Great Avalanche Fuseki

At this moment, it was Black's turn to move again.

Wang Rui stared intently at the Go Board, reached out and picked up a stone, then placed it down swiftly.

Clack!

Fourth column, fifteenth row—a One-space high approach!

"A One-space high approach?"

Seeing this move, Chen Jiaming was slightly surprised. "He didn't choose the most common Small knight's move approach or Large knight's move approach, but a high approach? Could Wang Rui be planning to..."

Yu Shao was also slightly stunned when he saw this Jump, but he quickly picked up a stone and made the appropriate response.

Third column, fifteenth row—Contact Play!

Wang Rui reached into the Stone Box and picked up another black stone.

Clack!

Fourth column, sixteenth row—Star!

The two sides took turns moving, and soon finished three moves according to the most basic Fuseki. It was Black's turn again.

There were countless positions Black could choose for this move. He could Jump, play a Small Knight in the lower-right or upper-right corner, or even make a Corner Approach in the upper-right corner. All of these were common and viable moves.

However, faced with the current position, Wang Rui did not think at all!

He stared intently at the Go Board, reached into the Stone Box, picked up a stone, gritted his teeth, and slammed it down as if he couldn't wait another second!

Clack!

The stone struck the board with a resounding snap!

Fourth column, fourteenth row—

Pressure!

The black stone landed on the board, brilliant as a star!

"This is..."

Seeing Wang Rui's move, Yu Shao across from him froze for a moment, clearly surprised. "The Great Avalanche?"

Chen Jiaming, who had been watching the game closely, also instinctively pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"As expected... it's the Great Avalanche!"

"The reason Wang Rui chose a One-space high approach was to play the Great Avalanche Fuseki, leading the game into the most complex and dangerous variation!"

"Within the Great Avalanche, one of the most complex and fiercest Fuseki, Black intends to seek a chance at victory through attack and killing!"

The development of this Fuseki on the Go Board often began with a single stone before gradually triggering a chain reaction. A string of stones seemed to be swept along by an avalanche, rapidly occupying a vast area of the board!

Because of its rapid expansion and snow-like coverage, it was called the Great Avalanche. Its complexity and ferocity in attack and killing were beyond comparison with most Fuseki!

For that very reason, even Professional Go Players rarely used this sequence. It was simply too difficult to control.

But once this Fuseki was used successfully, it truly possessed the devastating force and impact of an avalanche!

"The Great Avalanche..."

Yu Shao gazed at the board, his expression complicated.

It had been a very, very long time since he had seen anyone play the Great Avalanche Fuseki.

In his previous life, this Fuseki had once been popular for a time. Its complex variations and fierce attacks had made it a favorite topic of discussion, and it had been hailed as one of the three most difficult Fuseki to solve.

However, with the arrival of the AI era, AI calculations had determined that this Fuseki was unsound. It had been completely eliminated, and had all but vanished from professional competitions.

Thus, when Yu Shao saw Wang Rui play the Great Avalanche, he actually felt a little melancholy, a little nostalgic, and inexplicably sad.

After remaining silent for a long while, Yu Shao finally reached out, picked up a stone, and placed it down gently.

Fourth column, thirteenth row—Hane!

Wang Rui inhaled deeply, picked up a stone, and placed it down.

Third column, seventeenth row—Extend!

The two sides soon played four more consecutive moves, all of them book moves. After the Great Avalanche Fuseki took shape, these four moves were mandatory; either side would suffer by deviating.

Then, it was finally Yu Shao's turn.

Yu Shao lowered his eyes toward the board and picked up a stone.

Clack.

Fifty-eighth row—Outside attachment!

As this move landed, Wang Rui and Chen Jiaming both widened their eyes at the same time!

"It's an Outside attachment?"

Chen Jiaming instinctively pushed up his glasses. "The Outside attachment is an extremely early move. Ever since the Inside attachment was developed, almost no one has used the Outside attachment. It was practically rejected!"

"Could this kid not have studied the Great Avalanche Fuseki in depth?"

After his shock, Wang Rui's eyes suddenly lit up, as if he had seen the dawn of victory.

His thoughts were exactly the same as Chen Jiaming's.

"He isn't familiar with the Great Avalanche Fuseki!"

"The variations of the Inside attachment are relatively more complicated. Since he isn't familiar with the Great Avalanche, he used the oldest Outside attachment!"

"Even if his Go strength is greater than mine, as long as I can seize an advantage in the opening, I'll have the strength to fight in the middle game!"

"I can win this game!"

With that thought, Wang Rui's fighting spirit surged again. He immediately picked up a stone and placed it down!

Third column, thirteenth row—Cut!

"As expected, he cut..."

Yu Shao was not surprised by this move at all. After White's Outside attachment, Black's Cut was mandatory. Even if he were the one playing, he would definitely Cut here. There was no other choice.

Yu Shao reached into the Stone Box. The stones clacked against one another as he picked up a white stone and placed it down gently.

Clack.

Second column, thirteenth row—Atari!

Wang Rui had already eagerly picked up a stone and was preparing to place it down.

But when he saw Yu Shao's move, the hand that was about to place down his stone suddenly stopped in midair.

"H-He played Atari?"

Wang Rui stared at the board. White's move was completely beyond his expectations, leaving him utterly dumbfounded.

After White's Outside attachment, the subsequent variations could all be found in the records. They had also been tested by countless experts. Deviating from the records usually meant playing a bad move.

In this position, White's book move was Extend, and it was the move everyone found most acceptable.

Yet White had chosen Atari, completely departing from the records—and had done so in a position so unreasonable that he could barely understand the purpose behind it.

"Could he... have no understanding of the Great Avalanche Fuseki at all?"

This thought suddenly arose in Wang Rui's mind.

On the one hand, he felt that this was unlikely. How could someone capable of playing that kind of game in a simultaneous exhibition know nothing about the Great Avalanche Fuseki?

But after seeing this Atari, he felt that the possibility was quite high.

Chen Jiaming, who was also watching the game, could not help frowning deeply.

After pondering for a moment, Wang Rui finally played another stone.

Third column, twelfth row—Extend.

Yu Shao remained calm and placed down another stone.

Clack.

Fourth column, fourteenth row—Hane!

Seeing this move, Wang Rui's pupils contracted slightly, his eyes filled with confusion.

"Hane?"

This was another move he had never expected, so strange that it seemed almost inconceivable. White's two consecutive moves had both been entirely outside his expectations.

Wang Rui took a deep breath to calm himself. After thinking for a while, he placed down another stone.

Fifth column, sixteenth row—Connect!

The two sides began placing stones continuously.

A hand reached into the Stone Box, picked up a stone, and placed it down.

Again and again.

For a time, the entire Go room contained only the sounds of Black and White taking turns placing their stones.

Clack, clack.

Chen Jiaming quietly watched the game from the side.

Soon, more than a dozen moves had been played, and Chen Jiaming's expression gradually changed as well. He found himself unable to understand the position on the board.

"How could this be?"

"Wang Rui has clearly played very well. There isn't a single mistake to be found. When White played Continuous Hane earlier, Black even keenly went to the upper side first to play Atari, worried that he would have no chance to do so later. He handled even such details perfectly."

"After those two moves by White, White should have quickly fallen into a disadvantage. But why... is the position so evenly matched?"

"The position... is it two points?"

Just then, Black played another stone.

Fourth column, tenth row—Parallel!

Seeing this, Yu Shao was slightly surprised.

It was not because Black's move was particularly good, but because every one of Black's dozen-odd opening moves had indeed been very solid. Even Yu Shao could not find any major fault with them.

"I used a computer to analyze this opening variation before, but I stopped once Black played Parallel here..."

"Because from the perspective of most humans, Black is only two points behind White in this position. The two sides are evenly matched, and either could still fight."

"But the computer's judgment was—"

"White's win rate is seventy percent."

Those twenty percent represented the gap known as the difference between eras.

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