After all of us are reborn, who plays Go?

"Hello, hello, Zhan Lang Jiudan, I'm sorry to disturb your rest tonight, but the pioneering work you did today really made countless people sleepless.

After learning that you were going back to China tomorrow, we immediately contacted the Japanese Embassy in the hope of interviewing you.

The reporter from Asahi Shimbun who was sitting in a room of the Chinese Embassy in Japan couldn't help but shake hands when he saw Zhan Lang approaching.

I thought I couldn't be interviewed, but unexpectedly I still got the chance. Tomorrow's news will finally be different from other newspapers!
Everyone is reporting on the same game, but we have exclusive interviews with the players, so we’ll see who has the better sales!

After all, today's game caused too much of a stir.

The victory or defeat is decided by the cycle of three disasters, which is a unique thing from ancient times to the present.

An unprecedented first in the history of Go happened today.

The only flaw is that the player who played this chess move was not a Japanese player, but a Chinese.

If only it were Japanese.

"We are very glad that you can accept our interview tonight. Please take a seat."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. We are very grateful that you can take time out of your busy schedule to accept our interview. We are sorry to bother you and disturb your rest time."

Listening to what the Japanese reporter said, Zhan Lang felt a little awkward.

Because the other party was so polite, even the politeness in the language was a bit creepy.

It has even gone beyond the realm of false politeness.

"So shall we just get started?"

"it is good."

"First, let me ask you the first question. In today's China-Japan Go Tournament, you gave up the three-ko cycle, but you won the game in the end.

This can be said to be something that breaks the common sense of many chess players. After all, the appearance of the three-ko cycle means there is no win or loss, and it is a symbol of a rare draw in Go.

But today you broke this convention and proved that the outcome can still be determined under the three-disaster cycle, which surprised everyone.

How did you come up with this idea during the competition? How did you do it? Can you tell us about your mental journey at that time?

“It’s not particularly difficult, it’s actually quite easy to operate.

The main issue is whether we can let go of the psychological burden in such an important game."

Zhan Lang took the microphone handed to him by the other party and thought for a while before saying, "If we choose to be more conservative, there should be an extra game after the three-disaster cycle.

I still have nearly an hour, but Lin Hongshu, 9th Dan, is almost counting down. Generally, if the extra game is conducted according to the time reserved by both sides, this competition system itself is very favorable to me.

Moreover, it had been several hours and after a long game, Lin Hongshu, who is in his thirties, is definitely not as physically fit as I am, a young man in his twenties.

If I were to think conservatively, I would choose to play the three-disaster cycle and then start another game, which would give me a better chance of winning. "

“But I saw it at the time and I felt like I could win.

The most important thing is to let go of the psychological burden and have the idea that "after creating enough big robbery materials, you can win even if you give up the three-robbery cycle" in important competitions.

Go is a free game. No matter what the situation is, we should not let other traditional things limit our thinking. We should dare to think of things that we think are impossible. I found that the fixed thinking of Go in Japan is very strong. It may be because the traditional education is too deeply rooted in people's hearts. Japanese players don't seem to dare to innovate.

Everybody is pursuing the basic skills, as if they think that as long as all the basic skills are in place, they can achieve victory step by step.

Like several people decades ago, many of the new layouts they tried, if viewed from today's perspective, well, to put it bluntly, do seem a bit childish and ridiculous.

But there always has to be someone to blaze a trail. Go players should sometimes be bold in innovation and should not be confined by traditional thinking.

In fact, Lin Hongshu, the ninth dan, was also trapped by the fixed thinking of three cycles of tribulations with no winner or loser. If I had been more cautious when creating tribulations materials, maybe he still had a chance.

But the timing of my right-side push was just right, and Lin Hongshu's Nine-stage Ban and Dig-off were both executed in seconds, as if he was completely fooled by me."

Zhan Lang couldn't help but laugh when he talked about the latter part. It must be said that Zhan Lang was indeed very satisfied with his performance in the latter part of this round.

My little head is so smart!

When the reporter heard this, he wrote quickly. Before interviewing Zhan Lang, he had actually interviewed other Japanese chess players about their evaluation of this game.

Katsuya Takenouchi said that Zhan Lang's thought process is indeed different from that of ordinary people. Sometimes some professional chess players' amazing moves will be imitated by others, and even Shohei Takemiya's cosmic style has followers.

But any normal person would not have the idea of ​​imitating Zhan Lang's game.

By giving up half of the big dragon and the three-disaster cycle to win, he has the potential to compete for the first place in the past hundred years.

It is a miracle that is difficult to replicate.

Wu Gong Zhengping even exaggeratedly said that when Zhan Lang made 230 moves, he felt that the chess pieces were glowing.

Of course, this is a hindsight statement. Takemiya Masahira didn't see anything wrong with this move when he made it.

“It’s indeed a miracle, but you still have four top-notch Japanese players waiting behind you, so I’m afraid it will be a tough competition.

It seems that the situations you faced as the captain in both the first and second sessions were quite extreme. What do you think? "

Zhan Lang nodded when he heard this: "Of course there is pressure. Every time I play, I hope my teammates can help me. I also hope that the Chinese players can perform better in the next game and not put all the pressure on me.

I would rather have everyone win the game before me, and then I can just lie back and collect the prize money.”

The Japanese reporters couldn't help laughing when they heard this. How decadent must Japanese Go be for such a situation to occur?
It would probably be difficult to hold the China-Japan Go Tournament for the 100th time, right?

However, considering his identity as a reporter, the Japanese reporter did not laugh out loud.

"So what are your prospects for the upcoming games?"

Zhan Lang thought for a moment and replied, "Although the players behind Japan are all very strong, I feel I have at least a 50% chance of winning no matter who I play against."

The reporter nodded when he heard this, and then extracted the key words that needed to be published.

The next day, the Asahi Shimbun Go edition had a front-page headline.

Chinese chess player Zhan Lang said that there is a 50% chance of winning the China-Japan Go Challenge!
PS: Xuan Gong played invincible today. I saw the screenshot of the comment section of Yehu in the group, which said that Ying Jie would definitely lose the next game against Xuan Gong.

Well said, I agree! Xuangong will definitely be the champion of this Lanke Cup!

(End of this chapter)