Chapter 448: Chapter 448

The sound of stones being placed continued to rise and fall throughout the competition venue.

Yu Shao and Zheng Qin had returned to the competition venue at some point, standing behind Su Yiming, watching this game of Go.

After persisting with great difficulty for a long time, the Dutch player sitting opposite Su Yiming finally lowered his head dejectedly and said, "I've lost."

"Thank you for the game."

Su Yiming's expression remained calm as he bowed slightly to his opponent.

"Thank you for the game."

The Dutch player opposite wore an extremely bitter expression. After exchanging bows with Su Yiming, he collected his stones.

Then he stared blankly at the now empty board before him, as if the game was still unfolding before his eyes, feeling somewhat unwilling to accept the outcome.

Just then, a pair of hands rested on his shoulders. He paused slightly, turned his head, and saw a blond man in his forties standing behind him.

The blond man wore a faint smile as he spoke: "Although you lost, that was only because your opponent was too strong. You truly performed to the best of your ability - I saw it."

"We must admit there is indeed a gap between us and Chinese players. You should feel proud of playing at this level."

Hearing these words, the Dutch player's expression became deeply moved. Losing the game hadn't affected him much initially; he had even prepared himself for criticism.

Yet hearing these words without even a hint of reproach caused emotions to surge violently within him, almost bringing him to tears.

This was his first time stepping onto the world championship stage. For this day, he had practically devoted his entire life, constantly honing his Go skills, only to be effortlessly defeated in the first round!

It felt as if all the efforts of his previous years had been negated. The complex emotions involved were difficult to convey to outsiders.

Others watching this scene also felt complicated emotions.

Examples Dutch player wouldn't be the first, and certainly wouldn't be the last. Only now did they truly understand the weight of Zhao Zhengyang's pre-tournament words: "Hard work doesn't necessarily guarantee good results."

Su Yiming watched quietly. Although his opponent's skill level, in his view, wasn't particularly strong, and this game didn't qualify as a difficult battle for him.

Yet every move his opponent made contained passion for Go. Hidden beneath each move was indomitable will and unyielding fighting spirit that deeply moved him.

Even though his opponent wasn't strong, he still deserved respect.

In him, Su Yiming even saw his own shadow. Wasn't his situation with Yu Shao exactly the same?

During the China-Japan-Korea Go League, he had exhausted all his abilities but found no opportunities. Later, he continuously studied game records and learned modern joseki, yet ultimately still faced defeat!

To this day, in official matches, he had never won a single game against Yu Shao. Even that draw during the Twin Stars Cup required Herculean effort.

"I will continue forward in this tournament on your behalf..."

Su Yiming thought silently, then lowered his gaze to the completely empty board between them. On that board, every past game between him and Yu Shao seemed to materialize.

"You will definitely win this tournament."

"All the efforts he made for the world championship, just like yours, definitely won't be in vain!"

Finally, after a moment, Su Yiming slowly stood up and noticed Yu Shao and Zheng Qin behind him. Latest content publıshed on novelꞁire.net

Su Yiming showed no surprise at this. After giving Yu Shao a deep look, he withdrew his gaze and said, "Teacher Zhuang Weisheng is still playing. Let's go watch."

Although Yu Shao faintly sensed something different in Su Yiming's gaze, he didn't dwell on it, simply nodding and saying, "Let's go."

Time continued to pass.

A heavy, anxious atmosphere persistently permeated the competition venue. All players exhausted their abilities within the confined space, trying to prove themselves to the entire world on Go's highest stage.

More and more games gradually reached their conclusions.

Honinbo Shinwa, advanced!

An Hongshi, advanced!

Zhuang Weisheng, advanced!

Zhu Huai'an, advanced!

For every advancement, naturally someone was eliminated. Those who advanced did so at the cost of shattering their opponents' dreams—a undeniably cruel scene.

Some players who earned advancement felt instant relief, but after brief joy, their expressions gradually grew heavy again.

Because this was only the first step forward; there was still a long road ahead.

Some players hung their heads in dejection; some remained completely silent after their games ended; others wept openly on the spot...

Human joys and sorrows don't interconnect.

After games concluded, most players didn't leave the competition venue but stayed to observe other matches.

Eliminated players tried to pin their dreams of continuing in the world championship onto friends or familiar players, while those who advanced scouted the skill levels of their potential future opponents.

Soon, more and more players obtained their answers from the world championship's first-round single-elimination format. The previously constant sound of stones being placed throughout the venue became sparse, no longer so dense.

After more time passed, almost all players on site had finished their games. Now only one table remained.

At this final table, one side was Yu Shao's acquaintance Zeng Jun, the other a Russian 9-dan player. Though not particularly famous, this player's performance in this game had been exceptionally brilliant.

Both sides battled fiercely into the endgame, with the situation remaining evenly matched. Even now, the outcome couldn't be clearly determined—probably requiring completion of all small endgame moves and counting to reveal the winner.

Because this was the last remaining table, everyone focused on this game.

However, the two players currently engaged seemed completely immersed in the game, utterly unaware of their surroundings, continuously placing stones while racing against time, calculating every point in this endgame battle.

Finally, after another while, when Zeng Jun, sweating profusely, placed another white stone, the Russian player opposite didn't continue placing stones. He just breathed slightly heavily while gazing at the board.

"All small endgame moves have been completed. This game has reached its conclusion..."

Everyone realized that with this game ending, the world championship's first round had finally concluded!

Soon, after the referee finished counting, the result of this final game was announced.

"This game, after final counting with komi: Zeng Jun with white wins by half a point!"

Hearing this result, Zeng Jun finally felt relief, as if all strength had been drained from his body. He slumped back in his chair, breathing heavily.

Zeng Jun kept murmuring, his body trembling slightly. Although he won and advanced, he felt no joy—only the relief of having narrowly escaped disaster.

Zeng Jun's opponent gritted his teeth, then turned his head away, seemingly unwilling to look at this game anymore, unwilling to face this reality.

Seeing the game finally conclude, the previously silent competition venue instantly became noisy.

"Brilliant! This final game was also played quite magnificently!"

"Too bad! 9-dan Vladimir had several excellent moves, but still lost. However, Zeng Jun's performance deserved this victory!"

"Truly worthy of the world championship—the quality is incredibly high! Almost every game maintained excitement, everyone displayed superb skills, battling fiercely until the very end!"

Now, amateur players no longer needed to worry about tournament regulations and could communicate freely and uninhibitedly, with crowds enthusiastically discussing.

The results from today's full day of competition had shocked many people, completely exceeding their expectations.

"Zhu Huai'an won very beautifully against 9-dan Shangtian. With Zhu Huai'an currently holding two major titles simultaneously, his rising momentum seems truly unstoppable."

"Teacher Kudou Yano hasn't competed for ten years, yet now returns with victory in his first match—completely unexpected! Teacher Kudou Yano's skills haven't diminished with age? Pity we didn't watch that game."

"What surprised me most was Higashiyama Kaoru. Completely unexpected that Higashiyama Kaoru actually beat Teacher Kimura Go. How did he manage that?"

Discussing today's full day of matches, many felt extremely emotional.

However, this excitement belonged only to these invited amateur spectators.

Professional players, whether successfully advanced or eliminated, weren't in much mood for conversation. Their expressions remained heavy, and they spoke very little.

Several familiar amateur players gathered together, similarly engaged in enthusiastic discussion.

"Speaking of which, who do you think will win this tournament's championship?" someone suddenly asked.

"How can we say for sure? Several players could potentially win—Teacher Honinbo Shinwa, Teacher Hans... Their games today were all played magnificently."

Someone pondered: "Especially Teacher An Hongshi. For some reason, this time he feels very different compared to before. Of course, he also won very beautifully."

"I watched Kang Han-eun's game. Must say, Kang Han-eun's skills have reached another level—extremely, extremely, extremely strong dominance. Past results are also verifiable—perhaps he really has a chance this year..."

"What about Teacher Kong Zi? Teacher Kong Zi hasn't won a world championship yet, right? Teacher Kong Zi has been holding back strength—feels like he'll unleash it this year."

Everyone discussed potential championship contenders, each having their own opinions.

"If I must say, I think it's... Yu Shao." At this moment, after some thought, someone suddenly spoke.

Hearing this, others looked somewhat stunned.

Yu Shao was indeed one of the championship favorites. Given Yu Shao's previous results and the game records he'd presented to the world, nobody could deny his championship potential.

However, Yu Shao had never participated in world championships before. Though his domestic results were excellent, he lacked experience against foreign masters. Thus, they felt somewhat surprised by this answer.

"I watched Yu Shao's game against 9-dan Dong He."

The speaker's expression turned serious: "That game completely exceeded my expectations. White was practically... captured by Black with overwhelming, crushing force."

Hearing this, looks of astonishment appeared on everyone's faces.

Though they hadn't watched Yu Shao's game, hearing the words "overwhelming, crushing force" made them sense how shocking that game must have been.

Just then, Han Xiu, who had remained silent in the crowd, suddenly spoke: "What about Higashiyama Kaoru?"

Hearing this, everyone collectively paused, looking at Han Xiu with disbelief as if he were joking.

"Higashiyama Kaoru beat 10-dan Kimura Go. Everyone unanimously believed Teacher Kimura Go had championship potential. Since Higashiyama Kaoru defeated Teacher Kimura Go, don't you think Higashiyama Kaoru has championship potential?" Han Xiu asked.

Everyone momentarily looked at each other in confusion.

"You might think Higashiyama Kaoru got lucky beating Teacher Kimura Go, or that Teacher Kimura Go was off-form, or even suspect Teacher Kimura Go held back."

Han Xiu took a deep breath: "But I tell you, he didn't."

"I watched that game from start to finish. In that game, Teacher Kimura Go didn't hold back at all. Higashiyama Kaoru won simply because, in that game, he was superior to Teacher Kimura Go!"

Hearing this, everyone fell momentarily speechless, looking at Han Xiu with disbelief, seemingly trying to find traces of joking on his face.

But they found none. Han Xiu's feedback showed only utmost seriousness.

"My thinking is somewhat different..."

At this moment, a young man who had been pondering something from the beginning slowly said: "Perhaps it will be Teacher Kudou Yano."

Everyone's eyes widened in disbelief, looking at the young man incredulously—even Han Xiu reacted this way.

The name Kudou Yano indeed carried significant weight, but that was ten years ago. Now, after ten years without competition, Kudou Yano had long faded from the Go scene and couldn't be compared to his former self.

Compared to Kudou Yano winning, they even felt Han Xiu's earlier suggestion about Higashiyama Kaoru's championship chances was more reliable.

"You didn't watch Teacher Kudou Yano's game against Zheng Qin, did you?"

The young man slowly explained: "The former Teacher Kudou Yano was thoroughly an attacking player, renowned for his power, with fierce, forceful style, winning through combat, called 'the ultimate victory master'."

"In those days, Go emphasized 'global harmony.' One could say it was Teacher Kudou Yano's emergence that pushed Go into the competitive era of 'power and calculation'!"

"Teacher Kudou Yano excelled at proactively initiating complex battles, often playing seemingly unreasonable yet deadly moves during games, forcing opponents into long thinking or even collapse. Even Teacher An Hongshi didn't dare confront Teacher Kudou Yano head-on back then."

"One could say, when discussing attack, Teacher Kudou Yano is an unavoidable mention. Today's attack-oriented players like Meijin Kong Zi or Korea's Kang Han-eun actually somewhat reflect Teacher Kudou Yano's style."

"Precisely because of this, Teacher Kudou Yano has always carried the nickname 'Ghost Wolf' in Japan. Of course, this was all before. What he's like now is hard to say."

The young man's expression grew more solemn as he continued: "But after watching today's game, my feeling is... this wolf has now gone completely berserk."

"Throughout the entire game, Zheng Qin had no chance to fight back—just completely crushed and slaughtered..."

Hearing this, the entire group fell silent for a long time.

After a while, someone finally twitched his mouth: "Is it really that exaggerated? Ten years ago, Teacher Kudou Yano wasn't Teacher An Hongshi's match. Are you saying that after ten years without competition, Teacher Kudou Yano has instead become stronger than Teacher An Hongshi?"

The young man didn't refute upon hearing this, simply falling into silence.

Seeing the young man not refute at all, everyone instead felt somewhat at a loss.

They all silently noted the names "Higashiyama Kaoru" and "Kudou Yano," planning to watch these two players' games in the next round.