In the second half of the semester, the spring breeze blows through the long-sleeping earth, and the young shoots have already accumulated vigorous energy, waiting for the moment when the ground is broken to welcome the light. Zhang Hong and I were also ready to usher in the city's chess competition.

Earlier, I heard the old man say that in history, the city was famous for its chess skills, and there were many Chinese chess and Go masters, and in modern times, with the introduction of chess, there were many national-level chess players, and it can be described as infinite scenery outside.

However, within the city, there has always been an undercurrent, between its two county-level cities, who is the strongest? This issue has been debated for a long time. In fact, it was Fengcheng that first introduced chess, which is where I live, and it can be said that it was Fengcheng that led the city's chess to the whole country and the world.

However, Zhaoyang, which is adjacent to Fengcheng, has developed rapidly in recent years, and has surpassed the level of Fengcheng for several consecutive years, winning the city crown for a second time, and this year's lineup is even more sharp, the overall strength is very strong, not to mention for the time being, their captain alone is enough to look at the world. He is rumored to be an incredible genius, a notch above all of his siblings.

According to the schedule, the players compete in pairs and calculate the points, and finally rank according to the total score. However, the focus of the team leaders and coaches is not on the individual ranking of each player, but on the results of the entire team, which represents the dignity of each county-level city, especially the rivals of Fengcheng and Zhaoyang.

Before the game, the coaches and some chess experts were in the lounge discussing the matchup, and the old man was sitting in it.

I looked at him from afar, and in the face of everyone's discussion, he still had a straight face, as serious as he usually did in class, as if he didn't want to say anything, and didn't seem to care about the outcome of the duel at all, just like a martial arts master who was used to seeing stormy waves.

I also saw the team from Zhaoyang, they were more than us, and they were trained by several school teachers, unlike the four of us, who only practiced at the home of a retired old man on weekends.

Outside the window, the banner of the match fluttered in the wind, and the bell of the first round soon rang. There are several tables of chess, both international and Chinese, in the huge stadium, and each table is equipped with two referees, who sit next to the corresponding chess players to supervise the game. The four of us were divided into groups before the game, facing opponents from Zhaoyang. The arena was silent, so quiet that you could hear the movement of the chronograph hands.

My first fight was a stalemate, and I made it to the endgame. At this time, it is no longer a matter of who wins a move, but who makes a mistake first. Luckily, I was in good shape, and I thought I was overperforming, and I managed to win the first fight. When the winners were decided, I noticed that there were few people in the arena anymore, and most of the students had finished their games and gone back to rest. After all, chess matches are very brain-burning, so only one game is arranged in each period, and there are three games in the morning, noon and evening, giving each player enough time to rest and meet the challenge in the fullest state.

By the end of the day, I had an astonishing total victory, including a fight between me and Zhang Hong. In my opinion, this is also a very difficult thing, probably because I have to be quiet during the game, Zhang Hong will not interfere with my thinking with words in a quiet environment, and he himself will be very uncomfortable. In this way, there is no pressure on the players facing their own team, and all the pressure comes from Zhaoyang's opponents.

On the afternoon of the second day, I was faced by Zhaoyang's No. 2 seed.

I thought it would be difficult, but after only a dozen rounds of the opening game, the opponent actually delivered the car to my elephant's mouth for nothing, and it was like a big piece of fat meat, already cooked and put on a plate, waiting for me to eat. However, as the saying goes, no free pie will fall from the sky, and in chess, this kind of discarded situation can be a huge killer.

I thought carefully for a long time, racking my brain for possible pitfalls. After all, the other party is second only to that genius, so he won't make such a low-level mistake. However, I did not find any sign for a long time, and I raised my hand and hovered over my white elephant for a while, my heart was both happy and urgent, but I had to examine it one last time before I could be ruthless enough to eat the car. It felt as if I vaguely felt that Yan Jinfeng liked me, and I wanted to get close to her but didn't dare.

I looked up at my opponent and saw that his expression was a little strange, his eyes fixed on my white elephant with a pained expression. Did he really make a mistake, and he didn't expect me to see it?

Forget it, it doesn't matter if she Yan Jinfeng likes me or not, if I want to get close to her, I can get closer, it's a big deal to be dismounted by her!

So I decisively lifted the white elephant and flew away from the other party's car, and at that moment, the boy on the other side lost control and began to cry.

The cry attracted the attention of the audience, and the nearby referee hurried over to understand the situation, only to realize that he was grieving because he knew that he was destined to lose the set. He conceded defeat like this, and was then comforted and helped away by the referee. I was left still seated, reminiscing about this unexpectedly easy victory. Isn't it just that you lost a game of chess, why do you cry to death? Do you care too much? Is there a lot of pressure behind it?

If it were me, I wouldn't be like him!

I breathed a sigh of relief and walked out of the ring.

In the ensuing competition, I didn't expect that I would be able to pass all the way, which surprised all the onlookers present, and I heard them say that I am called a dark horse, and I think it is better to be called a black cat, although I am an ordinary orange cat.

On the last day of the race, I saw that the expression on the old man's face had changed, his face was no longer serious, his eyes had become bright, and he was as lively as a child. I've never seen him like this, but he has such a cute side.

Maybe it was a coincidence of the draw, or maybe it was also the arrangement of fate, in this last game, I met the captain of Zhaoyang, the legendary genius. He and I, the only two people who have remained undefeated in the tournament so far, and the two people who represent the strongest strength of Fengcheng and Zhaoyang respectively, finally met. This duel has also become the focus of the most attention of this chess tournament.

I know that it has been very difficult for me to fight against this genius fellow disciple brothers, and I may have been favored by God to get to this point, and this guy in front of me, who is said to be a grade higher than those people before, is by no means an idle person, he has won several chess championships, and he has a certain reputation in the province. This man has not said a word since he took his seat, and there is a heroic and aggressive air between his eyebrows, and his serious face is similar to that of the old man, which seems to have indestructible self-confidence, and seems to have a disdain that stands out from the crowd.

It made me gasp, and my heart hung as if I was standing on the edge of an ice cliff that could collapse at any moment. I took a few deep breaths, closed my eyes and sorted my thoughts, and took a few steps back behind the ice cliff, waiting for the bell to ring.

The thinking of geniuses is really different from ordinary people, and they obviously take an unusual path at the beginning. Whether it is recorded in the book or taught by the old man, he has never been like this, although I can't see where the mystery is, but every step of his is as natural and coherent as flowing water, just right and implicit meaning, making it difficult for me to move forward. A martial arts master appeared in front of my eyes, sword dancing Tai Chi, his clothes were flying, and he was already unconsciously caught in the gossip maze.

It was only the ticking of the timer on the left hand side that made me realize that I was in the middle of the arena, and it seemed to be going faster than usual, louder than usual. Originally, as soon as I took a step, I could press the button on my side of the timer and transfer the pressure to the person opposite, but it was such a difficult step. Each piece can move, but if you think about it, every move scheme is not beneficial. I looked down in thought, glancing at each other with my eyes from time to time, then at the timer, and then at the other......

That genius sat peacefully, the expression on his face did not change, just silently looking at the chessboard, like a Buddha statue, just a golden light to protect his body.

After much deliberation, I finally took a difficult step and pressed the timer tremblingly. I thought I could breathe a sigh of relief, but before I came back to my senses, the other party took the next step, and after two consecutive "pops", my timer began to move again.

I was taken aback, looked up at the other person, and then lowered my head and continued to meditate. After another struggle, I pressed the timer again. Again, within a short time, my timer was bounced up again.

I sat up straight, leaning back in my chair, my eyes fixed on the genius, trying to see the mystery in his face. But no matter how you look at it, the chess game is still a fog, unpredictable, just like the expression of that genius.

That genius saw that I hadn't moved for a long time, and he also raised his head to look at me. Those eyes were firm and powerful, and with a cold expression like a grim reaper, it seemed to emit a strong light that could shoot through everything, directly piercing the ice beneath my feet, revealing the bottomless abyss under the ice cliff in my field of vision.

Hehe, I finally realized, did I face a god? Sure enough, I am not on the same level as him at all, and it is naïve to think that I want to defeat a god. Now the miracle has appeared, and it will appear when a person is confronted with something that he is destined to be invincible, and it is this abyss. It is the embodiment of despair. In that case, why let yourself suffer so much more? It's better to fall like this, run to the dark abyss, and say goodbye to all the glitz. Looking back, the abyss is full of auroras shining, and I have actually gained enough in this journey.

I smiled and raised my hand and motioned for the referee to come over.

Then I shouted, "I throw in the towel!" ”

The referee was shocked, but he didn't expect that in just ten minutes, there was a table of matches with results, and it was the game that everyone paid the most attention to.

That genius was also shocked, although he won the game, there was no smile on his face, but it was full of doubts, as if he was saying, "So many of my powerful brothers and sisters were all defeated by this guy?" ”

The old man was also shocked, and the smile on his face immediately flew away, but after a while it flew back again.

I walked out of the arena with my head held high, without a trace of concern, without a trace of looking back.

At the entrance of the arena, I breathed a sigh of relief and looked up, the sky was so blue, the air was so fresh, the temperature was so refreshing, and the whole body was so relaxed. The excitement was as if he had won the race.

A few days later, the old man called me to his house alone and told me to stand in the living room and wait for a while. I was puzzled until he brought a silver round cake from his bedroom, carefully spread out the coarse strip of cloth on it, and slowly hung it around my neck. At that moment, I understood what the "solemnity" mentioned in the book was, and the old man's affectionate eyes were not full of regret and resentment, but full of pity and gratitude.

Later I heard that the old man had already made up his mind that we would be his last students, no matter what the outcome of our competition was. He wasn't expecting anything, but I was unexpectedly pleased with my performance. Since then, he has retired to the rivers and lakes and enjoyed his old age in peace.

Since then, Zhang Hong and I have also returned to campus and returned to ordinary study and life.