A Go Player's Road to Genius [Go]

1.

Sui Zhiqiao is widely recognized as a Go prodigy.

Unfortunately, by the time she discovers Go, she is already past the age of 25, the cutoff for qualifying as a professional player.

She storms into the qualifying tournament and defeats that year's top qualifier, but she can never become a professional player.

The regret that haunts her all her life leaves her despondent, and she dies young.

The media sums up her life with the headline, "A Go Prodigy Falls, and the Long Night Descends."

It doesn't even make the front page. No one pays her any attention.

When she opens her eyes again, Sui Zhiqiao is four years old.

2.

A new student, just four years old, arrives at the Go academy, setting a record as its youngest student ever.

Everyone is stunned, but this is only the first record she breaks.

The city junior championship, the provincial junior tournament, the national youth championship U10 division...

Step by step, she defeats players far older than herself.

She becomes a specially admitted student in the youth division of the National Go Academy.

At nine, she becomes the youngest player in history to qualify as a professional through the qualification tournament.

3.

Sui Zhiqiao's arrival changes the weak position of Chinese Go on the world stage.

Huaguo rises like a new star in the world of Go.

Countless top international players come to Huaguo to train, marveling at the brilliant games played by Sui Zhiqiao.

Every Go player in the world considers it an honor to have played a match with her.

Thanks to Sui Zhiqiao, the Huaguo U15 division is no longer reserved for boys. It now has a girls' division, too.

The qualification age is no longer rigidly capped at 25. Passion and talent allow the field to flourish.

Go academies spring up everywhere, and even three-year-olds learn to tell black stones from white.

She is the one and only legend of the Go world.

But at 25, the prodigy announces that she is retiring from Go forever.

She doesn't want to kill Go.

Reader's guide:

1. The heroine is the strongest: a max-level expert returning to the beginner's village. No one is stronger than her, whether man or woman.

2. The heroine loves Go and devotes herself to it. But beyond her talent, what makes her formidable is her hard work. No one succeeds on the road to mastering Go without effort. This story mainly follows the heroine's journey in Go.

3. The male lead appears late, and the romance is a minor part of the story. If that bothers you, don't read.

4. This story was inspired by a side character in Hikaru no Go, who was too old to qualify as a professional but repeatedly challenged the academy. It is dedicated to everyone who loves their work and gives it their all. Whatever your field, if you've tried your best, you're the protagonist.

5. The Go games and tournament rules in this story come from the internet. The story references changes to China's professional qualification rules, but makes some adjustments.

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