The Second Game
'Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.'
Park Jun-soo bit his lip hard.
Where had everything gone wrong?
He had only followed the joseki, yet the shape had already tilted.
He couldn't read it.
Where in that move had he gone wrong, or which flow had pushed him aside?
He had simply responded normally, and suddenly more than five stones had been lost.
'Calm down.'
He took a long breath.
Objectively, the board was lost.
Even if they played to the end, the chance of a comeback was slim.
'……I lost. I lost.'
Yeah, I lost. Let's admit it.
But I only lost one game.
Playing more made no sense.
Dragging out the defeat would only let emotions drag down skill.
Mental management.
Erasing the shadow of the previous game.
He had learned this routine after losing to Kim In-ha in the 64th round of the Presidential Cup.
'Your feelings shouldn't become your skill.'
What shakes is emotion, not skill.
Slap! Slap!
Park Jun-soo placed the Go bowl in front of the container.
Resignation.
President Lee Gwang-seop, watching from the side, waved his hand.
The camera light hanging in the air went out.
"Both of you played well in Game 1. We'll start Game 2 in five minutes. Those who need to use the restroom can go now."
Park Jun-soo stood immediately and turned.
He was heading to the restroom.
Standing in front of the mirror, he turned on the cold water.
Swoosh swoosh.
He drenched his face with the cold water pouring down like a waterfall.
Not just washing his face, but like a full shower.
He took out a handkerchief and wiped the moisture from his face.
Then he looked at his reflection in the mirror.
Slap! Slap!
He slapped his cheeks hard enough to snap his mind back.
His face was so red it was about to swell.
'Forget it. Forget it.'
The shape was broken, not himself.
The important thing was to believe in himself.
"……"
Thinking that, he lifted his head.
With the water wiped from his face, no trace of defeat remained.
When he returned to the studio, Kim In-ha was still seated.
Next to him, the middle-aged man who had accompanied him opened an energy drink and handed it over.
Kim In-ha accepted it without hesitation and drank.
He frowned slightly at the sight.
'Don't think about it.'
Park Jun-soo took a deep breath and sat down.
When the seat was vacated, the Go board was neatly arranged.
President Lee Gwang-seop checked the time and waved.
"Both of you, please take your seats. We'll begin in one minute."
Game 2.
Same board, same chair.
But the air was different.
After President Lee Gwang-seop's signature fell, the two faced each other.
This time Kim In-ha held the black stones.
In the tense atmosphere, Kim In-ha's first move landed on the board.
Tack.
Lower right corner point.
Park Jun-soo responded with a point as well.
Again, small wood, sharp edge.
The opening flow was not much different from Game 1.
But.
Tack.
Black began to change.
From the start, inducing a joseki variation.
A twisted joseki.
Lower left, upper right, variations… asking responses across the entire board.
Without completing the shape.
The flow continued, but the contact points were twisted.
Follow the joseki but don't get trapped in it.
Continuously create uncertainty and leave room for changes.
'What kind of Go is this…'
The stone arrangement was messy.
There was not a single pretty, stable shape.
Efficiency?
It had no meaning on this board.
The entire board was in chaos, and it was impossible to know where the situation would turn.
Tack.
Another move.
Park Jun-soo's hand stopped.
Accept or not.
If accepting, he would be pulled in; if not, he would have to find a gain.
Park Jun-soo placed the stone down.
Think a little more and play.
Quickly, quickly.
From the beginning, the clock was decreasing rapidly.
The confusion created by twisting the joseki.
Park Jun-soo responded at the end of his thinking.
Tack.
Immediately black continued the move.
'Twisted it again.'
Park Jun-soo's brows furrowed.
Black was only following the joseki halfway.
And the remaining half was being pushed to white.
Stop again.
Think again.
Accept or not.
No matter which choice, or another incomplete shape, it would test him.
In the meantime.
Quickly, quickly.
Time flowed.
Only a little over forty moves into the opening, and the remaining time was less than ten minutes.
If this continued, time pressure was inevitable.
Park Jun-soo gritted his teeth.
'I can't be pulled in anymore.'
It couldn't be.
Instead of countering the confusion, he had to cut it off.
Tack.
Park Jun-soo countered.
He shattered the incomplete joseki shape.
Instead of white finding a way in black's confusion, he played a move that first established direction for white.
However.
Tack.
Kim In-ha, as if anticipating the counter, immediately continued the next move.
Lower left attachment.
Again asking.
Can't you not accept?
Park Jun-soo's eyebrows twitched.
A move pushed out like a test.
His pride was hurt.
But he couldn't respond rashly.
The most important thing in Go was value judgment.
Gain or loss.
He still couldn't decide.
Quickly, quickly.
The clock was tightening around his neck.
Give up the lower left and choose the left side.
The remaining time was now less than three minutes.
Too short to think, too dangerous to play blindly.
'Damn it.'
He was being chased.
He was being cornered.
Time was tightening his heart.
Park Jun-soo picked up the stone.
No more time to waste.
And he couldn't be pulled in anymore.
Tack.
What he chose was the counter.
At that moment.
As if waiting, black precisely pierced the empty spot.
Fast, accurate, sharp.
As if waiting for this exact moment.
Park Jun-soo froze with the stone in hand.
How many stones had he lost?
Was the response itself wrong?
If so, where to make up for it?
Countless worries chased each other.
But there was no time to check.
At that moment.
Tack.
Finally, time-pressed Park Jun-soo placed the next stone hesitantly.
At least to reduce the loss.
Tack.
Black's move pierced again.
Again asking.
This time, where to accept?
'This, this…'
Demonic Go.
Lacking in technique and shape judgment, it now dove into emotions and shook violently.
'Ah.'
The weight of emotion that couldn't be explained by logic pressed on Park Jun-soo's fingertips.
At that moment, something surged up inside.
An unstoppable word.
The one word that almost spurted out stuck in his throat.
……Baduk is really played like shit.
* * *
'Success.'
I looked down at the Go board I had grasped the flow of.
I had started worrying about this kind of Go after the preliminary rounds ended.
I had thought about how to utilize my own strengths from the opening moves.
As a result, one hypothesis had come to mind.
I was strong in reading moves, intuition, and psychological warfare.
And the true value of my Go peaked at the transition from early to middle game.
Then, could I utilize this strength from the opening stage?
The worry had been long, but the conclusion was clear.
'Base it on AI but shake it with intuition and senses.'
The way I chose was this.
Follow the joseki but don't complete it.
Create contact points but let them go.
From the opening stage, complicate and confuse the board.
Accept or not.
At the moment of making the opponent hesitate, the flow already leaned my way.
'This suits my Go.'
Go that seizes momentum and seizes control in confusion.
In the current era where AI plays uniform opening moves on the board.
This method could become opening moves with my own color.
But there was a condition.
'Shape judgment must be accurate.'
If value judgment was wrong, the loss would be entirely mine.
A double-edged sword, dangerous but powerful Go.
Fortunately, although I couldn't reach AI level, I had some confidence in shape judgment.
-Time pressure starts.
Park Jun-soo had already been in time pressure from the early to middle game.
From then on, the board that slowly collapsed reached an irreversible gap in the middle game.
Finally, he held on until the end, but could no longer place stones.
"Lost…."
A short one word.
However, it contained the weight of a full effort victory.
I quietly lowered my head.
Park Jun-soo slowly raised his head and looked at me.
"Let's go quickly."
Our eyes met at that word.
He didn't turn his gaze away.
Suppressing emotions, he squeezed the words.
"If you're going, go up quickly."
Trembling voice.
While accepting defeat, pride that didn't let go to the end was soaked in.
That was Park Jun-soo.
"And keep winning."
It sounded like a complaint, but it was clearly sincere.
"I want you to keep chasing me. I want to beat you…… Did you hear?"
I stared at him for a moment, then quietly nodded.
"I'll do my best."
Park Jun-soo stood up from his seat as if that was enough.
When the relay camera light hanging in the air went out, the branch manager was the first to run over.
"Kim section chief, congratulations on the championship!"
* * *
"Mr. Kim In-ha, come this way and stand."
President Lee Gwang-seop placed me in front of the Go board with the studio backdrop.
In one hand, a trophy and prize board.
In the other, a panel printed with a small car photo.
Next to me, President Lee Gwang-seop with a wrinkled smile stood.
Click.
The Baduk Association staff and Reporter Koo took a commemorative photo.
The branch manager watched with arms crossed, pleased.
Team leader Jeong Soo-yeon and the filming team quietly took it as if background.
After the photo was taken, President Lee Gwang-seop extended his hand to me.
"You worked hard, Mr. Kim In-ha. It was a good game."
"It's thanks to you for giving me this opportunity."
Warm words exchanged.
"I don't know if you heard. There's a tradition that the Biryong Tournament winner joins the professional ranks."
"Ah, I heard."
"I hope Mr. Kim In-ha also enters that line soon."
President Lee Gwang-seop gave a greeting and left.
The tournament was over, but there were still things to process, he said.
At that time, Reporter Koo approached quietly.
"May I do an interview?"
"Yes."
We moved to the 4th floor game room used as a waiting room.
Reporter Koo set up the tripod, turned on the recorder, and opened his mouth.
"Please give me one word on your feelings as the amateur strongest."
"I'm happy."
"Is that the end?"
"……Yes? Ah, very happy."
The branch manager in the distance was seen smiling wryly.
Reporter Koo's eyes changed wickedly.
"Both Game 1 and Game 2 were overwhelming victories. Especially Game 2, there was even a sense of ease. Did you think you would win?"
"No, I don't think easy wins exist. I played my best."
Reporter Koo nodded slightly.
"You've come to the amateur strongest. Is there a next goal?"
"Considering I started Go later than others, I'll try to rise quickly."
At that moment, Reporter Koo's eyes changed.
Like someone who caught something, he clung to my words.
"What does that 'quickly' mean…… up to where?"
I slowly raised my head.
From the opposite side, the branch manager, Reporter Koo, Team leader Jeong Soo-yeon, and the filming team were looking at me.
In that gaze, expectation and tension crossed.
I took a short breath and spoke calmly.
"Until I lose."
No arrogance, no exaggeration.
Just saying the facts as they are.
"I'm still undefeated."