“Pawn”

The old chessboard, worn like a weathered rock, sat in the center of the empty room. A single dim bulb weakly illuminated the black and white intersections on the board, like silent sighs.

Ke Jie sat before the board, he hadn't moved the pieces in a long time. He was no longer the Go prodigy admired by millions, now he was just an ordinary person, or rather, a Go player abandoned by the times. The past praises and applause had retreated like a tide, leaving him alone to face the emptiness.

He remembered his last match, a contest he believed he was sure to win. His opponent was not human, but an AI named "Alpha Zero". That cold machine calculated every move to perfection, as if mocking the naivety of human Go players. He thought hard, tried his best, but still could not break through the impregnable defense. In the end, he lost, defeated miserably.

After losing the match, he became a "pawn" in the world of Go, forgotten by the media, abandoned by the Chess Association. They said he had a mental breakdown, that he should let go of the burden and strive hard. They seemed to forget that he was once the person they had elevated to the altar, yet now they were so easily pushing him off the cliff.

Sometimes he would stare at the chessboard in a daze, replaying the match in his mind, trying to find the root cause of his failure. He even began to doubt whether the Go principles he had once mastered were really that important. The emergence of Alpha Zero completely overturned his understanding of Go, making him feel like a warrior defeated by a toy gun, his former glory becoming meaningless.

One day, he accidentally watched recordings of past matches. On the screen, his games against Alpha Zero were playing one after another. He suddenly realized that each of Alpha Zero's moves was not simply calculation, but like a precise design, each move laying the groundwork for the next strategy. He was shocked to find that Alpha Zero's moves did not seem to be about winning, but rather – probing.

Probing for what? He pondered deeply. He began to re-examine his life from a different perspective. He suddenly realized that his life was also a game of Go? From childhood to adulthood, he had been acting according to the established rules of society, carefully taking each step, striving to climb higher. He thought he was in control of his own life, but in reality, he was like a pawn on the chessboard, manipulated by the power behind the game, moving step by step towards a predetermined ending.

He suddenly stood up and walked to the window. Outside was the bustling city, brightly lit. He looked at the people hurrying under the lights, they all seemed to be striving for some goal, but no one stopped to think about what they were living for. He suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of desolation, the dreams he had once pursued so hard now seemed so illusory.

He returned to the chessboard, picked up a black stone, and gently placed it in the center of the board. He seemed to see a huge game of Go, and he was just a pawn on the board. But with a heart that refused to be manipulated, he began to place one piece after another on the board with his own unique logic, slowly and stubbornly. This game had only just begun.

He smiled faintly, a mocking smile, but also a smile of relief. He finally understood that whether on the chessboard or in the grand game of life, the most important thing was not winning or losing, but to recognize yourself and find your own value. And his life had only just begun.