I Really Didn’t Mean to Play Go!
Chapter 51: A Move to Tengen

When Yu Shao arrived at the activity room with Zhou De, Xu Zijin and Zhong Yufei were already there, each studying Go records.

To Yu Shao's relief, Xu Zijin didn’t seem affected by yesterday’s game. She appeared to have returned to her usual demeanor.

When she noticed Yu Shao entering with Zhou De, she merely glanced at the two of them before lowering her head again to continue studying her Go records, not even questioning why Yu Shao had brought someone new.

Whether Xu Zijin was truly unaffected was something only she herself knew.

Zhong Yufei, on the other hand, was immediately curious. "Yu Shao, who’s this?"

Before Yu Shao could answer, Zhou De puffed out his chest and introduced himself, "Zhou De, also known as the Shen Yi of Jiangling!"

Yu Shao rolled his eyes. "Ignore him. He doesn’t know how to play yet—just started learning. Since he has nothing to do after school, he plans to come here to play. I’ll check with Mr. Chen later to see if it’s okay."

"He’s just started learning?"

Hearing this, Zhong Yufei instantly lost interest.

"I may have just started learning, but I’m a genius. Understand? A genius!" Zhou De protested, clearly offended. "Believe it or not, I could beat you!"

Zhong Yufei froze for a moment, about to respond with "then let’s play," but something clicked in his mind. He turned to Yu Shao instead.

"When you say he doesn’t know how to play, do you mean he doesn’t know by your standards, or that he really doesn’t know?" Zhong Yufei asked.

"He really doesn’t know," Yu Shao clarified, now slightly puzzled as to where Zhou De’s confidence came from.

"What do you mean by that?"

Zhou De looked between Yu Shao and Zhong Yufei, confused. "What’s the difference between not knowing according to Yu Shao and actually not knowing?"

"There’s a big difference."

Zhong Yufei, now convinced Zhou De truly didn’t know, said, "Didn’t you say you could beat me? Well, let’s play then!"

"Let’s do it!"

Zhou De rolled up his sleeves, ready to go.

Yu Shao quickly pulled him back, nervous. "You’re not planning to bash him with the board, are you?"

"Come on, do I look like that kind of person to you?" Zhou De whispered mysteriously, "I have a sure-win strategy. I was saving it to use against you, but you’re lucky—you dodged the bullet."

While Yu Shao stood dumbfounded, Zhou De had already taken a seat across from Zhong Yufei. "I’ve only been learning for about a week, so I’ll play black, okay?"

"Sure," Zhong Yufei agreed without much thought, collecting the stones from the board and pushing the black stone container toward Zhou De.

Yu Shao, still unsure what Zhou De was planning, decided to watch from the side to see what he was up to.

That Zhou De had a "sure-win strategy" was something Yu Shao couldn’t believe.

Yes, in theory, Go has an optimal solution, but that’s just theory. Even the most advanced Go AIs in his past life couldn’t find this optimal solution despite their inhuman computational power.

Unless Zhou De possessed a mind on par with a super-AI, even if he were a one-in-a-million Go prodigy, after just one week of learning, there was no way he could compete with Zhong Yufei.

Finally, Zhou De reached into the stone container and clumsily picked up a black stone.

Pa!

The stone landed on the board—

Row 10, Column 10. Tengen!

"A move to… Tengen?!"

Zhong Yufei was stunned, and Yu Shao’s eyes widened in disbelief.

For several moments, they both just stared at the board. Finally, Zhong Yufei recovered, giving Zhou De a deep look before placing his white stone:

Click.

Row 16, Column 4. Star Point.

Zhou De immediately followed up:

Row 4, Column 16. Star Point.

Zhong Yufei’s next move landed on the upper-left Small Point, while Zhou De played symmetrically on the lower-right Small Point.

Back and forth they went, quickly reaching eight moves. Each of Zhou De’s moves mirrored Zhong Yufei’s symmetrically, creating a completely mirrored board state.

"Ah, mimicking moves…"

Watching from the side, Yu Shao recognized Zhou De’s strategy and realized why Zhou De had called it a "sure-win method."

Mimicking moves—where one player copies the other’s moves symmetrically—was indeed a known strategy. With black stones starting on Tengen, if white didn’t know how to counter, it could be quite tricky.

"Breaking the mimicry isn’t hard, though. The simplest method is to use capturing stones to create an asymmetric situation. Zhong Yufei might not be great, but he should know how to handle this, so Zhou De is still going to lose…"

Yu Shao shook his head, amused.

What genuinely surprised him, though, was that Zhou De, having just learned the basics of Go, could come up with the idea of mimicking moves.

Maybe Zhou De did have a tiny bit of talent in Go?

Losing interest, Yu Shao moved to an empty table, sat down, and pulled out Zhou De’s Go Opening Patterns Explained from his backpack.

Soon, he found some classic game records in the book.

"A legendary match from 23 years ago… Zhuang Weisheng, Sixth Dan, as black, versus Bi Yang, Ninth Dan?"

Yu Shao studied the record with growing seriousness.

"This Zhuang Weisheng... Even though he was only a Sixth Dan during this match, his moves were unexpectedly sharp."

"The game opened with chaos. Facing a Ninth Dan opponent, black’s counterattacks were unyielding, never backing down. White launched relentless attacks, maintaining a slight lead."

"But white failed to extend their advantage. Black displayed incredible resilience, clinging to the game and waiting for a chance to turn the tide."

"White’s move 123 was a mistake. Black seized the opportunity, playing a small knight’s move on the second line, launching a deadly attack that turned the game around."

"White tried to counterattack, but black used their thickness to stabilize the board, gradually transitioning the chaotic game into a calm endgame, ultimately winning!"

While Yu Shao noted some flaws in black’s play throughout the game, the overall performance, particularly in the latter half, was brilliant—even Yu Shao couldn’t help but admire it.

He began replaying the game, meticulously analyzing the moves.

Not long after, Chen Jiaming arrived at the activity room.

Seeing Zhou De playing against Zhong Yufei, Chen Jiaming paused, his expression slightly puzzled.

"Mr. Chen."

Yu Shao stood up and approached to explain Zhou De’s situation.

"As long as he’s willing, of course, it’s fine," Chen Jiaming said, nodding his approval just as Yu Shao had predicted.

Reassured, Yu Shao returned to his table to continue analyzing the game.

Before long, Zhou De’s voice rang out.

"What?! I lost?!"

He clutched his head, staring at the board in disbelief.

"Come back after another two years," Zhong Yufei said smugly, giving Zhou De a disdainful glance. Having been crushed by both Yu Shao and Xu Zijin, Zhong Yufei finally felt vindicated.

I’m still strong!

"Tomorrow, we play again!" Zhou De slammed the table and declared loudly, "I’ll give you one handicap stone and crush you!"