[Soul of Chess] What if

For others, August 8 was just an ordinary weekend.But for those who aspire to become professional chess players, it is a special and important day.

Because, those who will support the future of the chess world will start from this day, and start a fierce battle that lasts for more than two months under the anxiety of "whether they can become professional chess players".In this battle involving 28 people, only the three with the best results can get the final admission ticket.

In the morning, Nihon Kiin Go Training Center.

Although there are still two or three hours before the official start of the game, there are already many people waiting here.Everyone's expression is not very relaxed, even a little dignified, so that there is a suffocating tension in the air.

Everyone knows that the situation this year is even more severe than last year.

Last year, Ryo Taya was the only one who stood out, and the other participants still had two places to fight for.And this year, not to mention the appearance of an academy student who can compete with Taya, even Kadowaki, who had the three crowns of student celebrity, student Honinbo, and student top ten several years ago, also joined the battle.

In other words, the remaining 26 people have to do their best to compete for the last spot.It is conceivable what a fierce battle they will experience.

Still, no one wants to give up so easily.After all, they have been waiting for a year for this game.

"The time is up, everyone please enter the game field."

At the same time as the broadcast sounded, people scattered in the entrance, corridor, lounge, etc. walked towards the battle room in unison.Of course, it also includes Ah Guang.

After everyone was seated, Shinoda-sensei said, "The drawing of lots will begin now. Those whose names are called, please come forward."

The number of people who took the test was not small, but since no one spoke, the whole room seemed extremely quiet, only the occasional voice of Mr. Shinoda’s roll call could be heard, which made Aguang, who was not very nervous at first, start to thump. .

After a while, the lottery session ended. Under the instructions of the staff, everyone sat down in order according to the numbers drawn.

Hikari drew No. 7, and his opponent today is Ryo Iijima at No. 23.

Iijima, like Aguang, is a student of the hospital.After seeing that the opponent was himself, he just supported the frame of his glasses, and then looked away.Seeing this, Ah Guang gave up the idea of ​​talking.

"The time for both sides is three hours each, the countdown is 1 minute in each hand, and the eyes are close to each other. Then, please start the game!"

At the same time that Shinoda-sensei finished his announcement, the long professional chess player exam finally kicked off.

Come to take an exam, no one can not feel nervous, and the same is true for Aoguang.

However, for Ah Guang, whether he can become a professional chess player is not that important.Because until now, he has never linked his future with Go.

In his view, Go and him are like two parallel lines that will never intersect. It is only because of the appearance of Zuo Wei that the two lines intersect.

Because of this, in his opinion, the professional chess player exam is just like the round-robin tournament he participated in at the Chinese Chess Academy. It is just an exercise: if you pass it, you will become a professional chess player; That's good, it won't affect him too much.

Perhaps it is precisely because of this easy-going mentality that Aguang seems to be very comfortable with other people, and Aguang, who has experienced a lot of tempering, has a very brilliant record-20 games, all victories.

At the same time, the plan is advancing in an orderly manner according to Aguang's expectations: Kansai Chess Academy has clearly expressed support; in addition to Xiuxingjuku, many people from the reformist school of Chess Academy have also joined in; Negotiations are underway; news agencies that have always only signed contracts with the Chess Academy offered olive branches one after another, expressing their hope to cooperate in holding chess games.

In addition, in addition to the prize money from the Fujitsu Cup, due to the mobilization of some influential people in the financial world, some bigwigs in the financial world have injected a lot of funds into the God of Go website.With so much funding, not only the operation of the website is guaranteed, but also various tasks can be carried out smoothly.

Everything is going well, except Zuo Wei.

As for the fact that Zuo Wei had to sleep as a ghost, Ah Guang made fun of it.However, now he is not in the mood to joke.

Because I don't know when, Zuowei has been sleeping for a longer and longer time, and now he has developed into a state of falling asleep from time to time.

This situation made Aguang very uneasy.

When Zuo Wei was awake, A Guang asked many times.Unfortunately, even Zuo Wei didn't know what was wrong with him.Every time he just replied that he was just a little sleepy all of a sudden, and he didn't feel any discomfort.

So, apart from paying more close attention to Zuowei, Aguang didn't know what to do.

Even in such a situation, Zuowei still cares about Aguang's performance in the game.

In today's game, Hikaru's opponent is No. 16 Katowaki Tatsuhiko.Although Ah Guang won in the end, Ke Zuowei didn't look happy at all, and was even a little angry.

"Hikari, you really underestimated the enemy today." Zuo Wei said with a serious face, "Although Kadowaki's grades are not good, he has participated in many competitions after all, and his actual combat experience is better than yours." Much richer."

"Because I underestimated the opponent's reaction, I didn't even see such a simple bullying, not only ruined the opportunity of fighting in vain, but also put myself in a desperate situation. If it wasn't for the opponent's careless move, you wouldn't be the one who won this game gone."

Hearing Zuowei's words, Aguang lowered his head in shame.

Zuo Wei was right, he had indeed underestimated the enemy.If you want to talk about the reason, maybe it's because you want to win so much that you're a little vain.

In the previous games, Ah Guang just dealt with the mentality of winning a round, but as the schedule progressed, his mentality gradually changed, and he unconsciously wanted to pass with a complete victory. "Ambition".It wasn't until now that he was cornered on the chessboard that he suddenly realized this.

The most taboo thing in the game is to lose your sense of normalcy.Today, he actually made the same mistake. He only wanted to win the game, but judged the opponent's strength subjectively. No wonder Zuo Wei was so angry.

"..." Ah Guang raised his head to apologize, and inadvertently swept to the hem of Zuo Wei's clothes, and found strangely that the color of some places on Zuo Wei's clothes seemed to have become lighter.When he went to look again, the clothes returned to normal.

Am I wrong?Ah Guang felt a little puzzled.Seeing that Zuo Wei was still angry and didn't care to think about it, Ah Guang quickly admitted his mistake sincerely.

After being criticized by Zuo Wei, Ah Guang readjusted his mentality, and also paid attention to regulating his emotions during the game. In the next two games, Ah Guang won in the middle of the game.

As of October 10th, which is the end of the 15nd battle, the current top five are:

Hikaru Shinto 22 wins

Ochi Kosuke 21 wins and 1 loss

Hegu Yigao has 20 wins and 2 losses

Shinichiro Ikaku 19 wins and 3 losses

Honda has 17 wins and 5 losses

Among the next opponents, only Kazuya and Ochi are more difficult to defeat. If there is no accident, even if they lose both of those two battles, Aguang is sure to pass the professional examination.

Provided there are no surprises.

Today is Monday, not a game day.Because I only asked the school for leave on Tuesday and Saturday, so Aguang is going to school today.

Since he was a student on duty, when Ah Guang finally walked out of the teaching building, the sky had already become dark, and the street lights on both sides of the road were also turned on.

"You don't need to play chess, but you have to clean up. Instead of doing this, it's better to let me play chess." Ah Guang muttered softly, rubbing his sore shoulders.

"There will be another match tomorrow~" Zuo Wei covered his lips with a chuckle.

"Yes. I used to think that the game would last for more than two months, which was too long. I didn't expect it to be over with only five innings. Thinking about it this way, I always feel that time flies by." A Guang endured I couldn't help sighing old-fashionedly, "Oh...it smells so good~"

He turned his head curiously, and found that not far behind Zuowei was a shop with a pair of noren curtains that said "Chinese Ramen".

In the night, the lanterns hanging on both sides of the entrance of the ramen shop emitted a soft and hazy red light, and even Zuowei's whole body was also dyed a faint red.

and many more.

The ramen shop is obviously behind Zuowei, so it stands to reason that it is impossible for him to see the whole picture of the shop.

unless……

Aang raised his head abruptly.However, this time, not only did he not see the lantern on the right side of the ramen shop, the handwriting on the noren was also partly covered by Sakai's body.

It's just that Ah Guang couldn't relax anymore.

He took a quick breath several times, trying to calm down his uncertain emotions.It took him a long time before he finally made a sound: "Zuo Wei, tell me the truth, when did it start?"

"Huh? What?" Zuo Wei tilted his head in confusion.

"Don't lie to me again!" Ah Guang shouted.He clenched his fists tightly, but his body was still shaking uncontrollably.

Zuo Wei watched Ah Guang quietly, and after a while, he sighed softly and replied, "A week ago."

At 10:17 am on October 10th, the battle room of the Go Training Center.

Linda has also been kneeling for an hour facing the empty chessboard opposite.

Today is the 23rd round of the professional shogi player exam, and his opponent today is Hikari Shinto.

As a fellow student, he certainly knows the opponent's strength, so he didn't expect to win today.What's more, his current record is 7 wins and 15 losses, and he has long missed the three spots.Unexpectedly, the match had already started for an hour, but the opponent never showed up.

After waiting for another 2 minutes, he got up and went to the score registration office.

Picking up a white star for nothing?However, for me, who has long since lost the chance, it is meaningless to get more Shirahoshi.

He pursed his lips tightly, put a white star with the word "no" under his name, and a black star under Shinto Hikaru's name, and then left the room where the atmosphere was extremely tense.

On October 10st, the 21th round of the professional shogi player selection final, Shinto still did not come.

On October 10, the 22th battle, Shinto still did not come.

So far, the top five are:

Ochi Kosuke 24 wins and 1 loss

Hegu Yigao has 23 wins and 2 losses

Shinichiro Ikaku 22 wins and 3 losses

Hikari Shinto 22 wins and 3 losses

Honda has 20 wins and 5 losses

There are still two rounds of professional chess player exams coming to an end.If Shindo continues to skip the game, the qualified players will be selected from the other four, and the one who has made the most profit may be Ikaku, who also lost three times.

Because as long as he can defend the three defeats, he will be eligible to enter the stage.