I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 333: Baffled and Unaware

Even those who don't play Go have probably heard the old saying:

“Gold in the corners, silver on the sides, grass in the center.”

This refers to the idea that the corners of the board are most valuable, the sides are secondary, and the center is least valuable—like grass.

After White approaches the corner, the usual Black responses are the Small Knight’s Move, a direct contact move, a side extension, or simply ignoring the approach and playing elsewhere.

But in this game, after approaching, White did none of these.

He didn’t respond with a small knight.

He didn’t go in for contact.

He didn’t extend along the side.

He didn’t ignore it and tenuki to another corner.

Instead, he jumped out—straight up the fifth line, playing into empty space.

This move completely violated the principle of “Gold Corners, Silver Sides, Grass Center.” It was utterly bizarre and beyond imagination.

Feng Ruotao stared at the stone, stunned.

He had mentally prepared for Yu Shao to disrupt his plans.

But never, not in his wildest expectations, did he imagine that just three moves into the game, the entire direction of play would already be turned upside down.

After a few seconds, Feng Ruotao took a deep breath, collected himself, and resumed playing.

Tap, tap, tap...

Their moves came swiftly.

---

Meanwhile, at Table One...

Facing a two-stone handicap, Su Yiming also began by taking the lower-right corner with a Small Point.

Fan Tianhong took the upper-left with the same shape.

Su Yiming then approached the lower-left with a small knight.

Fan Tianhong responded with a small knight to defend.

Then, Su Yiming ignored the area entirely and tenuki’d—moving to attack the upper-left.

Column 5, Row 3 — Small Knight’s Approach!

“He approached the Small Point…”

Fan Tianhong gazed at the board, rapidly calculating responses in his head.

“The Clamp is the strongest reply, but too intense—it could lead to wild complications.”

“The Diagonal Move is slower. In an even game it might be too passive, but with two handicap stones, it's fine. It gives a solid shape.”

He glanced up at Su Yiming, who sat silently, staring at the board with no emotion.

“I’ll admit it—he’s stronger than me. In a pure contest of skill, I’d lose.”

“But this is a handicap game.”

“Like Shen Yi, he’s great at building large frameworks—luring opponents to invade and then wiping them out.”

“But Feng Ruotao plays the same way. After losing to him, I studied this style carefully.”

“In this game, I’ll make sure he never builds a large framework.”

“I will make myself unassailable, and wait for his flaws to reveal themselves!”

With that, Fan Tianhong made his choice and placed his move slowly and firmly:

Tap!

Column 4, Row 5 — Diagonal Move!

Seeing this, a flicker of surprise flashed in Su Yiming’s eyes, but it quickly vanished. He calmly responded:

Tap!

Column 17, Row 6 — Small Knight!

“He tenuki’d again...”

Fan Tianhong took another deep breath and slammed his next move down like lightning:

Tap!

Column 15, Row 17 — Small Knight’s Approach!

White had ignored the attack and leapt to launch an aggressive counter-offensive. It was a forceful declaration—not giving Black a chance to defend.

“I’ll be solid when I must, but fierce when the moment calls for it.”

He stared intently at the board, waiting for Su Yiming’s reply.

“The best defense is offense—that’s something I learned from Yu Shao’s game records.”

---

Time ticked on.

At Tables Three, Four, and Five, the match recorders were tense—but also amazed.

A two-stone handicap is massive. Even top-level pros have been defeated by talented new 1-dan pros when giving two stones.

And these five trainee players, having ranked in the Tiger Cubs top five, were at least on par with pro 1-dans—maybe stronger.

Even so, Chen Shan and the other two white players were putting on a show.

Despite the handicap, they showed powerful, commanding play—fighting back against immense odds with thunderous intensity.

They weren’t just playing Go—they were holding up the sky.

The young players, too, were doing all they could to resist, clashing fiercely.

---

Back at Table Two...

The recorder stared at the board, still shaken by what she had seen.

“That Jump to the fifth line... it made no sense. It looked like he wanted to fly up into the heavens… but then he returned to the ground like nothing happened.”

Her eyes were filled with confusion.

That earlier Jump had been shocking—breaking all known logic.

If Yu Shao had been trying to build a massive center and attack, then sure—it would’ve made some kind of sense.

But after that single celestial leap, his subsequent moves returned to more normal local play.

What kind of sequence was this?

She wasn’t the only one wondering.

Across the board, Feng Ruotao’s confusion ran even deeper.

He drew his next stone and played:

Tap!

Column 14, Row 11 — Jump!

Yu Shao stared at the board without responding.

The recorder leaned in slightly, imagining herself in his seat, trying to guess his move.

“He could Jump again, or tenuki to invade the 3-3 point… or extend along the lower side...”

“So many options—it’s no wonder he’s hesitating.”

Then—

Clack!

She snapped back to reality. Yu Shao was reaching for a stone.

He slowly lifted a white stone—and placed it with calm certainty.

Tap!

Column 13, Row 13 — High Knight’s Jump!

The recorder froze.

Her mind blanked.

“He… he’s in the sky again?”

In that instant, she genuinely wasn’t sure if this was still Go.

She couldn’t understand this move at all. It was utterly baffling. It turned her understanding of the game upside down.

“Who plays like this?!”

Across from Yu Shao, Feng Ruotao also froze.

It took five or six full minutes before he recovered, gritted his teeth, and made his next move.

Tap, tap, tap...

More stones landed on the board, one after another.

As time passed, black and white stones accumulated. Sweat began to bead quietly on Feng Ruotao’s forehead.

Gulp.

The recorder swallowed hard.

Her worldview had officially shattered.

“Is this really a handicap game?”

She stared at the tangled battlefield.

“I don’t even know when it started, but White has been dominating.”

“Despite giving up two stones… Black has done nothing but get beaten down.”

---

Tap, tap, tap...

Eventually—no one knew how much time had passed—

Feng Ruotao stared at the board in silence. His hand didn’t reach for another stone. His lips trembled, but no words came out.

“…I…”

He lowered his head. The board before him seemed to blur.

“…I…”

Finally, the words left his lips. Quiet. Hollow. Disbelieving:

“…I lost.”

It wasn’t just the defeat that stunned him—

It was that he didn’t understand why.

He didn’t understand how he lost. Or why he had lost so thoroughly.

Yu Shao gave a formal bow.

After a long moment, Feng Ruotao bowed back—still dazed.

---

“Yu Shao… already won?”

At Table Three, Chen Shan had just managed to take the upper hand in his own game when he noticed the result.

He froze.

“Wait… that was a handicap game.”

His own match had taken great effort to even reach a slight advantage—and yet Yu Shao had already finished?

Chen stood up, looked toward Table Two, and glanced at the board.

The board was only about one-third full. The final clash had happened in the lower-right.

And the result was—

Black: total annihilation.

Chen froze in place.

Even without knowing the full game, he could tell that Black had been hunted down from start to finish.

There was one group of Black stones still alive… but judging from the shape, it looked like White had deliberately let it live for better control of the board.

“How did this game turn out like this?”

Chen stared, bewildered.

This was a handicap game, and the opponent—though not yet a pro—was one of the dojo’s top five. Hardly a weakling.

How had they been completely overrun?

Suddenly, Chen turned his head and looked toward Table One.

Su Yiming’s match hadn’t ended yet, and Chen breathed a slight sigh of relief.

But when he looked at the board—he froze again.

White had formed an absolutely massive framework, vast as mountain valleys. It was like a trap waiting to close.

“How did he build this… with a handicap?”

“And anyone who’s studied Su Yiming’s games knows—he’s a master of the center. You’d think his opponent would avoid letting him build a center...”

Chen looked at Fan Tianhong.

The boy was drenched in sweat, his eyes locked on the board, eyelids twitching. His expression—genuinely panicked.

Then, Su Yiming made his next move.

Column 12, Row 14 — Clamp!

---

Not long after, all five Tiger Cubs matches came to an end.

In the end, despite the two-stone handicap, only the player at Table Four managed a win—beating Lu Bo by a mere half-point.

The other four were completely defeated.

Afterward, the five of them walked together toward the cafeteria.

The four who lost were silent.

Only the thick-browed boy—the sole winner—wore a wide grin.

“…Feng Ruotao, didn’t you say you’d win for me to see?”

Fan Tianhong finally spoke. “What happened?”

Feng Ruotao still looked dazed, lost in the memory of the match.

“I couldn’t understand it… The result came out of nowhere. I blinked, and suddenly I was getting crushed.”

He frowned. “I couldn’t even see the difference in strength.”

The thick-browed boy looked surprised. “Out of nowhere? You didn’t even understand how you lost?”

“How could I?”

Feng Ruotao shook his head. “Those moves were insane. Like they weren’t even Go. Every single move was outside my expectations.”

He paused, then looked at Fan Tianhong.

“What about you? How did you lose?”

“Me?”

Fan Tianhong fell quiet. After a moment, he replied slowly:

“I wanted to stop him from building a big framework. He didn’t even try to build one.”

“But then… before I realized it, he had one anyway.”

“…Before you realized?”

The thick-browed boy looked at both of them—completely confused.

“One of you lost out of nowhere. The other didn’t even notice it happening?”

“…Maybe Yu Shao really is stronger than Su Yiming,” Feng Ruotao murmured.

Fan Tianhong’s eyes went wide.

“Bullsh*t! Su Yiming is stronger!”

“Yu Shao is stronger!”

“Su Yiming!”

“Yu Shao!”

They were about to start bickering again when the burly boy stepped between them.

“Alright, alright! They’re both strong. Why does one have to be better than the other?”

Though they were physically separated, the two clearly weren’t done. They glared at each other, each snorting and turning away.

The group fell into silence again—until they reached the cafeteria door.

Suddenly, Feng Ruotao stopped.

He turned to Fan Tianhong and asked,

“What do you think their next match will look like?”

“…I don’t know.”

Fan Tianhong took a deep breath, shook his head, and walked toward the cafeteria.

“But I think—”

“It’ll be a match for the ages.”