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

Chapter 323 Playing chess with humans is so much fun!
"Amelika's Modi 9th Dan".

Yi Zheng leaned back in his chair, looking at today's opponent. Yesterday, when this player played against Michel, a 9-dan professional from Europe, the Asian team was watching their game in the research room. After all, you can't just lie in your room and sleep when you're not playing.

For most top chess players, although it is rest time, they will not waste time sleeping unless they are particularly tired, especially to study tomorrow's opponent.

Studying and analyzing games in the research room is what most people do on other rest days or competition days.

However, when Mr. Ke saw this name, he was already complaining. Was this name from Alicia or an Indian? But this person is indeed of Indian descent in the United States. However, considering the strong possession ability of Indians, it seems to be quite normal.

Although my physical body is in America, my soul is in the Ganges River of reincarnation. However, Indians are quite abnormal in their unity in certain aspects. When an Indian becomes a senior executive in a company, soon all of them will be Indian.

"Hmph, colluding with their own players to put on an online show, just wait until they get exposed in the official competition."

This chess player named Modi clearly heard something from someone and believed it.

However, Yi Zheng was not angry at all. In his opinion, this was a good thing. With more fools, he could relax a bit.

Yi Zheng won the coin toss and, as usual, chose the two-star formation, which he had played most frequently recently. The opening was not particularly exciting. After Yi Zheng made a small-eye approach to the corner, he pressed down with a flying knight, while Modi on the other side opted for a double flying swallow.

Yi Zheng's choice also seems to conform to the original chess principle: the double swallows suppress the strong and not the weak.

Modi quickly moved up to the left side, attempting to expand his position on the left.

In Yi Zheng's opinion, although the opponent, a 9-dan player, was quite strong, he was far behind in the opening. He made a series of mediocre moves, such as the push in the lower left corner. Although it captured two white stones, there was still a risk of them escaping. Not to mention, it left a gap and allowed Yi Zheng to capture the bottom with a solid position on the fourth line.

"What do you think?"

The time limit in the World Go Tournament is relatively short, with only one hour of reserve time and one byo-yomi period for each player, so both sides play very quickly at the beginning.

"I don't think this guy has a chance to beat Yi Zheng. The gap is too big. I can see that he made a lot of mistakes in the opening. After falling behind in the opening, he still wants to beat Yi Zheng in the middle game. It's like a dream."

Jiang Mobai watched the live TV broadcast and saw a bunch of people gathered around the chessboard, and immediately started complaining.

There's no need to watch this game at all. The question isn't whether Yi Zheng can win this game, but whether he can achieve several consecutive wins.

Yi Zheng's rating is rising at an absurd rate, and he's on a winning streak. Jiang Mobai doesn't think an ordinary 9-dan player can break Yi Zheng's current hot streak. He'll have to step in himself no matter what.

Teruto Kuroki nodded in agreement, but he was analyzing the game: "The group in the upper right corner is easy to capture, and Black seems to have gained influence, but it's too rigid."

Furthermore, the white stones at the top have been strengthened, making it difficult for the black stones to come up with any good moves, and the spacing on the right side is too small.

Furthermore, if the left and right sides can converge, that would be fine; if they cannot, it will lead to a dilemma where neither side can be had.

Modi 9-dan, who was playing a game, seemed to have realized this as well, because Yi Zheng was now moving towards the center.

But he is now in a difficult choice. If Yi Zheng is allowed to enter the middle, although the right side will be blocked, the left side will be wide open, which will inevitably have an impact.

But now the only option is to grow upwards, and Yi Zheng didn't hesitate to continue pressing upwards.

As Yi Zheng continued to press forward, Modi couldn't help but wipe the sweat from his brow with his sleeve. What was going on? Didn't Ethan say that this guy was all show and no substance?

As long as you don't get hit by the flying knife, you don't have the strength of a ninth-dan at all. This is just a scam!

Whose teammate is Ethan?! Could he be someone the enemy sent to lure me in?!

He confidently told me that Yi Zheng was a paper tiger, a network performance artist who relied on cooperating with AlphaGo? Isn't that pure nonsense?!

This guy isn't a ninth-dan?! This guy beat you purely by luck?!
This oppressive feeling! This precision! This ubiquitous circuit calculation! How the hell does this look like a fake?! Ethan, you blond-haired, blue-eyed big liar!!!

Modi felt completely numb. It wasn't like he had never played chess with Ethan before; Ethan shouldn't have beaten him like this at the start!

Modi's mind was in turmoil, a wonderful hodgepodge of "Bollywood suspense drama + American conspiracy theory" unfolding before him. He wondered if Ethan was worried that he would threaten his position and was deliberately deceiving him to make him lower his guard.

Modi felt like his CPU was about to smoke from the sheer contrast and frustration. Complaining was useless, so Modi gritted his teeth, shook his head to try and clear away the "noise," and his eyes regained their fighting spirit.

He stared intently at the seemingly precarious situation on the chessboard, his mind racing as he tried to organize a final "Indian counterattack."

Move 65, Black, cut!

After cutting off the two white stones, Modi immediately changed his strategy, intending to cut off Yi Zheng's two white stones and use the surrounding strong position to launch an attack in order to gain an advantage.

However, Yi Zheng's ability to control his group was too strong. In just two moves, he directly turned Modi's black pieces into strange shapes. Kuroki even subconsciously covered his eyes with his hand.

It's really an eyesore, too clumsy. This shape is so unpleasant to look at, not to mention that Yi Zheng's addition further strengthens the threat to the right side.

However, Modi didn't have a good solution at this point, because if Yi Zheng jumped out, his black pieces would be in danger!
So Modi had no choice but to take the initiative and then console himself with the spirit of Ah Q. He had also managed to keep Yi Zheng on the third line, and he had gained something, so it was not a loss!

However, Yi Zheng played the central battle with extreme ease. Black not only failed to organize any effective attack, but also allowed Yi Zheng to connect with the white pieces above and gain points.

"Ha, this game feels like AlphaGo versus Yi Zheng, it feels like history is repeating itself."

But now Yi Zheng is AlphaGo, and this dear third-place American has become pitiful, weak, and helpless…

Looking at the situation on the field, Yun Linglei burst out laughing. He couldn't see any chance that this American player had of winning.

Modi initially felt that the market was relatively stable and that he could continue to move forward even if he couldn't cover the short positions. However, Yi Zheng's sudden move from below, which Modi failed to recognize as a threat and instead focused on protecting the short positions on the left, completely disrupted the balance.

Move 100, White, turn!
As the piece was placed, all was silent. The force with which the piece was placed seemed to make even the wooden chessboard sigh.

In the research room, Professor Ke, Jiang Mobai, and Kuroki Teruto's eyes lit up almost simultaneously, and they spoke in unison.

Mr. Ke: "Send it!"

Jiang Mobai: "It's over!"

Kuroki Kaito: "Final(お)わりです..."

After only 104 moves, Modi realized that no matter what he did, it was too late to turn the tide, and he could only sadly resign.

One hundred and four hands!

A humiliating and disgraceful quick defeat has been recorded in a top-tier 9-dan match!
But shame represents someone else's glory.

"104 hand speed to defeat North American 9th Dan, Yi Zheng unlocks a new achievement!"

Modi wasn't even in the mood for any formal debriefing.

He hurriedly stood up, gave the referee and Yi Zheng a perfunctory nod, grabbed his handbag, and rushed toward the exit with messy steps, leaving behind a slightly awkward gust of wind and a low growl suppressed deep in his throat, his teeth clenched.

"Damn that Ethan!!!"

Yi Zheng was in a great mood at the moment. He slowly packed up his chess set, and after the referee signed to confirm the result, he leisurely took out his latest mobile phone.

Without much thought, Yi Zheng, feeling extremely comfortable and slightly Versailles-like after successfully "defeating" his opponent, opened his social media account with millions of followers and started editing and posting with lightning speed!
A newly released post instantly went viral in the Go community, trending on social media:

[Yi Zheng V]
"I only just realized..."

Playing chess with humans can be so easy, comfortable, and enjoyable...

(Image caption: A sunny view from the window of the game room, with what appears to be a corner of a magazine with a cover featuring a virtual image of AlphaGo on the game table.)
Playing Go is so great! [Clapping][Sunglasses smile][Dog head] #WorldGoTournament #EasyVictory #CharmOfGo #YiZheng'sStatus

(End of this chapter)