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

Chapter 427 Promotion and Demotion Chess

"Why did this guy come along too? Usually, when China sends someone to a competition, it's just the coach and a translator. Why is Yi Zheng included this time? This is quite unusual. Could it be some kind of secret weapon they've prepared?"

"Stop talking! I was almost scared out of my wits when I went to pick him up at the airport yesterday!"

Yi Zheng was actually the first one to come out. For a moment, I thought the Chinese side hadn't notified us at all, and had acted first and then changed the player roster to have Yi Zheng compete.

"Don't worry, that's absolutely impossible. They always think highly of themselves and value their reputation above all else. How could they possibly stoop to doing something so sneaky and gossipy?"

"However, President Hong is truly wise and capable. Fortunately, he did not invite Yi Zheng to participate this time. Otherwise, there would have been no need to continue the competition. He could have just been declared the champion."

You think he'd actually let someone defeat a top-tier professional first? That's utterly absurd, completely incomprehensible.

"I think it might be something orchestrated by the Chinese Go Association to elevate Yi Zheng. Anyway, no one has beaten him in official matches, and no one can verify the truth of the matter."

Maybe AlphaGo was secretly taken down because it was disobedient; otherwise, why hasn't it appeared online for so long?

"That's it."

Seeing Yi Zheng standing out somewhat from the others in the research room, several staff members of the Silla Go Association couldn't help but whisper among themselves outside the room.

Yi Zheng's game on New Year's Eve, in which he gave up the first move, shocked many people around the world, and even many players and fans of Silla Go were greatly impacted.

Although AlphaGo is even more terrifying, it has always existed only on the internet, giving people a sense of unreality.

However, Yi Zheng is a true world-class professional player, an opponent that everyone may encounter in future world competitions.

However, many within the Silla Go community believe this might be a show, a tactic specifically designed to elevate Yi Zheng, since they have done similar things before.

Judging from your own experience, it's quite normal for the other party to do this.

The first match of the Old Zheng Cup was held yesterday, between Lee Jun-hyuk and Kuroki Teruto, with Lee Jun-hyuk emerging victorious.

Today's match is between Kuroki Teruto and Jiang Mobai, with Li Junhe having a bye.

Seeing that many Silla players had gathered in the research room, Yi Zheng couldn't help but rub his hands together in anticipation.

Silla was a very small country, with only one or two slightly larger cities. More than half of the population lived in the capital, while the majority of the rest lived in two coastal cities.

As for other places outside of big cities, most of them have to be compared to rural areas in China a decade or so ago when even roads hadn't been built.

However, there are also advantages, namely that most of Silla's professional players are concentrated in the capital and the competitions only need to be held here. They don't need to travel around. Even if they are from other cities, they can easily drive over.

Unlike in China, where different sponsors and competition locations mean that the time between two consecutive competitions can be very short, even requiring a quick flight, the cost of participating in these events is quite high for many ordinary professional players.

Due to population and other factors, the overall level of Go in Silla is far behind that in China, but there are still some players with considerable skill.

Furthermore, Yi Zheng had prepared in advance before arriving, so he greeted everyone immediately upon going up.

"Long time no see, Shin Junmin 9-dan."

Seeing Yi Zheng come over to greet him, Shen Junmin smiled and nodded.

He didn't have a very high opinion of Yi Zheng. After all, he had given up his seeded spot with his old friend Yuan Shen back then, confidently participating in the Asian Cup qualifiers.

Then they were both eliminated and went home without even making it to the main tournament. He lost to Yi Zheng, who he felt was not very strong at the time.

To everyone's surprise, Yi Zheng defeated Shin Jun-min, who was then the second-best player in Silla, in the qualifiers, and then went on a winning streak in the following year's competition, winning the Asian Cup in his first appearance.

He has now become almost universally recognized as the world's number one Go player.

It's impossible for Shen Junmin not to have mixed feelings, since he felt at the time that Yi Zheng's victory over him was purely due to luck.

If he had won back then, Yi Zheng wouldn't even have qualified for the Asian Cup, let alone win the championship!

"Won Seong-hyeong 9-dan, Kang Lim-hae 9-dan, Park Ji-bin 9-dan, I didn't expect you all to be here."

Yi Zheng looked at the group of people who were surprisingly all present, and he could no longer hide his smile.

All the decent people in Silla are here now; the rest of the people are not even worth their time.

So there are advantages to the fact that Silla is small; you don't have to search for them one by one, you can catch them all at once.

Looking at the smile on Yi Zheng's face, the members of the Silla national team felt a chill run down their spines, as if Yi Zheng was thinking something bad.

"Today's competition doesn't seem very interesting. How about we play a friendly match? Each move takes fifteen seconds."

I'll set a wager. Let's play a game of Go. If I win, the seniors can symbolically give me fifty dollars. If I lose, I'll lose one million if I go first, five hundred thousand if I give me a handicap, and two hundred thousand if I give me a two-piece handicap.

Yi Zheng didn't mention the price after giving a three-piece handicap, because if someone lost after giving a two-piece handicap, probably no one present would be able to resist running away.

Upon hearing this, everyone present couldn't help but frown. They hadn't expected that Yi Zheng would dare to directly challenge the Silla's home turf.

If it's just a friendly match, everyone would play with Yi Zheng and not care too much if they lost, after all, his opponent is the world number one. Losing in this kind of training-style rapid chess game is nothing to be ashamed of.

But promotion/promotion is completely different.

The term "promotion and relegation" is actually quite simple.

The two sides start by dividing the pieces and then play against each other. The loser gets a handicap and plays against the other side. If the loser loses again, they get a two-piece handicap, and if they lose again, they get a three-piece handicap until they win.

If you lose too many times, you'll never be able to hold your head up in front of the other party again, and they'll have to take a detour when they see you.

The prize offered by Yi Zheng may seem tempting to outsiders, but it's not enough to make Silla's top players risk their careers.

But they've been challenged right at their doorstep. If they don't accept the challenge, wouldn't that mean Silla Go is inferior to Yi Jung alone?

Just as the group was looking at each other, unsure of what to do, a voice came from behind them.

"I'll play against you."

(End of this chapter)