The Samsung Cup qualifiers are about to start, and Li Jie arrives with the Chinese delegation to the host country, Bangzi Country.
A total of 256 players participated in the Samsung Cup qualifiers. The 256 players were divided into 16 groups and conducted 4 rounds of preliminary rounds. Finally, 16 players were selected to enter the semi-finals, which is the top 32.
All in all, the schedule of the qualifiers is not easy. There are both top amateur players and high-level professional players who failed to enter the semi-finals.
The day after arriving in Bangzi Country, Zhu Dayong knocked on Li Jie's door with a battle list.
"Duke, the organizer's schedule has been released. You are lucky this time and have been assigned to Group H. There are no real masters in Group H."
As he spoke, Zhu Dayong paused slightly and reached out to point at the battle table.
"Well, the most noteworthy one should be Kurata Atsushi 5th Dan from Country R. He is called the 'No. 1 young player' by the chess community of Country R."
Atsushi Kurata?
This player is an important supporting player in the original work. Although he is only ranked fifth, his own strength cannot be underestimated.
Of course, that is for ordinary chess players. For Li Jie, Kurata Atsushi's level is probably just that.
"However, with your strength, as long as you perform normally, you can definitely win!"
As expected, Zhu Dayong's judgment was almost the same as Li Jie's. After learning that Li Jie was the "unique artist" on the Internet, his confidence in Li Jie was unprecedented!
"Well, thank you, Teacher Zhu, I will pay attention to it."
Originally, Zhu Dayong was not part of the delegation's entourage, but when he learned about Li Jie's true level, he decisively changed his mind and obtained an entourage spot from the chess academy through some unknown means.
In order to get this quota, Zhu Dayong gave a very good reason, because among the players in his dojo who participated in the qualifiers this year, there was a very special young player who was only eleven years old.
At such a young age, it makes sense for the dojo to send someone to take care of the young chess players, right?
Moreover, all expenses incurred by Zhu Dayong during his trip will be borne by the dojo, and there is no need to occupy the funds of the chess academy.
Seeing this, the leaders of the chess academy would naturally not reject Zhu Dayong's proposal. After all, he had been in the professional circle and had some inclinations.
"Thank you no matter what, this is what I should do."
Zhu Dayong waved his hand indifferently and continued.
"Tomorrow your first opponent will be him, Yu Honda, an old chess player from country R. Although he is an amateur chess player, his strength is not too bad. In last year's World Amateur Go Championship, his ranking was
Very forward.”
Hearing this, Li Jie's eyes flashed with surprise. The World Amateur Go Championship can be said to be the earliest world Go competition held.
In 1979, it was held in Tokyo by R National Chess Academy and R National Airlines. Amateur chess players from fifteen countries or regions in Asia, Europe, Oceania, South America, and North America participated.
Although this competition carries the title of amateur championship, there has been no shortage of professional chess players participating in every competition.
Most of the championships are won by professional chess players.
And this Yu Honda was able to achieve a good ranking in the championship, which shows that even if he is not a professional chess player, he should still have the strength of a professional chess player.
"However, Honda Yu is already in his forties, and his computing power has declined a lot. With your strength, you should be able to kill him easily."
The next day.
At ten o'clock in the morning, the Samsung Cup qualifiers officially started.
When Honda Yu saw a child sitting across from him, he couldn't help but feel secretly happy.
This plate is stable!
After sighing with emotion, Honda Yu suddenly felt that if he tried his best, wouldn't he be a bit too bullying?
After all, the opponent is just a child, and it would be a bit bad if the child's enthusiasm was dampened because he struck too hard.
Do you want to be gentler?
Speaking of which, who signed up this child?
This is not a joke!
If you let a child participate in the World Go Competition, aren't you afraid of encouraging others?
'well.'
'Forget it, forget it, who told me to be kind-hearted? I'll just play with this kid for a while, and then I'll try my best again when the time is right.'
Tick tock!
Tick tock!
Time passed slowly, and half an hour later, Honda Yu couldn't help but take a few deep breaths.
At this time, his mentality had already quietly changed.
What to play for a while?
Give way?
Sorry, all these ideas are gone!
This child...this child is simply a monster!
Honda Yu raised his head and glanced at Li Jie who was calm and composed, then immediately turned his eyes and devoted himself entirely to the chess game, ignoring his broken hair that was already wet with sweat.
‘Huh?’
‘No, why have I seen this style of chess somewhere?’
After pondering for a moment, Honda Yu suddenly felt that Black's style looked familiar.
'wrong!'
'Why am I still thinking about this at this time!'
'I'm almost losing, I should be thinking about how to make a comeback!'
Honda Yu shook his head, as if to get rid of the unrealistic thoughts in his mind.
However, no matter how hard he thought, he could not find a way to survive.
In just over fifty moves, Black already had an absolute advantage. The upper left, lower left, and upper right corners were all dead.
In addition, he did not have even the slightest advantage in the middle of the country.
have to!
have to!
"well."
After a while, Honda Yu sighed and slowly took out two white pieces from the chess box.
"I lost."
"admit."
Li Jie nodded slightly, with no joy or sadness on his face. His victory over Honda Yu was completely expected and could not cause any fluctuations in his heart.
"Are you from R country?"
Hearing Li Jie's fluent Japanese, Honda Yu was a little surprised. The expression on his face seemed to say, why have I never heard of a person like you?
Li Jie shook his head, and while cleaning up the chessboard, he replied: "No, I just stayed in country R for more than half a year."
"Oh? You speak Japanese really well there. By the way, kid, let me ask you a question, are you a professional chess player?"
"Well, not yet, I haven't succeeded in determining the rank yet."
"What?"
Hearing this sentence, Honda Yu was so surprised that he exclaimed.
"Cough! Cough!"
When the organizer's staff heard the noise coming from here, they couldn't help coughing twice and signaled, 'This player, please stay quiet and don't disturb other players' games.'
Upon seeing this, Honda Yu immediately stood up and used the traditional power of Country R - bowing.
"Huh?"
The organizer's staff noticed that Li Jie was cleaning up the chessboard and couldn't help but be a little surprised.
The game just started less than an hour ago and it’s over?
Sure enough, it is a bit too reluctant for a child to participate in this kind of competition.