Chapter 60

And now it could be considered her advantage; if she played steadily and solidified the situation, she would definitely be able to win the match.

At this moment.

Furukawa Saio thought for about three minutes and finally decided to capture the opponent's 4th-file Pawn.

But she did not know that it was precisely this move that caused her to fall into a disadvantage instantly.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun immediately struck his Silver General in; this Silver General was like a wedge, deeply embedded in Furukawa Saio's position, and combined with the potential threat of the Rook, it made her pupils shrink instantly, and the pressure on the board increased sharply.

At this moment.

She finally truly realized that there was definitely something wrong with this Big Brother!

Looking back at the previous moves, why did it seem like every step was controlling her actions?

And if things continued according to this situation...

Furukawa Saio pondered for nearly five minutes and finally woke up, her face turning deathly pale, as if she had already foreseen some kind of destructive ending.

Horikawa Kaori stared fixedly at the giant display screen above the arena, her eyes scanning back and forth between those constantly switching secondary broadcast areas, and she couldn't help but complain in a low, impatient voice:

"Why hasn't it been Xia Xia Xia Mujun and Saio-chan's match yet?"

"What on earth are these directors doing?"

Compared to her impatience, Furukawa Masahiro appeared much more composed.

He stroked his snow-white long beard, a calm smile hanging on the corners of his mouth:

"Young lady, be patient. When the time comes, it will naturally be broadcast; we just need to wait with a calm heart."

The fundamental reason he was so calm was his absolute confidence in his granddaughter's strength.

Even without watching this match, he had already foreseen the result.

At this moment, Furukawa Masahiro was even conceiving in his mind how to "casually" reveal his identity in front of many Shogi enthusiasts in a moment, so as to build momentum for this genius granddaughter of his.

Just then, the secondary broadcast area on the giant screen finally switched to the scene everyone was looking forward to—the match between Xia Xia Xia Mujun and Furukawa Saio.

Horikawa Kaori, who had been looking forward to it, immediately pointed at the screen excitedly:

"Look!"

"It's Xia Xia Xia Mujun and Saio-chan!"

Hearing this, the smile on Furukawa Masahiro's face deepened a bit more.

He thought to himself, the match had already been going on for more than ten minutes.

According to Saio's strength, she should already have an absolute advantage on the board by now, having devoured most of Xia Xia Xia Mujun's pieces, right?

You must know that when this granddaughter of his played against players below the professional level online, she usually locked in victory within fifteen minutes and definitely ended the battle within an hour.

In most cases, the opponent wouldn't even last half an hour before resigning.

Now that a quarter of an hour had passed, surely the fruits of victory were already in sight.

Furukawa Masahiro raised his head to look at the screen unhurriedly; however, the moment his gaze touched the board, the calm smile on his face suddenly froze.

He examined the board carefully, his expression changing to disbelief at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Wait, how is this possible...

Why is it Saio who is at a disadvantage?

And if the situation continues to develop like this, she will definitely be crushed within ten moves!!

What on earth happened?

How could Saio play like this?

Could it be that because it's her first time participating in an official tournament, she is overly nervous, leading to frequent mistakes?

Furukawa Masahiro's eyes became increasingly grave.

As the former Dragon King, his brain worked at high speed, immediately beginning to deduce the possible chances of survival on the board for his granddaughter.

And Horikawa Kaori, whose Shogi skill was limited, was completely unable to foresee the changes in the situation ten steps ahead.

She could at most calculate the development two or three steps ahead.

Therefore, she didn't notice at all that Furukawa Saio was already in a desperate situation.

She simply felt that Xia Xia Xia Mujun was playing quite well, having actually captured a few of Saio's pieces.

And Saio was also performing quite well.

At first glance, it seemed she was still at an advantage.

Horikawa Kaori observed the match, the corners of her mouth lifting involuntarily.

In her view, the match between these two was truly simple, practically "amateurs pecking at each other," clearly at the level of amateur players.

If she were to take over this game, dealing with either one of them would be more than enough.

But thinking about it again, it was already quite remarkable that they could reach this level.

After all, one was only ten years old, and the other was just a first-year high school student; the future is promising, the future is promising indeed!

If she could guide these two, surely they would soon be able to break through the amateur level!

If we use game ranks as a metaphor, that would be jumping from Bronze to Gold!

When Horikawa Kaori noticed that Xia Xia Xia Mujun dropped his pieces almost without a second thought, and then glanced at the time he had left, she was even more surprised to find: the match had been going on for more than ten minutes, and he had actually used less than 30 seconds!

Does this mean Xia Xia Xia Mujun responded almost the instant Furukawa Saio dropped her piece?

Could this Xia Xia Xia Mujun be a big idiot?

You must know that the thinking time for this tournament is a full hour!!

Why don't you think carefully before dropping your piece?

Playing chess without thinking like this is just playing randomly based on feeling!

Horikawa Kaori had a look of "disappointed that he won't live up to expectations" and secretly made up her mind to find a good opportunity to talk to Xia Xia Xia Mujun after the match ended.

That's not how you play Shogi!!!

You must think carefully and think clearly before dropping your piece!

For every step you take, you must at least consider the changes three steps ahead!

How can there be a reason to drop a piece directly without thinking?

This is completely the reckless behavior of a novice!

Ah, no... Xia Xia Xia Mujun has indeed only played a dozen or so games.

Looking at it this way, he really didn't lie; he is a thorough novice...

If that's the case, his way of playing makes sense.

Thinking of this, Horikawa Kaori felt a bit hard to hold back.

She had originally suspected whether Xia Xia Xia Mujun was lying to her and actually had rich experience in playing.

Now it seems he is indeed an honest person...

Hmm... at least the quality of not lying is still very precious.

Looking at Furukawa Saio on the other side, she is truly worthy of having studied Shogi since she was young.

Look!

Her thinking time has already been used for nearly ten minutes.

Horikawa Kaori nodded repeatedly, believing that this was the correct way to play Shogi.

Playing Shogi should involve a lot of thinking.

You shouldn't save any of the time that should be spent.

If one step is wrong, it is very likely to affect the whole game.

Therefore, she strongly disagreed with Xia Xia Xia Mujun's way of playing without thinking and taking one step at a time.

Horikawa Kaori carefully deliberated on the game, feeling that according to this trend, it was Furukawa Saio who had the better chance of winning.

Looking at the whole game, she couldn't even see any possibility of Furukawa Saio losing.

Holding this thought, she turned to Furukawa Saio's grandfather, Furukawa Masahiro, and praised him sincerely:

"I really didn't expect that both of their strengths are actually quite good."

"Especially Saio-chan, she really has been playing since she was young; now it looks like she has a great chance of winning!"

"Looking at Xia Xia Xia Mujun on the other hand, he looks okay on the surface, but in reality, he has already fallen into a bitter battle, and it won't be long before he falls into a disadvantage, not to mention he keeps making bad moves, dropping pieces without even thinking... Sigh, if it continues like this, I'm afraid the defeat is already set."

Hearing this, Furukawa Masahiro couldn't even bother to continue deducing the game.

He looked back and forth between the board and Horikawa Kaori in shock and disbelief, as if confirming whether he had misread the game or misheard the words.

However, no matter how he looked at it, the one at a disadvantage was clearly his own granddaughter.