“The entire side group is under attack. If I escape outward, Black will cut and attack from below. Even if I keep running, his connection move is sente.
I have to reduce his liberties, and after he ataris, I respond, he pushes again... In the end, my White group below will form an awful, clunky shape.
If I connect and try to threaten his cut, he’ll gain sente and counterattack above.
No matter how I look at it, I’ll be pulled into a bitter fight.”
Li You stared at the board.
Faced with Yu Shao's move—a move like a blade through the heart—his expression remained icily calm as he calculated out every survival line.
“If I don’t respond and instead play elsewhere to take the initiative and atari the upper-left, yes, I can attack. But it will also make his upper side thicker.
His hand hovered inside the stone bowl, unable to draw out a move.
“Am I... out of options?”
Though fully aware he stood on the brink of defeat, Li You had never felt such calm.
Seconds ticked by. Minutes.
He stared at the crisscrossed stones in front of him, locked in a long contemplation.
“It’s not about reversing the situation. At this point, even surviving is a monumental challenge.
But there must be a path to life—
The board is still vast. There must be something hidden. Some unseen road.”
In his mind’s eye, replayed like a flickering lantern show, were all of Yu Shao’s games.
His face grew increasingly solemn.
“Being an attacking player isn’t about reckless aggression. It’s about the courage to make the move others fear.
In a murky, uncertain board state, you must find that one move—
It could lead to total collapse.
Or… it could turn death into life.”
“I’ve never seen a player like him before. Not in the four-thousand-year history of Go.
Though still young, his style, his vision, his understanding—it’s almost inhuman.
He’s shattered centuries of Go theory. He practically destroyed the three Great Unsolvable Patterns.
Maybe those people online are right—
“But even gods can bleed.”
“I’m certain—not even An Hiroshi could finish him off easily. He’d fight Yu Shao down to the very last half-point.”
“If I want to win… I can’t wait for a mistake. I must create one.
I must wait, starved but patient, in the shadows like a lion.
And the moment I find an opening—I must pounce.
With the sharpest claws, the fastest strike, and the deadliest force, I must kill!”
Finally, after what felt like forever, Li You reached into his bowl again. The cold stones bit at his fingertips.
“You want to lure me into a small, manageable game.
But the moment I enter, is the moment—”
14th column, 16th row: Tiger’s Mouth.
“The moment I carve out my path to life.”
Yu Shao’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Tiger’s mouth, huh?”
To the audience, it seemed like a safe move—defensive and cautious. But to the experienced, it was clear: he’d seen there was no way to fight back head-on, and this was a calculated retreat. A desperate one.
14th column, 11th row: Knight’s Move.
With that, the entire White group on the left was dead.
The recorder stared blankly at the board.
The gap was wide—too wide.
Unless Yu Shao made a catastrophic mistake, White’s chances were fading fast.
Still, Li You’s face didn’t change.
He placed another move:
6th column, 6th row: Capture.
He reached out and picked up the dead Black stones from the board’s upper right corner.
A White flower bloomed.
Yu Shao wasn’t surprised. He calculated.
“I have the lead now.
I can connect at two points. If I connect top first, White responds, I then connect bottom, White fixes, I profit.”
“But if I connect top first, I give him a chance to risk everything. Too messy.”
16th column, 5th row: Connect.
This was absolute sente. White had to answer.
2nd column, 8th row: Invasion!
Yu Shao’s face finally changed.
“Ignoring my sente connection? Pointing at the second line?”
The audience was electrified.
“That’s… not what I expected. Not in a thousand years.
There’s no stronger move on the board.”
The sheer brilliance of the move hit them all at once.
“This is… like a tesuji born from instinct. From genius.”
And at that moment, Li You raised his head, eyes like drawn blades.
“If he really is a god—
Then today, I’ll stain this board with divine blood.”
Yu Shao was silent. He calculated deeply.
His expression grew colder.
3rd column, 8th row: Extend.
2nd column, 7th row: Extend.
“Pressuring the Black cut point—another powerful strike.”
3rd column, 6th row: Connect.
2nd column, 9th row: Crawl.
“He’s going for the upper right dragon!”
“White wants to kill the massive Black group!”
3rd column, 3rd row: Diagonal.
4th column, 2nd row: Jump.
Black’s diagonal tried to make an eye. White’s jump aimed to take it away.
“No way to live on the top anymore.”
Yu Shao looked elsewhere.
“I can’t live there—unless I attack here.”
3rd column, 10th row: Push.
2nd column, 9th row: Block.
4th column, 11th row: Dig!
The recorder and judges stared in awe.
“That dig… it’s a killer move.”
White tried to counter:
4th column, 12th row: Atari.
3rd column, 12th row: Cut!
“Another deadly move!”
Now, the fighting escalated.
“Every move is a knife to the throat.
Every decision, a duel to the death.”
4th column, 10th row: Capture.
2nd column, 11th row: Atari.
2nd column, 12th row: Cut.
Another ko exploded on the board.
“This time… it’s a real one.”
Yu Shao wiped his hands.
“...I didn’t want to admit it—
But he’s really driven me into a corner.”
In all his games since transmigrating here, no one had forced him into a true loss of control.
“I had the advantage.
I might actually lose?”
4th column, 11th row: Capture ko.
19th column, 9th row: Push.
19th column, 10th row: Capture.
3rd column, 11th row: Capture ko.
Now it was Yu Shao’s turn to find a ko threat.
15th column, 15th row: Atari.
Li You paused, then paled.
A bead of sweat slid down his cheek.
“If I respond, I’ll lose my last valid ko threat.
Then he’ll ignore my next one.
And I’ll have to end the ko early—
But if I do, his entire upper right lives.
It’s… not even him killing me—it’s him letting himself live.”
The recorder gaped, awestruck.
“He found… the perfect ko threat.
He scared himself to death—
And then resurrected himself.”
The world fell still.
Eyes locked on the board.
Yu Shao raised his eyes, killing intent flaring.