I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 148: The Day the Demon Blade Fell

Yu Shao reached into the Go bowl once again, carefully placing the stones in a completely different move order—laying out moves 10 through 15 one by one.

Studying the board, he spoke.

"Moves 10, 11, and 15—White loses points. Moves 12 and 13—even exchange."

"So overall, at this point, the game remains balanced."

Just as he was about to reach for another stone, Xu Zijin's voice suddenly broke the silence.

"But moves 16 and 17—White gains points. So... does that mean White has the advantage?"

Xu Zijin stared intently at the board.

"Exactly."

Yu Shao was taken aback. He gave her a surprised glance before nodding and withdrawing his hand from the Go bowl, choosing not to continue.

If Xu Zijin had realized this, then there was no doubt Su Yiming had too. In fact, Su Yiming might have figured it out the moment Yu Shao suggested using the Hand-Cut Method.

A long silence followed.

"We all assumed that the push move was a mistake for White," Su Yiming murmured, staring at the board as if in a daze. "But when we analyze it with the Hand-Cut Method, it's actually Black who suffers."

After another pause, he finally spoke.

"So… the Demon Blade is dead."

Yu Shao silently nodded.

Yes, the Demon Blade had met its end.

The moment that push move landed, it was the death knell of the Demon Blade.

Surely, someone in the past must have considered this push variation, but since it looked immediately favorable for Black, no one ever bothered to apply the Hand-Cut Method to analyze its true impact.

If the push move was the death cry of the Demon Blade, then the moment they used the Hand-Cut Method to dissect it was the day it ceased to exist.

Unlike complex shape theories involving thickness, influence, and efficiency, this was a straightforward evaluation of local move exchanges—and the Demon Blade joseki was exposed as flawed.

From this day forward, one of the Three Great Unsolved Josekis of Go—the Demon Blade—would vanish from the game forever.

As for the Great Avalanche, that would only collapse once people fully understood thickness and efficiency—a realization that couldn’t be reached through the Hand-Cut Method alone.

In Yu Shao's previous life, all three of the so-called Unsolved Josekis had nearly disappeared. The Great Avalanche and Demon Blade had become obsolete, leaving only the Large Diagonal Joseki struggling to survive—its usage rate plummeting due to simpler and better alternatives.

In truth, one could say that AI had already eliminated the Three Great Unsolved Josekis.

Su Yiming sat motionless, staring at the board for a long time.

Yu Shao understood exactly how he felt.

After all, in his past life, he had gone through the same realization.

Su Yiming had noticed the problem with the push move, but he hadn’t yet made the mental leap to "the Demon Blade is dead."

After all, the Demon Blade was one of the most famous josekis in Go history—countless players had fallen to it. It was hard to believe there was anything wrong with it.

But now, with the problem clearly exposed, it was only a matter of time before others would analyze it and reach the same conclusion.

Yu Shao had simply given Su Yiming the answer a little ahead of schedule.

Even if the truth was a bit... shocking.

Beside them, Xu Zijin remained silent, staring at the board in disbelief.

She had been excited to watch today's match, but she never expected to witness the death of one of Go’s Three Great Unsolved Josekis.

Technically speaking, both Yu Shao and Su Yiming had already secured their professional licenses, but this afternoon was when they would be officially registered as professional players.

Which meant that—

Two rookie professionals had just played a three-hour game in a random Go hall…

And by the end of it, they had officially declared the Demon Blade joseki obsolete.

The moment this news spread, the global Go community would be thrown into chaos.

"Let's review the mid-game," Yu Shao suddenly suggested.

"I feel like my attacks weren’t sharp enough."

His voice snapped Su Yiming back to reality.

Taking a deep breath, Su Yiming forced himself to push his emotions aside and nodded.

The two quickly reset the board and replayed the game from the mid-game position.

"This move—I thought you would hane, which would have been the obvious choice. But you extended instead, which caught me off guard and forced me to tenuki."

Yu Shao pointed at the board.

"After I connected here, I thought my position would be solid, but then you counterattacked immediately."

"That’s because earlier, when you used the jump move, you were attacking the thin shape in my upper-left," Su Yiming explained.

"But that move was slow. It made my upper-left look fragile, but in reality, your Black groups on both sides were also thin."

He placed the stones back on the board, showing a different variation.

"The jump was too early. It needed more supporting moves to work. If you had pressed instead of jumped, I would’ve been in real trouble."

"Press?"

Yu Shao studied the board, momentarily surprised. But as he analyzed the position, his eyes lit up.

"This move… it’s not just a simple block—it actually sets up an invasion!"

"Exactly."

"But I also made mistakes," Su Yiming admitted, pointing at the left side of the board.

"I focused on expanding territory on the right, but after you hane’d, my White stones collapsed inward. That let your Black group expand, giving you an even larger moyo."

"If I had extended left first, I could’ve held my ground better."

Yu Shao considered this and laid out a different sequence.

"If I had invaded immediately after, you could’ve expanded the center while restricting Black’s influence. That would’ve been a much stronger approach."

The two continued to review the game, replaying sequences, refining ideas.

Xu Zijin watched in silence.

Her teacher had often reviewed games with her, but this time felt different.

This game review was giving her new insights—more than any lesson she had ever had.

After a long time, they finished their analysis.

Su Yiming looked at the board and sighed.

"Honestly... this game felt messier than our first two."

Xu Zijin remained quiet.

She hadn’t seen their second game.

But she had seen their match from the City High School Go League.

Compared to that one, today's match was on a completely different level.

And yet…

Even though this game was already incredible—Su Yiming and Yu Shao still felt it wasn’t enough.

"That’s normal."

Yu Shao chuckled.

"Like in esports—ranked matches and tournaments feel completely different. It’s a mental thing."

"But still… I learned a lot from this," Su Yiming admitted.

"If you’re up for it, let’s play again sometime."

"Of course."

Yu Shao nodded immediately.

Facing Su Yiming was invaluable—if he was going to specialize in attack-oriented play, Su Yiming was an ideal opponent.

He had assumed he wouldn’t find a worthy rival until he turned pro—but Su Yiming had shattered that expectation.

Su Yiming stood up, staring at Yu Shao with burning intensity.

"Then I’ll see you in our third match—on the professional stage."

Feeling the intense fighting spirit in Su Yiming’s gaze, Yu Shao remained silent for a moment before nodding.

"Alright."

"It’s already noon. Want to grab lunch?"

Just then, Xu Zijin glanced at Yu Shao, hesitated briefly, and added,

"My treat."

"Nah, let me cover it this time. You both have treated me before—if I don’t return the favor, I’ll feel bad."

Yu Shao stood up, smiling. "My family runs a hotpot restaurant, but I haven’t had hotpot in ages. Want to go for that?"

After finishing their hotpot meal, the three of them returned to the hotel, only to find that Jiang Xiahua's match was still ongoing.

Since both Su Yiming and Xu Zijin planned to return to their rooms to rest before the Promotion Tournament closing ceremony, Yu Shao parted ways with them and headed alone to the playing room.

At this moment, the entire playing room was focused on this final match. Yu Shao’s arrival went completely unnoticed.

He quickly made his way into the crowd and turned his gaze toward the board.

In this game, Jiang Xiahua played Black, while his opponent played White.

The match had entered the mid-game, and both players were in the midst of an intense battle.

Overall, Black had the advantage, but White still had a chance to turn things around.

Jiang Xiahua's expression was incredibly focused—he was fully immersed in the game. He spent a long time thinking before finally picking up a stone and placing it on the board.

Across from him, his opponent’s face was damp with sweat, his expression looking grim. It was clear that he understood his position was not favorable.

Tap. Tap. Tap...

The stones continued to fall.

"He's playing very steadily."

Watching the past few moves, Yu Shao quickly grasped Jiang Xiahua's strategy.

Since he already held the advantage, Jiang Xiahua was focusing on reinforcing his shape, ensuring his position was solid before transitioning into a controlled endgame.

At this point, White’s best strategy was to stir up complications—since Black was choosing a more defensive approach, White had to take every opportunity to escalate the fight and close the gap.

Jiang Xiahua’s opponent stared at the board, reached into the Go bowl, and swiftly placed his next move.

Hane.

Yu Shao’s brows furrowed slightly, and he cast a glance at Jiang Xiahua.

This was a subtle yet sharp move. If Jiang Xiahua failed to notice it and played another safe reinforcing move, White could unleash a much more severe attack, trapping Black in a prolonged fight—one that would be difficult to escape from.

"But if he spots it…"

Yu Shao’s gaze remained fixed on the board, his eyes reflecting the unfolding match.

And then—

Jiang Xiahua finally reached into the Go bowl and picked up a stone.

"If he does, he can go all in and launch a full-scale attack, threatening to slay the dragon and completely crush White!"

The next moment—

Tap!

Column 14, Row 7—Cut!

Seeing this move, Yu Shao lifted his head and looked toward Jiang Xiahua.

"He found it."

Across the board, Jiang Xiahua’s opponent froze—his expression shifting into one of shock and disbelief.

Clearly, this move had completely caught him off guard.

And he wasn’t alone.

Many of the surrounding spectators had failed to anticipate this move as well. Their startled expressions showed just how unexpected it was.

Only Zhuang Fei continued to stare intently at the board, his face filled with deep concern. He had also spotted the move, but he hadn’t expected Jiang Xiahua to actually play it.

The game continued.

After another ten minutes, Jiang Xiahua’s opponent finally lowered his head.

With a quiet, resigned voice, he spoke.

"I lost."

Hearing this, Jiang Xiahua let out a deep breath—a weight lifted from his shoulders.

He bowed his head and respectfully said,

"Thank you for the game."

His opponent, though clearly unwilling to accept the loss, still bowed in return.

"Thank you for the game."