The ten-year trace of the soul of chess

The Throne Qualifier Challenge is all day long.

"Congratulations, Taya-kun! Became the youngest challenger to the throne in the history of Japanese Go!"

"Thank you, Mr. Amano." Liang replied habitually, and when he looked up, he saw Guang standing not far from him.

"I wonder if I can take a few minutes to accept a short interview with Weiqi Weekly?"

"OK, all right."

Although he accepted the interview, Liang was obviously absent-minded.From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Guang pointing to the outside of the Chess Academy, mouthing "Let's go first", and nodded slightly knowingly.

But when he walked out of the chess academy, there was no trace of light everywhere.Did I understand it wrong?Or... In an instant, the original joy of winning chess inexplicably diminished a bit.

I accidentally touched the mobile phone in my pocket, and after dialing the number, I heard Miss Shihe's familiar voice...

"Ah, Xiao Liang, you're finally here. Jin Teng has been here for quite a while." As soon as Liang arrived at the clubhouse, she heard Miss Shihe say.

Habitually looking at the fixed seat, I saw Shindo was engrossed in writing music by himself.

angry?

Handing the jacket and bag to Miss Shihe, Liang walked towards Guang.Sure enough, before he sat down, he heard Guang complain: "Why are you so slow, I have been waiting for you for a long time!"

"So...you obviously didn't speak clearly, but now you blame me instead?" Hearing Guang said this, Liang's anger also rose a little.

"How can I tell you about the situation just now!"

"Can't you tell me in advance?"

"Isn't it the same to find you directly on the spot! Who would have thought that you would be so sought after =="

The two people who thought they would quarrel while playing chess, actually quarreled as soon as they met today, and everyone in the clubhouse couldn't help but whisper in their hearts that something was wrong.

Just when everyone was about to evacuate, Guang suddenly changed the subject: "Speaking of which, I haven't congratulated you yet! You have won the right to challenge the title of Throne! I really look forward to seeing Zama Throne biting his folding fan again!"

"Shinto, I'm afraid it's because you've been thinking about all these messy things in your mind that your chess strength has been inferior to the little teacher!" Bei Dao on the side couldn't hold back, and choked.

"You can only know how good your chess skills are after playing. No matter who the chess player is, no matter how strong their chess skills are, they have climbed up step by step from the beginning! As long as I keep playing Go, my chess skills will continue to become stronger!!"

"!" At the beginning, the little teacher had refuted Hirose's words, but today he was told by Shinto again, and Mr. Kitajima couldn't help dripping a drop of cold sweat on his forehead.Is the relationship between these two people good or bad... It's really hard to say...

I don't know if he was overwhelmed by the momentum of Shinto's words, but the clubhouse was eerily quiet afterwards.

Have you been playing Go?Unexpectedly, the few remaining emotions in Liang's heart disappeared after Ting Guang said these words.

Just as Liang was about to say something, he heard Guang first say: "Let's replay your chess match today!"

Not far away, Shihe, who was preparing tea for two people, couldn't help smiling knowingly as he watched the two people discussing fiercely in the corner.

The two of them sitting together and carefully reviewing the chess game seemed to be glowing all over.

Although Shindo left Xiaoliang with painful memories when they met for the first time, Xiaoliang must be lucky to be able to meet Shindo Hikaru.

Xiaoliang before he met Hikari Shindo, if you want to compare it, is like a lion that has not yet awakened.Quiet and lonely.Possesses strong chess skills, but has no urgent pursuit of the world of professional Go.

However, the appearance of Shindo Hikaru is like a catalyst, making Xiaoliang, who has been dormant for a long time, finally fully awakened.In the past two years, she has never seen such a multifaceted Xiaoliang.Unwilling, silent, confused, angry, persistent.Before this, she had never seen Xiao Liang so excited for a person.

She didn't quite understand the Go game, but she could clearly feel the subtle changes in Xiao Liang's body.He is still polite and distant to people, but he is no longer as unreachable as in the past.Xiaoliang, who can laugh, make trouble, get angry and even pat the table with Shinto, seems to have a childish look like his peers.

Perhaps the quota for daily quarrels had been used up just now, and the discussion between the two of them was unusually peaceful afterwards.

After the examination was over, Liang took out a piece of paper and handed it to Guang.

Although Guang received it, he was still puzzled: "This is?"

"My mobile phone number. If you can't reach me in the future, you can call this number."

Guang nodded thoughtfully, and subconsciously wanted to put the note in his coat pocket.After stuffing it for a long time, I found that the jacket I was wearing today had no pockets, and it was not safe to put it in my trousers pockets, so I ran to the door and asked Miss Shihe to take out her schoolbag, and carefully put the note in the middle of the schoolbag. Go back to your seat and sit down.

"Fixed! Let's go to the next set!"

Seeing that Guang kept the note so properly, for some reason, Liang's mood was like a kite soaring, and suddenly became very, very good.

The throne, as one of the seven titles, is a traditional chess game second only to the Honinbo battle, and it is a five-ban chess game system.The challenger and the title holder, whoever gets three white stars first wins.

Although Liang won the right to challenge the throne, the opponent is the throne after all, and the subsequent chess game did not go as smoothly as expected.Ryo and Zama Throne were tied with 2 wins and 2 losses respectively.

The day after the end of the fourth game, Guang and Liang made an appointment to replay yesterday's game at the Go club as usual.

"Zama Throne surrendered at this step..." Liang said in a deep voice after the clear sound of falling.

"Hmm..." Looking at the board in front of him, Guang didn't reply in time.

Looking at the situation in front of him at first glance, Bai Zi of the Throne indeed has no way out, but...

"If Zama Throne doesn't use 'Break' in the position here, but uses 'Push' in the lower right corner, although a white piece will be lost, but the black piece must be blocked. In this case, the situation will be completely different Already?" At first, he said hesitantly, but then he spoke faster and faster.

After Guang finished speaking, he looked at Liang as if asking for advice.

Hearing Guang's words at first, Ryo was slightly startled, but looking carefully at the chess game in front of him, indeed, if he played as Shinto said, the white piece on the throne would still have a chance of life, then it would be hard to say who would win in the final game ...

Raising his eyes to look at Shinto who was sitting opposite him, the eyes of the two met unexpectedly in the air.

The bright look in the pupils and the excited expression on his face after discovering this flaw made Liang lose his mind for a moment.He just stared fixedly at the young man sitting opposite him, everything around him seemed to be silenced and he couldn't hear or feel it, only a voice in his heart was left asking himself, if it was the phantom of the chess god who was looming on him in the first place If attracted, what about now?Shinto is not the only chess player who is similar to his age, why can't he take his eyes off him alone?Is it really only because of his Go?Then why, at this moment, just sitting across from him, he would feel at ease, as long as he thought that he would always be with him on the road ahead, he felt that he could become very strong?

Shindo...maybe he is really very important to me...

In the past, if Taya suddenly lost his mind while talking to him, Hikaru would definitely complain mercilessly.

But this time, thinking that Taya's silence was probably shocked by his own keen insight, he couldn't help but feel a little more proud, and his words became more firm: "So, let me see, the game of Zama Throne The reason is that the loss is too conservative! Most chess players may think that as long as they hold the ground firmly, they must have a way to win. Although conservative play is a necessary condition for winning, it does not guarantee that they will win in the end. The full score is If you score 100 points, you can only score 90 points if you play conservatively[1]. Although you have always said that I always like to take risks when playing chess, I don’t think there is anything wrong with boldly practicing my own ideas. Rather than doing nothing for myself It is better to regret what you have done than to regret after you have done it. Even if you lose, you have at least tried..."

When I got home, I just threw my schoolbag away and lay on the bed stretched out.

I have to say that he is in a particularly good mood today.In my impression, it was the first time that Taya was speechless, and even he himself admired his eloquence.

By the way, Taya's phone number...

Hikaru got up and took out the note written by Taya from his schoolbag, sat at the front of the desk and studied it for a while.With my habit of forgetting everything, I guess I can't find it in a few days, right?Well, I guess it should be fine!

A few minutes later, looking at the 6 pieces of paper with the same number on the table, Guang threw the pen on the table, and put 5 of them in the interlayer of the schoolbag, in the Xiuce chess book, on the desk lamp holder, In the pocket of the tights, under the glass of the phone landline, another original note from Taya was put away in the drawer.

After doing these things, Guang himself couldn't help laughing.

What the hell am I doing here... If you want to find Taya, even if you lose your mobile phone number, you can still call him directly at home, or go to the Go club to find him.

As if trying to calm himself down, Hikari sat down in front of the chessboard in the center of the room again.Now is not the time to relax, Taya is only one step away from the title of the throne, and he also has a hand-to-hand knockout match in the Chess Master Tournament next week.If nothing else, after winning the next knockout round, he will meet Taya again in the official competition!

Finally, it was the final round of the fifth round of the Battle for the Throne.

When Guang arrived at the review room, the room was already full of people.In addition to Ogata-san and Kuwamoto Inbo, Watani, Ikaku, Awara, and Saegi are also there.

Seeing the light, Hegu hurriedly beckoned him to sit down.

At this time, in the game room, the air seemed to be frozen, and it was already full of tension and oppression.

Ten o'clock sharp.The fifth inning officially begins.

"Please advise!"

"Please advise!"

In this round, the throne is black, and the first "star".

After the start of the game, both the throne and the taya played very steadily, and they roughly delineated their respective territories one after another.

The situation took a turn for the worse in the 47th move.

After the long test, Ta Ya gave up consolidating the ground in the lower left corner of the white piece, and chose to single-handedly break into the upper right position of the black piece, attempting to reduce the real territory of the black piece and at the same time set off a bloodbath!

Taya actually made such a move!

There was an uproar in the examination room.What kind of confidence and courage does Taya need to have for this move!

Looking at the chess board, He Gu muttered in a low voice: "I guess only Taya dares to play like this. If it were someone else, I would definitely think that person has a problem with his brain!"

At this moment, someone in the examination room suddenly shouted: "Ah, it appeared!"

Occasionally, the image of Zama clenching on a folding fan flashed across the video screen, no doubt announcing that Taya is pressing closer and closer to the current throne holder!

However, with no time to care about other people's actions, Shindo kept his eyes on the screen.Even through the screen, he seemed to be able to feel the dignified atmosphere coming from the next game room.

Taya, how do you plan to use this hand?The hands that were placed on the knees could not help but clenched tightly.

——A safe policy is by no means a perfect policy [2].

It would not be an exaggeration to say that what Shinto said at the Go Club that day caused a great shock to Taya.

Speaking of which, Shinto said similar things during the review together before.You can't play chess because of your own preferences.Even if it is not the chess shape you like, you must make a decisive move when necessary.

Shinto, you must be watching this match in the review room next door right now.

This... is me, Ryo Taya's current Go game!

The author has something to say:

[1]: This is what Yuta Iyama said when NHK interviewed him.After listening to it, I was very impressed, so I wrote it into the article.

[2]: This sentence is also a sentence that appeared on the screen when NHK interviewed Yuta Iyama.