"Ah...I still lost a quarter of a piece in the end...
"Originally, I thought I had a chance to win against Senior Brother Sun for the first time in a formal competition this time... It seems I'm still a little bit close!"
Spring is fleeting.
Time soon came to April 17, Tongli Town, Suhu Province, China.
After a fierce battle, the Chinese celebrity Zhaojun, who had just confirmed that he had lost to his senior brother in the top 16 of the Tianyuan Competition, sighed softly, feeling a little regretful.
In this competition, Zhao Tianhou is actually still strong. In the last round of the qualifying round, she almost effortlessly defeated Man Jiageng. In the first round of this competition, she also suppressed Li Zhaokai throughout the whole process.
Unfortunately, his fortune was not good. In the top 16, he met Sun Yi, who was also in good form recently. After a fierce battle of 284 moves, he was finally defeated by a hair.
Empress Zhao’s plan to “take back Senior Brother Ni’s [Tian Yuan] title” can only be done next year!
However, after hearing this statement, Sun Yi shook his head and denied it:
"What are you talking about, little girl?!
"Didn't you already kill me first in last year's Masters?"
"That's different!"
Rui Zhao didn't recognize it at all when he heard this:
"That time there was a flying knife from Senior Brother Ni, how can it be counted!"
"Hey, hey...
"I've said it before, don't be so strict with yourself!"
"But that's the truth!"
Zhaojun of that time still insisted:
"But... to be able to play like this with Senior Brother Sun, who just won the runner-up of the Sanshuang Cup...
"I think I should have improved a bit compared to the last time we fought!"
"Ah..."
Hearing what his junior sister said, Sun Houer, who had just won the first world runner-up in his career, was slightly startled, and then said with a smile:
"You are just making fun of me by saying that!
"This time I was able to take second place because I was lucky. Xiao Lei and Ryu Shi-hyun were drawn together in the semi-final draw... but I still lost 0-2 cleanly in the final!
"Watching my peers stepping on me to achieve three consecutive world championships that only Choi Myung-ho had achieved before! It's quite unpleasant..."
What Sun Yi said is true - although he made it all the way to the finals of the Sanshuang Cup this time, judging from the content of the two finals, facing the number one player in the world who is at his peak, the former Chinese Yi Xian was at an absolute disadvantage At a disadvantage, it can be said that there is no chance of victory at all, which makes people feel extremely frustrated!
Therefore, even if Sun Yi finally enters the finals this time, the majority of domestic chess fans still have little change in their evaluation of him. It even caused a bunch of Zhaohei to take the opportunity to stir up trouble, saying that Sun Yi and Rui Zhao had practiced too much on weekdays, "it's strange that Tiantian and Nu have made progress", and used this to suppress Rui Zhao.
Although Sun Hou'er had heard some of this kind of talk, he, who was also twenty-six years old at this time, was much more mature than in previous years, so he basically raised his eyebrows and pretended not to hear it.
"Hmm... I think this final seems to be one-sided, but the essence is that Senior Brother Sun, you are trying a new method, right?"
Hearing Sun Yi's self-deprecation, Rui Zhao blinked and expressed his opinion:
"Senior brother, although you have always been a balanced person, it seems that you have been gathering your strength to fight Liu Jiuduan in this final?
"It's just that it may be my first time playing against Liu Jiuduan, so I'm a little uncomfortable with it, so I didn't find a good opportunity to exert my strength..."
"...Eh?"
Sun Yi stared at his junior sister for two seconds:
"Did you see it?"
Rui Zhao scratched his head in embarrassment and said truthfully:
"That...
"After all, Senior Brother Sun, some of your two games seem to have a little bit of my style..."
"Ah... I really can't hide it from you!"
Sun Yi admitted with a wry smile:
"Since the Chinese New Year, I feel that if I want to face Master Liu and Xiao Lei and want to break through, I may not be able to use the balanced approach in my comfort zone. I have to dare to compete with them!
"So I have been learning some of the power-charging and chaotic fighting techniques you used to deal with me during sparring, and I was thinking about whether I could use them on them... but the effect didn't seem to be very good the first time!"
"...But I feel that your choice, senior brother, is not wrong!"
Seeing that Sun Yi's tone was slightly self-deprecating, Rui Zhao immediately encouraged his senior brother:
"Actually, as a top chess player, you cannot have obvious shortcomings in your style!
"I used to be an extreme fighter, but because of this I was targeted in various ways and suffered a lot. As a result, my subsequent style began to rely on balance, and I could do anything, so the overall level has been further improved.
"Senior brother, if you can show a powerful enough fighting style in front of Liu Jiudan and Lei Qi Jiuduan, you will definitely have a greater chance!" "Ah... thank you.
"That's right...thank you for always sparring with me!"
Sun Yi sincerely thanked his junior sister:
"Although I am your sparring partner in name, in reality I have benefited a lot from you - both financially and chess-wise.
"Fortunately, you are indeed making continuous progress, so it doesn't make me too embarrassed...
"Recently, our sparring has been almost five to five! Even if we want to play fast chess now...
"I guess I will be beaten violently by you, right?"
"You'll have to wait and see to find out."
Rui Zhao responded with a smile, seemingly not paying much attention to this statement. But when Sun Yi thought of this, he suddenly lowered his eyes and asked quite seriously:
"Well...it seems that we haven't played blitz chess since the second half of last year.
"Are you trying to get me to practice slow chess more so that I can make a breakthrough in the World Championships?"
"...Huh?"
Rui Zhao was obviously stunned, then immediately shook his head and said:
"That's not what I meant..."
"Ah...really?"
Sun Houer, who was confirmed to be a self-inflicted sentimentalist, was not embarrassed and continued to ask:
"That's...?"
"Uh..."
Celebrity Zhaojun showed a slightly embarrassed expression on his face and said tangledly:
"If I have to say... At that time, I felt that our winning rates in fast chess were getting closer quickly. I felt that there was no need to practice sparring. It was better to spend all my time on slow chess..."
"..."
Hearing his junior sister's honest words because he thought he was not strong enough in fast chess, Sun Yi pursed his lips and held it in for several seconds, and finally protested with a wry smile:
"Hey... do you want to look down on me like this!
"Okay! Now that I've said so...
"Let's see if I have a chance to ask Miss Zhaojun, who finished the Nongshim Cup, for advice in the next Dragon Star battle!"
But when talking about this, Sun Yi suddenly realized something, and immediately frowned and asked:
"Hey, wait, next month...are you going to participate in the Lakeside Cup?!
"Although the time of the Dragon Star War has not yet been determined, it seems that the two are inseparable, right?!
"Have the association... ever talked to you about this?"
"Ah... I found it!"
"What do you say? Do you want to give up the Dragon Star War?"
Rui Zhao hesitated slightly after hearing this, but quickly replied:
"That's not possible! The schedule conflict has been coordinated!
"I'm looking forward to playing against you, Senior Brother Sun, in the Dragon Star Battle!"
"Is this so..."
Although Sun Hou'er thought for a while that the schedules of the two sides were inseparable, seeing that his junior sister seemed confident but unwilling to say more, he was not in a hurry to continue questioning. I thought it would not be too late to find an opportunity to chat with my junior sister after I finished the Tianyuan Competition.
However, Sun Yi hasn't thought of it yet...
When the Tianyuan Tournament ends, another big news in the chess world will be suddenly announced. The news was so shocking that he had no time to digest the disappointment of losing 0-2 again in Tianyuan Zhan Sanfanqi...
…
…
At two o'clock in the afternoon on April 25, 2026, the South Korean Chess Academy and the informing advertising company officially announced that a new world competition tentatively scheduled to be held every two years will be held in early 2027 - [The World's Strongest Chess Players Battle]!
The birth of the new World Championship has undoubtedly attracted the attention of the entire world chess community.
What makes chess fans around the world even more excited is that the prize money for the champion of this new world championship actually exceeds that of the Yingyi Cup, which is held every four years and is known as the "Go Olympics", reaching the highest in the history of world Go...
Eight hundred million South Korean won!
(End of chapter)