The Pride of a Genius

The final game lasted unexpectedly long.

Throughout the middle game, Black and White had been locked in a tight struggle, with the outcome liable to reverse at any moment. After an intense battle in the middle game, they finally entered the endgame.

The result of this game was still uncertain. Even Yu Shao could not predict it in advance.

The gap between the two sides was still small. One second, he might think Black was about to win, only for Black to give away those slight advantages the next. The same went for White.

At that moment, everyone was gathered around the game, waiting for it to end.

Except Xu Ziqin.

Xu Ziqin remained seated in her chair, silently gazing at the Go Board before her. First, she picked up a black Go Stone with the Clamp and placed it, then picked up a white Go Stone and placed it.

Click, click, click.

The Go Stones continued to fall.

If White truly chose a Life and Death Struggle, the situation would become unimaginably complicated. The board would turn so fierce that she could neither control nor calculate it.

But could White really find a move in the first place?

Thus, she was independently analyzing all the variations that would arise after White entered a Life and Death Struggle.

And the further she analyzed, the quieter she became.

She analyzed many variations, but in the end, White could not produce any meaningful moves. However, after she played the variation in which White made a Tiger, everything changed...

With White under Black's sphere of influence, if White could make a Tiger, the situation would suddenly become far more severe than she could have imagined!

This way of playing a Tiger was very difficult to think of. Otherwise, she would not have only realized that White still had this move after analyzing so many other possibilities.

Xu Ziqin turned her head and looked at Yu Shao, who was watching the final game nearby.

"So, did he only see White's method of entering a Life and Death Struggle?"

"Or, while seeing the Life and Death Struggle, did he also see White's Tiger...?"

Meanwhile.

Finally, after another ten-odd minutes, the endgame came to an end, and both sides began counting the territory.

"Black won."

Chen Jiaming spoke softly. "After komi, he won by one and a half points."

The boy sitting across from Zhong Yufei clenched his fists unwillingly and lowered his head. "I lost."

Hearing this, Zhong Yufei also let out a relieved sigh. He wiped the sweat from his face and said, "Thank you for the game."

"Thank you for the game."

The boy sitting across from Zhong Yufei looked thoroughly unconvinced. He gritted his teeth and admitted defeat.

Of course, he was unwilling to accept it. The gap between them was not large, and he had only narrowly missed winning this game.

But no matter how close he had come to winning, a loss was still a loss.

The other two had no such troubles. The gap was simply too great: one had had no hope of winning at all, while the other had had a chance but failed to see it.

It was over.

Wang Rui fell silent.

In the end, none of the three had won. All three games had ended in defeat.

"You played well."

Chen Jiaming patted him on the shoulder and looked at the three of them with a smile. "All of you played very well. You've improved far too much compared to last year. If I played against you, I might even lose if I wasn't careful."

The three of them lowered their heads and remained silent.

"I'll say the same thing again. All you need to do is give your best and know that you've done everything you can. That is enough."

Chen Jiaming smiled. "Although you lost the games, seeing your progress makes me feel that all your efforts this year were worthwhile. I'm proud of you."

"Teacher Chen..."

Hearing this, the three of them were all moved.

Chen Jiaming glanced at the clock on the wall and said, "It's getting late. Let's call it a day. Everyone can go home."

After saying that, Chen Jiaming looked at Yu Shao and the other two. "Remember to come to the activity room after school to practice Go. However..."

Chen Jiaming paused and smiled. "My strength is lacking. I probably won't be able to beat you, much less teach you how to play. You'll have to make do with playing against one another and reviewing the games yourselves."

"Oh, right. The school will provide you with dinner. You can eat here."

Meanwhile, at the preliminary round of the Go Professional Qualification Tournament.

"I... I lost!"

A boy of about thirteen stared at the Go Board before him and lowered his head in unwilling defeat.

"Thank you for the game."

Although Zheng Qin had won, his expression remained calm. He nodded at his opponent, quickly gathered the Go Stones, then stood up and left.

The two judges watched Zheng Qin depart in silence.

It was not until Zheng Qin had left the Go room that the two judges finally began discussing him in low voices.

"That was incredible. He's won three in a row already."

"His opponent was from a Go academy, wasn't he? And he still lost that quickly. He was easily crushed by his opponent in the middle-game battle."

"I heard he had never trained at a Go academy at all. To play this well without receiving professional training at one is truly astonishing!"

"If Zheng Qin can maintain this level, qualifying through the preliminaries should be a certainty."

"Exactly. The people participating in this year's Professional Qualification Tournament are under pressure now. After all, the number of slots for becoming a Professional Go Player is limited."

"I heard he already had the strength to challenge for professional status a long time ago. He simply chose to attend university first."

"What? Seriously?"

"Really. I heard Xia Wen, the third-dan, mention it. He was once invited to be a guest at a university Go league. Zheng Qin came first in that competition, and the strength he displayed in that game was already close to professional level."

Hearing this, the bespectacled judge asked in astonishment, "If that's true, why didn't he go for professional status earlier? Why wait until university?"

"I heard he felt that, at the time, he only had a chance of qualifying, without absolute confidence. He would have needed a certain amount of luck, such as a favorable draw, to become a professional."

The other judge spoke up. "He said that if he participated in the Professional Qualification Tournament, he didn't want to rely on even the slightest bit of luck... He wanted to become a Professional Go Player through absolute Go strength, with a perfect record."

The bespectacled judge was left speechless, deeply shaken.

A moment later, he finally came back to himself and shook his head with a sigh. "Is this the pride of a genius? It's impossible to understand..."

Then, he added regretfully, "It's a pity he never received professional training at a Go academy. Otherwise, he should be much stronger than he is now, right?"

"It's said that he isn't actually very interested in Go."

The other judge continued, "Because he feels that playing Go well comes easily to him and that passing the Professional Qualification Tournament wouldn't be difficult, he was unwilling to join a Go academy. He isn't even very interested in becoming a Professional Go Player."

"Seriously?"

The bespectacled judge found it hard to believe. "But the way he plays is so serious and focused. He looks as if he really wants to become a Professional Go Player!"

"That is something I don't understand either."

The other judge nodded, puzzled. "What happened to make him suddenly change his mind? He doesn't even look as arrogant as the rumors claimed."

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