After a brief silence, the crowd finally began to stir, letting out a chorus of sighs.
"What the hell, turns out he doesn't know how to play chess at all."
"I was getting all excited just now, and then... he shows me this?"
"Even beginners should know that playing 3-3 in the opening is bad chess. This kid probably only knows the basic rules of Go."
"Boring, boring. I'm out of here."
Quite a few people, seeing this 3-3 invasion, lost interest and some even shook their heads and left directly, feeling this game was already decided.
Playing 3-3 in the opening—what kind of joke was this?
Anyone who knew even a little about Go understood that invading at 3-3 was shortsighted play.
Although invading at 3-3 secured territory and solid profit, it came at the cost of giving the opponent unlimited potential for outside influence!
You have to understand that in Go's opening phase, every move is crucial, with each one worth at least twenty-five points of value.
Therefore, playing 3-3 in the opening could absolutely be called penny-wise and pound-foolish—a major blunder.
Zheng Qin glanced at Yu Shao and couldn't help but find it somewhat amusing. He'd almost gotten serious for a moment there, but his opponent was clearly a Go novice.
"I'll go easy on him then."
Zheng Qin pondered briefly, then picked up another stone and gently placed it.
*Click.*
Third column, fourth row. Block.
Yu Shao immediately followed with his stone.
Fourth column, third row. Crawl.
The two players began placing stones rapidly, black and white stones falling in quick succession. Soon they'd played through more than a dozen moves.
The surrounding spectators gradually began to notice something through the game, their expressions becoming somewhat astonished.
"Something's not right."
"That kid doesn't seem like he can't play chess at all. In fact, you could say... his opening is quite solid!"
"Indeed, although that kid's style is uncommon and his moves a bit strange, you can tell he knows how to play, and his level should be pretty good."
"Then why did he play 3-3 on the third move?"
"That... I don't know."
"If that kid can play Go, then deliberately playing 3-3 would be nothing short of insulting his opponent, right?"
"Who knows, but he did waste a move in the opening by playing 3-3. Even if he's playing steadily now, once Little Zheng's outside influence takes shape, it'll be unstoppable."
Hearing this, someone nodded in agreement.
The disadvantage from opening with 3-3 was too great. Even if that high school student really had some skill, it would be hard to make up this gap, not to mention his opponent was Zheng Qin.
In the crowd, Xu Zijin said nothing, just frowned slightly, her beautiful eyes fixed intently on the board, as if searching for something.
For some reason, she felt that the current position, while appearing calm on the surface, was actually hiding turbulent undercurrents. When she tried to view it from White's perspective, she felt surrounded by a thick sense of crisis.
But she couldn't find what exactly was causing this feeling no matter how hard she looked.
"An illusion?"
But soon, Xu Zijin rejected this guess.
"No, definitely not an illusion."
"There must be something, somewhere, that's hiding... unimaginable danger!"
Just then, Yu Shao picked up another black stone.
His hand descended from a great height, producing a crisp metallic sound.
*Click.*
Eighth column, twelfth row. Cut!
"What?"
"This... this is?"
"Are you kidding me? Black is attacking?"
With one stone placed, the crowd seemed to explode. Everyone gasped in disbelief, even Xu Zijin looked somewhat stunned seeing this move.
Black had actually chosen to attack proactively at this moment?
"How... how does he dare?"
Someone almost couldn't help but cry out:
"Previously, Black secured territory through the 3-3 invasion while White continuously developed outside influence. Now White's outside influence is formidable—Black should rely on his territorial advantage to defend, then counterattack defensively!"
"After all, Black did secure the 3-3 point, making it very solid. If Black could really catch White's oversight and bite hard, even though White has an early advantage, Black might not be without fighting chance!"
"But he chose... to attack proactively???"
Not just him—everyone else couldn't understand Yu Shao's move either.
In their view, Black was acting like a rabid dog.
While White was a lion!
But now, this rabid dog was baring its fangs at the lion, trying to bite through the lion's throat!
Seeing this cutting move, Zheng Qin froze.
He'd already picked up a stone and was about to place it, but now his hand stopped mid-air.
"Cut...?"
After a long moment, Zheng Qin looked deeply at Yu Shao before finally placing his stone!
*Clap!*
Seventh column, twelfth row. Extend!
Right after Zheng Qin placed his stone, Yu Shao immediately followed, and both players began another rapid exchange, crisp placement sounds ringing out continuously.
But you could clearly feel that the atmosphere now was completely different from before.
During the earlier opening phase, the spectators would still whisper among themselves, discussing each move, but now almost no one spoke.
*Click.*
*Click.*
*Click.*
The placement sounds continued.
Everyone stared intently at the board, completely absorbed in the game, watching stones fall one by one as if witnessing flashing blades and cunning schemes.
The current position was at a point where one move affected everything, plunged into the most intense and brutal life-and-death struggle!
...
"This is insane—I don't even dare breathe!"
After who knows how long, someone finally couldn't help but speak, though even while talking, his eyes never left the board.
"Same here."
A young man nearby said with amazement: "Too brilliant, too strong! Zheng Qin being strong is one thing, but that high school student is ridiculously strong too!"
"When White counterattacked Black's key point, Black should have chosen to block, but instead chose the counter-intuitive bump, forcing White to retreat!"
"And facing Black's desperate attacks, White's handling was also perfect, especially that move choosing to tenuki and connect—such great overall vision, it left me awestruck!"
"I almost feel like I'm watching two professional players!"
Hearing this, someone immediately said: "Exactly, I feel the same way! To think someone could play Zheng Qin to this level—who is that kid? Did he come from a training school?"
"No, I heard he's just an ordinary high school student who hasn't even achieved amateur dan ranking," someone nearby answered.
"Impossible!"
That person was dumbstruck: "An ordinary high school student without even one dan rank can play like this? Can go toe-to-toe with Zheng Qin?"
"Honestly, I don't quite believe it either... How could a kid without professional training reach this level?"
In the crowd, Xu Zijin looked at the board, still saying nothing, but mentally disagreeing with others' discussions.
"Toe-to-toe?"
Xu Zijin lowered her eyelids.
"No..."
"It's definitely more than that. Black chose to attack proactively, and White, despite having the advantage, is now starting to defend. This shows that White is gradually falling into a disadvantage!"
[Small niche genre needs everyone's careful nurturing—please follow and bookmark!!!]