I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 211: Le Haoqiang... should be able to win, right?

Hearing Jiang Xiahua’s words, Yu Shao was slightly taken aback.

In Go, it’s not uncommon for lower-dan players to occasionally win a few games against higher-dan players.

However, if there is a significant gap in skill, lower-dan players winning against higher-dan players is usually due to the latter making a blunder, allowing the former to win by sheer luck.

To take the most extreme example, even if a high-dan player is practically guaranteed to win, a single careless move—self-filling a liberty and losing a hundred-point dragon—could instantly turn a certain victory into an inevitable defeat.

Of course, such low-level mistakes rarely occur among professional Go players. Typically, professionals only lose due to miscalculations, exposing a weakness that their opponent exploits to turn the game around.

Unlike a century or two ago, almost every match today is decided within a single day. In such a fast-paced battle, the strongest player is not necessarily the victor—no matter how strong, anyone can be swept away by an unexpected storm.

Go is vast and boundless, mysterious and unpredictable. Everyone is groping in the dark, and with each move played, there are billions of possibilities. No one, no matter how strong, can ever fully grasp all the variations in Go.

Because of this, victory in Go is not determined by skill alone—it also depends on emotions, strategy, willpower, composure, stamina, and even luck!

Go is not just a contest of skill; it is also a trial of human nature. And that is precisely the charm of Go.

Even Go AI, which lacks human nature and emotions, has fallen to an unexpected storm!

In his past life, even when the third-generation Go AI had fully matured and was universally recognized as leagues ahead of the second-generation AI, it was still defeated by the second-generation AI on multiple occasions.

Because the key to victory often lies in—who can seize that fleeting opportunity!

In the infinitely complex world of Go, even an AI as powerful as the top-tier Go programs is merely a seeker of the way, left sighing in frustration. Even when walking on thin ice, it may not always reach the other shore.

Whether human players or Go AI, their lifelong pursuit is to grasp those fleeting opportunities in the most complex situations.

Jiang Xiahua’s point was simple: his teacher, Zhu Xinyuan, 9-dan, didn’t lose to Le Haoqiang the way he lost to Wu Zhixuan online—by making some massive blunder.

In that match, Zhu Xinyuan lost to Le Haoqiang simply because Le Haoqiang successfully seized that fleeting opportunity and used it to win the game.

“In any case, be extra careful.”

Jiang Xiahua warned with a serious expression, “He’s definitely not someone to be underestimated.”

“Got it, I’ll take this seriously.”

Yu Shao smiled and asked, “Who’s your opponent today?”

“Zhou Licheng, 2-dan.”

Jiang Xiahua clenched his fists with determination and said, “I’ve decided! Starting from this game, I’m going on a winning streak and advancing to 2-dan!”

“Do you know you shouldn’t set up flags* so carelessly?” Yu Shao shot Jiang Xiahua a sidelong glance.

(*flag = jinxing oneself by declaring victory in advance.)

“What do you mean by flag?”

Jiang Xiahua patted his chest, full of bravado. “I don’t know what it means to be young and reckless—I only know that the victor is king!”

Before long, as the match time approached, professional Go players began entering the playing room one after another. Yu Shao’s opponent for the day, Fei Hanfei, 6-dan, also took his seat across from Yu Shao.

He glanced at Yu Shao, took a deep breath, pulled out his chair, and sat down.

A moment later, two referees entered the playing room. As the time approached, one of them announced the start of the match, and the crisp sound of Go pieces clicking against the board echoed through the room.

After determining turn order, this game would have Yu Shao playing as Black.

“Please guide me.”

Yu Shao slightly bowed his head and spoke.

Fei Hanfei immediately returned the bow. “Please guide me.”

With the formalities complete, Yu Shao lowered his gaze to the board, reached into the bowl, and carefully picked up a Go piece.

The black stone was held between his index and middle fingers, with the middle finger on top and the index finger below. His ring finger and pinky were slightly spread apart.

In the next moment, the piece gently landed on the crisscrossing grid of the board!

Click!

Column 16, Row 4—Star Point!

…

…

Three days later.

Another round of the Yingjiao Cup preliminaries was finally about to begin.

The Yingjiao Cup preliminaries were nearing their end, yet the playing room hosting today’s matches was still packed with players.

They weren’t here for today’s preliminaries—only a handful of players still had matches left in the tournament. Those who failed to meet the point threshold had already been eliminated.

Because of this, the players didn’t seem particularly nervous. However, they still appeared deeply preoccupied, occasionally glancing toward the entrance of the playing room.

They... were waiting for today’s match results, because this round of preliminaries would directly determine the final allocation of two main tournament slots!

Everyone understood what qualifying for this year’s Yingjiao Cup main tournament meant.

Each of the five major regions had three spots in the main tournament, meaning that across all regions, only fifteen players would make it through.

Thus, securing a place in the Yingjiao Cup main tournament meant a high chance of being one of the ten players competing for a professional slot!

Wu Zhixuan had no match today, but knowing the importance of this round, she had arrived at the playing room early, anxiously watching the entrance.

“They’re here!”

At that moment, someone looked toward the entrance and spoke.

Hearing this, everyone’s gaze turned to the doorway, instantly spotting Yu Shao’s figure.

Upon seeing Yu Shao, Wu Zhixuan’s eyes lit up slightly, and she quickly waved at him.

Noticing Yu Shao looking in her direction, Wu Zhixuan immediately clenched her pink fists, holding them up in front of her in a cheering gesture. She didn’t walk over to speak with Yu Shao, clearly worried about adding pressure on him.

Seeing this, Yu Shao found it amusing and gave Wu Zhixuan a slight nod. Just as he was about to withdraw his gaze, he suddenly froze for a moment—he had spotted Zheng Qin sitting in the back row as well.

Zheng Qin’s expression was somewhat complicated at the moment. When he noticed Yu Shao looking at him, he also nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

Yu Shao nodded back before finally retracting his gaze. He first glanced at Table Two, then shifted his eyes to Table One.

Today, he was assigned to Table Two, while Su Yiming was at Table One. At this moment, both tables were empty on either side—it was clear that Yu Shao was the first to arrive today.

Yu Shao walked to the side of Table Two, pulled out a chair, and sat down, quietly waiting for the match to begin.

Before long, Su Yiming also entered the playing room. He glanced at Yu Shao before heading straight to Table One, pulling out his chair and sitting down.

A short while later, Le Haoqiang finally arrived. The moment he stepped into the playing room, his eyes went directly to Table Two.

Seeing that Yu Shao was already seated on one side of Table Two, Le Haoqiang walked to the other side, pulled out a chair, and sat down across from Yu Shao without saying a word.

Not long after, another young man with round-framed glasses and a center-parted hairstyle entered the playing room. He walked over to Table One, pulled out a chair, and sat down across from Su Yiming, his expression tense as if facing a formidable opponent.

As the match time approached, players like Yang Yuqiang and Qiu Jingrui also entered the playing room one after another.

After taking their respective seats, they couldn’t help but subconsciously glance at Tables One and Two, their emotions mixed.

However, there was one thing they all had in common—

Before today, none of them had expected that Yu Shao and Su Yiming, two first-dan players who had just recently earned their professional status, would make it this far.

Now, the two of them were just one step away from entering the Yingjiao Cup main tournament!

Regardless of whether they could continue advancing after this round, they had already lived up to the name "Yingjiao"!

Once all the players were seated, those in the back row immediately stood up. In no time, a dense crowd formed around Tables One and Two, leaving no gaps.

However, compared to Table One, the match between Yu Shao and Le Haoqiang at Table Two was clearly drawing more attention.

After all, Su Yiming’s opponent was merely Feng Zhenzhong, 6-dan, whereas Yu Shao’s opponent was Le Haoqiang, 5-dan!

Even though Feng Zhenzhong held a higher dan rank than Le Haoqiang, everyone knew that he was far from Le Haoqiang’s level. His actual skill was likely on par with Dou Yiming.

So, the fact that Feng Zhenzhong had made it this far was already quite unexpected. Both he and Dou Yiming had some chance of entering the main tournament, but it wasn’t a strong one—it was purely up to luck.

Clearly, Feng Zhenzhong had better luck than Dou Yiming. Now that Dou Yiming was completely out of the running, Feng Zhenzhong, even if he lost this round, still had a slim chance to fight for the third slot—truly defying the odds.

“Le Haoqiang... should be able to win, right?”

Amidst the crowd, many couldn’t help but sneak glances at Le Haoqiang, their emotions complicated. Because, at the moment this question arose in their minds, it was in the form of a question rather than a statement!

Zheng Qin stood silently among the crowd.

He couldn’t predict the outcome of this match with certainty—otherwise, he wouldn’t have come today.

Unlike others, he knew exactly what had happened in his game against Yu Shao during the National Master Battle.

In that game, Yu Shao had played almost as if guided by divine hands. That 5th-line shoulder hit was nothing short of a Divine Move—even now, he was still analyzing that very move over and over again.

However, Le Haoqiang was no ordinary player either. He had once nearly fought his way into a title match main tournament as a 5-dan!

And that was back then—just recently, Le Haoqiang had even managed to defeat Zhu Xinyuan, 9-dan! Even though it was just one game, winning even a single game against such an opponent was proof of strength!

He didn’t know who would win. That’s why he was here—to find out!

Finally, after a while, two referees entered the playing room.

With their arrival, the entire room became noticeably quieter. Everyone could distinctly feel that the atmosphere had suddenly grown tense.