The work of the Go master

Under the spotlight in the arena where the vice-general battle took place.

Ke Zhiguang entered the arena, holding a flame in his hand.

"The vice-captain battle begins!" Naosaka Kuranosuke announced loudly on the stage. After all the contestants nodded to him in respect, they immediately sat down, and a solemn and desolate atmosphere filled the entire venue.

Each person's symbolic spirit unfolded behind them, and for a moment the entire venue became like a mythical beast show, with colorful decorations everywhere.

Almost everyone has a score of 4 or higher, and there are very few miscellaneous fish.

"I'm Akihisa Kumagai from Hoshino High School. Nice to meet you!" said the boy named Akihisa Kumagai with great enthusiasm.

"I am Ke Zhiguang from Yunjing. Nice to meet you."

Grab the tile, clap the tile, guess wrong!

I often guess wrong and end up with nothing.

In fact, there was something that Ke Zhiguang didn't understand: why did everyone he faced think they were older than him and grab the pieces first?

Don't these people know that in Yu-Gi-Oh!, those who shout "go first" always lose, and in cooking anime, those who rush to serve the food first also always lose?

"I'm sorry, I'll be playing black first." Kumagai Akihisa revealed a slightly provocative smile.

"Go for it."

Regarding whether it's better to play black or white, Ke Zhiguang has also discussed this with fellow members. Most of them feel that playing black is more enjoyable, as only the player playing black can decide the opening strategy, while white is mostly on the defensive.

Although Ke Zhiguang also enjoys the thrill of playing the dark side, there is one thing he has to admit.

When he plays white, his winning percentage is frighteningly high.

Star, star, star, small eye.

Hang it up!

A beam of white light struck the black stone's small eye and large knight's move in the corner, causing Kumagai Akihisa to be slightly taken aback.

—The game turned into close combat on the 8th move; what a combative playing style!

Kumagai Akihisa's fighting spirit was rekindled, and fighting happened to be one of his strengths.

He originally thought he would encounter a pushover, but he didn't expect him to be so tough.

—Speaking of which, this person is from Yunjing. If I remember correctly, Yunjing's group last night seemed to be boasting that they would score 96 points today and be promoted directly from vice-general to captain...

—That's him, the one who wants to be promoted to general?

Today's vice-general battle consists of three games, which means he not only needs to win them all, but also needs to win by an average of more than 8 points per game, which is no small feat.

—Maybe it's just because they're in a do-or-die situation that they're taking such a tight and aggressive approach?

After figuring it out, Kumagai Akihisa immediately launched a counterattack. In his view, people who were given such a death order would inevitably resort to evil under pressure, especially in the midst of a chaotic battle.

Ke Zhiguang also noticed that his opponent's symbolic spirit had become more ferocious.

He lowered his breath, and the non-existent glasses reflected non-existent light.

With the corner set in place, a black stone is placed into the side territory, and the battle suddenly begins!

Outside the chessboard, the teammates present watched the game with bated breath.

"Kumagai Akihisa is also a player who fights hard and has the strength of an amateur 5-dan. It is said that his club plans to promote him directly from vice-captain to captain, and they are quite confident in his skills." The vice-captain said, holding a tactics notebook.

“Hey, this looks pretty complicated. They’ve only gone about 40 moves and it seems like they’re fighting on the right side. If they keep going, it looks like White is at a disadvantage, right?” Ping Shisheng said, looking at the game on the board.

According to his calculations, the final outcome will be a very interesting battle between black and white. After black moves left and right twice, it will suddenly gain a liberty and kill white.

"Is this a two-pronged approach?" Ping Shisheng said, "This is a fairly classic tesuji problem."

Suddenly a strange girl's voice came: "No, this is the oriole chasing the butterfly. White can kill Black in one move. If you calculate a couple more moves, you will see it."

Awakened by this remark, Ping Shisheng's calculations of the board positions immediately deepened several steps... truly like a nightingale chasing a butterfly!

The "Oriole Chasing the Butterfly" problem is a classic life-and-death problem in Go. The player who makes the move will use an extremely subtle technique to place a move on a dead line. Although it does not directly hit the opponent, it can still reduce the opponent's liberty by one out of thin air. From the perspective of the shape of the stones, it is like a hidden weapon hitting the heart of the butterfly.

Ping Shisheng quickly turned his head, wanting to see which expert had revealed the secret, and what he saw was—

She was a girl dressed like a criminal, wearing a hat, mask, and glasses. If it weren't for her exposed pigtails, which suggested she was a delicate young woman, the security guards definitely wouldn't have let her in.

Who are you?!

"Uh... just know I came to watch the game," Harushima Shika said awkwardly.

On the chessboard, the light and shadow of the oriole descended from the sky, taking the life of the butterfly like a hawk's strike, and the butterfly's corpse drifted down to this spot.

When Kumagai Akihisa saw this ending, his fingers twitched violently.

He had only calculated the variation of "two long moves in one breath", so he confidently placed his piece. But he didn't expect there to be a second tesuji after the tesuji!

It means that his opponent has considered things more deeply than he has.

Besides the chessboard outside the corridor, there is also a chessboard on the main stage in the lecture hall. Naosaka Kuranosuke, one of the commentators, and a pretty but low-ranking female chess player will select interesting matches to commentate on. In the chess world, it is a basic configuration for a pretty female chess player to be paired with a strong male chess player for commentary.

"Oh? Someone actually played a game and created the 'Oriole Chasing Butterfly' shape?" Naoka Kuranosuke asked with great interest.

“Yes, according to the battle reports from the front, in one game, both sides reached the ‘Oriole Chasing the Butterfly’ shape in less than 40 moves, and the game was still mainly about close combat and entanglement. It should have been a very exciting game,” the female chess player next to her replied.

“Alright, let’s talk about this game then. Although the theme of ‘Oriole Catching Butterfly’ is a must-learn course in the 1K stage, it is still quite rare to encounter it in actual gameplay,” said Naoka Kuranosuke with a smile.

The game on the large chessboard quickly changed, immediately switching to Ke Zhiguang's game. The names of the two players and their respective universities were written next to the chessboard.

"Is the one holding the white side called Keiji Kou?" Naoka Kuranosuke asked in surprise.

He vaguely remembered that on that rainy day, the four of them, old friends, were eating ramen together and mentioned this name in unison.

Unexpectedly, he also became associated with this name.

"Yes, he is Yun Jing's vice-captain. He was replaced two days before the start of the competition and did not participate in the pre-competition training camp. He must be Yun Jing's secret weapon, right?" the female chess player said with a smile.

"Haha, a secret weapon, well, it must be a secret weapon. The game has now reached move 62. White has elegantly positioned itself on the sixth line, choosing a very clever point, which is exactly where Black cannot cross..."

Inside the stadium, the two players were unaware that their game had been moved to the commentary booth on the main stage. Had they known, the pressure on them would have increased considerably.

Suddenly, a snapping sound pierced Kumagai Akihisa's eardrums, startling him so much that he jumped in his chair.

It was as if I was intently staring at the screen when I was suddenly slapped in the face with a jump scare.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that Ke Zhiguang had simply opened a can of beverage.

Then I calmly took a sip—

—Ha, so refreshing and exhilarating, even though it's just 7UP.

Kumagai Akihisa's face darkened, as if he had been provoked by an underhanded tactic.

With the game so intense and exciting right now, you actually have the leisure to have a drink?

Can't stand it!

They stormed back up, igniting a new round of battle!

Chapter 55 The Battle of the Vice-General (1/3)

"Black's move is aimed at the cut point of White on the left. Reiko, if it were you, where would you play your next move?" Naoka Kuranosuke asked the female Go player next to him.

"Isn't the first impression to play here?" The female Go player named Reiko placed a stone on the large Go board, which is called a blackboard in Go classes, and the stones are attached to it with magnets.

When paired with a female player, her job is to represent the audience with lower skill levels to ask questions and suggest moves that don't seem like the correct answer but are still quite logical in chess.

“That’s true, but it would be too weak for White. Black would press down here and easily cut off one of White’s stones on the right. So my answer is…” Naoka Kuranosuke picked up a White stone and jumped up the stone on the right.

“Ignore the break point on the left and jump up to fight squarely,” said Naoka Kuranosuke. “But if it were Koji Mitsuaki, I think he would have used a more aggressive flying seal.”

"Um... Mr. Naosaka, you're addressing this player by his first name. Have you met him before?"

"It doesn't count as one meeting, it's more like one ear to the ear," Naosaka laughed it off.

"The game record has arrived. White has moved..." Suddenly, Keiko's voice changed. "White actually moved the knight's move to this spot?"

"What? He actually walked here?" Naosaka exclaimed in surprise at the move.

White's stones collided directly with Black's stones!

This tactic of moving close to the opponent's pieces is often used for maneuvering, that is, making your own moves live within the opponent's formation. However, moving your pieces like this within your own formation will make the opponent's formation too strong.

Kids who have been learning chess for less than two months love to play like this.

"I understand. He wants to use this aggressive move to first fill the gap on the left side, and then move on the right side." Naoka Kuranosuke nodded, savoring the subtlety of this move.

Inside the stadium, the pressure plate pressed against the ceiling, distorting the light and shadow like an asphalt road under the blazing sun.

Kumagai Akihisa clenched his teeth tightly, as if he were immersed in the heavy pressure of the seawater.

In Ke Zhiguang's view, this was indeed the case; the other person was indeed soaking in the water, with their bangs floating up.

While the other person is thinking things through, take the opportunity to take another sip of 7UP.

*Snap*, the opponent placed their piece.

Ok?

what's the situation?

So if I take a bite, this person will take the next step?

Could it be that this person feels provoked?

Ke Zhiguang scratched his cheek and thought to himself.

He suddenly remembered that there seemed to be a similar story in his previous life. It was about a chess player who used a folding fan to show off during a game, but his opponent accused him of using an underhanded tactic. The specific reason was that the fan made a whooshing sound, which would affect his thinking.

To be fair, it's perfectly reasonable and well-founded.

I'm fine now. Just drink quietly and don't make any loud, satisfying noises.

So I took another sip, this time quietly.

*Snap!* As soon as Ke Zhiguang placed his piece, his opponent immediately attacked again, barely taking five seconds to think.

Ok?

What does this person mean?

Ke Zhiguang didn't know if his opponent had been provoked, but he roughly understood that this person was very arrogant and needed to be taught a lesson.

So he simply drank it down in one big gulp, downing 7UP in one go, chugging it down.