Go: Is the portable old man the nine-time champion?

Chapter 7: If you don't find a career at the age of 14, you will have no hope in your life

"Getting up at seven in the morning? You're really inhumane, aren't you?

No, you guys are all following the same schedule as high school students at your age, but I won’t be waking up at this time like you in the future!"

Mr. Ke looked at Yi Zheng who pressed the alarm clock to get up on time at seven o'clock, and couldn't help yawning as he stood beside him.

Is this the life of a young man striving for a dan? It seems like I went through this kind of pain before.

"Does the soul body still need to sleep?"

"What are you talking about! In fantasy novels, the soul bodies can even practice dual cultivation!"

"But I remember you said yesterday that these two days are weekends off, right? Then why are you up so early? I don't think there are many people in the chess academy."

Mr. Ke flashed through the wall and went straight to the next dormitory. Then, as if he had discovered a new world, he quickly moved between the dormitories.

Mr. Ke made full use of his mobility as a soul body and went through all the dormitories on the entire floor.

But after running around a few times, he found that there were very few people in the chess academy dormitory, and Mr. Ke lost interest in running around.

Yi Zheng wiped his face with a towel and calmly introduced himself, "Many people went home for the two-day weekend off. Many people in the chess academy are locals, including several of my roommates.

Many parents from other places also rent houses outside, so they go to nearby chess halls to find people to play chess with.

I can’t relax on weekends either. I’ve already wasted a lot of time. I have to make use of every minute and every second.”

"Chess Hall? What an old-fashioned name! After all, it's the internet age now. How can such a place still exist? And do people still go there?
I only know that mahjong parlors can still survive in the internet age. Don't you have online chess on your computer? Is it possible that offline mahjong parlors still have professional players?"

When Mr. Ke heard this, he couldn't help but sigh at the magic of this world. There were actually people in the offline chess hall.

In my own world, let alone Go, not many people can play even chess, a relatively easy-to-get-started board game.

After all, for young people, playing chess is far less than playing chess.

Cloud Top...

Forget it, I can’t think about it anymore. My hands are itching if I think about it anymore, but I still can’t play.

"They may not even be at the professional level, but there are quite a few old guys who have reached the amateur 5th or 6th dan level. The Go atmosphere in Zhejiang Province is very strong.

Especially many retired elderly people, who are very enthusiastic about playing chess, may spend as much time playing chess as we do.

As for online chess, most professionals wouldn't be willing to play with people like us who don't have verified accounts."

When Mr. Ke heard this, he nodded. He could understand it very well.

Just like he used to only play chess with familiar world champions and top players online, it was impossible for him to watch ordinary professional matches or invitations from Mr. Ke.

You are a bad chess player. If you play too much, it will pollute the database.

Similarly, the same is true between ordinary professions, which are all competitions between professions.

Unless the player is a very famous top amateur chess player who has reached professional level, professional chess players will not even look at the game invitations from other ordinary accounts.

Alas, circles.

After Yi Zheng finished washing up and Mr. Ke followed him out, Mr. Ke finally understood why Yi Zheng said that the world has a strong Go atmosphere.

Inside the park, there were actually a bunch of old men playing Go together. There wasn't just one group, but a whole bunch, with a bunch of people watching. What kind of Go paradise is this?!
Even when Yi Zheng was eating wontons at a breakfast restaurant, Mr. Ke actually heard people discussing a young boy winning the national Go championship.

Is this news worth discussing?! Many people are saying this!

After breakfast, Yi Zheng rode his bicycle through several streets, parked it on the side of the road with ease, and turned to walk towards an exquisitely decorated store behind him.

Then Mr. Ke, who had followed, looked at the parked bicycles around and touched his chin: "I wonder if mobile payment has become popular and whether shared bicycles will have a future."

However, before Mr. Ke thought much, he found that Yi Zheng had walked into the storefront at some point, and he quickly followed him.

But before walking in, Mr. Ke looked up at the sign hanging above the door: "Jiang Liu Chess Hall? Jiang Liuer?

Start with Tianyuan! Heaven and earth are united!
Harmony ~ national prosperity ~ chess prosperity ~"

Old Ke followed Yi Zheng into the chess hall, humming a song. Seeing Yi Zheng speaking to the front desk, Old Ke peered inside. It was barely nine in the morning, and the hall wasn't exactly packed, but at least every seat was occupied. Business was booming.

“So many people are playing Go…”

Looking at the scene in front of him, Mr. Ke floated in unconsciously.

The people of all ages in the chess hall, the sounds of chess pieces dropping one after another, and the buzzing of the chess clock made Mr. Ke seem to be lost in thought.

"Mr. Ke, what's wrong?"

After finishing the formalities at the front desk, Yi Zheng looked at Mr. Ke floating in the middle of the hall and asked in a low voice.

"Nothing, it's a golden age for Go. I wouldn't even dare to imagine it, not even in my dreams. How could there be so many people who love Go in this world?

If objective conditions didn’t allow it, I really wanted to slap myself twice to see if it hurt.

Mr. Ke never dared to dream that Go would become so popular one day, but now he has seen it in another world he traveled to.

Looking at Mr. Ke sighing, Yi Zheng didn't feel any sense of empathy. In his opinion, it was natural for Go to be so popular. It had been like this since he was born. Wasn't it just the way it was?

Therefore, Yi Zheng was a little puzzled by Mr. Ke's behavior as if he had walked into the Grand View Garden: "Come upstairs with me. The first floor is mostly for hobbyists, and the second floor is for those with a professional level of 5 or above.

If you’re lucky, you might even run into some professional amateurs.”

Mr. Ke talked with Yi Zheng about Go in this world last night. This world is the same as the original world, and Go is also divided into professional and amateur levels.

Occupational levels one to nine: nine is the best, first is the lowest, from nine to one are in order of entering the spirit, sitting in meditation, specific, understanding the secluded, using wisdom, small, fighting strength, acting foolishly, and keeping to simplicity.

Amateurs are ranked from 1 to 8 dan, and the larger the number, the stronger the strength. However, ranks above 6 dan can basically only be obtained through national and even world amateur competitions.

As for the so-called professional amateur players, they are Go players who make a living by participating in amateur competitions.

Although they are still amateur chess players in name, many of them are actually at least as good as professionals, and some are even much better than ordinary professionals.

Even income is like this.

"Come on, let's go up and take a look."

When Mr. Ke heard this, he also felt a little curious. After all, which man is not curious about going upstairs?

As soon as the two men walked upstairs, they found a large platter with explanations set up there, and many people gathered around it, with two banners hanging on it.

Congratulations to Miao Jun, 4th Dan, for winning the Shanhai Cup Championship

Shanhai Cup Finals Seminar

"Shanhai Cup?"

"Miao Jun won the national championship last month at the age of fourteen years and nine months, setting a new record for the youngest national champion in the world."

Yi Zheng looked at the banner and said something silently, then found a seat and sat down.

The national champion at the age of fourteen and nine months, this is why Teacher Cao Ming and others began to persuade Yi Zheng to drop out of school.

Theoretically, fourteen or fifteen years old should be the prime of youth no matter where you are, and everything is possible.

But when it comes to Go, this age may actually be a bit late.

In the Go ranking tournament, there are many talented young people who become professional players at around the age of ten, and there are even more at the age of twelve or thirteen.

After these people appeared in the professional world, they might have started to show their talents at the age of fourteen or fifteen, and reached the highest level of Go at the age of twenty.

But when you are fourteen or fifteen years old and you don’t even have a job, it will be difficult for you to make any great progress even if you enter the professional world.

There is a saying that if you don’t become a national player by the age of 20, you will have no hope in your life.

But no matter in which world, there has never been anyone who became a professional and won the world championship after the age of fourteen.

If you don’t have a career by the age of fourteen, you will have no hope for the rest of your life.

(End of this chapter)