I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 168: A Revolutionary Breakthrough

"You seem to have misunderstood."

Seeing Yu Shao’s reaction, Zhuang Weisheng’s gaze darkened slightly. His expression grew solemn as he spoke, "I’m not offering words of encouragement as a senior to a junior."

The words left everyone in the Handtalk Room momentarily stunned. They looked up at Zhuang Weisheng in confusion.

"I am speaking as a Go player to another Go player—"

Zhuang Weisheng looked directly at Yu Shao and said slowly, "I look forward to facing you in an official match."

Ding Huan’s eyes widened bit by bit.

A 10-dan player, Zhuang Weisheng, was saying this to a 1-dan professional?

"He's Zhuang Weisheng—a 10-dan master!"

"For someone of his status to say something like that to a beginner dan player… isn’t that a bit…?"

But then, recalling the game that had just unfolded, Ding Huan found himself speechless.

No, it wasn’t excessive at all.

That shocking 3-3 move alone was enough to turn the Go world on its head. Regardless of whether it was ultimately a loss or gain, the idea itself was unprecedented—it was a revolutionary breakthrough!

"From the very beginning, Zhuang Weisheng was trying to shake Yu Shao’s will, but not only did Yu Shao remain unfazed, he even turned the tables on Zhuang Weisheng!"

"A new storm is here!"

Beside Yu Shao, Kong Zi remained silent, his expression heavy.

Unlike the others, he wasn’t surprised by Zhuang Weisheng’s words at all.

As Yu Shao’s partner in the game, his emotions were the most complex. There was something others didn’t know, but he, as Yu Shao’s teammate, did.

"Our attack strategies were completely identical. Was that just a coincidence, or…?"

Kong Zi took a deep breath, his mind in turmoil.

In the complex midgame, when Black aimed to slay White’s dragon, White was bound to resist with everything it had. Normally, different players would have different attack strategies, and the more complicated the situation, the greater the variations in approach.

But to his shock, Yu Shao’s attack sequences matched his own—perfectly. Even when Yu Shao didn’t pick Kong Zi’s top choice, he still played his second-best option.

The way Black launched its attack against White’s massive dragon—so seamless, so unstoppable—it felt as if Kong Zi himself were playing both sides of the board!

Not even his own disciples had ever demonstrated such an instinctive synergy with him.

This… was even more unbelievable than the 3-3 move that led to an entirely new sequence in the lower-left corner!

"I understand now."

Yu Shao took a deep breath and nodded. "I also look forward to competing against you in an official match."

"You’re Yu Shao, correct?"

Finally, Kong Zi stood up as well. He looked at Yu Shao for a long moment before saying, "I’ll remember your name."

—

Seoul, South Korea.

"White… resigned."

As Fang Haoxin placed the stones on the board on the television screen, the entire research room fell into complete silence.

A group of young players sat frozen, staring at the computer screen. Even though the game had ended several minutes ago, none of them had snapped out of their daze.

They had considered the possibility of White losing—after all, in this Flame Inheritance Match, either side losing was entirely normal.

But in their expectations, it should have been a close midgame struggle, leading to a tense, back-and-forth battle where the victor was decided by the narrowest margin.

Reality, however, was entirely different.

The advantage had been single-handedly carved out by a mere 1-dan professional—and not just by any ordinary means, but by playing a groundbreaking 3-3 move. What followed was a relentless, devastating assault on White’s dragon, executed with flawless precision.

When the 3-3 move was first played, their reaction was one of utter disbelief.

When Black chose to crawl instead of hane-connect, they were left bewildered.

And when Black invaded White’s formation, crushed its thickness, and instantly flipped the board situation—they weren’t just shocked.

They were horrified.

"His name is… Yu Shao?"

All eyes were locked onto the black stone at the 3-3 point, their hearts trembling.

—

A High-End Apartment.

"...He won."

Sitting in front of a computer screen, He Yu stared blankly at the board, momentarily lost in thought.

Between his fingers, the cigarette had nearly burned to the filter, but he hadn’t even noticed.

It wasn’t until this game ended that the bullet, fired a year ago, struck him squarely between the eyes with pinpoint precision.

And that bullet completely overturned everything he thought he knew!

“This game… White didn’t just lose because of poor coordination. They lost because they failed to recognize the subtle weaknesses hidden in their thick influence in the lower-left corner. They never imagined Black would forcefully invade their position and launch a direct attack.”

“Once they suffered that setback and had to desperately struggle for life, everything became irreversible.”

“The problem is, before this game, no one realized this—not for a whole year, at least not me. No one ever considered that White’s position in the lower-left corner could be a target.”

After a long silence, He Yu finally shook his head, pressing the burnt-out cigarette into the ashtray.

“Only he saw it.”

—

"Hane-connect replaced by crawling..."

As the game concluded, Su Yiming slowly closed his eyes.

He didn’t believe that Yu Shao would make an unreasonable move. So when Yu Shao played 3-3, he simply waited—waited for Yu Shao to provide an answer through his later moves.

But when the answer finally surfaced, it was beyond anything he had imagined—

The 3-3 move might actually work.

For years, Go players had deeply ingrained the belief that playing 3-3 in the opening was a bad move.

But today, a new voice emerged, challenging that long-held certainty.

Most people would still believe that the 3-3 move was inferior. But that no longer mattered.

What mattered was that today, someone had dared to think differently.

—

Official Live Broadcast of the Flame Inheritance Match

As the game ended, the live broadcast room fell into silence.

Then, like a powder keg ignited by a spark, the chat exploded into a frenzy!

No one was surprised that White lost.

But for White to stand absolutely no chance the entire game, to be relentlessly hunted until their massive dragon was slaughtered, to be left with no option but to resign—this was unbelievable.

And what made it even more shocking was that the one who turned the tide against White wasn’t Kong Zi—but Kong Zi’s partner, the 1-dan newcomer, Yu Shao!

Countless comments flooded the chat in a blur:

"Unbelievable! Yu Shao's play is absolutely heretical! How could anyone come up with such an idea?! I was stunned when I saw White’s stones in the lower-left corner getting completely choked out!"

"Who even thinks about replacing the hane-connect with crawling on the second line after playing 3-3? I just don’t get it!"

"Not only that, but after gaining the advantage, his midgame battle execution was seamless. His coordination with Kong Zi was flawless—swift and decisive, cutting through the chaos without giving White a single chance. It was a complete victory!"

"Zhuang Weisheng fought hard. White was nearly dead, but he managed to prolong the fight with that brilliant throw-in. Unfortunately, Black’s position was already too dominant, and their coordination was just too strong. What a shame!"

"Damn! When I was a kid, my Go teacher would smack my hand if I played 3-3. I’m sending this game to my teacher right now—turns out, 3-3 is actually amazing!"

"Hold on, let’s not jump the gun. This new 3-3 variation is shocking, but whether it actually holds up remains to be seen. Let the pros analyze it first."

"This is insane. I never even dreamed that 3-3 in the opening would one day need serious discussion! This was always known as a bad move!"

"It’s been a while since we’ve seen such an exciting rookie. Last year, we had Zheng Qin. Now, we have Yu Shao. The future of Go is looking promising!"

"Don’t forget—tomorrow, we have Su Yiming, another rising dark horse. Wonder what surprises he’ll bring?"

Soon after, the broadcast room screen turned black.

But even then, the viewers didn’t leave. The chat continued to explode with comments.

—

For a long time, Chang Yan watched the scrolling chat before finally tearing her gaze away from the screen, deeply shaken.

Originally, she had been merely curious about Yu Shao, the one who had used the Hand-Cut Method to break the Demon Blade Joseki. She wanted to see how he would perform against Zhuang Weisheng.

Since this was only an exhibition match, she hadn’t taken it too seriously.

But Yu Shao’s performance left her speechless.

He had defied convention, playing 3-3. Then, he had shocked everyone by crawling on the second line—blatantly violating standard Go principles.

And yet, in the end, he forcefully invaded enemy lines, caught White off guard, and turned an unconventional idea into a decisive advantage.

What followed was an unstoppable dragon slaying—his coordination with Kong Zi was flawless, so much so that even Zhuang Weisheng couldn’t reverse the situation.

"3-3..."

Chang Yan furrowed her brows, deep in thought. Was this move actually viable?

Black had played 3-3 without exchanging hane-connect for White’s tiger mouth, which led to a thin spot in White’s position that could be attacked. No one had seen this coming—not even Chang Yan.

"But… this came at the cost of territory. And White was still thick—just not as thick as before."

Chang Yan’s brows knit tighter.

From a theoretical standpoint, even if White had a slight weakness, it should still be the better position.

However, if White was forced to spend extra effort defending the lower-left corner, then evaluating the trade-off became far more complex. In theory, most players would still prefer to play White.

Then there was the matter of White’s external influence—how valuable was it?

Different players had different answers to this question.

At that moment, Chang Yan suddenly froze.

"After this game… is 3-3 now a matter of subjective choice?"

She realized that most people, including herself, still believed 3-3 was a bad move.

But there would now always be some who thought differently.

It reminded her of the Three-Star Formation Joseki—most professionals didn’t think it was particularly strong, and statistically, it led to more losses.

Yet, there were always professionals who swore by it—and when they played it, they still won.

"But regardless of whether 3-3 is good or bad, the fact remains—"

Chang Yan took a deep breath.

He was the first one to think of it.

She couldn’t begin to imagine the kind of courage it took to defy standard theory and crawl on the second line instead of playing the hane-connect.

She couldn’t fathom the level of creativity required to follow that up with a full-scale assault on what should have been an impregnable fortress.

But one thing was certain—

Yu Shao did it.