Go: 50-50 split between me and AI

"It's the last game..."

Xiao Xiao lay on the bed in the hotel, grabbing his hair anxiously.

Irritability!

impatient!

The whole person...

The air conditioner was clearly set to 20 degrees, but Xiao Xiao felt hot and uncomfortable, and was in a state of extreme irritability.

Can't sleep!

Can't sleep at all!

It's no use forcing yourself not to move.

Neither does counting sheep.

Nothing works.

You can't take sleeping pills.

Xiao Xiao didn't dare to do such a thing. Although there is no need to cut such things in Go, if he fell asleep after eating and didn't wake up the next morning, affecting the competition, he would be really finished.

Xiao Xiao rolled over and over in bed, constantly telling himself to fall asleep quickly, because there was a game tomorrow morning! Go to sleep quickly! I need enough sleep now!

Tomorrow is the final inning of the World Series!

Determines who will be the world champion!
It determines whether you can win the world championship!
The more I think about it, the more I can’t sleep!
Xiao Xiao looked at the pitch-black ceiling and couldn't help but scream.

Why did we have to compete until the last game?

Datong Cup World's Strongest Chess Player Tournament.

The world championship sponsored by Tengda Corporation can be said to be the highest-level Go world championship in the world.

The first champion was won by Ying Jie, the second champion was won by Cui Ze, the third champion was won by Nan Ke.

Among these people, one is the undisputed number one in the world, one is the strongest talent in South Korea, and the other is the suspected successor to the world's leading position who emerged after Ying Jie semi-retired and left China leaderless, winning three championships in two years.

The value of these three people undoubtedly increases the value of this competition.

Of course, another important point is that his bonus was increased to 5 million yuan this year.

This prize amount can be said to be the highest prize money in the Go World Championships. Even the runner-up prize money is almost catching up with the championship prize money of other world championships.

It is said to be a world championship with high gold content, and no one doubts it.

After all, this is real gold and silver, and its gold content is higher than anything else.

After all, no one can say, I don’t like money, I’m not interested in money, so I don’t want this championship.

The champion prize money for other world series is basically around 1.8 million yuan, which is already a very qualified standard. The lower ones may be just over 1 million yuan.

But high prize money also means high difficulty, with a world championship mode with sixty-four players at the highest level.

The top eight will have three games, the top four will have five games, and the final will have seven games.

It can be said that the difficulty of the entire competition has increased sharply, and winning the championship definitely requires the strongest hard power.

The most amazing thing about this competition is that no country is given any exempt seeding spot.

Except for the champion and runner-up of the previous session who are exempt from the selection, everyone else who wants to enter this competition must participate in the comprehensive preliminaries.

This means that before you reach the top 64, almost everyone has to go through the qualifying rounds.

In a world championship, if you want to win the championship, you may have to play more than twenty games.

This is indeed very tiring for many people, and greatly increases the difficulty and risk of winning the championship.

After all, in a world championship with 24 players, you may only need to play five games to win the world championship.

It may be over before you even feel it.

Although the comprehensive qualifiers for the World Series include food and accommodation, there is no prize money or match fee. For many chess players in South Korea and Japan, the round-trip airfare plus other expenses is also a considerable expense, so many people who have no hope of appearing will not participate.

After all, many people know that there is a high probability that they will not be able to pass the comprehensive preliminary selection.

Young people may still want to exercise, but the elderly will just give up. What’s the point of doing it without money?

Even when South Korea held its own comprehensive preliminaries in its own city, when there were match fees, some old men would still participate to make some money. Later, when there were no match fees, the old men in the local area no longer participated.

So apart from the first qualifying round of the World Chess Championship which was a bit hot, the number of Japanese and Korean chess players participating later on has become much smaller. The situation in China is slightly better, after all, food and accommodation are provided, but travel expenses are not.

Normally, food and accommodation are not included in the qualifying rounds of some national competitions, and you need to participate at your own expense.

Therefore, for many young chess players who have just entered the professional field, paying to play chess is not a strange thing; it is even commonplace.

After all, China is so huge, and the locations of various competitions are not fixed. Sometimes the round-trip fare to a competition venue may cost one or two thousand yuan, not to mention accommodation fees.

You may have spent thousands of dollars, but in the end you only played a game of chess and lost in one round.

Especially for some young chess players, they are accompanied by their parents when participating in competitions, and parents also need to spend money, which may even affect their work.

Therefore, if you don’t have a very well-off family, let alone going from amateur to professional, it will be difficult to achieve something even after entering the profession.

Generally, the parents of professional high-level players and world champions do not have ordinary professions. For example, the father of a cupping king once bought a house in BJ for his chess learning.

To some extent, it can be said to be one of the two most successful investments in life.

After all, not many people can have high-level professional skills like Ying Jie when they enter the professional world, and can directly enter the best A-level league team and start earning high salaries.

When most people first enter their careers, they still have no income.

The exception is some older people who enter the profession just to gain fame and exclude teaching.

There may be some teams that want to train the most talented teenagers who rank first or second every year, but those who are a little older or at the bottom of the rankings may not even be able to find a team.

No one wants you, so don't even talk about salary.

To some extent, the small land area of ​​Japan and South Korea has its advantages. Chess players are basically gathered in one place, most of them are in one city, and even their sponsors are in the same place.

Large-scale competitions such as preliminaries are basically held in fixed cities, and the players are also in fixed places. Therefore, for many ordinary professionals, the cost of participating in the competition is very low, and they can go home directly after the competition.

This is very difficult in China, as sponsors come from all over the world. Both the sponsors and the cities where they are located certainly hope to hold the competition here.

After all, this is not only an achievement on our side, but also a way to promote it locally.

From various considerations, this idea is understandable, and there is really no good solution.

However, even so, there are still many participants in the strongest chess player competition qualifiers, with nearly 500 people signing up. But the good thing is that there are 62 places in this tournament. Excluding the six places given to female veterans and Europe and the United States, there are still 56 places for open preliminaries.

Although it is still a little difficult, for a normal ninth-dan player, qualifying is not a big problem.

Of course, there are still quite a few who fail every year. After all, there are always some low-level or even beginner-level players, and even amateur young people who give the ninth-level players a little shock.

A Korean double champion who had previously been seeded but accompanied a friend to participate in the comprehensive preliminaries sneezed.

A certain Japanese title holder said that the Chinese Triple Crown Champion did it too.

But in fact, Xiao Xiao himself did not expect that he would actually make it to the finals this time!

Xiao Xiao's own strength is not weak, especially since Ying Jie has not participated in any competitions for a long time in the past two years and has become an inactive chess player, and has directly disappeared from the Chinese ranking list.

Xiao Xiao even ranked first in the Chinese ranking list for half a year.

Being ranked first in the rating points sometimes doesn't mean much, it can only reflect a real-time status, but the status sometimes may not be reflected in the game.

You are in good shape ≠ you can win the championship.

There are many people who cannot make it to the finals even with an 80% winning rate.

But Xiao Xiao is different. He has cashed in many times during the game.

Even Xiao Xiao won three national championships last year, which can be said to be an extremely terrifying speed and domestic dominance.

There are both fast chess and slow chess competitions, which can be said to fully demonstrate Xiao Xiao's strength.

After all, although some chess players are very strong, they are sometimes restrictive heroes.

For example, some people are good at slow chess, but they lose to anyone in fast chess competitions.

Some people have achieved more than ten or even twenty consecutive wins in the rapid chess games of the Go A-level league, but they do not perform well in the slow chess games.

Xiao Xiao can win the national championship in any competition, which has fully proved his overall level and quality, which is definitely top-notch in China.

No matter who it is, except for a semi-retired person who has lost contact and no one knows where he has gone, no one dares to say that he can definitely beat Xiao Xiao now.

Theoretically speaking, there have been quite a few world championships in the past two years. Although Cui Ze is obviously much stronger than the others, he can only win two championships a year at most. Xiao Xiaopeng should be able to win one of the other championships.

However, every time Xiao Xiao participated in a world championship, he basically either fell in the quarterfinals or the semifinals.

Many people even mocked Xiao Xiao online, saying that he was a wimp in the world championships, the king of domestic civil wars, an expert in civil wars but a novice in foreign wars, and that he was a good bastard in Xiao Ba and a bad guy in Xiao Ba.

It would be absolutely funny if Xiao Xiao said that he was not affected by the online public opinion.

How should I put it? Not everyone can accept all kinds of comments and attacks online, and then act indifferent, saying that this is how it is to use the Internet.

Most people would probably get angry if they see something that is different from their opinion, let alone a group of people attacking them.

Especially since he failed in the semi-finals several times and never made it to the finals, for two consecutive years Xiao Xiao couldn't help but start to doubt himself, wondering if he could never win the world championship?
Obviously, many people of the same age have already won the championship, and Xiao Xiao even felt that the level of some people was probably not as good as his, but they seized the opportunity and won the championship.

But I haven't...

Until this time, Xiao Xiao made it to the finals.

Although there was a certain element of luck in the semi-finals, Xiao Xiao finally made it to the finals.

The moment he entered the finals, Xiao Xiao suddenly felt enlightened.

Xiao Xiao suddenly had a feeling in his heart that maybe he could win this time! He could win the championship!

It’s even possible!
This is the only chance in my life!
Xiao Xiao was not exaggerating, but in the registration list for the Chess Saint Tournament in two months, everyone saw a name that was like a devil.

Ying Jie.

That man is coming back!

Once Ying Jie returns, everyone seems to feel that the world championship has been decided.

After all, no one dared to say that Rang Xian could defeat Ying Jie 100%.

As for a fair fight...

Ying Jie plays chess with me!

Is he fair!

This time, Xiao Xiao's opponent in the final is Park Jung-hwan, 9th dan, from South Korea.

As the undisputed second best player in South Korea after Choi Taek, Park Jung-hwan has suffered a lot at the hands of China.

Especially in the finals...

If suffering a loss is a blessing, Park Jung-hwan's family should be filled with blessings.

Park Jung-hwan's record in the finals includes, but is not limited to, losing to China's Wasted Crown Prince, China's Good Crown Prince, and China's Good Crown Prince's Great Grandson in the finals.

Even his good compatriot Choi Taek used him as an ATM machine and took out two world championship titles. It can be said that if Park Jung-hwan had not finally won a world championship some time ago, his mentality would have collapsed long ago.

The team consistently made it to the finals of the world series in various competitions, but just couldn't win the championship. Anyone with a normal mind would find it unbearable.

You can't stand always getting second place.

This time, Park Jung-hwan is also preparing to break his own record of becoming a world champion and at least become a double champion!
After all, South Korea has other world champions besides him. If he wins two, he can secure his second place.

Although he is also a waste prince, he is still better than the waste prince next door. His Chinese ranking has dropped to fifth place! And there are many people in China who have more world championships than him!

To be honest, although Park Jung-hwan is considered to be a very strong player by many Chinese chess players, Xiao Xiao always felt that he was just that good and nothing big.

Of course, Xiao Xiao is not bragging and does not recognize the other party's strength.

Before the game, Xiao Xiao's record against Park Jung-hwan was 4 to 2, which was already a very good result.

Xiao Xiao successfully won the first game, and Park Jung-hwan won the second game, but Xiao Xiao won the next two games in a row and directly got the match point with 3 to 1.

The fifth game was originally a great one for Xiao Xiao. When everyone was opening champagne to celebrate Xiao Xiao's victory, something unexpected happened.

After Xiao Xiao made his move, he hit the clock a little late and it went into timeout.

It can be said that Park Jung-hwan, who has entered the endgame stage, has no chance of winning under normal circumstances. In the laboratory, everyone is even ready to pack up and present Xiao Xiao with the world championship trophy.

But because Xiao Xiao was in overtime, the score became three to two.

Xiao Xiao's mentality collapsed at this moment. He was the closest to becoming the world champion, but he missed the opportunity because of this mistake.

To be honest, if he lost the world championship because of this, Xiao Xiao really had an urge to start over.

This kind of blow is indeed not something that ordinary people can bear. Even if it is not the end, there are still chances later. As long as he wins one more game, the championship will still be Xiao Xiao's. However, Xiao Xiao almost cried on the spot.

I felt like I had the trophy in my hands, but it disappeared.

Some are happy while others are sad. Park Jung-hwan felt that his smile was a bit wicked when he saw the person breaking down in tears beside him, but he still wanted to laugh secretly under the quilt.

There was no way out. The championship that was about to be lost finally regained a glimmer of hope.

Although this kind of victory is not worth being happy about, it seems...

You still have to laugh when you should.

By the sixth game, Xiao Xiao's mood was obviously not calm yet. He was anxious to wield his butcher knife and kill Park Jung-hwan's Baron to end the game and win the championship. However, he was counter-killed by Park Jung-hwan's Baron and lost the game.

In this way, the score between the two sides came to three to three.

To some extent, there is not much difference between the previous games and not having played at all.

The last round!

One round determines the outcome!
But Xiao Xiao was already very worried about this game, and he had already lost two games in a row. He felt that the championship trophy he had won was about to disappear.

Xiao Xiao felt extremely irritated. Even the Chinese chess players who had accompanied him in the competition and wanted to play chess with Xiao Xiao tonight were sent back by Xiao Xiao on the pretext of resting early.

At this moment, Xiao Xiao just wanted to calm down and calm himself down so that he could win the last game tomorrow.

But the more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became, and the more anxious he became. Xiao Xiao lay on the bed, tossing the whole bed into a mess, but still couldn't fall asleep.

"Ten o'clock... go to bed quickly, go to bed quickly."

Xiao Xiao glanced at the time on his watch and kept counting sheep in his mind, but he still didn't feel sleepy at all.

My mind was so confused that I couldn't sleep at all.

But if you suffer from insomnia and stay up late, I really can’t imagine the quality of the game tomorrow morning.

Looking at the dark ceiling, Xiao Xiao actually didn't know what he should do.

But just when Xiao Xiao was unable to sleep, the doorbell rang at an inopportune time.

Xiao Xiao, who was already very annoyed, stood up. He had clearly informed his fellow Chinese team members not to disturb him, and there was even a Do Not Disturb sign hung at the door, so there should be no room service.

Which bastard is ringing his doorbell at this hour? !
Xiao Xiao didn't think it was the Korean team who did it, not because he believed in the Korean team's professional ethics.

The main thing is that the competition is held in a five-star hotel and there are surveillance cameras in the corridors outside. If you do this kind of thing, you will be caught immediately.

If something like this gets out, it would be extremely embarrassing even if we win the championship.

"Room Service."

When Xiao heard the sound coming from outside, his anger suddenly disappeared by half, then he curled his lips and opened the door.

"How much for a single session? How much for a whole night? You've lost your shape."

"Given your looks, just think about how much money you'll have to pay me."

Seeing Xiao Xiao opening the door, Ying Jie couldn't help but roll his eyes. What a idiot.

Looking at Ying Jie who rolled his eyes, Xiao Xiao couldn't help but smile: "Come in, why are you here?"

"I went to XZ to play for a few days, but soon after I got there, I got altitude sickness again and had to stay in bed for several days."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Xiao took a can of Coke from the small refrigerator in the room and handed it to Ying Jie: "Every time you just pull out the phone card and disappear, the dean and coach are so anxious."

"I don't disappear from the face of the earth. I call my regular phone number every day. I just dial it directly. No one cares. I'm so happy.

Just now, I finished my trip and opened my phone to see the news that you had made it to the finals. You flew over directly from LS.

You are such a good brother, right? I can’t find a brother as good as you! Please remember to help me to buy the air ticket! "

Ying Jie basically just flopped down on the bed as if he were at home.

Ying Jie was indeed a little tired. After seeing the news, he immediately bought a flight ticket for the nearest flight, flew over, and took a taxi straight to the hotel.

Ying Jie now felt pain in his waist and back all over, so he quickly finished his midnight snack and went to sleep.

"Get out of here, get out of here, why are you sleeping on my bed?"

"Tsk, it's not like you've slept together before. You can just sleep on the sofa. I'll sleep on this bed tonight."

Hearing this, Xiao Xiao was a little speechless: "I am protecting animals now! The dean doesn't even dare to say harsh words to me, and you dare to let me sleep on the sofa?

You dare to knock on my door after 10 o'clock? If I don't win the championship, I wonder if they will give you trouble."

"Cut~"

Ying Jie deliberately prolonged his voice when he heard this: "How long have we slept in the same dormitory? We are still sharing the apartment after we got out. I know what you are doing even if you stick your butt out.

There’s no way you can fall asleep at this time. I knew you wouldn’t be able to sleep, so I ordered takeout when I came over.

By the way, I'm staying at your place tonight. I just asked the front desk, it's over a thousand dollars a night. Are all five-star hotels so rip-off these days?! And the Waldorf Astoria."

"Ugh……"

Xiao Xiao couldn't help but sigh when he heard this. He was about to say something when there was another knock on the door. It was the barbecue ordered by Ying Jie that arrived.

Looking at Ying Jie who opened the door, brought in the takeaway and put it directly on the table, Xiao Xiao was about to say something when he saw the other party handing him the skewers of meat.

"I still won't eat. Brother Shi went out to eat seafood the night before the last game of the semi-finals, and ended up having diarrhea and lost to me in the last game..."

Xiao Xiao took a look at the skewers and shook his head.

In this semi-final, Xiao Xiao faced the deposed crown prince Shi Mingzhi. The two were tied 2-2 in the first two games of the five-game match.

However, Shi Mingzhi did not seem to be under any mental pressure. He even went out to dinner with others the night before the last game. It was said that they went to a seafood restaurant.

During the competition the next day, it was obvious that his complexion was not right and he went to the bathroom frequently several times.

How can I put it? A brave man can't stand a pee...

Xiao Xiao had a bad mentality in the semi-finals and his performance was not satisfactory, but he could not resist Shi Mingzhi who gave away more.

In the end, both sides kept giving in to each other, and Xiao Xiao won the right to the finals with a half-point advantage.

But it sounded a huge alarm for Xiao Xiao. Don't eat anything during the competition! Especially don't eat food from a restaurant you don't know!
The belly is also a chess player’s weapon!

So looking at the obviously greasy barbecue, although Xiao Xiao was very greedy, he still forced himself to swallow his saliva and refused.

Barbecue is valuable, but the price of championship is even higher!
If I win the championship tomorrow, I would have no objection to spending one million to treat everyone.

Just be patient for now tonight!

"If you don't eat it, I'll eat it all. I haven't had dinner yet, and there's no food for the evening flight. I didn't expect that business class would be sold out."

Before Xiao Xiao could speak, Ying Jie spoke first: "Speaking of the plane, I remembered that I just opened WeChat and saw a message in the group.

You are awesome! I heard that you charmed a stewardess on the plane and she even sent an article to find you.

Now you have become an Internet celebrity! Are you interested in developing a career in the entertainment industry? Your face is still quite promising! Who knows, maybe someone will take a fancy to you?
The sun shines on my face, making it red."

Xiao Xiao couldn't help blushing when he heard Ying Jie's words: "Who knows what happened, I was confused when I saw someone tagged me on Weibo.

But we just added each other on WeChat and chatted for a few minutes. That’s all.”

Xiao Xiao was obviously not very interested in the flight attendant who was looking for him, and he had no intention of taking the opportunity to develop a romantic relationship with her.

Even when this happened, Xiao Xiao was completely confused and posted a confused expression on Weibo.

"You and Meng Yu dated for a while and then broke up..."

Ying Jie was eating and chatting about gossip with Xiao Xiao. As they were chatting, Xiao Xiao didn't know how he fell asleep on the bed.

I seemed to be feeling too stressed to sleep, but there was an idiot next to me, and I fell asleep without knowing what happened while we were chatting.

It was not until the alarm clock rang that Xiao Xiao realized it was already daytime the next morning.

This time, I seemed to have slept particularly well.

It seemed like I hadn't slept in the same room with Ying Jie for a long time.

Looking at Ying Jie, who was over 1.80 meters tall and sleeping on the sofa, Xiao Xiao couldn't help but want to laugh.

It's really difficult for this person to sleep on the sofa, there is not enough room for him to sleep.

"Looks like you're really tired."

Seeing Ying Jie snoring on the sofa without any reaction after his alarm clock rang, Xiao Xiao did not wake him up.

After picking up the quilt next to him and covering Ying Jie with it, Xiao Xiao simply washed up and went out.

The game officially starts at ten o'clock.

3-3 means that all previous games are over.

This competition decides everything!
Nowadays!

Must win the championship!

Bet everything I have!
PS: Jin Zi will play in the game tomorrow. He is actually not young anymore in 04, but the Samsung Cup in two months will be his first time to participate in a world competition.

How should I put it? The pressure from the golden generation is really too great. Just like Ritian said, the difficulty of the qualifiers is not much better than the national competition.

Ritian was also unlucky. He was eliminated by Shenzi once, and after finally winning, he was eliminated by Lao Ke again.

When will the young people be able to surpass these old guys and take the lead?

(End of this chapter)