Chapter 66: The Key to Victory or Defeat
At about 1:10 p.m., Li Xiangping followed Lao Shi's instructions and made the 47th move of the game. When this move, which he had been thinking about for a whole afternoon, appeared on the chessboard, Li Xiangping noticed that Lao Cao, who was sitting opposite him, raised his head and looked at him with a bit of surprise.
"Haha, don't look at me like that. I didn't make this move, but are you as surprised as I am by Lao Shi's move..."
Seeing Lao Cao's reaction, Li Xiangping felt a little proud. Because at this time, although he didn't know whether Lao Shi's move was a good one, he didn't even know whether it would work, but he knew that Lao Shi's move was a strong counterattack to Lao Cao's previous move. Li Xiangping even thought that it was not an exaggeration to say that this was the strongest counterattack.
Because facing Lao Cao's previous move, Lao Shi chose to ignore it after a long consideration. He actually lost the initiative in that part and ran to other places to make a move.
Yes! In Go, if we want to say what is the "strongest counterattack", it is often like what Lao Shi did just now. Breaking away from the opponent is the strongest counterattack.
Why do I say this? First of all, from the perspective of the mood during the game, you can imagine that a chess player has just made a move with great care. No matter what the intention of this move is or what effect it can have, the chess player always hopes that the opponent can take this move seriously and expect the opponent to react, because only in this way can this move have the desired effect.
But today, Lao Cao just made such a move. He tried to take the initiative to launch an attack, hoping to slightly change the relatively dull situation, but his opponent, after a long consideration, actually chose to give up the initiative, and he actually chose to ignore it.
So when facing such an opponent, would you feel like you are punching the air? Would you feel like you are flirting with a blind man? Li Xiangping even thought that this was only Lao Cao. If he were sitting in his position, he would immediately "blood rush to his head" when he saw Lao Shi's move...
This is an analysis of the problem from the psychological level of the game. From the technical level of Go, in fact, the escape move just now by Lao Shi is also considered a very powerful means in most of the time.
You should know that Go is played by one player taking turns. That is why players pay special attention to the so-called "efficiency of moves" when playing Go. The higher the level of the player, the more important it is. That is why high-level players are very sensitive to their opponent's slipping, and even find it very unbearable .
Because Lao Shi's move just now, it can't be said that he completely thinks that the opponent's previous move is a waste, but he looks down on this move and thinks that this move may be a bad move. The implication is that I think your move is not efficient, and you can't do anything to me even if I lose the first move. This meaning is still very clear.
Otherwise, why is Go called "hand talk"? Actually, this is the reason. For example, in today's game, the 46th and 47th moves, the two sides of the game only through this one round of competition, it can be said that "hand talk" is very clearly interpreted. And the look that Lao Cao raised his head to look at Li Xiangping just now, naturally, everything is self-evident.
After taking a look at Li Xiangping, Lao Cao began to think deeply, and he thought for a long time, until nearly 1:30 in the afternoon. He had been thinking for nearly 20 minutes, but he still had no intention of making a move.
Li Xiangping sat there quietly waiting for Lao Cao to make a move. As the closest spectator to the game, Li Xiangping, who was only an amateur level 6 player, certainly didn't know what Lao Cao, a top-notch master, was thinking. However, he was now certain of two things:
The first is that no matter what Lao Cao is thinking, what he is thinking is definitely related to the 46th move. From now on, all his ideas must ensure the efficiency of that move.
Secondly, because of the 46th and 47th moves, the situation of this game has actually changed. Because of these two moves, the situation of this game has immediately become tense and will soon become fierce. Whether it is Lao Shi or Lao Cao, it is actually impossible for them to play as steadily as before. However, how fierce this game will be? It is still impossible to speculate at this time.
At 1:40, after half an hour of thinking, Lao Cao finally made his move. He was not like Japanese player Noriki Iida who liked to slam the chess piece heavily on the board. His moves were very gentle, and his posture was very standard and graceful.
But Li Xiangping noticed that his hands were very steady, the kind of steady that was full of fighting spirit and confidence.
"Friend Xiang Ping, please help me place the piece somewhere..."
Before Li Xiangping could see clearly what chess piece Lao Cao was playing, Lao Shi's voice soon rang out, so Li Xiangping had no time to think about it. He quickly made his next move according to Lao Shi's instructions.
From this time until about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, Li Xiangping basically had no time to observe the development of the chess game. Because both Lao Shi and Lao Cao seemed to be confident at this time, as if they knew the changes that would happen later, and they both sped up their moves at this time. In order to avoid mistakes, Li Xiangping made sure that he could place the chess pieces in the correct position according to Lao Shi's instructions, so of course he had no time to pay attention to the progress of the chess game.
It was not until around 2:10 p.m., when the game had already reached more than 70 moves, that Lao Cao's hand stopped again and there was no sign of a move for a while. Li Xiangping finally had time to see what the two had done.
After reviewing the progress of the game up to this point, Li Xiangping felt a little proud. The reason for his pride was not that he judged that Lao Shi had gained an advantage. In fact, at this time, Li Xiangping did not make any judgment on the situation at all - it was just because the game had progressed to this point, and the direction of the entire game was completely in line with his prediction half an hour ago, which was why he was proud.
Half an hour ago, he judged that the game would soon become tense and fierce. And now, the two opponents seemed to be very respectful to him. Because of their strong moves one after another, their tough attitudes and tough moves, at least in Li Xiangping's opinion, the game had become very intense.
At this moment, Li Xiangping also understood why Lao Cao stopped, because in his opinion, this game should have reached a critical point of victory or defeat, a very important critical point, so it was reasonable for Lao Cao to stop at this critical juncture and spend more time thinking it through.
This is how Go is. The more stable the situation is, the harder it is to focus. The more intense the situation is, the easier it is to focus. Therefore, while Cao is thinking, Li Xiangping, with his amateur level of Go skills, can also play the game in his own way.
After inspecting the entire chessboard, Li Xiangping now knows that the current focus of the chessboard should be the "two split" placed by Lao Shi on the chessboard. To be more specific, because Lao Shi lost the initiative in the 47th move, this "two split" is under the overall attack of Lao Cao. Therefore, this generation of offense and defense has become the first victory or defeat of this game.
If Cao attacks well and gains a profit in this place, then White will have the advantage. Conversely, if Shi can handle the "two splits" well and not suffer too much loss there, then Black should be able to lead by a lot in real space and will have a clear advantage.
With more in-depth analysis, Li Xiangping also understood better why Lao Cao stopped at this time.
Yes, Li Xiangping really thought that he understood it, and all this was because Li Xiangping understood Lao Shi’s previous move, which was the move that forced Lao Cao to stop!
Because Lao Cao was still thinking, Li Xiangping couldn't help but communicate with his plug-in:
"Brother Ding'an, I didn't expect you to be so tough. I never realized that you are such a miser when playing chess. We are already ahead in the real space, why are you so stingy now? Is it necessary to fight for the real space here? Aren't you afraid that others will take the initiative locally and then attack your 'two splits' first?"
"It's alright, my friend Xiang Ping. There's no need to worry about the 'splitting of two'."
"No worries? Haha, I hope it's no worries..."
After all, it was during the competition, so the communication between Li Xiangping and Lao Shi ended here. About 5 minutes later, a little after 2:30 pm, after more than 20 minutes of long thinking, Lao Cao made another move.
There is nothing much to say about the specific moves, but his thinking is the same as what Li Xiangping just said. Facing the miserly way of playing like Shi Daqisheng, he chose to give up some of the real territory, gain an advantage in the local area, and then:
Second Road Xiaofei!
Launch a general attack on the black chess piece's "two splits".
Seeing this, Li Xiangping perked up, because he knew that the key to the outcome of this game had arrived, and this generation of offense and defense would most likely determine the outcome of this game.
