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

Chapter 332 The Genius Who Works Hard

"The nineteenth move is a new variation that Yi Zheng had already played before. Compared to the original variation, we all think this move is better now."

Shen Guhong used the mouse to display some simple variation diagrams on the computer screen, and then began to explain them to the camera.

The screen then changes, with several simulated chess pieces appearing and disappearing in key positions, outlining several simple branching diagrams for the subsequent developments.

Shen Guhong paused, his gaze sweeping intently across the chessboard, as if he were rapidly rehearsing the complex variations in the depths of his mind: "Jiang Mobai's move of placing the 3-3 point locally is also a very flexible one."

This move allows you to choose your own direction based on the direction Yi Zheng blocks, ensuring you don't lose out on either side.

The beautiful female host sitting opposite him, who was quiet for three minutes, seemed to receive a signal from the invisible earpiece in her ear. Her professional smile froze for a moment before she quickly regained it.

She leaned forward and, with a voice that was slightly too sweet—the kind that would get you labeled as "tea"—almost "seized the opportunity" to interrupt Shen Guhong's purely technical analysis: "Shen Qidan and Yi Zheng Shensuan must have known each other for quite some time now, right?"

Shen Guhong, who was about to elaborate on Yi Zheng's possible obstruction, abruptly stopped: "If I've known him, it's been a long time."

He paused briefly, as if carefully choosing his words, each syllable as precise as a move on a chessboard: "However,"

He emphasized slightly, his voice devoid of any extra emotion: "We're not that close."

Qi Ling and I studied at Jingwei, while Yi Zheng and Miao Jun studied at Yunyi, so they had known each other for a longer time and were more familiar with each other.

So if you're hoping to get any gossip about him from me, you're probably going to be disappointed.

Shen Guhong also watched the live broadcast of the competition yesterday. Based on the content of yesterday's competition and An Jingsan's hesitant words just now, he had already figured out what the production team wanted to ask.

He doesn't have a penchant for gossiping behind people's backs; at most, he'll eavesdrop on other people's gossip with a blank expression.

Don't ask, the answer is that my hearing is too good and I accidentally overheard what you were saying.

An Jing's smile froze for a moment, as if she had been doused with ice water. Visible embarrassment spread rapidly under the blazing studio lights.

She quickly waved her hand, her face flushing red, and explained in a rather cynical manner, "No, no, we're not that interested in gossip. It's purely out of admiration! Admiration for Teacher Yi Zheng's chess skills and character! We just want to learn more about the spiritual world of outstanding chess players!"

She spoke rapidly, trying to mask her unease with enthusiasm, but she still had to continue: "So what is Shen Guhong's evaluation of Yi Zheng, 8th Dan?"

This question seems to have touched on something more complex deep within Shen Guhong's heart.

He stopped looking at Anjing and returned his gaze to the chessboard, which was flashing with complex changes, as if the answer was hidden in the nineteen lines of the board.

His silence lasted longer than before, his fingers unconsciously rubbing against the metal strip on the side of the mouse.

His voice was deep and clear, carrying a sense of remoteness as if recalling distant past events: "This world has never lacked geniuses. In the world of Go, everyone has their own story, and every one of them is a story of genius."

"There are geniuses in this world, as well as hard-working people, and even people who take hard work to the extreme."

His eyes flickered slightly, his focus seemingly falling on someone who wasn't even in the studio: "I... know someone."

He used a vague reference, but continued without hesitation, "His Go talent is really... not that outstanding. Even within the same Go academy, he's considered rather average. He doesn't have that kind of keen sense that allows him to instinctively anticipate a dozen or more possible variations just by glancing at the board position."

But he's the kind of person who, if you ask him to play a score once, he'll play ten or twenty more scores, and he'll do life-and-death problems a hundred or a thousand times.

Each repetition felt like digging for a treasure buried deep underground, regardless of the time or the tedium.

That kind of persistence and tenacity, that almost harsh self-discipline, has surpassed the comprehension of ordinary people, and has even been called a 'human training machine'.

His efforts paid off; he rose to the top of the Jingwei Chess Academy and even defeated some "geniuses"...

His efforts, while not enough to make him a genius, have allowed him to surpass many mediocre individuals. Often, many people don't even reach the point where talent becomes the deciding factor.

Shen Guhong's tone carried an almost icy philosophical reflection, yet also a hint of regret: "However, Go itself is a sport widely recognized as one that demands an extreme degree of talent. This is its charm, but also its cruelty."

Just like in the long history of professional chess, there has never been a shortage of talented people who become famous at a young age and have a smooth career, but eventually become obsessed with temporary glory and applause, wasting their time and losing their way, as if stepping on a soap bubble.

But at the same time, there exists another kind of existence…” He paused deliberately, as if to let the weight of the word settle heavily, “—that is, ‘the genius of hard work.’”

At this point, Shen Guhong's body tensed up imperceptibly for a moment. He picked up the glass of mineral water on the table, which had been taken out of the refrigerator but was no longer very cold, took a sip, and his Adam's apple bobbed slightly, as if he needed a bit of coolness to relieve the stinging sensation brought on by the memory: "My friend encountered that truly hardworking genius in a competition."

My friend later told me that he felt as if he were in a thick, suffocating fog.

From the very beginning, he found himself in an unprecedentedly passive situation. Even though everything was a normal, predictable pattern, he was still irrevocably trapped in adversity.

Every move the opponent made seemed to be the result of the most precise calculations, as if they had figured out a hundred possible variations after the large group of stones had formed. Every move they made was aimed at the weakest and most difficult part of his layout.

His thinking, all the routines and pre-planned moves he was so proud of, which he had honed over countless days and nights, evaporated instantly like dewdrops in the sunlight in the face of his opponent's calm and powerful chess moves, becoming brittle and vulnerable.

Like a new recruit with a wooden stick, suddenly airdropped into the heart of the steel torrent of modern warfare.

In the opening stages alone, he felt like prey being strangled by a giant python, suffocating under its icy grip. By the middle game, the entire game was collapsing and shaky, and he was completely unable to defend himself.

That kind of overwhelming dominance in terms of chess sense is all-encompassing and leaves no blind spots.

But perhaps against that genius, at that time, that match was just a warm-up for that genius, and he was already unable to cope with it at the very beginning.

It was then that he realized that besides hardworking people, there are also geniuses who stagnate, and then there is another kind of person... the hardworking genius.

My friend was desperate at the time. He couldn't understand why he lost when all his moves and calculations had been honed through countless training sessions. What was wrong with him?

But in fact, the path he took was indeed correct, and he never slacked off in the slightest. However, sometimes, 99 percent effort is no match for 1 percent talent, let alone when facing a genius who has already put in 99 percent effort.

Despite his immense effort and dedication to Go, he ended up like a wounded beast, roaring and asking his opponent why, but his opponent remained terrifyingly calm, both in his answer and his expression.

You don't have the talent for Go, it's that simple.

It was a kind of despair, a deep-seated despair, to the point that he didn't even know how he got home that day.

That kind of despair... is not the frustration of losing a game of chess, nor the annoyance of failing an exam.

That was... a deeper, fundamental doubt about one's own worth, a sense of emptiness and bone-chilling despair as if one had been banished from the spiritual home of Go.

A sense of absurdity washes over me: "So all the youthful passion I poured my heart and soul into was nothing more than a fleeting, insignificant firework in the eyes of others."

After listening to Shen Guhong finish telling this story, An Jingsan was silent for a moment. He really wanted to ask, "Is the friend you're talking about yourself?"

However, he didn't ask in the end because he understood that the hardworking genius in the story was Yi Zheng.

That person, who combines talent and hard work, has already reached the pinnacle of the world stage.

Some people have said that the most talented people often fail to reach the top because they have too much success in their youth and are not resilient to setbacks.

However, those who reach the very top are still the most talented; without talent, one simply cannot reach the pinnacle.

It's cruel, but it's the stark truth.

"Just like Yi Zheng's 21st move, the order of the cut is also very important. If the cut hadn't been made first, White could have compressed Black's living space by sacrificing stones and reached both sides."

However, by making a decision now, we can make a choice based on other people's reactions, instead of simply exchanging options on the left.

This simple sequence is something some people realize even before they've studied Go, while others, even after learning, still struggle to play well in actual games.

The gap created by talent is insurmountable!

This applies to any sport involving competition.

(End of this chapter)