...Eh? !
I, I beat the celebrity Zhaojun? !
After seeing the results of the draw, Cerebell Axe, who came off the stage, had a headache for a while.
To be honest, Cerebellar Ax is not very happy about this lottery...
It’s not because he was the first nine-stage fermented bean curd of Zhao Tianhou, and at that time he added a very “strong color” to his family’s long-standing title of “Celebrity” – this was already the year before last, so it’s been a long time.
Ueno, who is generally more rational, although his state has had ups and downs for more than half a year after losing to Rui Zhao, he is not at the point where he can't relax now.
And the reason why he feels a headache now... The reason is very simple:
This time I got the "ghost card".
You know, there are 64 people participating in the Dream Lily Cup, which is the largest among all the world championships currently being held!
Precisely because of the large number of participants, a large proportion of them are parallel imports from Korea and Japan, as well as European and American ones. Logically speaking, it is not easy to draw strong players in the first round.
However, as luck would have it, this time the cerebellar ax hit Rui Zhao, which made him take a breath.
Over the past year or so, although due to Ichijo's continued improvement, Ueno Toraichiro handed over the title of [Celebrity] to his friend, but as his condition gradually improved and Shindo Hiroaki gradually declined, he returned from Lao Xiaoguang got [Qi Sheng] and [Tenth Level] in his hands one after another, and he has firmly established himself as the second person in Japan. His strength is by no means weak, and has even improved compared to two years ago.
But Cerebellum Ax is very clear: Although his strength can compete with Takuya Ichijo at the moment, there is no doubt that he is at a clear disadvantage overall.
And that Rui Zhao can even completely suppress his country's number one and world champion Takuya Ichijo!
Combined with his performance in the Zhaojun Battle and the Masters Tournament, it can be said that China's current Zhaojun plays chess very steadily and well, and almost instantly got rid of his shortcomings of being prone to sudden collapses in the past half a year.
In terms of strength, I am afraid that he is already firmly in the top ten in the world... he might even be able to compete for the top five!
Facing such a powerful enemy, the pragmatic and rational Ueno was naturally unhappy.
Not to mention the current level of attention paid to this "Chinese Beauty Celebrity Zhaojun" by the people of this country. Once he loses chess, the old story of losing to Rui Zhao the year before last will definitely be brought up and whipped repeatedly with relish.
Well... we can't sit still and wait for death!
Feeling deeply concerned about the future, Ueno returned to his seat and immediately started thinking about countermeasures.
First of all, don’t be too nervous...
This time it’s the World Series, and we’re playing slow chess, so it’s not that scary!
After all, I am also the second player in Japan, and I have defeated the top ten chess players many times. It’s not like I don’t have the strength to fight!
Next is...
To deal with Rui Zhao's core, you still have to grasp the opening!
Judging from the recent games she has won, most of them have quickly established an advantage at the beginning, and then directly controlled the game until death.
This advantage may be the reason and direct reliance on its recent greatly increased stability in playing chess...
If she can't take advantage at the beginning, she might end up in a tough fight in the middle game - this was certainly the case when she faced Nie Yunyi and Ji Qiufuan in the Yixian competition!
And whether her plan can give her an advantage...
Thinking of this, Toraichiro Ueno couldn't help but squinted his eyes, and then thought of the rumor that was making a fuss in the major Go communities in China:
——Rui Zhao is relying on Ni Jue's flying knife to achieve results for himself.
Although not many people in Japan pay attention to this statement - after all, the two countries do not have a common Internet communication platform. But as Cerebellum Ax, a top chess player in the circle, it is natural that he has heard of this statement...
He even thinks that this may actually be the case!
However, Go players are all about winning or losing within the game. When others do not violate the rules, there is really no point in worrying about whether the flying knife used by others is researched by oneself.
Even if you really don't like it, you should fight back in the game instead of just talking.
So Ueno had just heard about this statement and didn't think much about it.
But now, seeing that he has faced Rui Zhao in the first round of the World Series, this piece of information must be taken into consideration by Ueno:
Well, to be honest...
Rui Zhao obviously used throwing knives in the three games he won against Sun Yi, Ji Qiufu, and Lei Qi in the Celebrity Tournament, and the game in the Celebrity Tournament also obviously involved throwing knives...
Even if Ni Jue gave her the flying knife arsenal, she would be stretched thin by now if she used so much in one go.
Judging from her recent performance when she didn't use flying knives, she would be at a clear disadvantage once she faced a stronger opponent's layout.
Ji Qiufu wouldn't say it anymore, even though she made major mistakes in Nie Yunyi's game of chess!
Maybe...this is a loophole in her now!
Her current layout is prone to mistakes, so she has to use Ni Jue's flying knife to cover up her shortcomings?
In this case...
Ueno pondered for a while, secretly thinking about the layout of tomorrow's game...
…
…
"Dear audience friends, good afternoon, everyone! I am Ran Ran!"
The next day, January 5, 2026, was the first competition day of the 6th Dream Lily Cup. Pheasant Gao Junrui Hotel is the temporary live broadcast room of [Go Xiao Zhao] which has just been officially launched.
At this time, the host Hua Ran was making the opening remarks to the audience after the live broadcast started in a very familiar manner.
“After a New Year’s Day holiday, the long-awaited Dream Lily Cup competition is about to begin!
"And Sister Rui Zhao also returned with great honor after winning the Huaying Celebrity Competition. Today we bring to you Sister Rui Zhao and the Japanese [Qi Sheng] [10th Dan] double title holder, who can be said to be the second person in the country. The first round match between Ueno Toruichiro and Kudan!
“For this competition, we originally wanted to continue to invite our old friend Zeng Guangwen, who was just officially announced to be promoted to 9th Dan this morning, to come and explain.
"But in the end, the organizer very unexpectedly gave the domestic wild card directly to Brother Zeng who went to Japan to escort Sister Rui Zhao and did not participate in the qualifiers at all, instead of the world-class wild card like Dai Gong and Brother Ni. Crown winner
"So, he has gone to the first round now and cannot join our commentary. I can only say that Brother Zeng is also a big star now!
"For this reason, we urgently asked another old friend of ours, Elder Du Weichen and Du, to serve as the guest commentator for today's game of chess. Welcome!"
"That's it, Ran Ran, don't welcome anything!
"I came here with a shy face..."
Elder Du said helplessly:
"This time, a total of 31 people from China mainland entered this competition. Even excluding Xiao Yang, there are still 30 people who qualified in the women's group!
"But now I am sitting here commentating on the game, which is really embarrassing..."
Uh, Elder Du...
Your domestic level ranking has gone straight to the top 50, so it’s not surprising that you can’t enter this competition...
Although he slandered the former coach of the Pohu team in his heart, Hua Ran still forced out an awkward smile and quickly brought the topic over:
"Okay, okay!
"The game has started for a while, let's get into the chess game!
"Sister Rui Zhao is in charge of black in this round, and Ueno is in ninth rank and is in white!
"After the start, black's chess star is small, white's chess has two consecutive stars, and then black's chess jumps to defend the corner.
"White's 5th move chose to point the upper right three three. The two sides formed a very classic cross pattern in the AI era. After the move, White made a solid move, and it seemed that he intended to make some changes that were different from the past.
"Sister Rui Zhao, who got the first move, decisively clicked the left three three. Then the white piece blocked and chose a long move, while the black piece made a simple and small flying move.
"After that, the white chess piece was placed on... the star position?
"Well, Elder Du, this move... is a bit rare!
"The bottom of the chessboard is a very common shape. I know that splitting on the third line is generally the most recommended choice for AI.
"It seems that Ueno 9th Dan is seeking change today!"
"Well, it does taste like this now!"
Du Weichen nodded and said:
"This... is to test Rui Zhao's plan?
"Ha! Interesting!
"But you must know that my second niece is Lao Li's eighth-dan student and my eldest nephew's junior sister!
"Test her layout... I'm afraid Cerebellar Ax doesn't have this ability!"
"Uh...
"Perhaps Ueno 9th Dan felt that Sister Rui Zhao's layout in the two games in the recent Yixian Tournament was not very good, so she wanted to find another way and increase her intensity?"
Hua Ran casually gave a guess:
"After all...a few days ago, Ichijo 9-dan entered a situation that Sister Rui Zhao had studied, and the winning rate was almost instantaneous! I asked for a change to test whether Sister Rui Zhao can understand..."
"...Huh?
"If he thinks so, he is wrong! The second niece just had some inside information in the Yi Xian Competition... Now she has completely adjusted!"
Elder Du, who had heard Ni Jue’s inside story, simply explained:
"I'm still waiting for her to lead us into the championship zone in the next few rounds of the regular season!
"Hey, look!
"Rui Zhao Dafei is forcing me to make a choice directly! I'm not being polite if I don't bring him with me!"
"Well...Sister Rui Zhao's move is indeed very fast, which reflects her solid basic skills in layout."
Hua Ran nodded and continued to explain:
"After that, the white chess piece flew up and left to defend the corner. Black chess immediately seized the opportunity to take the initiative and took the lead in the bottom left to set the shape.
"Indeed, as White wished, the situation has now entered a relatively rare change, and White's next move...
"I actually chose the upper left hand and flew one more time to defend the corner and seize the ground!
"This move reduces the winning rate by 11 points! Are you so greedy?!
"Now the AI has urgently suggested that White should strengthen the lower part. It seems that it thinks that the piece that White just removed on the fourth line has hidden concerns and needs to be strengthened as soon as possible. I wonder if Sister Rui Zhao has discovered this...
"Oh my God, it was only ten seconds before the next move was made - Sister Rui Zhao broke into the formation below the white chess piece!
“And the location is impartial, which is exactly the choice of AI!
"Ueno 9th Dan...
"Don't he be so tested that he collapses?" (End of Chapter)