Fan Tingyun remained silent, watching his daughter and sighing inwardly.
He could understand her feelings.
In chess, there are wins and losses. For a professional player, every lost game can be painful, but one must never dwell in that pain.
Therefore, if defeat is certain, one should resign, experience the pain of losing, learn from the lesson, and move forward.
But this current game was too brutal!
He had navigated the chess world for thirty years, yet he had never witnessed such a one-sided massacre in a relatively formal competition.
Only those who were just learning to play, facing a skilled player, would be slaughtered like this.
But the problem was, Fan Sisi was a professional third dan!
Being professional meant making a living from it, relying on this profession for sustenance.
Thus, the mental breakdown caused by such a situation was foreseeable.
However, he did not prompt his daughter to resign.
Young and talented children needed such a profound and unforgettable defeat.
Fan Sisi stubbornly placed a stone.
But Chen Fan showed no mercy.
Flying, extending, covering, suppressing, cutting through...
With swift, decisive moves, he extinguished all hope.
This group of stones could not escape, so Fan Sisi moved to another position.
But the outcome remained the same!
The moment the large group of stones was suppressed and killed, the butcher's knife had already been raised. Chen Fan's black stones, with their overwhelming thickness that swept across the entire board, devoured the white stones.
There was no room for contention!
Yuan Liangping and the others, who were waiting for the celebration, grew impatient as no game record was transmitted. They finally stood up and walked towards the board.
"Chen Fan, the game is lost, why struggle further?" Yuan Liangping said triumphantly. "Your persistent resistance is merely the act of a scoundrel. Have all the years you've lived beyond little Fan Sisi been wasted on dogs?"
Chen Fan glanced sideways, a faint smile on his lips.
Chen Xing'er also looked at Yuan Liangping, her expression growing peculiar.
*Clack!*
Chen Fan placed a stone, and began to capture.
One by one, the cleanly captured white stones were taken off the board.
There were thirteen of them.
Thirteen stones, also a medium-sized dragon.
"What's happening?" Yuan Liangping's head buzzed as Chen Fan captured stone after stone.
"Wuwuwu..." The stubborn little girl could no longer hold back and began to cry, tears falling like peas. She was heartbroken and wronged!
On the board, ignoring the white stones that were cleanly dead but not yet captured, there was a vast expanse of black, like a dark cloud.
Her emotions had completely broken down.
From the moment she started learning chess, she had received countless words of encouragement and praise, as well as various honors from competitions.
Never before had she lost so miserably.
Of the three hundred and sixty-one points on the board, she occupied only about one-fifth.
If the actual score were calculated, the margin of defeat would be enough to make any professional player gasp in astonishment.
She had managed to hold back tears, but Yuan Liangping's appearance became the last straw that broke her.
Fan Tingyun, however, offered no comfort, watching his daughter cry.
Yuan Liangping felt a strong sense of foreboding. He took two steps forward and looked at the board.
How was this possible?
The number of liberties for white was unbelievably small.
This was clearly a massacre and a crushing defeat!
"How is this possible? White clearly had the advantage, how did this large white dragon die?" Yuan Liangping exclaimed in distress.
Chen Xing'er said indifferently, "The large white dragon failed to escape and was suppressed below the celestial point, hence the crushing defeat!"
"Do you know why this is the result? One concession leads to further concessions. Those retreats and compromises that you thought were not a big deal were precisely the beginning of your failure!" Chen Fan said slowly. "The more you concede, the more the opponent oversteps. When you try to counterattack, you are already trapped, with nowhere to escape!"
The little girl's eyes were teary.
Fan Tingyun's expression was shocked.
At the start of the game, he had felt that some of his daughter's moves were not strong enough, but he hadn't expected the problem to be so severe.
And Chen Fan's play was too ferocious and overbearing, seizing on every subtle mistake Fan Sisi made.
This calculative ability was simply terrifying. If he were to enter the competitive chess scene, he would likely sweep through the entire field.
"Sisi, don't cry. It's not that you're not good enough, but that your opponent's skill far surpasses yours!" Chen Xing'er also offered some comfort.
Chen Fan then stood up and looked at Yuan Liangping, saying, "Young Master Yuan, you're not going to go back on your word, are you?"
"You... you, this isn't real!" Yuan Liangping found it hard to accept and looked to Chen Xing'er for help. "Miss Chen, there must be something wrong with this game, right?" His face turned a little pale. As the esteemed Young Master Yuan, the great young lord of Jiangbei, how could he possibly kneel and kowtow? Would he have any face left?
All the guests were also stunned.
"Wenyan, show them the game record!" Chen Xing'er said.
Shi Wenyan took a tablet with the game record she had saved and handed it to Yuan Liangping.
Yuan Liangping stared at the tablet, trying to find a flaw.
However, there was no flaw in this game.
The game had ended, and by working backward from the result, he could see that Chen Fan had controlled the game throughout.
He was so angry his lips trembled. He once again looked to Chen Xing'er for help, but she seemed to pretend not to see the plea in his eyes.
Su Yingxia was equally incredulous.
Chen Fan won this game? Wasn't everyone saying that Fan Sisi was in a dire situation and Chen Fan was bound to lose? How did it turn out like this? Would Young Master Yuan really have to kneel and kowtow? How embarrassing and painful that would be! And to kneel to that detestable fellow, Chen Fan? Thinking about it, she found it unacceptable. Had she known that Chen Fan was an expert in chess for the past three years of their marriage? If she had known this, Young Master Yuan would never have made such a bet... Thinking of this, her face also turned pale.
"What's wrong, lost and trying to reneye, Yuan? Have you no shame?" Wang Tingting, who had been bored for a while and carefree, not overly worried about Chen Fan, suddenly popped up and said arrogantly, "Look at you, all dressed up, but so lacking in character? Don't waste our time, hurry up and kneel and kowtow, and call me Grandpa!" She giggled, standing beside Chen Fan, proud as a peacock.
Yuan Liangping's hands were trembling.
Yuan Fangfei, standing beside him, seeing that Chen Xing'er had not commented, gritted her teeth and said, "You people, don't go too far!"
"It was just a joke, you actually took it seriously?" some of Yuan Liangping's friends spoke up, trying to extricate him.
"Miss Chen, let's just forget about this matter!" someone said to Chen Xing'er.
Chen Xing'er smiled faintly, still saying nothing.
Yuan Liangping was extremely embarrassed.
Chen Fan smiled and was about to speak when he turned his head to look towards the entrance.
A waiter pushed a trolley laden with cups, as well as alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
Someone immediately said, "I'm thirsty, let's have something to drink first." and walked over.
The waiter poured him a glass of red wine.
A guest, seeing the attention diverted, pulled Yuan Liangping over to get a drink, thus stalling for time.
Wang Tingting sneered, "What's wrong, do you need a drink to muster the courage to kneel and kowtow? Losing is losing, winning is winning. Even a street gambler isn't as bad as you, Yuan, when it comes to not accepting defeat!"
Chen Xing'er signaled to Shi Wenyan to get her a glass of champagne as well.
Shi Wenyan looked a little puzzled. The banquet naturally had plenty of drinks. However, she had not instructed the waiter to bring them to the entertainment room. Furthermore, according to her arrangements, the chefs hired from the hotel should have left after the banquet. Only the cleaning staff should have remained. However, she didn't think much of it, perhaps this waiter was quite observant and had proactively brought the drinks.
But Chen Fan looked at the waiter, his eyes narrowing, and said in a low voice, "Wait a moment, don't drink anything yet!"
Some guests looked astonished.
Shi Wenyan turned to look back, very confused.
The waiter, who was pouring drinks for the guests, stiffened. He looked up at Chen Fan, a flicker of coldness in his eyes.