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

Chapter 364 Bet
You must admit that Go, as an art form passed down from ancient times, must contain considerable artistic value in addition to its competitive aspects.

In ancient times, it was one of the four arts of qin (a stringed instrument), chess, calligraphy, and painting. Scholars, emperors, and generals all considered it an honor to discuss philosophy while playing chess.

Even now, it remains a part of China's intangible cultural heritage.

Compared to other board games, Go does seem to have a higher level of sophistication to many people who are unfamiliar with it!
Simply put, it's not very easy to understand; it's just high-class.

However, Takenouchi 9-dan from Japan is indeed the first person in his time, and perhaps even the first person in history, to elevate the shape of Go to an aesthetic level.

In his eyes, an ugly board position is actually a way to win, and it is absolutely not a good move to play!

Winning is important, but beauty is more important!

To deliberately make such "bad" moves, to ruin the beauty of one's own moves, is to tarnish the record of one's own game, and even to tarnish the game of Go!

Furthermore, in the vast majority of matches, he strictly adhered to his "aesthetic theory".

Even in many games, when he was only at a slight disadvantage, he would resign, because in his theory, it was unacceptable to turn a perfect game upside down by using ko fights and chaotic battles. It was better to just resign than to compromise his "chess principles".

He could not tolerate tearing apart the originally smooth and beautiful chess pattern in order to "turn the tide," turning a game of chess as ingenious as a symphony into a chaotic brawl like street thugs fighting!
In his view, an "ugly" victory is tantamount to a betrayal of the "way of chess" itself.

Although most people no longer agree with Takenouchi's views in modern times, the reason why his views had such a great influence was because he himself had extraordinary strength at the time and could implement them in actual combat.

He genuinely had a chance of winning but chose not to because he thought it wasn't aesthetically pleasing. Otherwise, if a universally acknowledged underdog said he was pursuing aesthetics and therefore wouldn't play, nobody would listen to him; they'd just think he deserved a beating.

The eldest brother, born into a prestigious family, possessed top-tier strength at the time, and had a triple advantage in terms of birth record and honors, which was enough to endorse his aesthetic theories.

If any one of these elements were missing, his theory would not have been so brilliant at the time, and it might even have been refuted by public opinion as "lacking a competitive spirit."

So what exactly is this "foolish shape" that this "aesthetic tyrant" is talking about? In plain terms, it's the "stupid," "inefficient," and "annoying" shape that chess pieces are arranged on the chessboard.

Simply put, Go is a game of territory. If you can move three moves in an absolutely safe situation, you won't move two; if you can move ten moves, you won't move nine. If you move your pieces one by one in a row, it will be very inefficient and cumbersome.

Simply put, the four pieces combined to form a "four-circle" shape is already considered a classic foolish shape, and Yi Zheng directly played the "fly swatter" shape in the game, which is the most foolish shape among foolish shapes.

When Yi Zheng first came out, everyone, including the Chinese team, thought it was bad, and even thought that Yi Zheng was at a disadvantage, let alone ordinary beginners.

Anyone with even a basic understanding of Go would not think that Yi Zheng's strategy was good under the circumstances.

However, playing chess is not always about feeling. Yi Zheng knows that he needs to surpass his intuition now!

"The most beautiful shape is the shape that humans have found through constant exploration in Go, through intuition and practical experience, which they believe is the most efficient shape."

However, times are changing, and everything should change with the times. What was considered efficient in the past may not be efficient now.

Even ancient Go masters have countless examples of winning by using seemingly foolish formations. If you limit yourself to so-called aesthetic thinking instead of finding the optimal solution in the present moment, then that is not true Go!

The saying goes, "One cannot simply follow the ways of one's ancestors." If one only pursues outward beauty, one will only trap oneself in one's own self-destructive path.

Yi Zheng shook his head. Takenouchi's idea seemed wonderful, but it was completely out of touch with reality. It was even possible that because Takenouchi's theory had such a huge influence in Japan, Japanese Go was now somewhat trapped in its own web.

It's not that people truly and deeply agree with his theories and implement them to the end; rather, many use his theories as a fig leaf to find excuses for their own failures.

"Therefore, I disagree even less with your aesthetics."

Hearing this, Takenouchi Katsuya seemed quite calm, as he had been attacked by countless doubts over the years.

"Aesthetics is an indispensable soul of Go! Winning through blunders is always a very slim probability; only by following the right path can one reach the highest realm!"

Katsuya Takenouchi was certainly aware that in some situations, a poorly positioned hand might be more helpful in defeating an opponent, but he believed that such situations were so rare as to be negligible, otherwise there would be no need to deliberately pass down the game records.

If something is deliberately highlighted, it means that it is extremely rare.

Not to mention that he felt Go was not only a competition, but also an art.

Today, Go in the world places too much emphasis on its competitive aspect, but once it loses its art, the sport will be like a game without a soul.

Therefore, Katsuya Takenouchi felt that he had to find something to stick to, and what he found was beauty.

"That which is above form is called the Way; that which is below form is called the instrument; a gentleman is not an instrument..."

Old Ke, standing nearby, couldn't help but shake his head. Takenouchi had entered a dead end, which had turned into a kind of obsession.

"Your skill level is probably no longer sufficient for professional matches. Playing against you would be like bullying you."

"In that case, I will still use the 'Foolish Form' to defeat Kuroki Teruto 9-dan in the next match."

Yi Zheng had no interest in bullying the elderly, so he naturally had to prove it from other aspects.

"Alright! I'll wait and see!"

Katsuya Takenouchi laughed upon hearing this. In his view, Teruto Kuroki was the greatest master of Japanese Go in recent years, perfectly embodying the image that a Japanese Go player should aspire to be.

Born into a prestigious family, he possessed superb chess skills, elegant demeanor, and beautiful chess moves.

Even Takenouchi couldn't help but exclaim in amazement when he first met Teruto Kuroki: "So elegant! So incredibly elegant!"

It's not impossible for Yi Zheng to defeat Kuroki Teruto, but to think he could defeat Kuroki Teruto in two consecutive rounds through Yugai would be absurd!
impossible! Absolutely impossible!
Looking at the two who had made a bet, Teruto Kuroki glanced at each other blankly.

No!

If you're going to bet on me, at least ask the person involved for their opinion first!

Speak up for me!
(End of this chapter)