Autographed Photo

After finishing his talk on the history and current development of Go, and successfully stirring up the students' emotions, Wu Shuheng seized the momentum and began setting up stones on the large demonstration board, explaining some basic Go knowledge.

This basic knowledge included liberties, life and death, tesuji, and shicho, as well as some Go terminology like "small knight's move," "jump," and "attach."

Yu Shao found himself a bit distracted, while the other students listened intently, seemingly eager to step up and save the current Go world.

"Old Yu, let me tell you,"

Zhou De whispered to Yu Shao with a hint of smugness, "I know all of this stuff!"

"If you still don't get it, then you've wasted those few days reading," Yu Shao retorted.

"I could give this lecture myself," Zhou De boasted.

"Then why aren't you participating in the simultaneous exhibition match later?" Yu Shao asked, glancing at Zhou De.

"Heh, masters never make a move easily."

Zhou De crossed his arms, striking an invincible pose of being too high to be bothered.

"That's true. As long as you don't play, you won't lose. If you don't lose, then you've won."

Yu Shao nodded and said, "I acknowledge your skill, Shen Yi of Jiangling."

"Speaking of which, I just thought of something,"

Zhou De suddenly remembered something and asked with a puzzled expression, "Go has a title, right? Go Saint."

In professional Go, besides ranks, there are also titles, which are honorary designations. To obtain one, you must win a specific tournament and defeat the previous title holder.

If the challenge fails, the previous title holder successfully defends their title and retains it. Conversely, they lose the title. Because of this, each title defense match is highly anticipated by the public.

Yu Shao nodded and asked curiously, "Yes, what about it?"

"Go Saint, it really sounds impressive."

Zhou De asked, "But why is there a Go Saint, and no Go Emperor, Go King, or Go Emperor? And why must they have titles like Ten Dan, Tengen, or Meijin? It really lowers the prestige!"

"You read too many novels," Yu Shao said speechlessly.

"No, man, seriously, think about it."

Zhou De continued, "If two people are playing Go, and one has the title of Go Saint, while the other is Ten Dan, doesn't it feel like Ten Dan is far inferior?"

Come to think of it, Yu Shao hadn't really thought about it before, but now that he considered it, Ten Dan did seem to lack the same prestige as Go Saint.

Damn it, he must have caught it from Zhou De!

After a long while, Wu Shuheng, who was on stage, finally finished explaining the basic knowledge of Go. He smiled and said, "Alright, that's all for now. If you're interested in Go, you can buy some Go books or enroll in a Go class to learn."

Wu Shuheng smiled and said, "Next, I will play a ten-player simultaneous exhibition match with the junior students from our school."

"After hearing my explanation of Go knowledge just now, you should all be able to understand Go a little better. You can experience the charm of Go through these actual games."

"Now, please welcome my ten junior students to the stage!"

After he finished, thunderous applause erupted from the audience. The students clapped while craning their necks to look around, curious about which ten students would be stepping onto the stage for the match.

At that moment, Li Kang, sitting in the front row, turned his head to look at Yu Shao.

Yu Shao immediately understood and stood up from his seat.

"Old Yu, try to last as long as you can, and don't lose too badly!" Zhou De shouted.

"Shut up."

Yu Shao shot Zhou De a glare before walking towards the stage.

Just as Yu Shao was about to step onto the stage, a commotion arose from Class Six in the audience. Yu Shao turned his head and saw Xu Ziqin standing up from her seat and also walking towards the stage.

"She signed up too?"

Yu Shao was slightly surprised.

It wasn't that he was surprised Xu Ziqin knew how to play Go. After all, he had seen her at Shanhai Chess Hall twice before, and both times she had watched the entire game from start to finish.

People who didn't understand Go couldn't possibly watch it.

He was just a little surprised that someone with Xu Ziqin's cold personality would sign up for this Go exhibition match.

He was doing it for the Conduct Points. What about Xu Ziqin? She couldn't possibly be doing it for Conduct Points too, could she?

"Good luck, classmate!"

Just then, a pleasant female voice rang out.

Yu Shao was slightly startled. He turned his head and saw Wu Zhixuan holding her small, delicate fist, cheering him on energetically.

Seeing Yu Shao look over, she even smiled, revealing two dimples, and whispered, "My brother is very strong! Good luck!"

She was indeed quite cute.

Even Yu Shao had to admit that this girl was the type of person who could make anyone feel better just by looking at her.

"I'll do my best,"

Yu Shao smiled, "But I'm a bit lacking in motivation. How about you give me an autographed photo after the match? That would really motivate me."

"Huh?"

Wu Zhixuan blinked, then said with a confused expression, "But I'm just a first-dan player?"

In her impression, being asked for an autographed photo was a privilege reserved for particularly skilled and famous players.

"But you might become the best female player in the future, and then your autographed photos won't be so easy to get," Yu Shao said with a smile.

"Good eye!"

Wu Zhixuan's beautiful eyes lit up, and she nodded confidently. She patted her full chest and said, "Alright then, play well. After the game, I, the future best female player, will give you an autographed photo."

"It's a deal."

Yu Shao smiled and then walked onto the stage. He pulled out a chair at the closest chessboard and sat down.

But as soon as he was seated and saw the chessboard, Yu Shao couldn't help but freeze for a moment.

"What is this..."

On the board, two black stones had already been placed on the star points in the upper left and lower left corners.

A handicap game?

Soon, the other ten students also walked onto the stage. Wu Zhixuan cheerfully cheered on each of her classmates who was about to go up.

However, unlike Yu Shao, who was almost thirty and a seasoned veteran, these pure high school boys could only nod stiffly with red faces under Wu Zhixuan's encouragement.

Before long, all the students participating in the wheel battle had taken the stage, found their seats, and sat down in order.

The cameraman, carrying his camera, aimed his lens at the chessboard. When the game started, he would follow Wu Shuheng and broadcast each game live onto the big screen.

"This is a handicap game," Wu Shuheng said into the microphone, smiling at the students below. "After all, as a professional third-dan player, if I didn't give a handicap, I'm worried you'll say I'm bullying you."

Hearing this, the audience burst into laughter.

"However, giving a two-stone handicap and playing against ten people at once does put some pressure on me. I might even lose."

Although he said this, the confident smile on Wu Shuheng's face betrayed his true thoughts.

Clearly, he didn't actually believe there was a possibility of him losing.

The gap between amateur and professional players was not exaggerated by calling it a chasm. An amateur fifth-dan might already be winning awards or even championships in major amateur competitions.

However, for a professional player, it wouldn't be a problem to give an amateur fifth-dan a three-stone handicap.

Even though he was facing a ten-person wheel battle, the handicap was only two stones, which was perfectly acceptable.

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