“Sai, you guessed right!”
Sai unfurled his folding fan and chuckled, “This is your credit, Shindo Hikaru. Once it’s confirmed that Ao Ying wants to hold the initiative, it’s not hard to guess the local moves.”
“My credit?”
Shindo Hikaru clenched his small fists, a proud smile on his face.
Sai chuckled wryly and looked back at Ao Ying. “The young man from China is very mysterious. Is he pursuing the God's Hand by seeking to escape so extremely?”
“Sai, you’re looking at Ao Ying with such a grave expression.”
Shindo Hikaru blinked. “Didn’t you guess right?”
Ever since the Go spirit possessed him, he had been to the Go classroom a few times and found that Sai’s insight surpassed that of Shirakawa-sensei, who was a professional 7-dan, qualified to play even with Toya Meijin.
“Shindo Hikaru, black stone has already exceeded my expectations.”
“What do you mean?”
Sai pondered, “I suspect Ao Ying can calculate the entire board’s changes.”
“The Star Point and 3-3 Point combination guides the opponent to shoulder-hit, thereby gaining the initiative.”
“In the Right Lower Corner, the 3-3 Point, three times crawling on the second line, naturally leads to a hidden attack on white’s influence on the side, connecting with the Star Point.”
“Afterward, whether white wants to repeat the Left Lower Corner’s joseki in the upper right corner or replicate the 3-3 Point move in the Right Lower Corner, it’s all within his calculations.”
“This young man is observing his opponent from a high vantage point, observing a professional high-dan player.”
Having said that, Sai took a deep breath.
“Shindo Hikaru, Ao Ying’s Go strength has not yet reached its peak, but his reading extends extremely far, likely stronger than anyone else present.”
Shindo Hikaru listened, stunned.
Although he didn’t understand the detailed analysis of the specific moves, it sounded very impressive.
And that last sentence—his reading was stronger than anyone present, including the millennium Go spirit Sai, and also Toya Meijin.
The game proceeded as guessed: black stone extended, white flew on the second line, completing the local joseki.
Then Ao Ying escaped, shifting the battle to the upper left corner, playing the 3-3 Point.
Ogata paused, deep in thought.
Ao Ying stroked his chin. Including white’s shoulder-hit on the Star Point, black stone’s original 3-3 Point stone escaped, and the upper right corner also became a Star Point 3-3 Point formation.
In terms of sequence, it meant that after the first five moves set up the formation, black stone continuously played three 3-3 Points.
In today’s Go world, the focus is on building influence with four lines, or combining three- or four-line influence with territory. His stance of fiercely grabbing territory is absolutely unique.
As a result, his opponent was indeed unaccustomed, losing five or six points overall.
“There’s no way to lose now.”
Ao Ying couldn’t help but recall scenes of human Go players battling AI; even a one-point difference made it almost impossible to catch up.
The eight-time World Champion of his previous life collapsed after only a hundred moves.
And his algorithm was loaded from the AlphaGo system; the initial template was called “Beginner,” but its reading was arguably the best among humans.
Of course, his incomplete integration had some flaws, placing him generally between first-rate and top-tier.
Top-tier versus first-rate, the error should be within three points; five or six points was a bit much.
“Should I steadily secure the victory?”
“Or…”
Just as Ao Ying was pondering.
Ogata responded to the 3-3 Point.
white blocked the left side, black stone attached, white played a hane.
The first time black stone played the 3-3 Point in the Left Lower Corner, white had pressed from the fourth line on the left side, resulting in an extra stone.
If black stone continued to crawl three times on the second line in the upper left corner, white’s influence would connect with the fourth-line white stone, forming effective cooperation.
Ao Ying calculated this change: after black stone crawled two moves, he played a hane-connect on the second line on the left.
“Hane-connect? How did I forget this move?”
A bald Middle-aged Man slapped his forehead.
“Don’t blame yourself. Ao Ying-sensei’s three-move crawl on the second line was too shocking, causing us to overlook the most basic joseki.”
“Crawling two moves on the second line, then hane-connecting for an exchange, is just right for the current situation.”
“Something’s wrong, look, the Wrapped-Head Man didn’t complete the joseki!”
“Brilliant! With a white stone on the fourth line on the left, the penalty for escaping isn’t severe.”
“white seized the opportunity to counterattack, Ao Ying-sensei is in danger.”
Row ten, column five, leaning on the head.
Seeing white’s strong play, Ao Ying was momentarily stunned, leaning slightly forward.
“I was careless. This move pressing on the head makes my advance into the center uncomfortable, and I also have a life-and-death risk.”
“Influenced by past experience, the hane-connect was too casual. It’s an absolute initiative locally, but not necessarily globally.”
“However…”
Ao Ying picked up a black stone stone and placed it down unhurriedly.
Row eleven, column five, counter-hane.
This move sought a wide path while also securing the life of the stones on the side.
white retreated on the fifth line, and white’s central influence grew even larger, showing a tendency to convert into cash.
Next, black stone played on row four, column seventeen, attaching.
“Escaping to grab territory in the upper right corner?”
“black stone on the left side is under attack, yet he ignores it?”
Ogata frowned, pulled open a corner of his scarf, and took several deep breaths.
Those few black stone stones were like a delicious dish, making one’s mouth water.
Escaping?
Toya Koyo closed his eyes. “This young man indeed possesses first-rate Go strength.”
“Does daring to escape at a crucial moment of intense battle show the fearlessness of youth? Or has he calculated the variations?”
He understood the meaning of this move: to pursue territory to the very end.
“But black stone on the left side is ultimately one move short; Ogata will surely pursue relentlessly.”
“When under attack, the initiative isn’t in one’s own hands. Ao Ying, aren’t you afraid of making a mistake?”
Ao Ying’s escape left the spectators confused, Toya Akira puzzled, Toya Koyo uncertain, and Sai also bewildered.
“Isn’t he grabbing too much territory?”
Sai unfurled his folding fan and waved it, deep in thought.
“A very risky move. This young man has a lot of drive.”
“He could have simply extended, which would stabilize himself, weaken white’s central influence, and connect with the Star Point stone.”
“Instead, he chose to grab territory, which is a bit disrespectful to professionals.”
Shindo Hikaru was completely confused and asked, “Sai, will this escape lead to Ao Ying losing the game?”
“It’s unclear for now.” Sai shook his head. “The originally simple situation will become several times more complex.”
“Can’t you calculate it?”
Sai said softly, “I could calculate it in half an hour, but it would just add variables for no reason.”
“Shindo Hikaru, if black stone extends one by one towards the center from here, it’s slow but solid. white is like a mouse biting a turtle, with nowhere to bite, and can only shrink his territory in the end.”
“However, if black stone escapes, his head facing the center becomes soft, and he’ll definitely be pushed back to the side. In that case, white can occupy a lot of territory in the center.”
After a detailed analysis, Shindo Hikaru only understood bits and pieces.
His time learning Go was too short; he didn’t understand overall judgment at all, but he did grasp the concept of winning and losing.
The intersections on the Go board are territory; whoever occupies more has a larger territory, and the final outcome is determined by the amount of territory.
“Sai, you said Ao Ying’s reading is astonishing. Maybe he’s calculated all the variations? For example, grabbing enough territory in the upper right corner to offset the losses in the center.”
Sai smiled, “That’s possible, Shindo Hikaru, your intuition is very accurate.”
With that, he pointed his folding fan at a few locations.
“Here, here, and also there, white can form a blockade, and black stone will have to live uncomfortably.”
“Go, where each player plays one move at a time, emphasizes balance. If one side is put in an uncomfortable position, it must be compensated elsewhere.”
“So, where will black stone get the compensation he seeks?”