The boy sitting across from Yu Shao froze when he saw this Tenuki.
"Instead of reinforcing, he played Tenuki to threaten my right flank?"
But he quickly reacted, immediately taking a Go stone from the Stone Box and placing it on the Go Board.
Clack!
Column thirteen, row thirteen—Turn!
Faced with White's Tenuki, Black refused to back down. He chose to attack the right flank, looking ready to seize the big point and fight for the hard-won initiative!
Yu Shao seemed to have anticipated this. He took a Go stone from the Stone Box and, right behind him, placed it on the board.
Column fourteen, row two—Connect!
The two sides continued placing Go stones. Everyone around them stared intently at the game. Before they knew it, their minds had sunk completely into the match, while the frequent sounds of stones landing echoed in their ears.
Clack!
Black placed another stone!
Column twelve, row three—Tsuke!
Yu Shao gazed at the board, his eyes flickering. He reached into the Stone Box again and took out a Go stone.
Clack!
The stone landed softly.
Column eight, row seventeen—Extend!
"He actually... played Tenuki again?!"
At this move, the crowd, which had been utterly silent moments ago, erupted in an uproar.
That earlier Tenuki had already left them baffled. This one was even more unbelievable.
White had clearly launched an aggressive attack on the left flank, but White's formation was not flawless. By repeatedly playing Tenuki, he was instead allowing Black's formation to gradually grow stronger!
Although the big point White had abandoned his turn to seize was important, this made it difficult to continue the attack on the right flank. Moreover, after the previous moves, Black even seemed faintly poised to counterattack!
Yet at this critical moment, White had played Tenuki again to attack