After pondering for a long while, Yu Shao finally made his choice.
He reached into the stone box, clamped out a stone, and gently placed it.
Yu Shao then began waiting patiently.
At that moment, Wu Shuheng returned to Xu Ziqin's Go board.
When Wu Shuheng saw the Go Board on the table, he couldn't help but pause.
"An attachment?"
Wu Shuheng's expression grew slightly more solemn. After thinking for a moment, he finally clamped out a stone and placed it.
After Wu Shuheng placed his stone, Xu Ziqin followed closely behind and immediately placed hers.
Clack.
Clack.
Clack.
Before long, the two sides had played more than a dozen moves.
Unlike Yu Shao's previous game, neither Wu Shuheng nor Xu Ziqin played especially quickly. After placing a stone, each of them would think for a moment before making the next move.
Even so, Wu Shuheng did not feel relaxed.
He felt that his beautiful junior's moves were incredibly precise. Moreover, the attachment she had played after her earlier long think had been completely beyond his expectations.
It was an extremely subtle move, whose effects would only emerge through the subsequent variations of the game. An ordinary person would have found it very difficult to play such a move.
Even so, Wu Shuheng would still rather play against Xu Ziqin. At least he had more time to think, unlike in his previous game against Yu Shao, where he sometimes had to rely on his Go sense to make his moves.
Finally, after several more moves, Xu Ziqin stopped again and began to ponder.
Her Go strength isn't low. I need to take this game more seriously.
Wu Shuheng glanced at Xu Ziqin and thought silently. Then he walked toward the next Go board.
Playing against the others felt far easier to Wu Shuheng. Even after giving them a two-stone handicap, he cut through them with ease. Although two of the students had played fairly well, he quickly found their weaknesses and launched an attack.
Thus, it wasn't long before Wu Shuheng returned to Yu Shao's Go board.
Then, when Wu Shuheng lowered his head and looked at the Go Board, his eyelid twitched and his eyes immediately widened!
"He... threw in?!"
At that moment, the cameraman following Wu Shuheng also aimed the camera at the Go Board, and the game was shown simultaneously on the large screen at the front.
Seeing this black move, Wu Zhixuan, seated in the first row, instantly understood Black's intention as well. Her beautiful eyes widened.
"A throw-in? He wants to initiate a Ko?"
Ko was an extremely special situation in Go. Black could capture a white stone with its next move, and after Black made that capture, White could capture a black stone on its next move. That was a Ko.
If this cycle continued endlessly, the game would never end. Therefore, under the rules of Go, after one side captured a stone, the other side had to play elsewhere first before recapturing.
The place played elsewhere was called a Ko threat.
This involved another extremely complicated question of weighing values.
If the opponent felt that the position you played was less important than the Ko, they would not answer it. Instead, they would resolve the Ko, leaving you unable to recapture and immediately putting you at a disadvantage.
The process from initiating a Ko to finally resolving it was called a Ko fight!
Ko fights were often extremely fierce and complicated.
They tested a Go player's ability to control the game, judge local value, and grasp the overall position!
After all, if either side made even the slightest mistake, they could easily fall rapidly into an irredeemable position!
"Black chose to initiate a Ko at this point?"
Wu Zhixuan stared fixedly at the Go Board, furrowing her pretty brows as she seriously pondered.
On the other side beneath the stage, Zhou De was also shaken to the core when he saw the game. He stared at the Go Board, dumbfounded.
The Go books he had read over the past few days had not been for nothing. Although he still couldn't understand this game very well, he could tell that Black had chosen to initiate a Ko.
"He initiated a Ko just like that? Seriously?"
Zhou De's face was full of disbelief.
In a game of Go, there were often many opportunities for a Ko fight to arise. But not every Ko position needed to be initiated immediately. In fact, some Kos had to be deliberately avoided!
Whether to initiate a Ko had to be judged comprehensively based on the overall situation, the number of Ko threats, the importance of the Ko to both sides, and many other factors!
Without careful consideration, rashly initiating a Ko could make the entire game passive and lead to a rapid collapse!
At this moment, however, Zhou De felt that Black clearly did not have enough Ko threats. Moreover, this local Ko fight was extremely important. Once the Ko was resolved, the position could collapse completely!
On the stage, Wu Shuheng stared intently at the Go Board. After a lengthy think, he finally reached into the stone box, clamped out a stone, and placed it.
Clack!
Ten across, seventeen down. Capture!
Immediately afterward, Wu Shuheng picked up the black stones surrounded by white stones from the Go Board and placed them in the lid of the stone box beside him.
Yu Shao lowered his head and stared at the Go Board, his expression utterly calm. He also clamped out a stone and gently placed it.
Clack!
Fourteen across, ten down. Cap!
Wu Shuheng's expression was extremely solemn. After thinking for a long while, he placed another stone.
Fourteen across, nine down. Cut!
He chose not to resolve the Ko. Instead, he answered Black's cap. This meant that he had judged this local area to be more important and valuable than resolving the Ko.
The two sides began placing stones continuously again.
Those beneath the stage who could understand the situation could not help holding their breaths as they stared nervously at the large screen.
Influenced by them, even the other students who couldn't understand the game very well instinctively lowered their voices, infected by the tense atmosphere.
This time, Yu Shao was clearly playing more slowly than before. The situation was indeed more complicated now, and even he needed to think a little more deeply.
Compared to Yu Shao, however, Wu Shuheng was clearly taking much longer to think. Yu Shao's initiation of the Ko had been completely beyond his expectations, and caught off guard, he was somewhat on the defensive.
Finally, after another dozen or so moves, Yu Shao stopped playing and truly sank into thought.
Wu Shuheng also breathed a sigh of relief. He walked toward the next table, but his mind continued constantly calculating the subsequent variations of Yu Shao's game.
Before long, Wu Shuheng returned to Xu Ziqin's Go board.
Xu Ziqin had already made her move.
Wu Shuheng lowered his head and looked at the place where Xu Ziqin had played. His eyelid immediately began twitching uncontrollably.
Fourteen across, eight down. Shoulder hit!
Black had sacrificed stones!
It was like a starving wolf seizing an opportunity and biting down hard on White's body, completely unafraid of White's counterattack!
He had actually considered the variation in which Black sacrificed stones with a shoulder hit. But he hadn't thought Xu Ziqin could see this move. Even if she had seen it, she might not have truly dared to play it.
After the sacrifice, the situation would suddenly become fierce. Black would also have opportunities to counterattack, and as a professional Go player, he might even turn the tables on Black during the process!
But Xu Ziqin had seen it.
And she had played the move.
This was the variation he least wanted to face. Even though he was a professional Go player and had confidence in his Go strength, this was a Handicap Go Game after all, and Black's advantage was enormous.
He began to regret it a little.
Why had he chosen to play a Handicap Go Game?!
First an initiated Ko, then Sacrifice stones to attack and kill—why were they all pulling moves like this on me?!
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