Chapter 1143

Chapter 1143: Go can be played this way?

Translator: Legge Editor: Legge

At the Xuanwumen Go Club for the elderly.

A group of elderly people was getting impatient.

“He has fallen behind by too much!”

“Yeah, so what if he has more time?”

“I’d rather he exchange some of that time for points. He’s behind by 25, 26 points as we enter the middlegame. Even a miracle can’t save him!”

“Agreed.”

“It will be very difficult to continue playing!”

…

Back at home.

His father was getting very anxious. “What should he do? What should he do now?”

His mother said loudly, “Aiyo, keep quiet and sit down! Keep watching!”

His father said, “How can I stay seated? He’s losing by so much!”

…

At Old Rao’s house.

Yang Shu said eagerly, “Why isn’t Senior Bro getting anxious?”

Rao Aimin glanced at the television. “Him? He’s just trying to act cool and mysterious.”

Chenchen asked, “Aunt, will Zhang Ye win?”

“How can he win?” Rao Aimin pursed her lips. Although that was what she said, Old Rao’s eyes were still glued to the game on the television.

…

The state of the board was approaching the most crucial period!

The board was also in a most dangerous state!

China Qiyuan’s people were all waiting to see just what Zhang Ye was planning. Some of them were clutching their chests with racing hearts. They were simply unable to watch any further!

A professional 5th dan female Go player covered her eyes. “I’m can’t watch!”

A 6th dan youth player next to her turned his back to the screen, moaning as he did, as if it would help to ease the tension. But in the end, it wasn’t useful at all. So he stuck both his index fingers into his ears, afraid that he would hear Zhang Ye suddenly resign!

“Come on!”

“Professor Zhang, you can do it!”

“Come on!”

“May God bless you!”

“Heavenly Father, please let us win! I beg of you!”

The people at the Qiyuan started shouting. This might well be their final cries!

At present, whether it be the Americans, the Qiyuan’s people, or the home viewers, nobody believed that Zhang Ye stood any chance of winning. But none of these people knew that they were about to witness a sensational game!

On the live broadcast.

Zhang Ye smiled and made a move. He placed a white stone in the corner which Peter had taken with a move after he had played the Magic Sword Joseki!

This move was very surprising!

So surprising that even Xiang Rong was taken aback!

Xiang Rong 9-dan said, “What?”

Chen Ying even shouted, “Oh my God, what is Professor Zhang trying to do?”

Yu Yingyi did not dare to speak. She just stared blankly at the screen!

Chen Ying felt incredulous. She could not understand Zhang Ye’s intent. “This corner was where that fight took place. Professor Zhang has clearly lost the area, with his stones mostly surrounded by Peter’s black stones. Not too many of Professor Zhang’s white stones are still alive! But we’re seeing Professor Zhang’s white stone has once again rushed in for an attack. What’s the meaning of this? Suicide? A sacrifice? Or has he made a mistake!”

A mistake?

Everyone paled!

He was behind by so much, and he made a mistake?

Peter probably did not expect that Zhang Ye would venture an attack here. Perhaps due to a lack of time, Peter played its move at the very next second!

Peter played a stand against the attack!

Zhang Ye bumped!

Peter called an atari!

Zhang Ye did not allow it!

Then Peter went with a horizontal stretch!

Chen Ying was despairing. “The white stones are sinking deeper and deeper. Professor Zhang is also falling further and further behind in points. That mistake was a fatal one and has put him in a worse state than before!”

Wu Changhe lambasted, “What the heck is he doing!”

Li Qinqin said in surprise, “That isn’t like Little Zhang!”

Xu Han remarked, “What is he doing? Why’d he go for that corner?”

Hu Liang shouted, “Those white stones are practically dead! How can he prevent it?”

At this point, Peter had run out of main time, his clock reaching zero!

Zhang Ye played a cut!

Peter’s overtime period began!

In these types of competitions, one wouldn’t lose after their main time was used up. Instead, the game would enter into play that was similar to “blitz.” This meant that every move Peter played would have to be made within one minute. Otherwise, if it exceeded this duration and used up the three allocated one-minute overtime periods, the referee would automatically give Peter the loss based on the rules!

10 seconds.

30 seconds.

50 seconds.

Peter hurriedly played a reinforcing move.

Zhang Ye played a descent!

Chen Ying said loudly, “Why is he still attacking over there?”

Yu Yingyi said sadly, “He’s basically giving away his stones for nothing!”

This was where Peter had marked out its territory, and though Zhang Ye’s stones hadn’t been fully captured, they weren’t far from it. But now, Zhang Ye was playing more and more stones at this location, sacrificing them with every move he made. This was something that even a laywoman like Yu Yingyi could understand, but why did it seem like Zhang Ye could not?

The home viewers were also appalled!

“We’re done for!”

“This time, we’re utterly done for!”

“Teacher Zhang has lost it!”

“Damn, he’s almost 40 points behind now, isn’t he?”

Zhang Ye was seemingly unaware of it all, and after thinking for five minutes, he played again. He still had time left, so much time that he could play at ease.

Peter played its next move with three seconds left in its overtime period!

The Americans looked at one another with smiles on their faces!

The two international referees were somewhat speechless!

But a miracle happened at the very next second!

Without any warning, Zhang Ye suddenly countered with a white stone that landed on a position no one had expected!

Things instantly became tense!

Peter was stunned!

The timer counted up very quickly!

Peter was forced to play!

Zhang Ye smiled as he lightly clicked the mouse—atari!

With that, many people looked shocked!

Xiang Rong cried out, “He’s pressing to capture those live stones with a ladder 1 !”

Chen Ying looked like she had seen a ghost!

The Qiyuan’s people and Go players watching the TV were also dumbfounded!

Forcefully trying to capture the live stones through a ladder?

This was too crazy!

This was too overbearing!

As it turned out, Zhang Ye’s earlier series of “blunders” were all made to kill off this black stone of Peter’s. In their eyes, this was something only a madman would attempt! The price to pay was too great! If anything went wrong, it would lead to doom! It would lead to a very bad end!

Peter couldn’t do anything but give up on that stone!

Zhang Ye captured it!

Then Peter played!

Zhang Ye attacked from the outside!

Peter was taken aback and hurriedly retreated!

Then the most critical stone landed on the board!

Zhang Ye smiled as he clicked the mouse again and called for atari once more. The Magic Sword Joseki that had almost been surrounded by Peter’s white stones had now been used by Zhang Ye against the AI. This took Peter by complete surprise!

The Americans were stunned!

Chen Ying was dumbfounded!

Everyone watching the game was shocked!

Zhang Ye captured yet another stone. Normally, the loss of this stone should have been acceptable since Peter was so far ahead. It shouldn’t have mattered much at all!

But that was not the case this time!

This stone was different from the others!

When Zhang Ye took that second black stone for himself, even the international referees were shocked to the point that their jaws dropped. They stared fixedly at Zhang Ye as though he was a god of some sort!

Hu Liang exclaimed, “Holy shit!”

Xu Han shouted, “What the fuck!”

Wu Changhe was shocked!

Dan Donghe looked astounded!

They had all witnessed an unbelievable sight!

The stones came alive!

Zhang Ye’s dead group in the corner had been revived!

Countless people were looking at the Go board, but none of them could believe what they were seeing!

Sacrificing stones?

Suiciding them?

Forcefully trying to capture live stones using a ladder?

And the dead group got revived!

This…this was a divine miracle!

This…this was pure sorcery!

They were all overwhelmed by Zhang Ye’s offbeat playstyle!

Even many of the top pros were seeing this for the first time. It could be played this way? Go can even be played this way?!

1. 征/zhēng/shichō – A ladder is a technique for capturing stones. At each step the attacker reduces the defender’s liberties from two to one. | https://senseis.xmp.net/?Ladder