Chapter 52: God is above
Looking at the same expressions on Luo Xihe and Gu Dali's faces, Li Xiangping smiled silently. This was all within his expectations, because Li Xiangping himself had had a similar expression when facing this change.
It must be mentioned in particular that what Li Xiangping used today was not a "dog trick" but a human pattern.
No! This variation cannot even be called a "fixed pattern". It can only be said to be one of the "variations" of a fixed pattern, a "variation" of the famous Go fixed pattern "Muramasa Demon Sword".
The reason why it can only be called a "variation" is because everyone previously believed that this variation was not a "two-point" variation. After playing like this, black should have the upper hand. Even in special circumstances, it can be considered that "black is slightly better" -
As we all know, if a variation can be called a "set pattern" in Go, "two points" is the most basic requirement. According to this standard, this variation can only be called a "variant".
This variation of "Muramasa Demon Sword" left a deep impression on Li Xiangping. It is no exaggeration to say that it was this variation that made Li Xiangping lose all confidence in human Go. After seeing the Go AI interpret this variation for the first time in his previous life, the Go perspective he had cultivated over the years collapsed instantly at that moment.
Why do I say this? Because in the eyes of humans, this is a change in which Black has an advantage or is slightly better than Black, but the Go AI does not think so at all. Not only does the Go AI think that White can play this way, but after playing this way, White still has an advantage.
What Li Xiangping couldn't stand the most was that the Go AI not only thought that the white pieces had an advantage, but also that it was a very obvious advantage. How big was this advantage? Someone once used the Go AI to do a test, and the Go AI thought that after this change, the black pieces' chance of winning would instantly drop by 15 points.
When faced with something like this, would Li Xiangping's perspective on Go, as a former teenager who had studied traditional Go formally for several years, collapse?
This is the "Muramasa Demon Sword"! It is the "Muramasa Demon Sword" which is known as one of the three largest and most complex patterns in human history!
Although this pattern cannot represent all Go patterns, but as a pattern developed from "small eye", there is no problem in considering it as the representative of the "small eye Go" pattern.
But even such a representative pattern, which humans have been playing for hundreds of years, the Go AI thinks it is not valid at all! Its first step is actually wrong.
If this is the case, why does Li Xiangping believe in the "theory of evolution" and "technological accumulation" that those people who devalue ancient things always talk about?
Your wrong moves lead to wrong judgments, and wrong judgments will definitely lead to new wrong moves, so your "technical accumulation"...
To be honest, it can be said that it is the emergence of Go AI that makes Li Xiangping more convinced of Cao's "genius drives Go theory."
For example, the "Muramasa Demon Sword" is actually the same as the "Avalanche Inward Turn" first proposed by Mr. Wu Qingyuan. Because there are masters who use it this way, everyone uses it this way. People in later generations just follow suit.
If there is really any great progress in Go technology, why didn't humans deny this pattern themselves? They haven't denied it for more than 100 years!
The very least we can do is like Mr. Wu Qingyuan and replace “outer turn” with “inner turn”.
So to be honest, Li Xiangping was not very happy about the rude remarks and disapproval of Mr. Wu by some young chess players in later generations.
When Li Xiangping traveled through time, who was stronger, the top professional chess player or Mr. Wu at the peak? Li Xiangping had to admit that Mr. Wu might not be able to beat those young people. It was not because those young people were so good, but because there was a greater "genius" of Go AI. Under the guidance of this greater "genius", Mr. Wu should no longer be his opponent.
However, before that, if we compare Mr. Wu with those young players, Mr. Masaki Takemiya’s evaluation may be the most appropriate:
"The chess we are playing now is actually all thanks to Mr. Wu. For me, no! For all professional chess players, Mr. Wu is like the heaven above!"
Li Xiangping, Luo Xi and Gu Dali did not study this game for long. The reason was simple. The focus of this game was not on specific means, but on judgment. So, of course, there was no way to discuss the judgment of Go.
Especially since this is a chess pattern that everyone is familiar with. Even though Li Xiangping knew that his judgment was more correct, and even though he won a game with this change, it was obvious that with his current status, what he said would not be immediately recognized by the two people in front of him.
Li Xiangping was naturally well aware of this, so after he made that change, he simply shut up.
At this moment, Gu Dali suddenly said:
"Haha, now I finally understand..."
Li Xiangping and Luo Xihe both looked at him, wondering what he "knew".
Gu Dali patted Li Xiangping's shoulder affectionately:
"Now I finally understand why you don't want to be my junior brother. If you told Master Nie what you just said, he would be so angry that he would expel you from the sect immediately. You must have thought about this problem and that's why you don't want to be my junior brother, right?"
Li Xiangping was stunned, then smiled foolishly. Luo Xihe laughed loudly, and in the midst of their different laughter, everyone's discussion of the game of chess came to an abrupt end.
After the two left, Li Xiangping finally had the opportunity to communicate with his plug-in:
"Brother Ding'an, after this battle, you should be more confident, right?"
"Indeed, after this game, Ding'an does feel more at ease."
Li Xiangping breathed a sigh of relief. The biggest gain from winning this game of chess was not the variation of the "Muramasa Demon Sword". Although this variation was the first time he used it in actual combat, he had discussed it with Lao Shi during the preparations for the game some time ago. Therefore, he was well prepared for this game.
Technically, I didn't gain anything new, but I gained a more solid feeling. Because today's opponent, although not the best, is still a famous master, especially in such a preliminaries, Choi Myung-hoon 8th dan is above average.
Since they can win against such an opponent, and win relatively easily, both Li Xiangping and Shi Daqisheng will certainly be more confident about the upcoming games.
This confidence was soon reflected in the third round of the second day. In this round , Li Xiangping once again faced a young Korean chess player. Since he had no impression of this person, Li Xiangping did not even remember his name after the game. He only knew that he was a sixth-dan player and looked to be less than 20 years old.
At less than two o'clock in the afternoon, in the 87th move, Li Xiangping, who played with black, won the game. Although it was not the first game to end, it was the first one among all the Chinese players to win.
When he asked the referee to confirm the signature, Li Xiangping felt full of pleasure when he saw his opponent's ugly face.
The reason is very simple, because the reason for winning this game is not how well he played, but the fact that the opponent did not put himself in the right position at all. He really treated it as a game of guidance against an amateur 5th dan, and all kinds of random and unreasonable moves were flying around.
Faced with this situation, the great chess master Shi certainly would not be polite. He suddenly exerted his strength in less than 50 moves, and in less than 90 moves, he devoured his opponent's big dragon alive.
After three rounds of competition, Li Xiangping has actually entered the semi-finals of Group F, and still needs to win two more games to qualify.
According to the schedule, the teams can rest for one day after three rounds, and then make the final sprint for the qualifying spots.
On the day off, Li Xiangping mainly did two things. One was to send Chen Xiaoqiang, a classmate who had lived in the same room with him for several days, back home.
After winning two games, Chen Yaoyue finally fell in the third round, and six other Chinese chess players went home with him. By this time, the Chinese team had been reduced by half, with 14 players entering the final two rounds.
The second thing Li Xiangping did was, of course, to participate in the draw. So far, in addition to Li Xiangping, the remaining three players in Group F are Chinese chess player Luo Xihe, 8th dan, Korean chess player Jin Chenglong, 7th dan, and Japanese veteran top-notch chess player Kobayashi Koichi, 9th dan.
"It doesn't matter who you are, just don't let me pick you, a pervert..."
Before the draw, Luo Shenzhu's joke made the Chinese chess players laugh. As a result, he got what he wanted. When he unfolded the small piece of paper in his hand, he and Kobayashi Koichi held hands.
So, Li Xiangping once again encountered a Korean chess player, who was the winner of this year's Korean "King of Kings" competition and the "famous mouth" of Korean Go, Kim Sung-yong, 7th dan.
