wanted to complain about the name Yun Yi, but now there's also Yunding (Cloud Top), he really has to complain!
Golden shovel, start... but it won't start.

I've lost my hands for playing games, ugh!

Yi Zheng always felt that Teacher Ke was doing it on purpose, deliberately stirring up trouble at particularly serious moments to make it difficult for him to get into the right mood.

Sitting in the armchair, Yi Zheng couldn't help but feel a little emotional. He had finally reached this point, and perhaps he had already achieved half of his goal.

When I was a young player aiming for a higher rank, I had fantasized countless times about sitting in this position, and today, I am actually sitting in this position.

But that's not enough. Titles, Go Saint, nine major tournaments, world number one... and the most desperate match in the future.

No matter which one it is, I will win.

I will climb to the top step by step!
Let's start here!
Looking at the way Yi Zheng was looking at him, Yun Linglei suddenly remarked, "Not bad eyesight. Your eyes are always so aggressive. Maybe that's what I lack."

In terms of skill, Yun Linglei may be no worse than anyone else in some respects, but one thing is that he always has various interests in Go, and Yun Linglei himself knows that his competitive spirit is probably much weaker than that of others.

Yun Linglei silently opened the chess box beside him: "But this time, I don't want to lose."

The referee glanced at his watch, confirmed that the competition was about to begin, and stood up to announce: "This year's Divine Calculation Title Challenge officially begins."

The competition uses the number-based Go rules, with Black receiving a 3.5/4 komi. It is a best-of-three match, with the winner being the one who wins two out of three games.

Both sides have two hours remaining, with five one-minute countdowns. The players will then guess who goes first.

The two nodded and bowed silently.

As the defending champion, Yun Linglei also grabbed a handful of white stones from the box and held them in his hand. Yi Zheng took out two black stones and placed them on the board. Yun Linglei then released his hand, leaving only one white stone on the board.

According to the rules, Yi Zheng guessed wrong, and Yun Linglei will play black and move first.

But this was exactly what Yun Linglei wanted; he intended to play black first in the first game, a strategy he had planned in advance. He had prepared many opening moves for black beforehand, allowing him to make more preparations and steer the game in his favor given the initiative.

Regardless of the outcome of the first game, players with the white character Yun Ling Lei will feel they have a higher chance of winning in the second game. This makes it more cost-effective to play white in the second game, whether it's a 2-0 victory or a comeback.

After the referee turned on the timer, Yun Linglei immediately placed his piece.

He jumped towards Xiao Mu.

Meanwhile, in the office of the dean of Yunyi Chess Academy, Lei Guang, the then dean, poured a cup of tea for Ma Zhaoxu, who was sitting in front of him.

"Isn't Mr. Ma going to be the referee today? After all, it's kind of an internal battle between your two students. As a teacher, wouldn't it be better to be there in person? Instead, you're sitting here drinking tea with me."

Ma Zhaoxu picked up his teacup and took a sip: "It's better not to. Doing so would put a lot of pressure on anyone and might even distort their technique."

Regardless of who wins, it's worthwhile as long as they play well. If my actions negatively impact their performance, that would be undesirable.

Lei Guang thought that Ma Zhaoxu's statement about the impact on mentality affected Yi Zheng. After all, this was Yi Zheng's first time entering such a final, so it was inevitable that his mentality would be not good. If the teacher was watching him closely, he might really underperform.

But in reality, Ma Zhaoxu was referring to Yun Linglei. Compared to Yi Zheng, Yun Linglei was like a mouse seeing a cat every time he saw his teacher, unable to unleash even 30% of his cultivation.

There was no other way. Yun Linglei had been learning chess from Ma Zhaoxu since he was eight years old. Ma Zhaoxu was known for his strictness at the time, and Yun Linglei would be lucky if he weren't afraid of the psychological trauma he had developed since childhood.

To put it bluntly, most people would avoid their homeroom teacher, let alone the teachers who have nurtured them since childhood.

In comparison, Yi Zheng maintained respect for both of his teachers, but he didn't exhibit the fear that students have towards their homeroom teacher.

Lei Guang looked at the empty teacup and refilled it: "Old Ma, who do you think will win the championship this time?"

"It's hard to say. Xiaoyun has wasted too much talent. He shouldn't only have the results he has now. He did work hard this time, but it's hard to know how effective last-minute cramming will be."

However, if Yi Zheng wins, I think he has a good chance of winning the title of Chess Saint this year.

Upon hearing Ma Zhaoxu's words, Lei Guang's hand, which was pouring tea, became a little unsteady.

Although the outside world is very optimistic about Yi Zheng, and many people have even called him the world's number one, industry insiders still feel that Yi Zheng needs to take some time to mature.

However, Lei Guang felt he had no choice but to believe Ma Lao's judgment, because Ma Zhaoxu had been very accurate in judging people over the years, especially in his judgment of major competitions.

"If I could get the Chess Saint title."

Lei Guang became excited at the thought. The position of Chess Saint had been occupied by North China for so long. Was it finally going to return to East China Yunyi?
What a lucky star! Yi Zheng is truly a great lucky star!

PS: Please give me your monthly votes, brothers!

(End of this chapter)