Imagined reality

It was a peaceful night in an imaginary realm.

 

Under the bright full moon, evil looking Black troops were spotted at the edge of the Great Plains. Their number was not big, but it’s slowly but surely increasing, like ants around food. White was alarmed. They quickly deployed their troops on the opposite side of the field, matching the Black man for man. Both sides maintained a respectful distance, waiting for the inevitable war. Tension mounts.

 

Out of a sudden, Black struck, sending multiple elite forces deep into various part of White’s territory, trying to gain a foothold. Skirmishes ensued. First blood was drawn. No advantage gained by both sides though.

 

White’s turn to counterattack. They employed a different tactic, concentrating and keep sending reinforcements to one spot. Black responded in kind, and it quickly turned into an all-out war spanning one eighth of the field. There’s only one objective for both sides: To gain as much territory as possible.

 

Back to reality (after so much crap)…

 

It was a Friday night. I was facing a China guy in the Inter-Block Weiqi Finals. My opponent obviously knows what he’s doing. My blockmates were sitting around me relaxing and talking cock. Meanwhile I was locking in a life and death combat of the mind with the opponent, my heart beating twice as fast. With growing number of seeds on the board, the situation had become very complex. One wrong move means an area of 20+ seeds would be eliminated, ie. Half the game is lost. Tens of computations went through my head every second.

 

Number of qi of White Section A = 5

Number of qi of Black Section B if I put in position 14H = 3 - 1

Number of moves before I eliminate Black Section C= 3

Number of moves before White Section D is eliminated = 4

What happen if opponent put in position 15J? Countermeasures?

What about the bigger picture? If I lost the East side, can I grab the Center?

 

Etc etc etc…

 

Make a decision.

Put seed.

Press clock.

 

All in less than 10 seconds.

 

Then I talked cock to my blockmates, trying to calm my overworked heart and mind.

 

After a few tens of rounds, the opponent lost the entire East side to me, to my relief. (The alternative would be me losing the entire East side to him!) Then he made a half hearted attempt to grab the center, but it was thwarted by me also. In the end, he conceded.

 

I won. The designated ‘cannon folder’ won. My teammates were shocked. I was shocked. Seems that everyone had underestimated me. Even I had underestimated myself. Weiqi was never my strong point. But the fact is: I won and my block won (by 3 to 2)! =P

 

Moral of the story: Never look down on yourself. Others may not be better than you even if you knew you are not that good.