I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go! -
Chapter 226: The Mystery of the 3-3 Invasion
Qin Lang strode out of the Handtalk Room, quickly leaving the Go Academy and returning to his hotel nearby. He turned on his laptop and entered the Hero’s Pride Cup official live stream.
"Le Haoqiang, Yu Shao, Su Yiming—these three have already advanced?"
Seeing the current stream on his screen, Qin Lang frowned slightly.
It wasn’t because they won faster than him. In Go, the speed of a victory has nothing to do with a player's strength—if an opponent takes a long time to think, even the strongest player will have a slow game.
But what surprised him was that Yu Shao and Su Yiming, two newly promoted 1-dan professionals, had both advanced.
These two were different from all the other players. Since they had only become professionals this year, there were no publicly available game records from the preliminary rounds—only their results hinted at their skill.
Although everyone had heard that Yu Shao and Su Yiming were strong, and their impressive records supported that claim, outside of the Southern Region, no one truly knew how they played.
Qin Lang moved his mouse and logged into the Go Academy’s official website. It didn’t take long before he pulled up the game record of Yu Shao vs. Cao Xinghuai.
He began clicking through the moves.
At first, his expression remained neutral. But as he kept watching, his fingers suddenly stopped.Qin Lang no longer pressed "Next Move." Instead, he rewound the game—one move, then another, tracing back twenty moves before playing it forward again.
After another twenty moves, he rewound it again.
Again.
And again.
After watching the sequence multiple times, Qin Lang's sharp, narrow eyes slightly narrowed.
The next moment, without a word, he stood up, took a Go board and stone bowls out of his suitcase, sat at the table, and began replaying the game.
Tak! Tak! Tak!
Inside his room, the crisp sound of stones hitting the board echoed continuously.
Meanwhile, at the Hero’s Pride Cup Main Tournament…
Other games were also nearing their conclusion.
A few minutes later—
Table 5: Gu Chuan, 4-dan, advances!
Shortly after, Table 4 also determined a winner!
Although Lin Dehai played solidly after falling behind, reinforcing his position and waiting for a chance to turn the tables, by Move 212, he was ultimately overwhelmed by Che Wenyu’s relentless attacks.
Che Wenyu—advances!
Now, only one game remained—Table 3: Yu Shu, 5-dan vs. Ji Yuzhe, 6-dan.
Their match had been an intense, prolonged battle. Both players fought fiercely, locked in a bitter struggle, but neither could secure a decisive advantage. In the end, the game entered an ultra-close endgame fight.
With the entire world watching, the game finally reached its final moves.
Yu Shu, 5-dan, wins by 1.5 points!
Table 3: Yu Shu, 5-dan, advances!
With that, the first round of the Hero’s Pride Cup Main Tournament came to an end!
As soon as the tournament wrapped up, the live stream screen went black.
But even though the broadcast was over, viewers weren’t leaving.
The chat was still flooded with endless discussions—
"Amazing! Every game was thrilling! Not a single dull match, and every young player displayed incredible strength, fighting to the bitter end like true rising stars!"
"Even the players who lost put up incredible fights! Yang Qiaozhen, as a female player, might have lost, but she played several brilliant moves that even put Le Haoqiang in a tough spot!"
"This is a battle of true prodigies. Even the losers are undoubtedly strong contenders! They’ll have their chance at a comeback in the future!"
"Le Haoqiang, Qin Lang, Che Wenyu—all of them performed spectacularly! Especially Che Wenyu, 6-dan, who has improved dramatically compared to before. Le Haoqiang must be feeling the pressure!"
"But the biggest shocker is Yu Shao and Su Yiming. Both of them played a 3-3 invasion in the opening… and still won?! What the hell is going on? I don’t get it at all!"
"I need to review these games ASAP! Why did they win? Does the 3-3 invasion actually work now? Why?!"
"Regardless of whether 3-3 is valid or not, their mid-to-late game play was nearly flawless. They barely made any mistakes—it far exceeded my expectations!"
"Not only do we have Qin Lang, Che Wenyu, and Le Haoqiang, but now we have Yu Shao and Su Yiming too! Seeing these young players perform so well, I'm even more excited for the upcoming rounds!"
"Yeah! With such strong young players, I can’t wait to see how the rest of the tournament unfolds!"
After watching Round 1, fans were buzzing with excitement about the upcoming matches. The live chat continued to explode with discussions.
At the Players' Hotel…
By now, all the Hero’s Pride Cup players had returned to their hotels.
Che Wenyu wasted no time. As soon as he entered his room, he turned on his laptop and pulled up the game records of Yu Shao and Su Yiming.
After watching for a few minutes, his expression suddenly stiffened.
A moment later, he abruptly stood up, took out his Go board and stone bowls, and started replaying the game himself.
But it wasn’t just Qin Lang and Che Wenyu.
Because Yu Shao and Su Yiming had been relatively unknown before, almost every player in the tournament immediately reviewed their game records upon returning to their rooms.
And then—
One by one, they all froze.
Their faces filled with confusion.
Then, nearly all of them silently took out their Go boards and began replaying the games.
Across the Ocean—New York Go Academy
Far from China, a group of young players at the New York Go Academy had also gathered around a Go board, intensely analyzing the games. Their expressions were unusually serious.
Unlike casual viewers, professional players couldn’t ignore this.
For ordinary spectators, the 3-3 invasion was just an interesting discussion.
But for professionals—it was a serious problem.
As they continued analyzing Yu Shao and Su Yiming’s games, a heavy, oppressive atmosphere filled the room.
Every single professional player had the same question in their minds:
Why?
Why, even after the 3-3 invasion theory had been thoroughly studied and mapped out, did Yu Shao and Su Yiming still manage to win?
The 3-3 invasion usually gave the opponent control.
Moreover, instead of playing a hane-connect, they played a two-space crawl, which went against fundamental Go principles—it was overly submissive and inefficient.
Even without the hane-connect, Black’s outer influence should have been overwhelmingly strong!
What does it mean for a position to be thick?
- Thick: No weaknesses, strong connections, solid structure.
- Thin: Weak connections, vulnerable to cuts, requires extra moves to stabilize.
After a 3-3 invasion, if Black responds with a hane-extend, they usually form a thick, stick-like shape—nearly impossible to cut apart!
In New York, the players analyzed the game all night until sunrise.
The more they studied, the more unbelievable it seemed.
"No matter how we analyze it, Cao Xinghuai, 6-dan, played solidly after Black’s pressure!"
One player muttered in disbelief, “Some of his moves were slightly slow, but the difference was only between 100% and 90%—not a blunder!”
Another chimed in, swallowing nervously, “Same here! Chu Jiang, 6-dan, played logically! At worst, he played slow moves, but they weren’t mistakes!”
Silence.
Then, finally, a blonde, heavyset player whispered as if he had seen a ghost:
“Then why…”
“Why did the position reverse without anyone realizing it?”
All eyes turned to Zeng Jun.
Despite some grudges, everyone respected his skill.
But this time, Zeng Jun just stared at the board—speechless.
Then, he finally said in a low voice:
“Replay from the very beginning—from the 3-3 invasion.”
“Wait… does Zeng Jun actually believe that the 3-3 invasion… is valid?!”
“Also!”
As if suddenly struck by another realization, Zeng Jun immediately said, “Call Coach Ma Dong—no, not just him! Get a few 9-dan players and title holders to come review these games too!”
There was a sharp determination in his eyes as he added, “This concerns the fight for professional status—they’ll come!”
Hearing Zeng Jun’s words, everyone’s hearts skipped a beat.
“…Got it.”
The blonde, heavyset player also realized the gravity of the situation. He swallowed hard and nodded frantically. “I’ll call them right away—one by one!”
Zeng Jun then turned toward a tall young man with blond hair and blue eyes in the crowd and said, “Wan Jing, haven’t you always doubted me? Let’s play a game right now—I’ll use 3-3, and we’ll play a 15-second blitz match.”
Wan Jing’s eyelid twitched.
He looked at Zeng Jun for a moment before nodding. Without another word, he sat down at the board.
Zeng Jun took his seat opposite Wan Jing, and the two players faced off.
The game began. Since it was a 15-second per move blitz match, the stones fell rapidly, the crisp sounds of the placements echoing almost nonstop.
Not long after—
Wan Jing stared at the board, unwillingly lowered his head, and fell silent.
Before he could say anything, Zeng Jun spoke first.
“Again. This time, you play 3-3.”
A second game began.
Not long after—
Wan Jing’s expression darkened significantly. His position on the board was already falling apart.
But instead of looking pleased, Zeng Jun only frowned even more deeply.
After a moment of contemplation, he spoke once more.
“One more game. This time, we play a slow game—you play 3-3, and I’ll respond.”
—
The same scene wasn’t just happening at the New York Go Academy.
It was happening all over the world—in France, England, Russia, Japan, Korea…
Because the Hero’s Pride Cup was directly tied to the future of the professional Go world, top players from every country were watching!
Two Days Later…
Time passed in a flash.
For two days, fans eagerly waited for professional players to analyze Yu Shao and Su Yiming’s games, expecting a breakdown of how the games were reversed so suddenly.
But then—
Something shocking happened.
Not a single professional player could pinpoint the exact move where Cao Xinghuai and Chu Jiang’s positions started to collapse!
Silence.
Total silence.
This unusual reaction finally made fans realize that something wasn’t right.
There’s no way their opponents played perfectly, right?
If the positions suddenly flipped without a clear mistake, then how could they explain it?
Was it really just a shift in momentum?
If so—
Wouldn't that be ridiculous?!
Go isn't a game where victory just "switches hands" without reason!
As the atmosphere grew more and more bizarre, time marched forward—
Day Three—Round 2 of the Hero’s Pride Cup Begins!
Even though there was still time before the matches started, countless fans had already flooded into the official livestream, waiting for the games to begin.
That morning, Yu Shao left his hotel, heading directly to the Go Academy.
After the previous round, seven players had been eliminated, leaving only eight survivors.
These eight players would now battle for four spots in the semifinals.
Since only four matches were taking place, the Handtalk Rooms had been reduced to four in total.
Yu Shao’s match was assigned to Handtalk Room #4.
He arrived a little later than usual and, when he reached the room, saw Zhou Wei already seated at the central table, waiting.
Not just Zhou Wei—
The female recorder and two referees were already in their seats. Everyone was just waiting for Yu Shao.
As Yu Shao finally arrived, Zhou Wei instinctively clenched his fist. His gaze sharpened, but he said nothing—instead, he quickly turned his attention back to the board, remaining silent.
Yu Shao also didn’t say a word.
He pulled out a chair and sat across from Zhou Wei.
Inside the quiet Handtalk Room, beneath the calligraphy scroll hanging on the wall that read “Discussing the Way While Seated”, the two players faced off—the atmosphere instantly becoming tense and suffocating.
But it wasn’t just Handtalk Room #4—
Every Handtalk Room had already filled up, with players sitting in absolute silence, staring across the board at their opponents.
Table 4: Yu Shao, 1-dan vs. Zhou Wei, 6-dan!
Table 3: Qin Lang, 6-dan vs. Gu Chuan, 4-dan!
Table 2: Che Wenyu, 6-dan vs. Yu Shu, 5-dan!
Table 1: Su Yiming, 1-dan vs. Le Haoqiang, 5-dan!
Eight players.
Only four would advance.
And those four—would become part of the final ten players fighting for professional dominance!
Inside Handtalk Room #4…
The female recorder nervously glanced at Yu Shao.
"After this game, whether he wins or loses, Yu Shao will be promoted to 2-dan… same for Su Yiming."
She hesitated, then thought—
“Will they still play 3-3 today?”
She used to firmly believe that playing 3-3 in the opening was wrong.
But after replaying those two games multiple times over the last three days, she couldn't find a single mistake from Cao Xinghuai or Chu Jiang.
Now, for the first time, she was starting to doubt herself.
Is the 3-3 invasion actually valid?
If so, why?
If not, then how do you explain those losses?
She didn’t have the answer—not in just three days.
She looked at Zhou Wei, 6-dan.
"He’s the strongest young player in the Central Academy… the only thing separating him from top-tier professionals is experience."
But then, she glanced at Yu Shao—
"But Yu Shao… has already beaten Le Haoqiang before."
Her emotions grew increasingly complicated.
She didn’t know how many others felt the same way right now, but she was certain—she wasn’t alone.
A few moments later, a referee stood up.
“The match will now begin. Each player has three hours. Overtime: one minute per move. Komi: 7.5 points. Start by determining turn order.”
Zhou Wei took a deep breath, reached into the stone bowl, and grabbed a handful of white stones.
Yu Shao took a single black stone and placed it on the board.
“Nine stones.”
Zhou Wei counted, then looked up. “I’ll play White.”
“I’ll play Black.”
Yu Shao nodded, then bowed slightly. Zhou Wei immediately returned the gesture.
The match had begun!
The female recorder, watching the formal exchange, suddenly felt a strange tension creeping into her own chest.
Even though this match had nothing to do with her, she found herself nervous.
She glanced at the two referees beside her—
And to her surprise—
They, too, were staring at the board… looking just as tense.
Tak!
The first stone hit the board.
Yu Shao had played his first move.
Column 16, Row 4—Star Point!
Zhou Wei looked at the upper-right star point.
His mind flashed back to the games between Yu Shao vs. Cao Xinghuai and Su Yiming vs. Chu Jiang.
He had spent three days analyzing those matches.
But even now, he still couldn’t figure out what went wrong.
And then—
Tak!
Three moves later—
Yu Shao played it again.
Column 3, Row 17—3-3 Invasion!
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