I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 106: What Kind of Imagination and Calculation Does This Move Require?

San Francisco, California, USA.

The night sky was deep and dark outside the window.

Inside, a young man in his early twenties, with blond hair and blue eyes, sat in front of his computer, his gaze locked onto the screen.

Around him, a group of peers gathered, pointing at the board and chattering excitedly—

"Turn here! Let’s see how they respond."

"No, no, no. If we turn, Black can cut. White’s position is too thin—we should just push through instead."

"Maybe we should tenuki and extend to the left. Play the long game."

The young man at the board finally snapped. "Shut up! Ever heard of ‘A true gentleman watches a game in silence’?"

One of the guys laughed, slapping his shoulder. "We don’t have gentlemen here—only freedom!"

"I don’t need help. You’re distracting me. This opponent… is different."

The blond-haired player shot them an irritated glare, then refocused on the board.

He slid his mouse and quickly placed a white stone.

Column 12, Row 17—Push.

The moment his move landed, his opponent instantly responded—

Column 11, Row 17—Clamp!

"A clamp?!"

Everyone froze in shock.

"Clamp? What’s the idea behind this?"

"Isn’t Black at risk of getting cut off? This move doesn’t make sense."

"They were playing well before this—why suddenly play such a strange move?"

The blond player’s eyes lit up.

After thinking for a moment and confirming his decision, he swiftly clicked his mouse.

Column 13, Row 14—Peep!

Recognizing a flaw in Black’s position, White immediately bared its fangs, launching a vicious attack aimed at severing Black’s vital stones.

A flurry of moves followed.

After six or seven more exchanges, it was White’s turn again.

"At best, Black can force a shared life, but White will gain a massive containment advantage on the lower side."

The blond-haired player assessed the board, reached a conclusion, then clicked his mouse.

Column 10, Row 17—Tiger’s Mouth!

"Brilliant move! Fern, that Tiger’s Mouth was perfect! Classic you!"

A long-haired player beside him lit up with excitement, giving Fern a hard slap on the back.

"I was considering a direct peep, but this is even better. This completely seals Black in—it’s over!"

But before the excitement faded—

Click.

A black stone landed.

Column 12, Row 9—Attach!

"Wait… Black attached?"

Not just Fern, but everyone in the room froze.

"Isn’t this move making things worse? Not even a shared life is possible now!"

The room fell silent as everyone stared at the board, trying to reassess the position.

At first, their expressions were puzzled.

But then, slowly—

Someone finally realized something.

Their faces paled instantly.

"This… this is—"

Their gaze locked onto the board, filled with horror.

And then—one by one—the others began to realize it too.

Their expressions shifted to sheer disbelief.

The lower Black stones… weren’t White’s captured prey.

They were—

A deliberate sacrifice!

"Normally, players sacrifice stones for one of two reasons—"

"Either they use sacrifices to gain tempo and launch an attack, or they’re forced to abandon them as a last resort."

"But Black isn’t doing either!"

"That clamp moved earlier? It wasn’t a mistake. It was the setup for this massive sacrifice!"

"They’re abandoning these stones to seize the initiative—and then… they’re going after White’s entire dragon!"

Fern stared blankly at the board, completely frozen in place.

His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard.

He could see it now.

The clamp move—though shocking—wasn’t even the best move.

It was simply the most aggressive, the most violent, the most complex choice available.

Even so, White was still technically okay—the situation was chaotic, but both sides were in danger.

But that wasn’t the point.

Fern’s hands trembled slightly as he stared at the screen.

"Just how much imagination does it take to even think of this kind of sacrifice?"

"And how deep do you have to calculate to predict the full impact of a move like that?"

[Win!]

As the victory message popped up on his screen, Yu Shao shook his head.

His opponent had started off decently, but the moment he executed the sacrifice, the guy crumbled like a salted fish, retreating into pure defense.

It hadn’t even taken long—just after the game entered mid-stage, he had already slaughtered White’s dragon and secured the win.

"Their skill level is probably about the same as those South China Third High dojo trainees."

Still, Yu Shao wasn’t disappointed.

"For my first game, matching against an opponent of this level is already a decent start."

He clicked his mouse and queued for another match.

The second opponent was clearly a beginner—couldn’t even handle basic life-and-death situations.

Yu Shao won easily.

He kept queuing.

The next two games were the same—complete beginners.

But Yu Shao wasn’t surprised.

At this low online rank, it was nearly impossible to find strong opponents.

He simply needed to climb the ranks first.

In his previous life, he had occasionally played online.

Not just him—many professional players did.

So based on experience, he figured that once his online rank improved, he’d start matching against stronger opponents.

This world had far more Go players than his past life, and Nineteen was an international platform.

That meant the player base was enormous—he was bound to encounter real competition soon.

In fact, just the fact that he had already matched against someone at dojo trainee level in his very first game was impressive.

"Well, I’ve got nothing but time."

"I’ll just grind my rank while climbing the amateur dan system."

Staring at the glowing computer screen, Yu Shao made up his mind.

"Forget your usual style for now. Choose the most complex, intense variations. Treat yourself as a pure attack-oriented player and use online games to adapt to this approach."

For the next stretch of time, Yu Shao split his focus—working through his Go ranking exams while also gaming with Zhou De and the others.

Whenever he had some free time, he squeezed in a few online matches on Nineteen.

Maybe it was because summer vacation had started, but their gaming squad had actually started winning some matches.

It was no longer the free-rank-giving disaster it used to be.

Of course, every gaming session still came with Zhou De’s endless complaints.

As a sports student, even during summer break, he still had to train.

In his own words—

"I’ve been on break for just two weeks, and I’m already so tanned that if you turn off the lights, you won’t be able to find me."

That day, Zhou De was complaining as usual.

"Old Yu, Go is officially considered a sport, right? So why do Go players get to sit in air-conditioned rooms while I have to run laps in the blazing sun?!"

"Because your brain can’t run, so your body has to. Wait—Zhou De, why the hell are you farming jungle again? Get over here and help me!"

Yu Shao saw Zhou De head toward the river… only to suddenly turn around and go back to farming jungle.

Instant rage.

"Is that how you talk to your jungle overlord?"

Zhou De’s smug voice came through the headset. "Apologize. Now."

"I’d rather die than bow to tyranny!"

The two went back and forth in a heated argument before finally—

They lost the match in spectacular fashion.

After logging off, Yu Shao was just about to launch Nineteen for a few online games when his phone suddenly vibrated.

A WeChat notification popped up.

[Wu Zhixuan]: Ta-da! The future Go Sage has officially ranked up to 2-dan!

Before Yu Shao could even type a reply, a flood of messages followed—

"I almost lost the final match! I was up against a 3-dan player, and I was on the verge of defeat. But then they ran out of time in the endgame and made a mistake! I turned it around and won by 1.5 points!"

"After winning that game, I finally had enough ranking points to level up!"

It was obvious she was thrilled to have officially reached 2-dan status.

Yu Shao typed a quick response:

"Congrats, congrats! So, is my signed photo ready?"

"I’ll send it to you soon. Having the future Go Sage’s signed photo is a huge win for you! Anyway, I’m off to eat. I’m starving after playing all day!"

She added a sticker of a fainting, hungry cartoon character.

Seeing that, Yu Shao didn’t reply further.

He put down his phone, moved his mouse, and opened Nineteen again.

Another match.

Over the past month, Yu Shao had played 73 games online.

Win rate: 100%.

He had maintained a flawless winning streak.

As a result, the system had started matching him with stronger opponents.

Soon, his next match was found.

After playing so many online games, Yu Shao no longer bothered checking his opponent’s profile.

He jumped straight into the match and began the turn order guessing process.

The result?

Yu Shao played White, while his opponent played Black.

His opponent quickly placed the first move.

Column 16, Row 4—Star Point.

Without hesitation, Yu Shao clicked his mouse, placing White’s first move.

Column 4, Row 16—Star Point.

After just four moves, the game had developed into a Double Star Point vs. Double Star Point opening.

Now, it was Black’s turn again.

His opponent didn’t even hesitate before slamming down their next move.

Click!

Column 16, Row 10—Star Point!

Yu Shao’s gaze sharpened slightly.

"Oh?"

This was going to be interesting.