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

Chapter 409 Hell Grouping
"What bad luck! To run into you in the first round is just too unlucky!"

Miao Jun looked at Yi Zheng sitting opposite him and couldn't help but sigh. As he spoke, he suddenly tilted his head back, looked at the ceiling, and his face showed a completely lifeless expression.

Hearing Miao Jun's complaint, Yi Zheng simply shook his head and replied, "If your goal is to win the championship, you'll run into me sooner or later. It's something that can't be avoided."

Besides, look at this group draw. Against any other opponent, you'd probably have a hard time even making it to me.

"That's why I find it so outrageous! I would believe it if you said his mother was a fortune teller, Yun Linglei's luck is just too good!"

Miao Jun felt so angry that he gritted his teeth when he thought about the draw ceremony last night. Since it was a domestic competition, there was no such thing as avoiding players from the same country, so there was no need to redraw the draw every round. After the first round of draws, everyone could just play their turn in order.

But then everyone discovered something terrifying.

If the top 64 are divided into two regions, A and B, then region A only has Yun Linglei as a title holder, while all the other title holders are concentrated in region B!

This instantly turned Zone B into a group of death, with almost every player horrified to discover that they would be facing some top-tier players in the first round, putting them under immense pressure.

However, Yun Linglei, who drew Zone A, looked so happy when he saw the results that he almost grinned from ear to ear, and his whole demeanor was incredibly relaxed.

Although theoretically the draw should be even, there are often all sorts of strange groups drawn. Sometimes you encounter strong opponents every time, but other times you encounter weaker opponents or opponents that you can counter in every round.

But sometimes, when you encounter only strong opponents, you can rise to the occasion and remain strong until the end. However, when you encounter only weak opponents that you can overcome, you will always encounter unexpected setbacks.

However, this may indeed be related to one's mindset. When you know the opponent is strong, you will be extremely prepared and cautious. When you feel that the opponent is not worth mentioning, the risk of failure is already hidden.

Listening to Old Ke's rambling, Yi Zheng wished he could stuff cotton wool into his ears. According to Old Ke, he had almost been undefeated in a year with white, and now he was hoping to remain undefeated all year round.

Therefore, you must be vigilant in every game, because every time you lose, it's because you think you can't lose.

However, Yi Zheng didn't really take Ke Lao's earnest advice to heart at all.

At this moment, what he cared about more was how to reach the invincible level of Master Ke, who could "give the world a head start" and truly dominate the chess world, rather than just pursuing a record of never losing a game.

Because time was already very tight for him.

In just over a year, he will likely have to face the formidable, almost invincible, top opponent that Ke Lao spoke of—"Dog."

If one cannot possess strength that approaches or even surpasses that of Elder Ke, then all other ideas are simply empty talk.

Miao Jun looked at Yi Zheng, who seemed to be thinking about something, and also thought of Jiang Mobai, who had sneakily approached him before the competition and handed him a Yi Zheng research manual.

This signifies the culmination of the collective wisdom of the entire Chinese team. Originally, Miao Jun was not invited in because everyone was worried that he might be a traitor due to his close relationship with Yi Zheng.

However, considering the upcoming battle against Yi Zheng, he still wanted to lend him a hand, hoping that Miao Jun could cause Yi Zheng some trouble, or at least wear him down.

But Miao Jun didn't take it seriously at all, not even glancing at it, and betrayed them that very night. In his heart, Miao Jun thought disdainfully: "I need your research results? Nobody understands Yi Zheng better than me! Nobody!"

I showered in the same public bathhouse as Yi Zheng ten years ago. I know whether his butt is round or square. Not to mention, after Yi Zheng started his career, the person he had the most contact with was Miao Jun.

Not to mention, Yi Zheng nodded upon hearing the news, indicating that he already knew about it.

Miao Jun was even more disdainful of this, and immediately turned around and sold the information to Jiang Mobai. "Do you know that your family is raising ghosts?!"

This almost led to the Anti-Easy Alliance disbanding on the spot due to internal strife before the competition even started.

Miao Jun felt that everyone was mythologizing Yi Zheng too much now. In the end, Yi Zheng was just a person.

It's just that my calculation ability is a little stronger than everyone else's, my overall strategic vision is a little stronger than everyone else's, my chess sense is a little sharper than everyone else's, and my win-loss record is a little more stable and better than everyone else's.

That's all! That's all!

He's really just a "little bit" better than others in these areas!
Miao Jun silently encouraged himself again: Not bad! Although I haven't won a single game against Yi Zheng in the past year or so, whether in formal competitions or friendly matches... But! I'm not afraid of him at all!

Come directly!

Looking at the white pieces he had secured, Miao Jun felt a little more confident. His tactical approach for this game was simple: to figure out how to steer the game towards the most complex and entangled situation.

Theoretically speaking, even the most powerful computing ability has its limits. When the game becomes too complex, it exceeds the scope of human calculation.

Since no one can calculate it clearly, everyone is on the same level to some extent.

It all comes down to experience and intuition, and Miao Jun believes he's not much worse than Yi Zheng in that area.

After all, what's the point of trying to outdo Yi Zheng in terms of strategic thinking? Miao Jun felt it would be more practical to just find a block of tofu and smash his head against it.

Not long after the game started, Yi Zheng realized that the opening of this game was almost exactly the same as the opening he had taught Wen Xiao at the chess academy. Miao Jun was there at the time and actually wrote it down.

However, Wen Xiao chose to continue climbing, and Miao Jun knew that even so, Yi Zheng would still get ahead, so he decisively chose to jump, which was faster.

However, Yi Zheng still opted to play defensively as always, resulting in the same opening as before. But in the end, Yi Zheng made a small adjustment.

Looking at the final layout, Yi Zheng couldn't help but shake his head. Miao Jun thought about modifying the existing layout to prevent major problems from arising at the beginning.

It has to be said that Miao Jun's move was effective, because Wen Xiao's win rate was probably only around 20% at this stage of the game, while Miao Jun's was still 40%, which was more than double!

Therefore, Yi Zheng is also preparing to increase the intensity of Fatty's training!

(End of this chapter)