Chapter 587
Has Mingkai served food?
There's so much to talk about regarding Lin Ruo's face, especially for a female reporter like myself, who's already started swooning over her.
It's normal for girls to like such a handsome face, but why are boys liking it in the comments section of the live stream too? Oh no, he's just unbelievably handsome.
Don't believe me? Take a look.
The photo of the four of them shaking hands at yesterday's press conference.
Because it created history by having four Chinese players sweep the semi-final spots in the Samsung Cup for the first time, this photo became a classic moment on the Chinese internet that very night.
Unfortunately, the original plan was for four Chinese players to sweep the top four spots in the Samsung Cup, but Lin Ruo stood out too much compared to the other three.
This led to the first question that came up when casual viewers who had no experience with Go saw the news: "Hey, who's that guy on the far side? How can he be so handsome?"
What? He's only 18 and won the championship right after his debut? Oh my god!
Well, that's how it is. Yang Dingxin and the others didn't expect that they, who were supposed to be the main characters, would end up becoming Lin Ruo's background. It doesn't make sense.
Okay, in front of the internet camera, looks are indeed the primary factor in determining attention, followed by the difference in ability.
Unfortunately, Lin Ruo possessed both of these qualities perfectly.
When the media reports that Chinese players have swept the top four, the focus will definitely be on the matches between Lin Ruo, Park Jung-hwan, and Shin Jin-seo.
After all, these two matches were the real focus of the battles, and it can be said that Lin Ruo single-handedly crushed all of the Koreans' hopes of winning the championship.
In this way, whether you look at appearance or strength, the focus will only be on Lin Ruo on the side.
Then it will inevitably become the focus of everyone's attention.
Even the few remaining South Korean media outlets are no exception.
"Lin Ruo has arrived at the competition venue. There are only ten minutes left before the start of the competition. It seems that Lin Ruo always arrives at the last minute before the start of the competition, and I heard that Lin Ruo just had lunch before coming here."
The South Korean reporter was quite surprised by this topic, because the timing of the meal was somewhat illogical.
Normally, if there's a match at 11 o'clock, eating around 9 o'clock is definitely the best time, as two hours is more than enough for digestion.
However, eating after 10 o'clock will have a certain impact on the competition.
Eating too much will definitely affect the game, that's an undeniable fact. At this time, blood will be concentrated in the gastrointestinal tract for digestion, and the blood supply to the brain will be temporarily insufficient, so people will be slower in thinking and reaction.
Therefore, one must eat in advance to ensure early digestion. So now the question is, why did Lin Ru do this?
The South Korean reporter, puzzled, could only smile and say to the camera, "Lin Ruo's personality is indeed quite extraordinary. Let's look forward to his performance in today's competition."
The number of Korean viewers in the live stream has decreased by more than half compared to yesterday, but they seem to be doing alright.
[Strong people seem to have such strange personalities, so it's not surprising that little brat Lin Ruo is like this.]
[Sigh, what could a meal possibly have to do with anything? Confident people don't care about these things at all. Lin Ruo, no matter what, is always incredibly confident.]
"That's true. If they can go a month without training before a competition, why would they care about a simple pre-competition meal? What difference would it make if I ate?"
[It's already a good thing Lin Ruo isn't eating while sitting in his competition area, why are you all concerned about what he eats outside? That's not even the point of focus.]
Yes, that's not their concern; that's something the other competitors in the competition area should be focusing on.
"You just ate? There are still crumbs on your lips."
Yang Dingxin looked at Lin Ruo sitting down and also felt it was very strange. He often felt that he was a genius himself, but he was somewhat out of place with these geniuses.
Well, how should I put it?
Eating before a match, well, he just wouldn't do that.
Moreover, Lin Ruo seemed to have eaten quite a lot.
You don't mean you think I do everything the same, do you? Impossible, absolutely impossible.
Yang Dingxin mustered his energy, took a sip of water from the table at the last moment before the start of the match, and then slowly opened the box next to him after the referee took his seat.
What he was most worried about was whether Lin Ruo would act unpredictably today. Just look, eating at 10 o'clock is unpredictable, isn't it?
harm.
"The match has begun, and both sides can now guess who goes first."
As soon as the referee finished speaking, both sides grabbed a handful of chess pieces from their respective chess boxes.
Yang Dingxin made his move first, and Lin Ruo followed by guessing.
The final result was that Lin Ruo played black and Yang Dingxin played white. Later, the two players exchanged black and white boxes, and this Samsung Cup semi-final internal battle officially began in front of all the media cameras.
The initial events proved that Yang Dingxin's conjecture was entirely correct; Lin Ruo was indeed playing by his own rules, making moves that were very unpredictable from the very beginning.
After a normal start, the two sides engaged in a small-scale battle in the upper left corner.
After Yang Dingxin made his move, all Black could do at this point was either gain influence or territory. After all, the early game layout of almost all Go games revolves around these two points, and the final outcome also depends on them.
However, Lin Ruo watched as Yang Dingxin expanded his territory without doing anything.
He chose to do neither and quietly placed a piece in the empty space next to the top left.
"What's going on? Did they make a mistake, or is there a deeper meaning? I don't quite understand."
In the WildFox livestream room.
Zhang Xuebin, who was still providing commentary today, never expected that he would be somewhat confused at the very beginning of the match. However, he soon realized that he was not the only one who couldn't understand it.
At this moment, Yang Dingxin, who had just started the game, was already a bit confused. He looked up at Lin Ruo, his expression practically asking, "What exactly are you trying to do, kid?"
Having witnessed Lin Ruo's techniques yesterday, Yang Dingxin knew he should focus on his own ideas, but he couldn't ignore his opponent's ingenious schemes.
Therefore, after careful consideration, Yang Dingxin chose to make a bold move in the upper second position, both to connect with himself and strengthen his attack, and at the same time to pose a question.
After all, I'm about to hit you now, I don't believe you can just ignore me.
Lin Ruo naturally had to respond to this, and his response was the most basic move.
After a few ordinary exchanges in the upper left corner, the situation evolved into one where Black held influence on the outside while White secured territory.
Then, the battle ignited in the upper right corner.
White tries to capture the corner, but because Black has influence on the left side, if Yang Dingxin directly enters the corner, there is a high probability that he will be surrounded and attacked, and the efficiency will obviously not be much higher.
Therefore, Yang Dingxin adopted the idea of first entering the area to launch a preemptive offensive and accumulate strength within it.
After six moves of maneuvering in the upper right corner, White laid a trap with a single move.
Yang Dingxin was thinking, "I've been playing so aggressively, Lin Ruo, you're bound to retaliate, right? So hurry up and come and stop me."
Once this cut is made, it seems that the four white stones he placed in the upper right corner will be surrounded, but in reality, white can reverse the situation and cut again after completing the attack. At this point, black can only call for a capture.
White then launched a counterattack, a series of moves that left not only one of his white pieces alive, but also two of Black's four lower pieces facing certain death.
Clearly, Black has suffered a significant loss.
This trap was conceived by Yang Dingxin as soon as he arrived on the right. It is not only extremely attractive, but more importantly, it is very difficult to see where his counterattack point is.
In other words, most people would only see this step as an excellent opportunity to attack.
Even Zhang Xuebin, a professional 6-dan player, was drooling with envy when he saw this move.
"Did Yang Dingxin make a mistake in this move? There was an opening he could have made."
Zhang Xuebin was practically hoping Lin Ruo would make the next move, but being cautious, he still checked the AI's predictions for that step through the equipment.
It was discovered that the AI does not support disconnection at all.
It was only then that Zhang Xuebin truly realized that this seemed to be an incredibly huge trap.
Unlike Lin Ruo, who hasn't even reacted yet. Yes, I reacted the moment Yang Dingxin landed. What's there to react now?
Is it love that came too late?
Therefore, Lin Ruo never considered cutting in, but instead acted like a seasoned master who had played chess for half his life, sticking to the right side.
At this point, Yang Dingxin wanted to ask a question: "How old are you, kid?"
Are you sure you're still a hot-blooded, ambitious 18-year-old? That shouldn't be the case; how could a young person take this step?
What exactly happened to you? I have some melon seeds, can you tell me in detail?
Obviously, that wouldn't work. Yang Dingxin could only sigh at the damned experience and demeanor of the man. Anyone who didn't know better would think that the white-haired old chess player sitting across from him was from some ancient era. Only someone with an extremely stable mindset could make such a move.
Forget it, what he should be considering now is the consequences of this move. Since the trap was useless, Black easily gained territory in the upper right corner by making what was essentially a pointless move.
This left Yang Dingxin in a bit of a predicament. At this point, retreating and playing it safe was absolutely useless. He could only turn the tide by adopting a more aggressive offensive approach.
So after completing the cut, Yang Dingxin made a move with white stones, leaping directly into black's territory on the right side.
That was a very ruthless killing move.
Even Zhang Xuebin in the live stream exclaimed, "That's too brave!"
It was a completely direct and straightforward attack, without any obvious reason.
Yes, if it were him, he would have already launched a fierce counterattack. And given Lin Ruo's playing style, Zhang Xuebin believes there will definitely be a fierce battle between heaven and man. After all, given what has happened, if Lin Ruo can endure it, wouldn't he be a tortoise?
Even if he thinks so, the viewers in the live stream won't think so.
[This Yang Dingxin guy is way too arrogant! What kind of class does he have to act so high and mighty in front of our Lin Shen? Let's wait and see how Lin Shen deals with him.]
[Sigh, Lin Shen let him win earlier and he still took advantage of it. Old Deng really gave you too much credit.]
Everyone knows the consequences of going head-to-head with Lin Ruo. If you don't, please go back and watch the video, thank you. Just look at the match between Mengbaihe Cup qualifiers and the Korean veteran Deng.
[If Yang Dingxin dares to attack like this, I predict Lin Ruobai should be able to end the fight with just a few moves. If he doesn't defend, he'll suffer a crushing defeat.]
Yes, it makes no sense for Yang not to defend against our Lin Shen. He clearly misses home and wants Lin Ruo to take him home quickly.
[Don't talk about him like that. Yang Dingxin is a top-tier player, after all. Is he really as bad as you say? I believe that with his steady and skillful play, he can definitely hold his own against Lin Ruo. What, Yang Dingxin is playing an ultimate offensive game? Well, never mind. Dear God and Buddha, wish him good luck.]
Yes, I heard that Yang Dingxin is going to launch a counterattack, and some netizens who originally supported him have immediately changed their stance.
Let's go for it, drink up.
You dare to attack, but we dare not even watch. Have you forgotten Lin Ruo's fastest attack record? He forced his opponent to surrender in just over seventy moves.
So the audience was almost unanimously wondering how Lin Ruo would retaliate next, and then they witnessed Lin Ruo's most surprising move ever.
I don't care about the right side anymore. You're going to invade like this, aren't you? Fine, I'll just leave.
Yes, Lin Ruo's next move is for me to go and fill in the gaps in the lower left corner.
The white stones in the lower left position are two more than the black stones, and Lin Ruo immediately reinforces them, even in two consecutive moves, which is equivalent to prioritizing the creation of her own shape here.
The lower left corner was originally undefined, so doing this definitely has advantages, and quite significant ones at that.
Because once the shape in the lower left corner is established, White's move to invade the middle area on the right side is essentially like being surrounded.
Why? Because the lower right is Black's territory, and now I've moved to the lower left and built the most basic shape. In addition, Black's advantage in the upper left is the territory on the outside.
So you'd say that your infiltration is equivalent to being surrounded, right?
You're surrounded on all sides, are you trying to cosplay Xiang Yu?
cough cough.
Of course, Yang Dingxin was not as desperate as Lin Ruo thought in the face of this situation. He was indeed trapped in a so-called four-sided encirclement, but this four-sided encirclement was too far away.
To say that I'm surrounded by all four corners of the chessboard is an overstatement; that would be a bit of an exaggeration.
However, Yang Dingxin really didn't expect Lin Ruo to play such a trick on him. There should be a limit to how much you can manipulate people. Dude, I've already stepped on your face so many times.
Aren't you going to take a look? Fine, you don't think you can scare me by surrounding me from a distance, do you?
Yang Dingxin, who was not easily intimidated since childhood, chose to fight next. He acted recklessly without Lin Ruo's intervention, and his next move was to cut off the black pieces from top to bottom.
Clearly, Yang Dingxin wasn't worried at all about fighting on two fronts.
You're still at the ends of the earth, take your time coming over. By the time you arrive, we'll have made it a done deal.
"Isn't Lin Ruo's move a bit too slow?" Zhang Xuebin in the Wild Fox live stream was getting a headache. Actually, according to the AI win rate comparison, the white side is currently the one with the advantage.
In other words, White's moves are more in line with the AI's view, at least for now.
Zhang Xuebin was also somewhat puzzled as to why Lin Ruo was avoiding battle so much. Was it really necessary? Wasn't Lin Ruo's strength top-notch in a head-on confrontation?
Okay, thinking back to the confrontations with Park Jung-hwan and Shin Jin-seo, Lin Ruo has indeed been transitioning towards a more stable approach. The ultimate counterattack against Shin Jin-seo that led to a major comeback was something she did because she couldn't win without fighting.
and so…
Zhang Xuebin suddenly had a very terrifying thought.
Could Lin Ruo be challenging himself? Is he trying a very new, high-level playstyle?
That means the current strategy is to play it safe and focus on operations, and only launch an attack when things become too risky to continue.
So, it seems that Yang Dingxin has the advantage, but in fact, he has not yet forced Lin to use his full strength?
Was Shin Jinseo only able to force Lim to go all out in the last match?
Um...
Forget it, Zhang Xuebin didn't even dare to think about it. Everyone here is a top-level player, it can't be that outrageous. Could Lin Ruo really be two dimensions stronger than his opponent?
do not know.
Zhang Xuebin only knew that he couldn't accept Lin Ruo's style of play. If he couldn't accept it, let alone the people who were used to Lin Ruo's relentless attacks.
[Teacher, is this really my Lin Ruo? Why isn't she fighting back when someone hits her? Fight back! You don't need to go to jail; the police station is my family's property.]
[Lin Ruo, if you've been parasitized by some alien, just yawn, and I'll come and help the FBI rescue you.]
[I think he's been possessed by the factory manager! Factory manager, get down here right now! You can't do this! Someone's going to die!]
[Damn, bro, you're really dedicated to bashing Kai. You've gone from League of Legends to Go, relentlessly pursuing him. Even though Kai has retired, you still won't let him go.]
[Damn it, even Kai wouldn't be this cowardly. They're basically dancing on their high ground. Kai would have already used a Boar Slam to push them up. Do you think they'd let them dance like that? I'm backed by the turret!]
Yeah, even if Kai were here, he wouldn't be this cowardly.
Yes, that's true, but the discussion has clearly gone a bit off-topic, unlike the more serious discussions in Korean online live streams.
[Damn it, why is Lin Ruo betting like this? Does he not want to win the championship? How can he win if he just throws away the top right corner?]
[This brat probably only wants to beat up Koreans and has no interest in beating up Chinese people.]
[It's also possible that yesterday's fight with Shin Jinseo exhausted his mental energy. Although Shin Jinseo lost, he severely damaged Lin Ruo, which is why things are like this today...]
[Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration, Siba. How could someone be severely injured after winning a game? I think it's because he ate before the match that he's in good form.]
[Yeah, I almost forgot. That kid only ate right before the competition started. He deserves it; he likes to pretend, and now it's definitely affecting his performance.]
...
Unlike the Chinese online community, the Korean viewers' discussions quickly turned to the topic of food, leading them to conclude that Lin Ruo was irresponsible and unserious.
As a professional player, how could eating before a match affect one's performance? That's incredibly unprofessional.
If the final loss was indeed due to this reason, then Korean netizens will definitely cheer and shout that it was good to lose, because a player without professionalism doesn't deserve to win the Samsung Cup.
However, it's a bit too early to talk about the championship at this point. Yang Dingxin currently only has a win rate of less than 60%, which is child's play for Lin Ruo, who has experienced a super comeback.
Lin Ruo slowly returned at this time, and calmly repaired the top right corner to at least stabilize his foundation, which also threatened to put White in a vulnerable position.
Seeing Lin Ruo playing so steadily, avoiding direct confrontation and instead consolidating his position, Yang Dingxin intensified his attack, making an excessive move in the lower right second line.
Thinking you like stability, huh? Well then, I'll stab you in the heart and see what you can do then.
Furthermore, I will later manipulate the white pieces to launch a large knight's move on the third line to provoke the opponent a second time.
Since you don't dare to fight me, I'll make a living right here in your backyard, doing whatever I want. Moreover, behind this provocative and carefree attitude, Yang Dingxin has a killer move up his sleeve.
That is, if Lin Ruo couldn't resist provoking and launched a direct attack, White would block and abandon the three stones on the right, and Black's four stones on the left would be at risk of being attacked.
Most importantly, White's influence in the center and outside of the board will be greatly strengthened.
So this was practically a trap, a dead end where attacking would lead to falling into their trap, while not attacking would certainly result in a loss.
However, Lin Ruo was never one to be outmaneuvered. Since going down to fight would surely lead to his death, there was no reason for him to go down. So, with his agility, he immediately made a move on the top, launching the most ferocious attack on the white pieces' layout in the upper right corner.
At the same time, it severed the connection between the other side of the center and the right side, which can be said to have strengthened the power in the center to a certain extent, and its effect was not insignificant.
This variation caught Yang Dingxin off guard.
He had been trying to force Lin Ruo to make a move, but he never expected that while he was pressuring her from below, Lin Ruo would swiftly and decisively take action from above.
Moreover, this move was extremely fatal, indicating that although Lin Ruo had been making concessions before, he had actually been looking for White's weaknesses and was not simply pursuing steady development.
Because the large white group in the upper right corner is not yet alive, Yang Dingxin can only move up to reinforce it.
Then he watched as Lin Ruo caught him off guard again. Taking advantage of the white pieces coming up to reinforce, the white pieces immediately launched a strong attack on the bottom.
At this point, Yang Dingxin realized that continuing his previous strategy of sacrificing pieces to create a trap was no longer useful, because if he sacrificed more pieces now, the right side would definitely be subjected to a strong attack by Black.
With just two simple steps, his strategy of sacrificing pawns was easily neutralized.
We can't gain any ground now, so all we can do is grit our teeth and escape completely to avoid becoming the enemy's prey.
However, if things continue like this, after being suppressed by Black all the way, it is a 100% certainty that the large group at the bottom will not live.
And this is not the only threat.
Another point is that the white pieces below have become extremely heavy.
It's not good-looking at all. (End of Chapter)