I'm Really a Superstar

With the Magic Sword out!

The board state became a quagmire!

Online, many Go players felt as though their heads were about to explode!

"Holy shit!"

"I can't look at this anymore!"

"This is too confusing!"

"My brain fucking hurts!"

"How on earth do you solve something like this?"

"Where does Zhang Ye get so many weird moves from!"

"If I were Peter, I would definitely fucking want to kill him!"

The Great Slant Joseki had exhausted countless people as they tried to make out its depth. Those endless possibilities and variations would perhaps even confound top players like Xiang Rong, Li Yi, and others. In the end, Peter had a hard time climbing out of it before immediately coming face-to-face with the Magic Sword Joseki. Just what kind of an experience was this? What was for sure was that this was definitely a "fuck my life" kind of moment! It was fortunate that Zhang Ye was facing a machine with no emotions. Otherwise, if a human were sitting across from him at this time, that person would probably fight him physically after the game, regardless of whether they won or lost. This was too fucking mean!

The Magic Sword Joseki: one of the three most complex josekis to play in Go back in Zhang Ye's previous world. Compared to the other 3-4 point josekis 1 , the Magic Sword Joseki was the most complex and difficult one to play against!

After Zhang Ye's large knight's move, Peter became unresponsive!

Chen Ying said in surprise, "Peter has gone into the tank again. It has already been 15 minutes and no move has been made yet. Is this Professor Zhang's strategy? Will it really work?"

Xiang Rong was also a little speechless. "What a strange game this is!"

Chen Ying agreed, "Yes, this joseki might not look like anything much at first glance as there are only four stones in the corner. But it is similar to the large slant from earlier. On a more detailed look, it seems like there's no solution to it! With this joseki played, it is truly time for these two players to have their skills tested. We simply can't predict how this will end!"

The time left on Peter's clock was dwindling!

Its clock displayed just over an hour!

The Americans were getting anxious. They were all screaming inside their heads.

Get him!

Fuck him up!

Increase your advantage!

Everyone was waiting. They were waiting for Peter to make a choice and respond to the move. But as they could not see any expression, nor was there any expression to show, no one really knew the status of Peter!

However, they could all see Zhang Ye's expression. He looked very comfortable even though he was behind by more than a dozen points. He was looking unexpectedly calm!

The Americans clenched their teeth!

But everyone else was feeling reassured!

Zhang Ye's calmness had given them a lot of confidence!

Li Qinqin said, "Can he make a comeback?"

Hu Liang said, "Professor Zhang seems confident of it!"

Xu Han gave a wry smile and said, "We must think of it that way!"

Everyone wanted to see how this joseki would be played out. As it was too complex, many of them had already given up on analyzing it, so they quietly waited as they watched!

Peter had 58 minutes of left on the clock.

Finally, it made its move!

Peter cut across Zhang Ye's large knight's move and began open battle!

Zhang Ye smiled and placed his stone, playing a "reach around" on the outer side!

Peter went silent once again!

Five minutes later, Peter played a stretch above Zhang Ye's stone!

Zhang Ye didn't even think and went straight for a corner position!

Peter went deep in the tank again!

Chen Ying applauded and said, "How wonderful!"

Yu Yingyi was dizzy. "I can't understand anything that's going on!"

Xiang Rong explained, "Professor Zhang has more of the initiative. Although it might look like he did not think much before playing his moves, all of his moves are quite beautiful. It seems like he is coming up with the best responses to every move that his opponent is making in the complexity of this joseki. He's truly a strong player!"

Chen Ying said worriedly, "But the board state that's about to unfold looks like it's going to be a matter of choices. And the choice to be made here is very important, so I wonder how Peter is going to handle it!"

Peter moved again!

Zhang Ye blinked and replied!

Chen Ying cheered, "Good move! Professor Zhang, what a good move!"

But Xiang Rong said, "That's a joseki trap 2 ."

Chen Ying was startled. "A joseki trap?"

Xiang Rong nodded.

After a slight analysis, Chen Ying broke out in a cold sweat. "It's really a joseki trap! Professor Zhang is trying to lure Peter in!" She thought to herself how he could be so crafty!

However, Peter did not fall for it. It played an extension!

Zhang Ye bumped.

This time, Peter was obviously faster in processing and retreated with its move, purposely staying away from it!

Zhang Ye narrowed his eyes. He went for a push-through move against Peter's expectations!

They were engaged in a closely fought battle!

It was thrilling!

This was not a real battle, and there was no smoke and fire. But on this small Go board, it felt like two grandmasters were crossing swords and spilling blood!

Xiang Rong said, "Peter has no way out. It can only face the fight! It's even more so for Professor Zhang, but this should be what he wants and probably why he played that joseki in the first place! The circumstances are the same as the large slant joseki from earlier. Only one can survive, so unless the other falls, no one can get out. The only thing is we don't know who will remain standing at the end!"

In the spectator room, people were shouting and cheering!

"You can do it!"

"Charge!"

"Professor Zhang, go for it!"

But very quickly, their expressions changed!

Just as Zhang Ye's white stones were bashing his opponent, Peter played a wonderfully magnificent move!

After three minutes of thinking, Peter applied pressure in the corner and cut off Zhang Ye's momentum straight down the middle!

Zhang Ye frowned. His expression of helplessness was captured by the cameras.

The Americans applauded Peter's move!

Alright!

Beautiful!

That was very well executed!

Meanwhile, those who were siding with Zhang Ye could only sigh in unison!

Zhang Ye made his next move!

Peter attacked again!

Zhang Ye played a horizontal stretch!

Peter chased after him!

When Zhang Ye knew that nothing would come out of this, he gave up and got out of the entanglement.

Xiang Rong sighed. "Peter has broken through again!"

Yu Yingyi asked anxiously, "How is Professor Zhang doing then?"

Chen Ying answered, "Professor Zhang has suffered another great loss. The series of exchange in the upper corner has led him to lose at least another ten or more points. Then, there is another group of five or six stones that have been surrounded and are dead!"

Dead?

Another group was dead?

Yu Yingyi despaired!

When the television viewers heard that, they also lost all hope!

They had been down by over a dozen points. And now, they were down by yet another dozen points? Adding them together, wouldn't they be at around a 30-point deficit? What else was there left to play for!

They were going to lose?

There shouldn't be a way to play on, right?

Chen Ying 7-dan said sadly, "Professor Zhang is very much so in danger. Although I'm also rooting for him to win, based on the board state, there's almost no hope."

Xiang Rong also felt the same. "If it were me, I would've resigned by now."

Resign? That would mean conceding the game!

Even Xiang Rong was saying this, so it could be seen just how hopeless things was for Zhang Ye!

However, Zhang Ye did not do so!

Not only did he not concede, Zhang Ye still looked as calm as ever as he continued playing. This time, he played his move right in the third corner where there were already some stones setup!

Peter immediately replied with a cut!

Zhang Ye pushed deeper!!

Peter did not allow it!

Zhang Ye forced his way in!

Peter pushed him back!

With the Magic Sword Joseki cracked, the remaining computation for the moves weren't that difficult for Peter. It was starting to play efficiently again and almost did not waste any time. Every move was completed within a minute, while it was Zhang Ye's turn to be deep in the tank.

The board state proceeded to the middlegame!

The two sides exchanged another eight moves in that corner!

Although Zhang Ye was still fighting, everyone else thought he was just trying to hold on!

The Americans were confident of their victory. Some of them had already looked away from the play. They didn't think that there was any need to watch as the result had been determined!

The Great Slant Joseki?

The Magic Sword Joseki?

Peter cracked them one after the other and showcased how strong its Go skills were!

They believed, in fact, everyone believed, that Zhang Ye was at a dead end. They didn't think that he had any moves left to play!

But right when Peter played a move at what everyone thought was a great position, Zhang Ye suddenly laughed!

It finally happened!

I knew that you would play this move!

Without any hesitation, Zhang Ye pushed!

At the beginning, no one saw anything particular about it.

But when Peter went deep in the tank again after the Great Slant Joseki and the Magic Sword Joseki, everyone suddenly felt that something was wrong. A bad premonition hit them!

Xiang Rong was startled as he shouted, "It's here again! Professor Zhang is doing it again!"

Chen Ying looked dumbfounded as she just stared in shock at the board!

What in the world!

Again?

You're doing it again?

Hu Liang's legs wobbled!

Xu Han was floored again!

Wu Changhe and Dan Donghe were speechless.

When they noticed the fearsomeness and shamelessness of Zhang Ye's move, everyone silently put that bastard Zhang Ye onto their blacklists!

They knew that they would never want to play against him in the future!

They would absolutely not do something like that!

If they played him, they would probably end up vomiting so much blood that they would die of blood loss!

What kind of move was this?

What kind of playstyle was this?

Americans were only average at Go and were barely seen in international tournaments. Even if there were any, they would have Chinese or Korean ethnicity. But that did not mean that Americans did not know Go. Since the team members could issue a challenge to all humanity on behalf of Peter, they definitely understood Go! When they saw that move by Zhang Ye, and Peter going deep in the tank yet again, the reactions of the Americans could only be described as "what the fuck!" In their heads, they were cursing at all 18 generations of Zhang Ye's ancestors!

Why don't you just die!

Are you finished yet? Fuck!

After the first one, you still had a second?

After the second one, you're now playing a third?

What is this?

Just what the hell is this?

All of the American team members were raging, but Zhang Ye maintained his calm.

The Avalanche Joseki 3 —the third of the three most complex josekis from Zhang Ye's previous world!

1. https://senseis.xmp.net/?34PointJosekis | https://senseis.xmp.net/?Joseki | AlphaGo's analysis of this joseki https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1635983276436237&set=pcb.1635990279768870&type=3&theater

2. 骗招/piàn zhāo/hamete - Referring to a trap in joseki, typically a tricky but incorrect play that requires skill to refute. | https://senseis.xmp.net/?Hamete

3. https://senseis.xmp.net/?NadareJoseki