Chapter 12: NJ Fire and Marine Corps Integrated Preliminary

The second day of the NJ Fire Insurance Cup integrated preliminary at the Korea Baduk Association venue. Round 2 of the general division, Group I.

Nineteen professionals: seven from China, two from Taiwan, four from Japan, and six from Korea. Plus one amateur, making a total of twenty.

Only one will earn a ticket to the main tournament.

Excluding the twelve players who received byes through a random computer draw, eight competed in the first round yesterday, with four eliminated.

With sixteen remaining, the Go community has its eyes on China’s Junyan Li, 6-dan, and Korea’s Pilgyu Park, 9-dan, as the favorites to win Group I.

Junyan Li, 6-dan, is a young Chinese player ranked in the world’s top twenty, while Pilgyu Park, 9-dan, at sixty-three, is a living legend in Korean Go.

But the one drawing the most attention is neither Junyan Li nor Pilgyu Park, but the sole amateur.

The only female competitor in the general division, and the youngest ever to participate in the integrated preliminary.

As the earlier groups finish and it’s time for the later groups to play their second round, players at the venue cast a glance or two at the quietly seated girl.

But their interest in her fades quickly. Unless she’s their next opponent, she’s just a curious spectacle.

The world stage of Go is a dream for players. No one has the luxury of being distracted, and they all look away.

Demei Wei, 3-dan, her opponent for the second round, places two water bottles in front of him and sits down.

Taking his seat, he offers a friendly smile and a handshake to the girl, whose slightly exotic appearance doesn’t quite seem purely Korean.

Each player has two hours, with five one-minute countdowns. Knowing they’ll face each other for a long time, Demei Wei, 3-dan, makes an effort to put the girl at ease.

“Let’s have a good game.”

“Likewise, please take care of me.”

Demei Wei, 3-dan, speaks in halting Korean, and the girl responds in Chinese with a smile.

Surprised but impressed, Demei Wei feels a strong liking for the girl, who seems to have diligently learned basic greetings.

Most Japanese and Korean players on the international stage only know “hello” and “thank you.” For an amateur with likely no experience facing Chinese Go players, her effort to learn the language is striking.

But a good first impression doesn’t change the fact that a game is a game. As a lower-ranked pro, losing to a young amateur girl would be embarrassing.

As the recorder takes a seat nearby, the girl, playing black, places her first stone. Upper-right star point.

She follows with a diagonal star point, then her third move is a small knight’s move in the lower-right. After a brief pause, she fills the upper-left star point, and her fifth move connects the facing small knight and star point along the third line, far apart.

A low Chinese opening, one of the popular Chinese-style layouts since the 21st century. It seems language isn’t the only thing the girl has mastered.

If you try to block her from occupying the right side by digging inward, white often ends up with a bad shape.

So Demei Wei, 3-dan, plays his sixth move to infiltrate from the outside.

Seventh move.

The girl attacks the infiltrating stone from two spaces away, a rather aggressive move.

When there’s a skill gap, the standard response is to secure the corner and side safely by extending one space from the small knight. If the stones get entangled, the variations become too complex for an amateur to handle easily.

Perhaps trusting the generous time limit, she boldly challenges him, leaving no choice but to engage. Demei Wei, 3-dan, attaches immediately.

The girl extends toward the corner and retreats a step. Normally, black would push back, so Demei Wei, 3-dan, pauses to think.

Should he retreat to maintain balance, or greedily block her off?

An amateur likely hasn’t studied irregular moves thoroughly and might struggle with bold plays. She’s the easiest opponent he could’ve faced in this preliminary, thanks to the draw, and it’s his first match.

Starting strong would build momentum for facing tougher opponents later.

After five minutes of weighing his options, Demei Wei, 3-dan, chooses to fight.

But after exchanging a few moves with the girl, he feels his stomach churn. He grabs a water bottle, roughly twists off the cap, and gulps it down.

He underestimated her. He got greedy. Despite resolving not to dismiss her, he subconsciously assumed she’d be clumsy because she’s an amateur and a young girl.

A bad start. But as long as he avoids further mistakes, he won’t lose.

Demei Wei, 3-dan, steadies himself and tries to salvage the position.

But the girl in front of him knows exactly how to punish overzealous opponents.

The stone that infiltrated the corner is completely lost. In exchange, he secures significant influence on the lower side and center, but the shape of his stones is poor.

“…Ugh.”

The girl relentlessly and sharply targets the weaknesses in his white position.

Her reductions are mechanical, without a single mistake.

Having lost the corner so badly, he needs to maximize his gains in the dominant area, but the girl strips away every possible house, not tolerating even half a point, like a ruthless tax collector sweeping away everything.

Before he can hide his assets, she swoops in, finishes her business, and slips away nimbly, leaving no room for argument.

There’s no pride in dutifully paying taxes.

All that’s left is the chilling realization that no tricks are allowed in front of this girl across the board.

“…Tch.”

To make matters worse, she concludes the local exchange with black taking the initiative. As soon as Demei Wei, 3-dan, holding white, ends the sequence, she sharply invades the upper-left corner.

Once she grabs the leash, she doesn’t let go.

A leash is useless if held too loosely, but too tight, and it snaps or slips away.

No matter how Demei Wei twists and turns, the girl holds the leash firmly.

He can’t go where he wants. He tries to shift elsewhere for profit, but she expertly keeps him in check.

It feels like being tamed like a dog—a horrible sensation.

Demei Wei, 3-dan, is dragged around the board throughout the game.

When he checked his opponent, he thought the chance of losing was near zero.

No complex calculations are needed.

The game has tilted too far to recover.

“I’ve lost.”

Feeling his mind go blank, Demei Wei, 3-dan, picks up his stones in defeat.