The Empty Triangle
The middle of the game, Go was gradually entering the mid-to-late stages. Interlocked stones were thinly connected, and the life and death of the central dragon began to hang one by one. Stones were threatening each other, the boundary between life and death. The shape was complex, and the moves were intertwined like a web.
I carefully extended one point, then another. Intuition was telling me. Instinct was pointing in this direction. 'This spot is the axis of the fight.' Intuition was shining. Only I could play this, human Go.
But the opponent wasn't easily falling for it. Kang Seo-jun 9-dan was responding precisely move by move, neither forcing nor overreaching, resisting with reading and not missing the shape. Most importantly, not swayed by psychological warfare, holding the center like a towering mountain and enduring.
'……Different. Definitely.' Normal pro's reading, shape judgment, and unshakable mentality. Flawless Go was pressing me down heavily.
Tap. Black, who was probing, played in the center targeting my central dragon. At first glance, it seemed like targeting my dragon's life and death, but in reality, it was for settling the group. 'Brilliant compromise.' His own dragon, which had been cornered, was saved while stealing the counterattack timing. In the end, it was only my stones that were left alone.
Now, in the center, three dragons were hanging like spiderwebs. Black only needed to settle one of them, but I had to save both. '……I can't afford to lose on shape judgment.' From the shape judgment, the current gap was two points, just two points behind. Considering the komi, I was still ahead. However, I had to save the two dragons while not giving Kang Seo-jun more than five points advantage.
'Is it possible?' Honestly, it wasn't easy. The good news was that there was still space left in the center. Before all the empty spots were filled with stones, I had to find moves to perfectly settle the two central dragons.
I entered the long thinking. In times like this, the time earned in the early game was really useful. Tick, tick. The clock sounded unusually loud, but it didn't bother me. Moves to save. I started by looking at moves to cut off Black's two points. Looked 10 moves ahead. 'No.' Next, the diagonal move. Followed 15 moves. 'No.' Not this either. Played a quiet stone. Drew 20 moves. '……No.' Now, there were few spots left. The only places I could play were the empty points. Really... was there no escape? Really?
Then the last single spot caught my eye. "……!" Extreme non-standard, normally I wouldn't even glance at it, bad shape. But the moment I saw that move, my loose heart started beating rapidly. 'Here.' I glanced at the clock. Long thinking for 22 minutes. Remaining time, only 3 minutes 47 seconds. I took a deep breath. The heart calmed down again. Confusion, distractions disappeared. The danger of sudden death increased, but it didn't matter. With this one move, the entire board could be revived.
I picked up the stone. Tap. Breaking the long silence, I placed the stone on the board.
* * *
Tap! White stone placed on the board. 'Empty Triangle?' Kang Seo-jun 9-dan's brows furrowed. Three stones forming a triangle, a shape commonly called 'bad move' in Go. Bad shape, poor efficiency. Normally, I wouldn't play such a move. Yet now, Kim In-ha played it. "……!" Kang Seo-jun 9-dan's eyes, looking at the board, trembled slightly. That spot that seemed like a bad move, didn't look like one. Read as a brilliant move connecting the axes of both dragons at the same time. 'Does this mean they connect?' One on the left side, one on the upper center. Two distant groups. They were trying to connect with this one move. 'I, impossible.' Even with my eyes, I couldn't believe it. A situation where victory was almost certain. To that extent, white was thin, black was thick. I didn't even consider the possibility of connecting the two dragons. Yet one Empty Triangle satisfied all those conditions. Incomplete both dragons were living by sharing one point each. The mere existence of that move was supporting the entire game.
Kang Seo-jun 9-dan bit his lip hard. His heart was fluttering slightly. A cold air brushed his nape. 'A move I couldn't find... an amateur found it?' He didn't see it. He had claimed there was no escape. But Kim In-ha saw it. Eventually found it. A very small difference. During the fierce exchanges over more than 200 moves, that one move he missed. Empty Triangle. The worst move. On this board now... the most perfect move.
* * *
"Ah, what a huge blunder. Even if it's Seong-hyeon, aigo. Eun-woo, you can't lose this either. What is this?"
Park Ji-man's Baduk in. YouTuber Park Ji-man clutched his head in agony. Kim Eun-woo 9-dan and Kwon Sung-hyun 9-dan, who were championship contenders, lost to Chinese players and were eliminated in the round of 32. In a situation where top Chinese ranked players flooded the seeded group with Jeong Si-hoo 9-dan, from a Korean fan's perspective, it was quite unsatisfying.
-Senior, watch the 3rd game.
-I have to cheer for Kang Seo-jun 9-dan too.
-It seems like he's holding up well for an amateur.
-Almost resigned.
-Kim In-ha has been thinking for 20 minutes. Doesn't look like there's a sharp move.
"Then shall we go watch Seo-jun's game?"
Park Ji-man switched to the match screen. He scanned the board, crossed his arms, and nodded. "Hmm. White looks pretty desperate? Our Seo-jun played a forcing move again."
He ran the AI DeepStone familiarly. In a situation missing the overall flow, better to use AI reading than clumsy commentary. 'Well... not much will change.' At that thought, checking the moves.
"Eh, eh? Wait, what is this?"
AI recommended move on screen. Blue Spot. Empty Triangle.
"No way, then... does Black's dragon live? What, really. Wow."
He was speechless for a while at the brilliant move. Checked screen again, shook head. "How did a human find this? This isn't human intuition. How strong are the preconceptions."
He pointed the mouse cursor at the Empty Triangle spot. "Usually, such moves, after about 10 years of pro life, you might play one or not on a good day. I retired without playing such moves."
It's that difficult a spot. Finding a move to break the preconception of Empty Triangle is hard, but more importantly, the sequence matters. If the sequence of one move is off, the legendary move becomes the worst blunder.
Then. Tap! White stone placed there. Empty Triangle. "What? You played it? Really? You found this? Seo-jun's reaction was completely unexpected?"
Close-up of Kang Seo-jun 9-dan's expression, panic evident. Of course, the chat exploded.
Park Ji-man stared at the screen for a while, couldn't continue. This isn't a move you can find by luck. Innate intuition. Heaven-given talent. And real-game stronger quality. He asked the viewers as if bewitched. "By any chance, do you know someone who knows a lot about Kim In-ha... this person?"
* * *
'It's ending.' The game was heading to the endgame. After settling the dragons, shape adjustment finished. Now, only endgame work left. But few large spots remained. Disappearing space meant less chance for comeback. Kang Seo-jun 9-dan bit his lip tightly. Face hardened. Even under sudden death pressure, he held, but now realized he couldn't reverse. He reached over the resignation area. Swoosh. Stone fell. Resignation. The judge came over, confirmed again, Kang Seo-jun nodded slightly with a frustrated expression.
'I won.' Not words, the feeling of victory approaching. Pro 9-dan. In the world's 4 major Go events. With my Go, defeated. Joy surged from the back of the neck to the crown. Click. Shutter sounds erupted one after another. All cameras in the hall were facing me. Kang Seo-jun 9-dan, who had been standing briefly, stood up and bowed. And as he turned. "...... Thank you for the motivation."
I said casually. "Thanks to you, I didn't give up."
He stared at my face for a moment, then turned without a word. And.
"Kim In-ha player, please move to the interview area."
Following the judge's guidance, I nodded and stood from the chair. On the way to the photo wall. In that moment of excitement and joy, a strange man approached me. "Hello, Kim In-ha player. Song Tae-gyu, who was the commentator today."
He smiled with wrinkled eyes and greeted quietly. I hadn't seen his face before, but it was a face I've seen through YouTube broadcasts. "Today's Go was impressive."
"Thank you."
"It might seem out of place, but... I wanted to apologize."
"Excuse me?"
He bowed slightly. I was the one who was surprised. "Actually, I didn't think highly of you."
"Me?"
"Yes. From the live broadcast assignment request, it felt like ignoring the organizer's regulations. Honestly, I even suspected if there was any connection or relationship with the sponsor."
I just listened quietly. "But after seeing today's Go, my thoughts changed. Sorry."
He nodded with a gentle smile at my words. "It's fine. And thank you for telling me."
I bowed slightly towards Song Tae-gyu 9-dan. "Then, I'll go do the interview."
After getting his permission, I walked towards the photo wall. Upon arriving, the shutter sounds kept ringing. The MC approached with the mic. "Kim In-ha player, congratulations on your victory. Please give your thoughts."
I smiled briefly and opened my mouth. "I'm happy to be doing the interview here because I won."
I won. I proved it. Sincerity was in that one word.
The MC smiled following me and threw the next question. "Did you have confidence that you could find that brilliant move?"
I nodded. As always, honest answer without lies. "I only saw that move. So I played it... and as you can see, I won."
A faint laugh circulated in the venue. The MC delivered the last question. "Finally, congratulations on entering the pro league. Please give your resolve for the future."
I took a short breath and looked at the front camera. The corners of my mouth lifted slightly. "...... Please tell Liu Cheng 8-dan. As fellow pros, I want to learn the etiquette of the game."