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

Chapter 303 Another Flying Knife?

"Hello everyone, fellow Go fans! I'm your old friend, Anjing 3-dan. Standing next to me is a heavyweight guest who needs no introduction whatsoever, Ma Zhaoxu 9-dan, the pillar of Chinese Go. Welcome!"

Ma Zhaoxu nodded slightly, but his gaze fixed intently on the screen betrayed his inner excitement.

It's completely obvious who Yi Zheng will support today, regardless of Jiang Mobai.

"Today's commentary can be described as the most anticipated match of the third stage, featuring the two undefeated champions against the reigning Go master Jiang Mobai, and the strongest new generation Go player Yi Zheng."

Most importantly, Yi Zheng has now accumulated a total of 27 consecutive wins in official matches. That's an astonishing number! Is there any player in the Go world with a higher winning streak? To me, this number seems like...a fantasy!

Looking at the script in his hand, An Jing, a third-dan player, couldn't help but ask Ma Zhaoxu, a ninth-dan player, a question he was genuinely curious about.

Theoretically speaking, a winning streak of more than ten games is already a sign of a top player being in excellent form; it's practically a major breakthrough.

A winning streak of over 20 games basically means you haven't lost in the last few months.

After all, even the most hardworking professional Go player can hardly play more than ten matches in a month amidst a dense schedule of domestic and international tournaments.

"The highest winning streak at present should still be the 41-game winning streak set by Li Junhe. It can be said that that was his strongest period of dominance, which was unprecedented. Some players even called that year the darkest period in the Go world. I just don't know if Yi Zheng will become the next one."

Ma Zhaoxu also has a very unforgettable memory of Li Junhe, after all, he was the "victim" of Li Junhe's first international championship, the Asian Cup.

After decisively defeating Lee Jun-hyuk in the first game, the match was postponed due to a scheduling conflict with the National Games of Silla, preventing its televised broadcast. The match did not officially begin until Lee Jun-hyuk was in good form.

From then on, Ma Zhaoxu stopped attending any competitions held in South Korea.

“However, Yi Zheng, that kid, as for Li Junhe’s record… tsk,” Ma Zhaoxu said with a meaningful interjection, “he seems to have little interest in it and doesn’t take it too seriously.”

"He previously said that the most powerful chess player should be like AlphaGo, who wins all games and gives the world a handicap."

Even if it's impossible to maintain a perfect record throughout one's career, one should at least have one year with a 100% winning percentage.

But perhaps it's just young people talking big. A 100% win rate for the whole year is too difficult; it falls into the category of theoretically possible but practically impossible. But who can predict the future?

Ma Zhaoxu felt that a 100% success rate was simply impossible; almost no one could achieve this under a modern system.

After all, to achieve this, you need to be at the top of the pack in terms of skill, luck, and various other factors.

Too difficult.

But to be honest, Ma Zhaoxu couldn't help but feel a little hopeful. Maybe Yi Zheng really could do it?

"A 100% win rate."

When Anjing Sandan heard this, she didn't know what to say. After all, her win rate last year was over 20%, and she felt that it was a bit presumptuous to talk about this topic.

Is the difference between people really that great?
"We can see from the live footage transmitted by the camera that the competition has officially started."

After the coin toss, Yi Zheng, the diviner, played black and made the first move. After both sides occupied a diagonal star point at the beginning, Yi Zheng, 8-dan, immediately played the 3-3 point. "That's really fast," An Jing, 3-dan, couldn't help but say, watching Yi Zheng play the 3-3 point on his third move. "Go is developing really fast these days. Everyone is playing the 3-3 point first instead of rushing to occupy the corners."

"Yi Zheng probably wants to test Jiang Mobai first, to gauge his reaction, and then decide which side to occupy based on his response, hmm..."

As soon as Ma Zhaoxu finished speaking, he saw Jiang Mobai quickly choose to fly and press down after blocking.

This step was all too familiar, because Li Junhe had used the same technique last time, and ended up getting hit by a flying knife and being quickly defeated by Yi Zheng in just a few dozen moves.

Afterwards, many people studied the changes in this area and found that the variations of the throwing knives formed in this area were extremely complex, and were even called the most complex fixed pattern of the new era by many netizens.

However, it should have been named by Yi Zheng, but Yi Zheng has not yet given a name, so everyone still refers to this throwing knife as that throwing knife.

Could it be that Jiang Mobai feels he has already done some research in this area, and actually dares to follow Yi Zheng in this change?

Theoretically speaking, after Yi Zheng's leisurely moves last time, no one was confident about how many variations he had mastered with the throwing knife technique, so many people dared not follow his moves.

"As expected, Yi Zheng chose to lift it up. If Jiang Mobai, a ninth-dan player, pulls it down, then the throwing knife will be in its initial stages."

Looking at the lower left corner of the board, Anjing, a 3-dan player, couldn't help but say, "Professional players still understand this basic shape very well."

Jiang Mobai glanced at Yi Zheng, who had been dragged up, and a slight smile appeared on his lips. Did you think I wanted to take this flying knife with me? No, I just wanted to keep you on the edge of your seat!
Jiang Mobai's tactic was to first give Yi Zheng a little excitement. After all, seeing the throwing knife, Yi Zheng might get excited and think that he was about to win the game quickly. Then, he would not play the throwing knife again to suppress his emotions.

By tormenting the other party's emotions, you can weaken their state; this is the psychological tactic of emotional manipulation!

Thinking of this, Jiang Mobai picked up a white piece and left the battlefield, placing it directly in the upper left corner of the chessboard at the small eye position.

Do you really think I'm stupid enough to follow your fancy throwing knife tricks?
Jiang Mobai was genuinely unsure about his chances with Yi Zheng in this area, because when he privately tried to figure things out on his own, he often ended up dying in the process.

However, Jiang Mobai had done his research on this matter and was certain that there were no problems with Tuo Xian; otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to proceed.

Seeing Jiang Mobai take off his clothes without any reaction, Yi Zheng didn't feel anything, after all, he really knew how to do this.

Ninth move, Black, play!

Jiang Mobai didn't hesitate at all and cut off the stones directly, instantly forming a shape where four pieces were intertwined in the lower left corner of both sides.

"Normally, this area should be blocked. After Jiang Mobai makes a move on the left, Yi Zheng can then launch a pincer attack from the right."

However, I, Yi Zheng, will seek a more proactive approach.

As soon as Ma Zhao finished speaking, Yi Zheng quickly placed his piece.

Move 15, Black, clamp!
Yi Zheng launched an attack without any prior preparation!

(End of this chapter)