Although, up until now, the black pieces have not suffered many losses, but... even a tiny mosquito is flesh.
Taking a step back, even if they lose, they don't want to lose too badly, they want to capture as many pieces as possible.
However, what everyone did not expect was that the black pawn that got captured, rather than being a matter of face for the white pieces, was more of a counterattack from the white pieces.
Because-
"Black bishop (B) is dead."
...
"Black knight (N) is dead."
...
"Black rook (R) is dead."
...
"Black knight (N) is dead."
...
With one announcement after another, the black camp's pieces on the left side of the board were almost wiped out.
At this, the audience who didn't understand chess began to have a glimmer of hope, but anyone with even a basic understanding of chess knew that the situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable.
Because after this, Ji Ruochu's originally few remaining pieces had almost all entered the black camp.
At this moment, on the white side of the board, there was only one king, one queen, one bishop, and one pawn left against the black army on the bottom right.
The white pieces were at their wits' end.
The next second, a black pawn crossed the boundary line and entered the white territory instantly. With just one step, it could capture another white piece.
And if the white pieces lost one more piece, then the outcome would be decided-
"The game is not over yet, swap begins."
Huh?
The unexpected announcement made the guests, who had already slumped back in their chairs, immediately sit up straight.
In the next second, everyone watched in astonishment as the black pieces, which had already advanced from the bottom right to the top right, were suddenly "whoosh" transported to the left side, right next to the white pawn, and conveniently blocking the diagonal path of the white bishop.
And the white bishop could only move diagonally.
The result was obvious - the black piece was captured.
"Is this a coincidence?"
"That's too much of a coincidence, isn't it?"
At the same time, the camera zoomed in on Ji Ruochu, showing the young woman wearing an eye mask still calm and composed, with only the slight upward curve of her lips revealing her good mood at the moment.
!!
Not a coincidence!!
It was a trap she had set!
At this moment, the same sentence appeared in everyone's mind, and then... their heads felt tingly.
Because from start to finish, no one had noticed her plan - not the players from Country A who were lost in their own game, nor the spectators in the audience.
For such a dramatic change in the situation, even the judges were instantly shocked, let alone the Country A player who had been one step away from victory.
"Black piece's move is invalid."
With this announcement, the defeat of the black pieces was inevitable.
From beginning to end, Ji Ruochu's counterattack took no more than two minutes.
But when did the setup for this chess game begin?
The footage rewound, eventually freezing at the moment when the white bishop was captured.
At that time, both sides were still evenly matched. Then, the black pieces tossed out a bait as usual, but the white pieces ignored it and instead sacrificed two pieces.
Yes, two.
One was the rook in plain sight, and the other was the bishop in hiding.
The black pieces avoided the rook but took the bait of the knight.
From then on, the white pieces entered a stage of cautious maneuvering, luring the black pieces into the trap step by step, and then... sprung a counterattack.
Of course, if it were just that, the black pieces would not have been defeated so quickly.
What truly led the black pieces into a losing position was the rule of swapping pieces every two minutes.
No one knew how Ji Ruochu managed to set up the trap while fending off the black pieces' attacks and simultaneously time the swap perfectly.
[Whoa, I thought I was just watching a game, but I got the feeling of witnessing two armies battling each other!]
[Terrifying, no wonder Ji Ruochu was steadily staying behind the scenes - this is practically an unbeatable hand of cards!]
[I don't know how to put it, but for the first time, I feel like we're bullying someone.]
...
Amidst the astonished voices, the match ended.
"Match over, white wins."
"The champion is - the Hua Country Team!"
The team members joyfully leapt up, and the venue erupted in thunderous applause as Ji Ruochu was surrounded by her teammates.
With this, the first season of CCTV's Brain Battle concluded, and players from other countries gathered to congratulate the Hua Country team.
The camera captured everyone, with Ji Ruochu standing steadily in the center, the Brain King trophy in front of her, her smiling teammates by her side, and confetti raining down from above.
Click -
The image was frozen.
"Our daughter is indeed remarkable, beautiful and photogenic."
Ji Mochen carefully wiped the framed picture before climbing onto a stool to personally hang it in their living room.
This spot had previously displayed a family portrait of the three of them, but now... it had become a dedicated wall honoring Ji Ruochu's achievements.
From her "Triple Excellence Student" award in elementary school to the "International Math Olympiad Gold Medal," even her Gaokao score was printed out and framed alongside the clipping about her being the "Capital Exam Top Scorer."
And in the prime position now was the photo from the Brain Battle finals.
"Honey, you should go pick up our daughter after hanging up the picture. It's been over a month already, I wonder if she's lost weight." Ling Chujin peeked out from the kitchen.
"Sure, I'll go now."
Speaking of it, it was heartbreaking. Although during this summer vacation, Ji Ruochu had been active on TV, competing with her teammates and foreign players.
But in reality, the show had been recorded long ago, and Ji Ruochu had informed her parents that she would be busy with her studies shortly after the second episode aired, dashing their hopes of her returning home anytime soon.
At first, the couple thought it would be like before, working on some projects with her mentor. It wasn't until... Ji Ruochu's friends also started "being busy with their studies" that the couple began to suspect something.
The reason it was just suspicion was mainly because Ji Ruochu had clearly told them before that since she had been active on screen from a young age, there probably wouldn't be any progress in that area, at most working on some peripheral projects.
But now, with the Jiang family's predetermined candidate and the Qi family's brat also becoming "busy," they started to doubt their assumptions.
Thinking of this, Ji Mochen felt heartbroken. He was Ji Ruochu's father, yet he had to raise his daughter from afar like the online fans, only able to wait patiently like a hopeful parent for any news about her.
He couldn't even know what his daughter was up to, and the couple could only wait like a stone yearning for her return.
Fortunately, their daughter was coming back now!
With this thought, the previously dejected father instantly revived, grabbing his clothes as he headed out while reminding his wife:
"Keep an eye on the soup in the pot, I specially stewed it for our daughter."
"Don't worry, I've got it covered."
Assured by her response, Ji Mochen happily went out.
But after turning a corner, he saw Jiang's Mother Qiao Lanyi and Qi's Mother also heading out.
"Going to pick up the kids?" Jiang's Mother Qiao Lanyi smiled and stopped. "Why don't we... go together?"
Ji Mochen: ...
A minute later, Jiang's Mother and Qi's Mother returned to their villas, looking delighted.
Ji Mochen, who had been entrusted to "go together" to pick up the kids, had lost half his smile.
He shouldn't have become their neighbor in the first place!
How annoying!
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