A Move That Turned the Tide

Yu Shao quickly lost interest in the game and turned his attention to Xu Ziqin's game.

But when he saw the game, Yu Shao couldn't help but pause.

Looking at the situation on the board, a subtle sense of familiarity rose in Yu Shao's heart.

The stones of both sides were tightly entangled. They seemed to have already engaged in close combat, but Black's stones remained restrained, never launching an attack and merely using their influence to pressure White.

He was far too familiar with this situation, because it was precisely the style of play he had excelled at most in his previous life: using an overall view and deep reading to strangle his opponent without revealing the slightest weakness.

Yu Shao watched a few more moves, and a trace of surprise appeared on his face.

"Xu Ziqin can actually play this kind of game?"

"Although some of her moves are still rather immature and her considerations aren't comprehensive enough, the ideas behind many of them are ingenious. Her moves are extremely light, and her reading is no worse."

"At this point, Black has surrounded White from all sides, forming a pincer. White is already in grave danger."

"But..."

Yu Shao glanced at the boy sitting opposite Xu Ziqin, whose expression was ugly.

"This game isn't entirely beyond White's ability to turn around."

"Can he find that opportunity and seize it firmly?"

Soon, both sides played another five or six moves.

"What a pity. He didn't realize it at all... As long as Black doesn't make a mistake now—no, as long as Black doesn't make a major mistake—White won't have the slightest chance."

Yu Shao felt somewhat regretful.

However, he didn't find it strange, because the Go strength required to play that move capable of overturning the entire board was far beyond what an amateur Go Player could possess.

Even some low-ranked Professional Go Players might not be able to play it. And even if they truly discovered the move and played it, they might still be unable to read out the position that followed.

If they failed to read it out, the move could instead backfire. They might fail to destroy the territory and ultimately be killed by Black, causing the game to collapse rapidly.

Finally, after another seven or eight minutes, the boy sitting opposite Xu Ziqin let his hand fall dejectedly and said weakly, "I... I lost."

"Thank you for the game."

Xu Ziqin lightly nodded to her opponent. Her expression remained calm, as if winning the game had brought her no joy at all.

"Thank you... for the game."

The boy bit his lip and spoke unwillingly.

Only then did the boy notice Yu Shao standing nearby.

He froze slightly, then immediately turned his head toward the Go Board where Yu Shao and Wang Rui had played earlier.

"It's already over?"

His eyes widened in disbelief.

He had thought that after losing in just thirty minutes, he might well be the person who had lost the fastest.

But he had never expected Wang Rui's game to have ended even faster than his!

Who had won?

He immediately stood up and walked toward the Go Board where Yu Shao and Wang Rui had played earlier.

The Go Board on that table hadn't been cleared yet, so as soon as he approached, he saw the final position of the game.

When he saw the final position, his pupils instantly shrank to pinpoints.

"This..."

"What is this?!"

He felt as if his mind had been struck by a heavy hammer. He stared at the Go Board, dumbfounded and horrified.

"Black's shape has been cut apart almost everywhere, and weak points are scattered all over!"

"Even... even Black's Ugly Shape was attacked by White. Black was practically wiped out!"

"From the stones in the lower right corner, it looks like the game developed from the Great Avalanche Fuseki, but... but why was Black the side that got swept up in it?!"

His mouth went dry. Black had suffered so terribly that it could be said to have been slaughtered completely.

"I can't understand it at all. How did this game end up like this?"

Although he didn't understand that, he now understood the question he had just had: why this game had ended so quickly.

Although Black and White had played very few moves, judging from the position on the board, Black had no way to recover. White's advantage was so overwhelming that losing had become impossible!

It had formed an absolute crushing advantage!

Meanwhile, just as Yu Shao was preparing to leave and see how the final game was progressing, Xu Ziqin suddenly asked, "You seemed a little disappointed just now?"

"Hm?"

Yu Shao froze when he heard that. He hadn't expected Xu Ziqin to notice his expression while playing and watching the other game at the same time.

"Was there somewhere I didn't play well?"

Xu Ziqin quietly gazed at Yu Shao with her amber-like eyes and asked.

"No, you played very well."

Yu Shao shook his head. After hesitating for a moment, he looked at the Go Board and said, "It's just that White played a few problematic moves."

"White?"

Xu Ziqin slightly furrowed her brows, puzzled.

There had been problems with many of White's moves, and she could see that too. If Yu Shao had been watching from the beginning, it would have been understandable. But when Yu Shao arrived, White had already fallen into an overwhelmingly disadvantageous position with no way to recover.

Even if White played well, shouldn't the result have already been decided under such circumstances?

"Here."

Yu Shao pointed to a position on the Go Board and said.

"Here?"

Xu Ziqin lowered her head and looked at the place Yu Shao was pointing to, puzzled.

But soon, as Xu Ziqin stared at the Go Board, she seemed to freeze for several seconds. Then her beautiful eyes involuntarily widened, and her body leaned forward slightly without her realizing it.

"This..."

"This move... At first glance, it's completely incomprehensible."

"But if you think about it carefully, it's terrifying."

Xu Ziqin stared blankly at the Go Board.

"If White had ignored the large open area below and played here, directly fighting me within my sphere of influence and engaging in a Life and Death Struggle..."

"If one didn't think carefully, one really wouldn't discover it. My large framework of Black stones did indeed have extremely well-hidden defects and weaknesses in its shape."

"If White could truly make something of that, then the result... would indeed still be unknown."

A Life and Death Struggle referred to a strategy in which, in order to destroy the opponent's large framework and break the balance across the whole board, one had to fight within the opponent's sphere of influence and endure the opponent's attacks, thereby shifting the situation in one's own favor.

A Life and Death Struggle was the most difficult aspect of Go, without exception.

That was because a Life and Death Struggle followed almost no fixed patterns. It relied entirely on a Go player's combat strength and judgment, with victory and defeat decided through absolute strength!

White had indeed fallen into a huge disadvantage, but if White could truly perform a Brilliant move in a Life and Death Struggle, the situation might even be overturned!

But this was not a position an ordinary person could see!

White's shape had already been cut apart, so the normal approach would be to find a way to make White live. Moreover, the weaknesses in Black's shape were extremely well hidden. Without sufficiently deep reading, they were impossible to discover, so no one would naturally consider a Life and Death Struggle!

But...

Yu Shao had seen it.

Xu Ziqin opened and closed her mouth, but for a moment, she didn't know what to say.

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