After all of us are reborn, who plays Go?

It can be said that Cao Mingxun is worthy of being an old smoker for decades. He is extremely experienced in smoking, especially smoking during competitions.

Taking a cigarette, lighting it, smoking and puffing out smoke are all smooth movements. Without hundreds of times of experience, it would be impossible to achieve such a smooth level.

It even makes people feel as if they have practiced it specially. There is no sense of obstruction and it is very smooth. It cannot even be described as flowing like water.

Cao Mingxun took less than ten seconds to complete this whole set of actions, so it was normal that Zhan Lang couldn't react in time.

Because the next moment Zhan Lang saw Cao Mingxun take out a cigarette, the secondhand smoke sprayed directly into his face.

From the fact that Zhan Lang's reaction nerves didn't even have time to react, it was clear how fast Cao Mingxun's moves were.

Let’s put it this way, if the Olympic Games were to compare smoking, with a full score of 10, Cao Mingxun’s moves would definitely score above 9.9 points.

Cho Myung-hoon in the smoking competition is comparable to Jeon Hong-chan in the diving competition.

It was precisely because Cao Mingxun's movements were so quick and smooth that even the referee sitting next to him was unable to react immediately.

It has been said before that the referee in a Go competition does not actually play a very important role, and in many cases even acts as a mascot.

After all, the referee's biggest role is to announce the result of the game, but the probability of winning or losing in the middle of a Go game is at least more than 50%, and many times the probability is less than half after all the official moves are completed.

Many times, the referee does not need to announce the result of the game. If one side surrenders directly, the result will be announced immediately, and the referee’s words are unnecessary.

Only when both players have collected all the official pieces, the referee needs to go up and count the points, and then announce the result of the game according to the rules.

In a sense, it also prevents the situation where a player clearly wins after the game ends, but thinks he has lost due to a miscalculation.

Don't think that this is only a mistake made by amateur novices. Theoretically speaking, in the later endgame stages, it is impossible for professional chess players to make a mistake.

But the thing about people is that no matter how unlikely or minor a mistake is, they are bound to make it.

Although the probability of top players making mistakes is very small, it happens almost every year because there are enough competitions.

I won’t criticize the anchor who slapped himself in the face even though he clearly won.

Even in 2024, China's new national champion and world runner-up said after the game that he thought he had lost in the Go A-League because he miscalculated the points and counted a little less.

What’s even more interesting is that his opponent is not a Chinese chess player, but Kazi from South Korea.

The double-active rules are different in China and South Korea. Brother Kazi, who was sitting opposite him, also thought he had won. Last year's best foreign aid had not won a single game since the start of this year's Weiqi League, and he thought he was finally going to win a game after all the losses in this year's Weiqi League.

This creates a very strange phenomenon in the eyes of the audience, because the artificial intelligence's judgment is very clear, and the audience's judgment is also very clear.

But the winners on the field didn't show any joy, while the losers looked quite happy.

Fortunately, it was not a very important match and neither of them was very extroverted, otherwise it would have become a famous scene where the winner slapped himself in the face while the loser smiled.

After the result of the match was announced, Kazige appealed the result because he did not understand the Chinese rules. I guess he thought the referee had made a mistake.

But the penalty he got was that what he thought was a half-point win turned out to be a half-point loss.

All I can say is that we really need to study the rules of the game more. The Chinese and South Korean players did encounter some unexpected situations because of the rules of the game.

Losing a league game is not a big deal, but if you lose the World Series because you don’t understand the rules, even slapping yourself in the face won’t solve the problem.

So overall, the referee has no effect except at the end of the game.

Many referees even sit in their seats for the entire game, and may even play with their mobile phones.

In a sense, it is similar to the invigilator of the college entrance examination.

Most referees are just doing the dirty work. As long as there is no obvious violation of the hard rules or no report from a player, they will pretend not to see any small movements.

After all, your opponents have no objections. If you insist on sticking to the rules for everything, it would be a bit too inhumane.

It's like a Chinese player playing in the Korean League One in South Korea. Because he didn't understand the rules of the game, there was a problem with the bell. The opponent didn't even complain, so he was directly judged as the loser by the referee.

Many netizens also think that the Korean referees are meddling in other people's business.

So sometimes, it is really not easy to be a referee.

Of course, there are also some players who report very strange things to the referee, such as a Korean player who once reported that the Chinese chess player on the opposite side rolled his eyes and attacked him mentally.

However, generally, such matters are handled lightly, and it is rare that a team is directly judged as losing because of a minor foul.

After all, this would be too outrageous, and there is too much room for operation in the gray area, so no one dares to do this.

So after Cao Mingxun successfully took a puff of the cigarette, the referee immediately reacted and asked the other party to put out the cigarette, and informed the other party that according to the rules, smoking is prohibited in indoor competitions.

Hearing this, Cao Mingxun pretended to be innocent and asked in surprise, "Isn't smoking allowed in normal competitions? When I participated in the Fujitsu Cup before, I could smoke inside the competition venue. Why is smoking suddenly not allowed in this competition?"

In a sense, Cao Mingxun was indeed unhappy with this rule. Why did China set up this unique rule? Don't you know that not allowing me to smoke will affect my thinking?

In a sense, what Cao Mingxun said was indeed what he really thought. For many old smokers who play Go, it is indeed very uncomfortable to think without smoking.

As for the opponent being affected by secondhand smoke, that is his own problem, since he himself does not smoke.

Cao Mingxun continued to take two puffs while talking, deliberately delaying time, wanting to spray Zhan Lang twice more, but at this time Zhan Lang directly left his position to get water, and Cao Mingxun directly lost his target of attack.

Zhan Lang doesn't care. Anyway, I have finished making my moves and it's over. What you are wasting now is your own time.

However, the referee did not say much, but just warned Cao Mingxun that smoking would be punished with a warning, and if it accumulated more than three times, he would be directly judged as the loser. Please read the rules of the game carefully.

When Cao Mingxun heard this, he even said innocently that the competition rules you sent out only had Chinese, Japanese and English versions, and he didn't know the rules because there was no Korean version.

Also, South Korea will also participate in the competition next year. Why is there no Korean translation of the rules? Are you discriminating against Korean players?

To sum up, ignorance is not a crime and should not be punished.

Of course, what Cao Mingxun said was pure nonsense. He studied and lived in Japan for so many years, how could he not know Japanese, let alone not understand the rules.

Because before the competition started, the organizer had already informed the teams of all contestants about the relevant matters of the competition rules.

However, facing Cao Mingxun's shamelessness, Wu Yuanmin, as the referee, was now extremely strict. He resolutely gave the opponent a warning and explained the rules of the game again.

To be honest, Wu Yuanmin had no intention of warning Cao Mingxun directly. He was just going to give the other party a reminder.

As a result, Cao Mingxun's attitude directly irritated him. He was clearly pretending to be stupid and thinking of himself as a fool, so he would not give him face either.

However, facing the warning punishment, Cao Mingxun did not take it seriously. It was a warning, and it would not deduct points from the chessboard.

Besides, if I do it more than three times, can I really be declared the loser?

There has never been such a thing in the history of Go competitions. Cao Mingxun doesn't believe that China would dare to risk the world's condemnation and directly judge itself as the loser because of such a thing.

That would really be a strange story in the history of Go.

If a contestant violates the rules of the competition by smoking, he will be directly disqualified.

Because if that's the case, wouldn't everyone be able to find an excuse to directly judge their opponent as the loser and keep the victory for themselves?

Thinking of this, Cao Mingxun's eyes couldn't help but light up. If South Korea hosted a world competition, could it do this?

However, it is not easy to operate. After all, the rules of the Yingshi Cup are relatively complete, and there is really no obvious place for penalty in Zhan Lang.

If it really doesn't work, then if he plays with a fan, we can say it affects his opponents as a warning, and if he gets his hair grabbed, we can say it's a dandruff attack. Any crime that can be negotiated can be pinned on him.

But you can't judge all opponents, it's okay to use it occasionally.

Cao Mingxun couldn't help but shook his head. He originally thought that he could come up with another way to win the championship by organizing a business competition at home, but after thinking about it carefully, it didn't seem to be very feasible.

After all, if the opponent is judged as the loser according to all the rules, it would be too obvious.

All your opponents have violated the rules, and it seems unlikely to be a good idea to tell others about it.

Winning the world championship without winning a single game is truly nailed to the pillar of shame in history.

No matter how thick-skinned Cao Mingxun was, he would not be embarrassed to do so.

You still have to rely on your own strength!
In crucial matches, this kind of thing can be used to make the final decision. This way the black spot is not too big, and it doesn't matter if people talk about it a little.

Of course, it doesn't matter if it's obvious. After all, in this Olympic boxing match, the Korean player was chased and beaten for the entire game. If the Korean player was not beaten to death, it would be considered a loss.

Those who don’t know would think that the only condition for the South Korean team to win a boxing match is not to die.

Cao Mingxun thought of something good at this moment, and even became more energetic.

Because if they win this game, the next stage of the competition will be held in South Korea. Cao Mingxun naturally thought of this safer way to defeat Zhan Lang.

Good thing!
Because of this, Cao Mingxun even felt energized. Even though he was facing adversity, he now felt inexplicably motivated to fight hard.

I feel more and more that as long as I win this round, I really might be able to win the world championship this time!

China's world champion! And defeated the world's number one!
At this time, Zhan Lang, who was sitting opposite, felt a little strange. The situation on the chessboard was not good and he received a yellow card. Why did Cao Mingxun suddenly act like he had taken stimulants?

However, not only is it ineffective for Go players to take medicine, there are also not many inspiring examples of athletes with disabilities who are strong-willed like athletes in other sports.

Even if you take medicine, it may have completely opposite side effects.

Unless they can really develop something like the Shennao Pill.

But because it is a sport, Go players will also undergo doping tests when participating in sports events as a sport.

Although theoretically the use of stimulants is useless, if they are found to contain stimulants, you may still be banned, and there are bloody examples of this.

After Cao Mingxun broke into Zhan Lang's area, Zhan Lang continued to pursue him relentlessly, with no intention of letting Cao Mingxun survive.

Cao Mingxun once again used the same trick and launched a secondhand smoke attack in one go.

Let’s not talk about anything else now. The referee can also see that Cao Mingxun obviously did it on purpose.

However, Cao Mingxun still insisted that this was his instinctive reaction and he would unconsciously light a cigarette while thinking.

This is a subconscious behavior of mine, a chess-playing habit I have developed over the years. This kind of thing happens because it is allowed in other places.

Only China does not allow smoking, so there is something wrong with the rules. I even hope that everyone will think carefully about whether to cancel this rule. But the referee doesn't care about that. He said that smoking is not allowed, but you still dare to smoke. Second warning!
If you dare to draw again next time, you will be directly judged as the loser.

However, when Cao Mingxun heard the referee's warning, he just nodded as if to say, "Yes, yes, yes," which made the referee very angry.

Wu Yuanmin immediately confiscated Cao Mingxun's cigarettes and lighter, saying, "I'll take all your things and see if you can still smoke."

Subconscious, right?
Without any tools, I want to see how you act subconsciously!
Although Cao Mingxun was reluctant, the referee obviously had a coercive effect and he had no choice but to give it.

However, Cao Mingxun came up with a roundabout way to save the situation by saying that if he was not allowed to smoke, he could always smell the cigarettes himself. There was no stipulation in the competition rules that prohibited contestants from smelling cigarettes.

After a struggle, Cao Mingxun simply handed the lighter in his hand to the referee and put a cigarette under his nose and smelled it.

Seeing that Cao Mingxun seemed to be enjoying himself, Zhan Lang didn't know where to start to complain.

It is true that most of the main players in Go today are heavy smokers. Many of Japan's top players went out to smoke at least three or four times during this competition.

In comparison, there are indeed very few people who smoke in the Go world, and even top players are not seen smoking.

To some extent, it may indeed be due to the development of the rules. Smoking is no longer allowed during the competition, so the players naturally stop smoking.

After Cao Mingxun finished making his move, he was about to get up and go to the bathroom, but just as he stood up from his seat and had not yet left, Zhan Lang placed a piece on the chessboard at lightning speed.

Seeing Zhan Lang making his move, Cao Mingxun couldn't help but look gloomy.

He could clearly feel that Zhan Lang was definitely doing this on purpose! He was taking revenge on him!
Because according to the rules, if you want to go to the toilet, you must go after you have finished. You cannot go to the toilet after the other person has finished.

So after Zhan Lang finished playing, Cao Mingxun had to wait until the game was over before he could go to the toilet.

But because Cao Mingxun was fighting alone in the air of Zhan Lang, there was a glimmer of hope if he could survive. If he dared to act carelessly and accidentally died completely, then the game would be over.

So Cao Mingxun could only hold back the urge to urinate and continue sitting down to think.

Every step is crucial, and you can't just kill it in one second like your opponent.

After Cao Mingxun finally finished thinking and was about to go to the toilet, Zhan Lang followed suit without any hesitation as Cao Mingxun had just made his move.

But Cao Mingxun couldn't help but turn pale. He realized that Zhan Lang was doing it on purpose. He saw that he was in a hurry to go to the toilet, so he didn't let him go.

Row!
It takes seconds, right?

At most I can hold my pee for a while, but if you dare to act in seconds and make mistakes without calculating carefully, that's when I can turn the tables!

Looking at Cao Mingxun's face turning purple, Zhan Lang couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth.

High-end tricks often use the simplest and most plain forms to prevent you from going to the toilet.

It must be uncomfortable to hold it in, so just continue to feel uncomfortable.

Zhan Lang had his reasons for daring to kill him instantly. He had already figured out the situation clearly. There was basically no possibility for Cao Mingxun to survive.

Even if the worst result is that both players survive, Zhan Lang can still maintain his lead after plundering other places, and Cao Mingxun's chances of a comeback are still close to zero.

So after both sides had wasted half an hour, Cao Mingxun really couldn't stand it anymore, and he made a move with lightning speed, rang the clock, then quickly got up and ran to the toilet.

Of course, because he was holding it in so anxiously, Cao Mingxun didn't seem to be running very fast.

Looking at Cao Mingxun who couldn't hold it in, Zhan Lang couldn't help but fan himself and shook his head, thinking that his bladder was not good.

How can a Go player not have healthy kidneys, after all, he has to sit for such long periods of time.

Later, many Go players had good kidneys. Some were even nicknamed "iron kidneys" by the audience because they drank water for several hours during the game without going to the toilet.

But it is understandable. After all, Cao Mingxun is 36 years old this year. It is normal for people in middle age to have to soak wolfberries in a thermos cup.

Although Zhan Lang has not reached the level of many iron kidneys later, he is now in his twenties and has not yet reached the level of middle-aged people like them.

When Cao Mingxun came back from the toilet, he found that Zhan Lang had already finished his game.

Looking at the situation on the chessboard, Cao Mingxun was indeed in great trouble. Even the smooth feeling he had just had was now completely gone.

The chess pieces that he had put in had not yielded any results, and it was indeed difficult to completely encircle other places.

Now all I can do is continue to stir things up here and try to make the situation more chaotic, and then smoke to disrupt Zhan Lang's thinking.

While thinking about it, Cao Mingxun unconsciously took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it silently.

However, what was unexpected this time was that the referee sitting next to him actually predicted Cao Mingxun's prediction.

The moment Cao Mingxun lit the cigarette, the referee took the lit cigarette directly from his mouth.

To be honest, Wu Yuanmin, the referee of this game, was so angry that he almost laughed.

I confiscated your lighter, and you still managed to find another one for me! You didn't do it on purpose, so I'll dig out my eyes for you!
"Cao Mingxun, 9th Dan, we have already given you two warnings and even confiscated your lighter. You are really capable of lighting a cigarette!"

Cao Mingxun also knew that what he had done was indeed a bit too much, but as long as he was thick-skinned enough, it didn't matter, so he waved his hand with an innocent look.

"I'm really sorry, but you can see that as an old smoker, it's normal for you to have a spare lighter, right?"

Hearing this, Wu Yuanmin couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth. How normal is that!

I have reminded you several times, but you are still like this. No one will believe you.

Theoretically speaking, Cao Mingxun's current behavior has accumulated three warning penalties, and it can be directly announced that Cao Mingxun has lost.

But when the points were really gathered, just as Cao Mingxun had expected, Wu Yuanmin did not immediately announce that according to the rules Cao Mingxun would be directly judged as the loser.

After all, there has never been such a precedent before, and Wu Yuanmin didn't dare to go against the world and directly cancel the contestants' results based on such things.

Because what you say doesn't seem to look good.

After all, if it is something that has never happened before and someone is asked to do it for the first time, no one would dare to try it.

Taking the first step is always the most difficult, just like you never know who will be the first to eat crabs.

Moreover, in Wu Yuanmin's opinion, although Cao Mingxun was indeed a rogue, wouldn't it be a bit too serious to directly judge the opponent as the loser based on such a small action?

Although it is disgusting, it doesn't seem to be a crime punishable by death.

So after comprehensive consideration, Wu Yuanmin decided to warn Cao Mingxun first and confiscate his lighter.

Looking at the referee who did not give him a warning or penalty, Cao Mingxun unconsciously smiled.

As expected, it was just as I had guessed. China would not simply judge itself as the loser because of such a simple thing, even if the rules clearly stated it.

After all, there has never been a precedent, and Chinese competitions are unwilling to be the first to try it, lest the competition cause controversy.

In this case, I should be able to go a little further.

But before Cao Mingxun's mouth could even curl up, Zhan Lang, who was sitting opposite him, suddenly raised his hand and said, "Referee, according to the rules of the game, he should be given a warning for smoking just now, right?
According to the rules of the competition, if there are three warnings in total, the team will be directly declared the loser.

Therefore, according to the rules of the competition, Cho Myung-Hsun 9th Dan should be directly sentenced to defeat."

Although Cao Mingxun didn't understand Chinese, he had a bad feeling when he saw Zhan Lang communicating with the referee.

After all, Zhan Lang took the initiative to find the referee at this time, which must be related to him, but he didn't know what the other party was talking about.

However, Cao Mingxun still didn't believe that Zhan Lang would use this to judge himself as the loser. After all, judging from the situation, Zhan Lang had already secured victory at this time.

If he got off work normally, he would still lose. There was no need for Zhan Lang to go through other means to win the game, or even cause unnecessary controversy.

But Zhan Lang was thinking something completely different. I was going to win anyway. What difference would it make if I won normally or was judged the loser according to the rules?

I can even just declare you the loser according to the rules, which can save me some time.

Moreover, Zhan Lang also wants to use this precedent to let everyone know that they must strictly abide by the rules.

Instead of feeling that the rules are just for show, some people even act like Cao Mingxun and keep jumping on the minefield of the rules.

After hearing what Zhan Lang said, Wu Yuanmin couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then said uncertainly: "Well, according to the rules, it is like this.

But it seems that there has never been such a rebellion before, so this kind of judgment is not a good one."

Wu Yuanmin felt that although Cao Mingxun was indeed shameless, his crime did not deserve the death penalty. He was also worried that if there were any problems after he made the judgment, he would be the one to be blamed.

Hearing what Wu Yuanmin said, Zhan Lang couldn't help but shook his head. It was because of this mentality that the rules were difficult to implement.

If you don't enforce it strictly, people will think there is a gray area.

“We should follow the rules.”

After hearing what Zhan Lang said, Wu Yuanmin still felt a little hesitant: "How about I report the situation to the chief referee and the organizers and ask them what to do?"

Wu Yuanmin never dared to make such an important decision alone.

Moreover, the two of them might have continued playing chess during the time when he was reporting, and Cao Mingxun might have surrendered directly.

But of course it's impossible. Cao Mingxun actually knows that the gap between him and the opponent is huge, but it's the last game now, and he doesn't want to give up until the last moment.

But before Wu Yuanmin could go out to report, Mr. Ying Changqi had already walked into the competition venue at some point.

"It should be ruled as a loss!"

PS: Tomorrow at 2:00 pm, the Yehu Popularity Contest will see Ri Tian vs. Lao Ke in the quarter-finals.

In the quarterfinals of the Yingshi Cup, Japan Tian was eliminated by Lao Ke. In the world championship, they were once again eliminated in the quarterfinals. It was really painful. I don’t know if they can get revenge this time.

However, revenge is not enough to dispel the hatred in my heart, and the World Series is indeed too important.

Especially since Ritian is just 20 years old, in Korea, those who can win the world championship before the age of 20 are called super geniuses (Xiao Shen just managed to win it, but he failed several times in the finals before).
The prize money for the Wild Fox Championship is 400,000 yuan, which is equivalent to the national competition. The top four have been decided, Liao Jindang, and the last spot will be tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)