Chapter Text
In online go, you normally create an account and you suggest your rank, but you normally can’t start above amateur 1 dan unless, for example, you confirm you are professional. This is to make sure you can only rise in the dan rankings if you’ve earned it. This means you are also matched to play with people who are close to your rank. Of course, Hikaru starts at 20 kyu, the lowest rank, although he rises quickly. He creates an account named “Yuukai”.
“Man, I’m tired. That was a long game. I had to fight after I made that mistake and lost the upper left corner! But I made a double attack when I cut off his centre group and surrounded the whole of the lower side. That win takes me to 10 kyu!” Hikaru said, as he leaned back in his seat. He was thirsty, and wanted some cola, but that wasn’t allowed near the computers in this café, so he sipped some water.
“Yes, Hikaru, I’m proud of how fast you’ve improved in just a few months. We might need to reduce the handicap we play with down to 15.” Sai responded, clipping his fan against the table.
“Eeeh, I know I still have a long way to go. You don’t have to keep reminding me.” Hikaru grumbled before remembering. “But I managed to solve my first medium life and death problem from the Meijin’s book yesterday.”
“Go is a long path to tread for anyone. You are doing well. I myself am still learning every day from every game I play. Your modern go is really much more active and tactical than the go of Shusaku’s era where we emphasised good shape and style more. But it makes me wonder if I will ever achieve the Divine Move.” Sai mused to himself.
Hikaru wondered at how serious these top go players were about never limiting themselves, forever reaching higher. First there was Sai and then there was Akira, who despite being only 12, had dedicated himself to a life of go since he was a kid. And then there was Toya Koyo, the Meijin, who was also searching for the divine move. Whenever the topic of him came up, Sai would get all serious and his presence would grow into intimidating determination. It made Hikaru wonder how he could ever have thought of go as just a silly old man’s game. But perhaps he could still make it more fun.
“Hey Sai, I wonder how you would play against these opponents? You won’t find the divine move, but it might help you stop worrying. And I might learn from how you punish the sorts of mistakes they make.”
And so they submitted a game request in Hikaru’s account.
It turned out to be a six-stone handicap game with Yuukai taking white.
“Hmm. This could be fun ...” Sai pondered “as long as you and your opponent both focus and learn from this. Watch carefully. Don’t just copy my moves, but consider the reasoning behind them, comparing different possibilities. So on the first move, I can approach the formation from the outside where it is more valuable in open space, aiming to build a larger framework. Or I can invade deeply, risking my group immediately, but hoping that my greater strength will allow me to pull through, and then take advantage from separating my opponent’s stones and aiming at any weakness I can find on both sides. Yes, let’s see how they handle that. 3-6 Upper left kakari.”
And so their opponent got absolutely destroyed, the two of them had a good time, and Hikaru learnt some powerful combinations to attack corners. Hopefully, their online opponent wasn’t demoralized enough to quit go.