“It’s a bit early, only forty minutes have passed.”
Leaving the big board explanation area, Ao Ying slowly walked towards the third floor.
“Ao Ying-kun?”
At this moment, a voice came from behind him.
“And you are?”
“Ao Ying-kun, hello, I am Shinoda, a professional 3-dan, the Instructor in charge of the Insei.”
A Middle-aged Man appeared before him, dressed in a suit, wearing old-fashioned black stone eyeglasses, with a warm smile on his face.
“I saw part of the big board explanation just now; your moves were very correct.”
“Uh…” Ao Ying rubbed the back of his head and smiled.
“Come with me.” Shinoda led the way, half a step ahead.
“You were recommended by Shirakawa 7-dan, and since you are not a formal Insei, you don’t need to take an assessment.”
“I’m very happy that another young person is embarking on a professional path, but don’t neglect your studies.”
Ao Ying smiled and said, “Teacher Shinoda, don’t worry, I’ve been studying hard.”
“The professional path is full of hardships and difficulties, requiring daily and yearly effort. Are you ready?”
Shinoda walked in front of Ao Ying and quietly looked at him.
Ao Ying paused, “I understand, I won’t back down.”
“I hope that one day in the future, I can see you on the professional Go board.”
Shinoda nodded and said no more.
He then led Ao Ying to a room, about seventy or eighty square meters, with Go equipment neatly arranged inside.
The two took off their shoes and entered.
“This Go room is where the Insei study; games and discussions all take place here.”
“Hello, Teacher Shinoda.”
Several children greeted him.
“Oh? Some people are already here.”
“You guys, this is a new auditing student. Get to know each other first.”
“Ao Ying-kun, I’ll come back when class starts, so I won’t disturb your peer discussions.”
Shinoda smiled slightly and turned to leave.
Ao Ying quickly scanned the room, a wave of emotion in his heart, “Insei, huh? I didn’t expect to relive this.”
“Compared to the Go players aiming for professional status in China, I wonder what level the Insei are at.”
Suddenly, an arrogant voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Hey, new auditing student, I’m Mashiba Mitsuru, one of the top players in Insei Group 1.”
“Hello, I’m Ao Ying.”
Ao Ying paused, then put on a smile. He had just thought about Mashiba getting beaten up, and now he ran into him so quickly.
“Ao Ying? Chinese?”
“Yes, I’m from China.”
“No wonder you can be an auditing student.” Mashiba’s eyes showed disdain.
“Hello, I’m Honda Toshinori, also in Group 1.”
A tall boy with freckles stood up to greet him.
“Hello, I’m…”
“Hello…”
Several Insei introduced themselves.
Perhaps because Ao Ying was a foreigner, or for some other reason, everyone present showed curious expressions.
After the introductions, the others continued to focus on their Go games.
“Honda, in the actual game, you dragged the game into a complex situation, but you were only delaying death.”
“If it were me, I’d have resigned early and started another game.”
“Playing to this point, if white has even amateur 3-dan skill, black stone will definitely lose.”
“Do you know what amateur 3-dan means? Old men who frequent parks are at that level.”
“But you, an Insei, got killed like that? Can the Go club Instructor have that kind of strength?”
Mashiba arranged the variations, full of doubt.
“Mashiba, don’t underestimate Teacher Yin; he’s a professional Go player from Kimchi Country.”
Teacher Yin?
Ao Ying rubbed his nose, it sounded a bit familiar.
“Kishimoto, with your strength, if you can be the main player, your Go club must be mediocre, and how strong can the advisor be?”
“Is Kimchi Country’s Go better than our Sakura Country’s?”
“That person named Yin must not have been able to make it in the professional Go world, so he ran off to be a Go club advisor at a middle school.”
Mashiba sneered.
An Eyeglasses Man sat nearby, formally dressed, slightly mature, as if accustomed to ridicule, showing no expression.
“If you have time, you can Go try it yourself.”
Kishimoto pushed up his eyeglasses.
“Tsk, who has time to play Go with a down-and-out professional Go player?”
“Hey, Ao… Ying? Come take a look at this endgame. Does black stone have a way out?”
“Even if you’re an auditing student, you shouldn’t lower our Insei’s level too much.”
Ao Ying stood next to Kishimoto. He remembered who this person was.
Kishimoto Kaoru, Haiwang Middle School’s main player, cunning, precocious, and liked to drink black stone coffee. He was once in Insei Group 2 but withdrew because his level was at the bottom and he saw no hope of becoming a professional.
If it weren’t for this person’s reminder, Shindo Hikaru’s professional Go path would have been delayed by another year.
In the Go game, black stone and white were intertwined, with killing intent permeating the entire board.
“Interesting, give me five minutes.”
Ao Ying stroked his chin, “black stone’s upper right corner was invaded by white and needs one more move to live cleanly, otherwise, it’s a ko fight.”
Instantly, a dozen variations appeared in his mind.
“As for the center…”
“black stone and white are interlocked, in close combat, and black stone is one liberty short.”
“Liberties are like a nose and mouth; if blocked, you’ll suffocate and die.”
After roughly confirming it, Ao Ying turned his gaze to the center of the board.
To the side, Mashiba pursed his lips, “An auditing student, this posture… one would think he’s some high-ranking professional. Is five minutes enough?”
Honda said in a deep voice, “The variations here are complex. I ran out of time back then and couldn’t calculate them clearly. When I reviewed the game afterward, I actually found a move.”
Mashiba pointed casually, “black stone can swell up and make a ko.”
“But this kind of forced shape can’t be fought at all.”
“What’s that word again… bloated!”
Honda retorted, “Once a ko fight forms, it’s much more complex than the actual game.”
“And for the stone that started the ko fight, both black stone and white have a chance to capture it.”
“You can’t play consecutive moves in a ko. When one side captures a stone first, the other side needs to play a move elsewhere to find a ko threat, and only after a response can they recapture the ko stone.”
“Going elsewhere to find a ko threat means that one side might ignore it.”
“If white finds the wrong ko threat, black stone can eliminate the ko and reverse the game.”
Everyone present was an Insei, and their Go skill was not low. Hearing Honda’s analysis, they all showed expressions of realization.
Mashiba was an exception; he crossed his arms and sneered, “Honda, don’t you calculate the number of ko threats before a ko fight?”
“Do you know why you always lose to me?”
“I have a better overall sense of the board than you. I admit there are local ko moves, and the outcome is unclear.”
“But globally, black stone has two fewer ko threats than white, a full two! Don’t you understand how big that difference is?”
Upon hearing this, Honda stared intently at the board, his fists gradually clenching.
Seeing Honda silent, Mashiba looked at Ao Ying, “Auditing student, did you hear my senior’s advice?”
“Don’t say five minutes, even five days wouldn’t allow black stone to pull off any tricks.”
As soon as his voice fell.
“Here… there’s a move.”
Ao Ying pointed to the corner.
Everyone looked.
“The lower left corner?”
“It’s neither related to black stone’s upper right corner nor to the central fight. What kind of move could be here?”
Mashiba lowered his arms, leaned forward, and murmured, “The white stones in the lower left corner don’t seem to be alive.”
“But if black stone dies in the center, capturing the lower left corner won’t be enough.”