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

Chapter 326 Ratings

Yi Zheng couldn't help but cover his forehead with his hand; even seeing this scene made him feel like he was experiencing social death.

I feel ashamed to even know Jiang Mobai. If we were on the street, I would definitely pretend that I didn't know Jiang Mobai at all.

Well, he admired Jiang Mobai for being able to do that; he certainly couldn't.

Yi Zheng felt that his skin was too thin and he absolutely could not bear this kind of... socially embarrassing scene.

To some extent, only someone with Jiang Mobai's social skills and histrionic personality could achieve this level of success; absolutely no one else could.

On the contrary, Jiang Mobai seemed to enjoy it, even waving at the various cameras, perhaps the editors could actually cut out some cool entrance pose.

"You're here quite early today."

Yi Zheng looked at the three minutes left before the start of the match and complained to Jiang Mobai.

Jiang Mobai always likes to come out at the finish line when he has nothing to do. However, it is said that he does not leave late, but secretly hides in a corner by the door and counts the time. When the time comes, he sprints into the competition venue.

Why did you leave early today?
"Because I have something to tell you."

Jiang Mobai paused deliberately, creating a tense atmosphere as if revealing a major secret. His eyebrows twitched, like the wolf in sheep's clothing aiming at Little Red Riding Hood: "When it's time to guess first—"

I will only pick one white piece.

Upon hearing this, Yi Zheng suddenly raised an eyebrow. Was he being subjected to psychological warfare?

Jiang Mobai's shot was a straight shot.

According to the rules, if the player who guesses first draws an odd number of white pieces, the opponent must guess whether the number is odd to determine whether the player is black or white.

If Jiang Mobai really only grabs one white stone as he said (which must be an odd number), then it's equivalent to handing over the button to Yi Zheng, without reservation, just like handing over the key to a button box.

But this "privilege," as sweet as honey, may also be a bitter medicine wrapped in sugar icing.

If Yi Zheng chooses a different option and then loses, he will inevitably feel unbalanced and wonder if he would have won if he had chosen the other option.

If Jiang Mobai goes back on his word and grabs two pieces so that Yi Zheng doesn't get to choose the one he wants, Yi Zheng might feel even more unbalanced if he loses. If he hadn't been tricked, he might have won.
This frustration might even affect the next game, or even the state of the game afterward.

Regardless of the outcome, Jiang Mobai's sudden and unexpected move was intended to create a gap called "self-doubt" in Yi Zheng's mental defenses from the very first second, and then wait for it to slowly widen, allowing the behemoth called "EMO" (Mental Inflation) to gnaw at Yi Zheng's focus ahead of time.

This is a psychological tactic in Go, which puts the opponent in a mentally draining state from the very beginning.

Old Ke couldn't help but sigh, "Hiss... this kid... I never saw through him before? Wasn't he usually just a silly, simple, and straightforward young man who only knew how to joke around and act recklessly?"

This psychological manipulation is... like an old sow wearing a bra—one trick after another! This cunning... is as profound as Teacher Ma's "Five-Strike Lightning Whip"! Truly, appearances can be deceiving, and the sea cannot be measured by a bushel. Is this old rascal pretending to be stupid all this time while secretly building up his ultimate move?

However, Yi Zheng's reaction was like a pebble thrown into an icy lake, creating only a tiny ripple before quickly returning to calm.

Yi Zheng looked at Jiang Mobai's face, which was full of "take the bait" expressions, but his heart was very calm.

The key premise for Jiang Mobai's "open conspiracy" to succeed is that he, Jiang Mobai, can win this game.

"But I will be the only one to win. All your schemes are destined to be nothing but castles in the air. Senior Brother Jiang, guess first."

Before he could finish speaking, as if to provide the strongest possible commentary, the referee, who had been standing solemnly to the side, announced in a calm and resonant voice: "The match begins!"

Almost at the same moment the word "begin" was written, Yi Zheng and Jiang Mobai's hands moved as fast as lightning, slicing through the dust above the chessboard.

Without the slightest hesitation, the two simultaneously placed the chess pieces they had been holding tightly between their fingers onto the smooth wooden chessboard with two soft "clicks," almost one after the other.

A lone white piece.

Two black stones lay quietly.

One white and two black.

If Yi Zheng guesses wrong, he should take the white piece and move next.

Jiang Mobai looked at Yi Zheng, who had taken out two chess pieces, and said with a smile, "See? I'm a man of my word. I never lie."

"See how generous I am? I've given you the choice directly. After all, it's everyone's responsibility to care for the younger generation." Yi Zheng didn't back down at all: "Of course I know I should respect my seniors, especially someone like my senior brother."

Yi Zheng deliberately emphasized the word "old" very subtly: "I'm afraid that my senior brother will regret giving me the choice, and that it will become a regret for the rest of his life."

"No regrets!"

Jiang Mobai shook his head and said something, but then realized that Yi Zheng had turned on the timer next to him at some point.

The time displayed on the LCD screen representing Jiang Mobai's retention period—the string of striking numbers "04:00:00"—has mercilessly skipped 27 seconds!

Young man! You have no sportsmanship! Why are you resorting to such petty tricks! You wasted half a minute of my time!
Jiang Mobai's eyes were filled with "You little fox" and "Just wait, see how I increase your strength later!"
With almost predatory speed, he grabbed a black piece and slammed it down on the star point in the upper right corner with a sharp "smack!" The force was so great that it was as if the piece was Yi Zheng's head.

"In the opening, Jiang Mobai chose the star point opening, while Yi Zheng chose the 3-3 point opening. This is the Sakata style opening, which was first played by Japanese players in the last century."

The so-called "Sakata style" (小目三三书) is characterized by its steady and strategic approach, solid territorial control, and superior counter-attacking tactics.

Because this match features Yi Zheng, the leading player of the new generation, the commentators specially invited other new generation players. The first game today featured Miao Jun.

It's unclear who he learned it from, but Miao Jun also recited a couple of lines of doggerel: "Both players started very quickly, clearly trying to save time for later, but there's no need to rush, the final of the Chess Saint Tournament is really long!"
It started at 9:30 in the morning and is estimated to last until at least 6:00 in the evening. The time limit for both sides has reached a terrifying four hours. At noon, a half-hour break was specially set aside for the players to have lunch.

I remember the longest I ever played a Go Saint tournament was when it didn't end until almost 10 p.m., which really left a deep impression on me.

But honestly, it's a good thing we rested the next day, otherwise I feel like Senior Jiang Mobai would have been worn out by A Zheng just by enduring all that. A Zheng's stamina is just too strong, he's practically a perpetual motion machine.

Do you know what happened? Last time a few of us went to climb Huangshan, this guy just kept going up the mountain without stopping for a second.

Other people hike, stopping occasionally to enjoy the scenery and replenish their energy. What about him? Damn it! He maintained a constant pace the entire way! His footsteps were more precise than an athlete's training rhythm!

One step, two steps, three steps… like a heartless mountain-climbing AI robot! We'd barely made it halfway up the mountain, seen half the view, and our legs were cramping when this guy called! Saying he'd already reached the summit! He's practically inhuman, you know?!

Miao Jun slammed his fist on the table, spitting almost onto the screen: "And another thing! You guys haven't seen how terrifying his all-nighters are!"
Once, we had a team training session at night, reviewing several extremely complex mid-game battle diagrams. It was really brain-draining, and our CPUs were practically smoking as we stayed up until the wee hours of the morning.

I glanced at the others next to me; their eyes were glazed over, they were yawning incessantly, and their heads were practically resting on the chessboard. And what about our Master Yi?

Miao Jun imitated Yi Zheng's expression at the time, his eyes empty but sharp, staring blankly at the screen, "like a robot with a pre-programmed schedule! Expressionless! Straight back! And he can calmly remind you 'XX step here, there is a flaw in the killing route'."

I immediately thought, "Is his brain's cooling system powered by liquid nitrogen? His mental strength is like a joke! It's practically an unlocked superpower!"

Miao Jun clearly had no experience in explaining chess moves. Once he opened his mouth, he started babbling on and on, talking non-stop, from climbing mountains to staying up all night. His gossip spirit was burning brightly, and he was so animated as to talk about it that he was completely immersed in his good brother's "inhuman deeds".

On the other side, An Jing, who was clearly more experienced, noticed this and quickly suggested, "Miao Qidan, let's take a look at the start of today's game."

"Oh, good, good!"

Miao Jun nodded when he heard this: "The start was normal. Jiang Mobai guarded the corner with a single pass, Yi Zheng used Xiao Fei to guard one of the corners, and Yi Zheng also made a single pass to guard the corner in the lower left corner. After Jiang Mobai made two low-angle passes, Yi Zheng made a three-three upward super-large fly that looked like a combination of a pass, a split, and a corner guard.

Anyway, it looked very elegant and suited his style. After Jiang Mobai attacked the white piece in the upper right corner, Yi Zheng clearly underestimated that white piece, returning to the left to make a move – a move focused on efficiency.

As Miao Jun was speaking, An Jingsan, who was sitting next to him, seemed to hear something in his earphones. His lips twitched, but he eventually put on a professional smile.

"Um... Miao Jun, 7th Dan, after listening to your interesting stories, I feel that you and Yi Zheng, the Go master, are very close in private. You live together, right? I really envy this kind of life as a Go player."

An Jing, a third-dan player, tried to steer the conversation in a seemingly natural way. Miao Jun, looking at the chessboard, turned his head inexplicably and subconsciously replied, "Yeah, and then there's a roommate."

"How did you two meet? I remember Miao Qidan had already achieved professional status a long time ago, right? When Yi Zheng Shensuan achieved professional status, you were already a national champion and were known as one of the Three Musketeers of Youth."

“We’ve known each other since we were very young, back when we were in Yunyi. A-Zheng was really strong back then, and he would often train us.”

Miao Jun didn't hide anything when he heard this, after all, it wasn't a secret and many people knew it.

What puzzled him was that he had been interrupted while gossiping earlier, so why was he now asking him to talk about Yi Zheng's gossip?
If An Jing heard this, she would feel desperate. It was the director's team's arrangement, and there was nothing she could do about it.

They noticed that the ratings suddenly increased when Miao Jun talked about Yi Zheng's personal affairs, but dropped again when he talked about chess.

For ratings? Need I say more?

(End of this chapter)