I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 244: The Battle for the Slot Begins

Five days later, the selection tournament for the Battle for the Slot finally concluded, and the ten players who would participate were officially confirmed.

That afternoon, the Go Academy released the list of selected players on their official website—

Yu Shao, Su Yiming, Qin Lang, Che Wenyu, Le Haoqiang, Zhou Wei, Gu Chuan, Chu Jiang, Peng Zeyang, Ji Yuzhe!

These ten players would soon face off against another ten prodigies in the upcoming Battle for the Slot, clashing over the board to determine who was superior.

Since the American Go Academy was the organizer of this event, it made no sense for the matches to be held in the U.S.—naturally, both matches would take place in China.

At the end of the player list, the official site also confirmed the competition venue. Both matches would be held in Jiangling, located in the Southern Region.

As soon as the player list dropped, it caused an explosive reaction across the internet. The hype around the Battle for the Slot skyrocketed to the top of every trending chart, igniting countless discussions!

This year’s Hero’s Pride Cup was insanely popular—on par with any of the major past Title Matches. And the reason, of course, was because the cup was directly tied to the Battle for the Slot.

And now, the Battle was just around the corner!

Compared to this, the hype around the Hero’s Pride Cup itself seemed almost insignificant. Just hours after the player list was posted, even Weibo’s trending search list crashed!

And mind you—the Battle hadn’t even started yet!

—

The next day, another round of National Master Battle preliminaries began for Yu Shao.

That morning, he arrived once again at the Go Academy. The moment he stepped into the Playing Room, every player’s gaze turned sharply toward him, each with their own expression.

Admiration. Envy. Expectation. And a thirst for battle...

Yu Shao was assigned to Table 15 today, and his opponent was He Chun, 6-dan.

He looked over toward Table 15 and saw both seats still empty—clearly, He Chun hadn’t arrived yet.

Yu Shao withdrew his gaze and walked directly over, pulling out the chair and sitting down.

Before long, a lean man in his thirties walked into the room and came to sit across from Yu Shao.

He Chun looked at Yu Shao with a complex expression before finally speaking: “Yu Shao, 2-dan—congrats on winning the Hero’s Pride Cup.”

Hearing that, Yu Shao couldn’t help but lift his eyes and glance at He Chun in surprise.

Usually, even if two players knew each other, they wouldn’t chat before a match—let alone strangers like them.

“Thanks,” Yu Shao eventually replied politely.

“In a bit, we’ll be enemies across the board. I really hope you don’t play as brilliantly as you did in the Hero’s Pride Cup finals—otherwise I won’t stand a chance.”

He Chun suddenly smiled. “But since the Battle for the Slot is coming up, I sincerely hope you perform just as brilliantly—play a game that stuns the world.”

He took a deep breath and offered his heartfelt blessing. “Good luck in the Battle.”

Yu Shao glanced at him again, then gave a small nod.

After a little while, two referees finally arrived, and the room instantly quieted.

Soon, after the referees explained the rules, one of them announced, “Time to determine turn order!”

—

After finishing this round of the National Master prelims, Yu Shao had no other matches until the Battle began. All he had to do now was wait.

He had planned to take a proper rest for a few days, but the very next day after his match, the Go Academy called.

They instructed all ten players selected for the Battle to head to the Southern Go Association for game reviews and record study over the next few days. To know your enemy, know yourself—that was the key to victory.

It was a mandatory requirement. No room for refusal.

So, after just two days of rest at home, Yu Shao was back at the Academy again—this time entering a review room specially arranged for the ten Battle players.

When he walked in, he noticed that everyone else had already arrived. He was the last one.

Seeing Yu Shao, Qin Lang’s expression visibly shifted.

The next second, Qin Lang clenched his fists and stood up, staring at Yu Shao. “Yu Shao! You’re finally here!”

He fixed his sharp gaze on Yu Shao. “Play me again!”

Yu Shao looked at him, then slowly nodded. “Alright.”

The Academy had brought them here to train and analyze games, after all—so obviously, they’d be playing nonstop.

With that, Yu Shao headed to a Go table and pulled out the chair. Qin Lang took a deep breath and sat across from him.

“Blitz game. Fifteen seconds per move. Let’s settle this by instinct.”

As Qin Lang adjusted the chess clock, he looked up and said, “You good with that?”

“Sure.”

Yu Shao nodded, a mix of emotions rising in his chest.

In his past life, he’d often done the same—gathering with players to review, study, and play. This moment felt like déjà vu, as if he had returned to that former life.

They determined turn order. Qin Lang played black, Yu Shao white. After a formal greeting, the game began.

Qin Lang quickly reached into the Go bowl, picked up a stone, placed it on the board, and hit the timer.

Yu Shao did the same—swift and precise.

Nearby, Che Wenyu had been watching. After a moment of silence, he suddenly turned to Le Haoqiang, his eyes sharpening. “Le Haoqiang—let’s play.”

Le Haoqiang’s expression turned serious. He clenched his fists and met Che Wenyu’s gaze. “Bring it on!”

The two of them also sat down at a Go table, facing each other and starting their game.

“Wanna play a round?”

Zhou Wei glanced at Su Yiming, testing the waters.

Su Yiming withdrew his gaze from Yu Shao and Qin Lang, gave a slight nod, and smiled calmly. “Sure.”

Click, click, click…

Soon, the review room was filled with the sound of stones hitting the board.

Not long after—

Qin Lang clenched his jaw and reluctantly lowered his head. “I lost.”

Yu Shao looked at the board, frowning slightly. He felt his moves in this fifteen-second blitz game were a bit weak—he’d made several slow moves.

“Here—you were too eager for results.”

Yu Shao thought for a moment, pointing at the board. “This move of mine had a thin position, but you didn’t notice. If you had, my white stones would've fallen into a disadvantage.”

“Here?”

Qin Lang blinked, finally realizing. “Should I have jumped out?”

Just then, a voice chimed in from the side.

“Instead of jumping out, how about a small knight’s extension?”

Su Yiming had somehow finished his own match and was now standing nearby, looking at the board. “If jumping is 99 points, the small knight’s extension is a full 100.”

“If you go for the small knight, I might go for a sacrificial attack.”

Yu Shao placed a few stones, showing the follow-up sequence. “The game would turn intense fast.”

After a few variations, Su Yiming suddenly turned to Yu Shao. “I noticed you often use a large knight’s enclosure to guard the corner. Do you think it’s better than the small knight’s?”

The room instantly fell silent.

Everyone turned toward Yu Shao in unison.

Large knight’s enclosure better than the small knight’s?

Normally, such a claim would be laughed off—but if Yu Shao said it...

Hearing the question, even Yu Shao looked a bit surprised as he glanced at Su Yiming.

Before the AI era, many players had used the large knight’s enclosure, but it was still considered inferior—rarer than the small knight, but playable.

So even when he used it before, no one thought much—most assumed it was a mind game, a cold trick to throw off strategy.

“Not exactly.”

Yu Shao shook his head. “I just think they’re about the same. The large knight’s enclosure isn’t worse than the small knight’s.”

Everyone in the room looked at each other in disbelief.

The two are about the same?

Even if he didn’t say the large knight was better, that opinion was already pretty bold!

“Why?”

Zhou Wei asked, baffled. “The large knight is faster, sure—but the corner defense is thinner and easy to invade. How could it be just as good?”

“I don’t think corners always have to be thick. If they are, sometimes that leads to inefficient shape.”

Yu Shao shook his head. “From a whole-board perspective, a wide edge might matter more than a fully secured corner. The thinness of the large knight’s enclosure can be turned into flexibility.”

“No way!”

Zhou Wei couldn’t help but push back. “How do you even compare full corner defense to a big point on the side?”

“Then let’s play.”

Yu Shao looked up at Zhou Wei, realizing this wasn’t something he could explain with words. “If you think small knight is better—prove it on the board.”

“I don’t buy it.”

Zhou Wei clenched his teeth, stepping forward to shove past Qin Lang. “Come on!”

Qin Lang frowned but eventually stood and gave up his seat.

The sound of stones hitting the board rang out once again.

After watching a few moves, Qin Lang narrowed his eyes and turned to Su Yiming. “Su Yiming—play me.”

Su Yiming finally looked away from the board and nodded slowly. “Okay.”

The two moved to another table, determined turn order, greeted each other, and started the game.

Click! Click! Click!

Soon, it was Su Yiming’s move.

He stared at the board for a moment, then reached into the Go bowl, picked out a stone, and slowly placed it.

Click!

Column 3, Row 6—large knight’s enclosure!

Not far away, Gu Chuan and a few others weren’t playing, but they had gathered around another board, studying their Battle opponents’ records, pulling stones from the bowl and analyzing positions.

The rhythmic click of stones falling echoed through the review room, loud and constant—as if it could echo across centuries.