“Suspended!”
“Suspended!”
“Suspended!”
A blonde-haired, blue-eyed reporter paced excitedly back and forth in the room.
“From here on, the thin influence of Black’s central stones surprisingly transformed into a thick position, while White’s thick position turned into isolated stones!”
“Not only that, the large formation that blossomed in White’s center has completely vanished, and even White’s stones in the upper left are trapped in a heavy siege!”
“After the suspension move, Black completely seized control of the game’s rhythm, reversing the situation. White is in grave danger!”
.......
....
“The game ends, the world changes; like a secret hidden within an orange, understanding the cycle of life and death; like watching a ruined board, witnessing the upheaval of heaven and earth!”Inside the Southern Go Academy’s reporter room, Ding Huan hunched over his computer, furiously pounding the keyboard, passionately writing live commentary!
“Even now, I don’t know how any of this happened. Forgive my limited skill—I have so many questions with no answers!”
“But I can feel that behind every move following that small knight’s approach, there may lie the essence of what countless Go players pursue their entire lives!”
“My questions are surely hidden within each move, with secret strategies concealed inside!”
“Why? I don’t know.”
“These questions must be left to professional players!”
“Yet even if I don’t understand, it does not diminish the unprecedented shock and emotion this game has brought me!”
“Yu Shao’s moves are baffling and unpredictable, yet exhilarating. From the small knight’s approach to this suspension move, nearly thirty moves in all, it’s like a celestial being descending, turning yin and yang upside down!”
“This game will surely be remembered throughout history!”
“Before this near-impossible reversal, Black single-handedly confronted White’s million-strong army and miraculously…”
“Created a miracle!”
“The earlier battle was White’s desperate all-in, with an astonishing audacity, sacrificing stones fiercely and advancing unstoppable into the Central Plains, forming a commanding position to counterattack Black—truly shocking!”
“This battle, however, was Black’s covert infiltration, with tens of thousands against millions, ultimately blazing through White’s forces with brilliant strategy, burning them to ashes!”
“Looking at this game, I almost saw the magnificent sight of heavenly fire spreading over thousands of miles!”
“Amidst this blaze, only one young general on a white horse remained, silver helmet and armor gleaming, spirited and proud, cracking his whip eastward, laughing as he watched the thousand armies on the mountain facing life and death!”
After finishing his words, Ding Huan took a deep breath, stood up excitedly, and continued pounding the board!
“This game uses the weigh scale as the battlefield, the star formation as the beacon fire; with the fierce clash of metal and horses, it writes a chapter of dragon blood and cosmic yellow!”
“This game is more than a battlefield—it surpasses one!”
He wildly pumped his fists and shouted, “So handsome! So handsome! Yu Shao, you’re the coolest! I’ll always be his fan!”
“No, don’t say that too early.”
Nearby, a slightly taller student shook his head. He adjusted the round glasses on his nose, trying to appear calm and mature.
Yet, no matter how hard he tried to suppress it, the shock on his face was unmistakable.
“It’s not over yet. White still has a chance!”
.......
“Why...?”
Although the situation changed so dramatically, Su Yiming had somehow regained his composure.
He stared intently at the board, trying to find the root cause that led him into disadvantage.
White’s shape was now incredibly solid, like an iron plate—completely unshakable, impossible to overturn the overall situation. Everyone would think so, including Su Yiming.
Japanese players had taken the Central Plains and held firm against Black’s total assault. Black’s connections were severed in many places, and next should be White’s counterattack. Even if Black responded perfectly, the outcome should be decided in the endgame!
That was the script everyone expected!
Or rather, that was what should have happened!
Yet now, no matter how unbelievable, the situation had indeed changed!
But compared to the precarious situation at hand, Su Yiming cared more about...
Why?
“Why, when my central White stones were already so solid... why did the situation reverse?”
“This kind of major situation cannot be changed so simply in just over thirty moves!”
“If I didn’t make mistakes, this is no longer a brilliant move to turn the tide!”
In front of Su Yiming’s eyes, the game seemed to rewind move by move, even before the small knight’s approach that opened the entire game, it kept rewinding!
Although the stones on the board appeared chaotic, to Su Yiming they seemed to have an inexplicable order, some faint connection, emitting a faint glow.
“It didn’t start from the small knight’s approach, absolutely not!”
Su Yiming stared at the board without blinking, as if forgetting the ongoing match, only wanting to find the source of the problem.
Or rather, at this moment, the game’s win or loss no longer mattered to him; what mattered most was finding the answer.
Almost everyone thought the battle was opened by that strange small knight’s approach, but Su Yiming directly rejected that.
“If not the small knight’s approach, then where before it?”
“When and where had the secret that I failed to notice and comprehend already hidden on the board?”
Su Yiming fell into deep thought, clenching his fists, forgetting the match, the result, and time passing—immersed only in the infinite mysteries of the game!
Suddenly, Su Yiming slightly stiffened.
He seemed to understand something.
“Starting here?”
He instinctively leaned forward as if wanting to examine more closely, and this move was played far too early by Black, almost spanning the entire game.
Though the early timing was unbelievable, Su Yiming was now absolutely certain.
“It’s here, it must be.”
Su Yiming looked at the board, and the game stopped rewinding, replaying move by move instead.
His expression grew increasingly grave.
“So that’s it...”
“Maybe everyone was wrong.”
“Not me, not the current players, but all players from ancient to present!”
Su Yiming fixed his gaze on the board, finally realizing the root cause on the surface.
“Even though after the 3-3 point invasion we understood thickness and thinness better, it turns out we still hadn’t completely escaped the orange!”
“Even I feel my heart trembling now!”
“Thickness is not simply having support without cut points!”
“Traditional concepts of ‘thickness’ might actually be inefficient—like my seemingly unshakable iron thick position... was insufficient due to repetition!”
“Previously, all players thought thick positions were for fighting, but he... prioritized overall balance!”
“The so-called ‘thick position does not surround empty space’ is not an absolute truth!”
“When he calculated that thick positions could convert into thirty points of actual territory, he unhesitatingly used them for territory, directly breaking the dogma that ‘thickness is only for attack and kill’!”
Su Yiming looked at the board in shock, even whispering softly.
How...
Is this possible?
“Moreover, it might not stop here!”
Su Yiming finally withdrew his gaze from the board and looked at Yu Shao opposite him, at that young face still bearing traces of innocence!
“Previously, three-line cutting to two-line was considered thin shape, but now, he dares to cut on the fourth and even fifth lines, because his follow-up moves prove the elasticity of this ‘thin shape’ has even higher value than thickness!”
“Before, no matter what, thick was thick, thin was thin.”
“But now.”
“Thickness and thinness—”
“Are reversed!”
“Every game played by players before was mistaken!”
Su Yiming stared dazedly at the board, heart pounding.
This was what shocked him most!
Though everyone had deepened their understanding of thickness and thinness, realizing thickness was not unbeatable and thinness was not uncounterable, thickness and thinness were still sharply divided.
But now, the reversal of thickness and thinness—
This was beyond anyone’s imagination. The way Go is played is not just changed, it is utterly overturned!
From today onward,
Yin will no longer be Yin, Yang will no longer be Yang; black and white reversed, yin and yang exchanged!
This was the answer to the question that troubled everyone in this game!
This answer was so shocking, so unbelievable, so revolutionary and subversive that it was hard to believe!
Though the situation was grim, now that he finally understood the key to the problem, a flood of complex emotions surged in Su Yiming’s heart—among them, an uncontrollable joy!
“What I searched for bitterly more than 180 years ago, and never found even in death...”
“Is here.”
“Yes, in this very game.”
“I have seen...”
“Go’s higher realm!”
“Thanks to the gods...”
“For letting me come more than a hundred years later to personally witness such a game!”
“I am deeply honored.”
Time passed, bit by bit.
Su Yiming hesitated to move.
No one knew what he was thinking. Almost everyone simply assumed this long contemplation was Su Yiming’s difficult decision after falling behind.
Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.
The clock mercilessly turned.
At some unknown moment, Su Yiming had calmed his mind. He focused on the board again, having understood the key to the earlier situation changes, seriously considering the game’s future development.
Half for winning, half for enlightenment.
Now, the fight for victory would begin!
“How will Su Yiming respond to the current situation?”
Many watching the live broadcast held their breath, hearts pounding.
“Every move Su Yiming made was good, but no one understands why the board changed so drastically.”
“White is behind but still has a chance to fight... but...”
“What attitude will Su Yiming take to continue this game?”
“The thinking time has been too long, Su Yiming’s time is almost in byo-yomi!”
Comments flew rapidly across the live chat.
This long contemplation was incredibly lengthy.
Yet no one was surprised, because everything that happened on the board was too incredible, and until now no one could find the answer.
Except for the two players involved.
Soon, Su Yiming’s three hours of available time were completely used up.
Time entered byo-yomi!
The last minute.
Fifty-nine seconds.
Fifty-eight seconds.
Yet Su Yiming remained focused solely on the board, seemingly unaware of the countdown.
“The initiative is completely lost.”
“Thickness and thinness reversed, his seemingly thin shape is actually more substantial than my thick influence.”
“Looking at this game now, actually, Black has never truly been at a disadvantage.”
“I know how difficult it is to win in such circumstances.”
“On this already cramped board, is there really any room left for me, any chance for White to struggle?”
“Grabbing initiative and clashing head-on means only a death path for me.”
“Even if Black attacks, honestly, White might not survive.”
“But blindly avoiding is useless. White must find a way out through a desperate fight, or else only strangulation awaits!”
“I must find a surprise victory, no matter what, I must drag him into a decisive battle.”
“If I lose, White’s entire army will be wiped out.”
Images of every previous move flashed before Su Yiming’s eyes; his face grew more and more solemn.
Time was in its final countdown.
Five seconds.
Four seconds.
“This is a path where one slight misstep falls into the abyss, never to return.”
“How long can I hold on?”
“How far can I go on the road chasing higher Go skills?”
Time.
Three seconds.
Two seconds!
“Click!”
With the sound of stones clashing, Su Yiming finally reached into the go bowl and picked out a stone.
“I can only go all out!”
In the final second of the byo-yomi countdown, under the watchful eyes of the world, Su Yiming placed his stone again.
Eighth column, seventh row, bend!