On the following day at the same time, Father watched another lecture on go, but this time something was different – his face had a different look to it. He watched the programme intently, concentrating on what was being said; his mind seemed to be going over the intricacies of the game. I asked him if he understood what they were talking about, whereupon he challenged me to a game; this surprised me so much that it took some time for me to respond. Even though I’m a pretty average player, I believed I’d be much better than my father. After all, he didn’t even really seem to understand the game. As we began, Ah-bing came and stood next to Father, prepared to assist him if necessary. In the beginning, he was happy to let Ah-bing give him instructions, but before long he stopped listening to him; he said he wanted to play the game by himself. He was quite slow in making his moves; each one seemed to require an inordinate amount of time and consideration. When he finally shifted a stone, he did so in quite an unorthodox manner. Given his illogical moves, he seemed to be heading for sure defeat, but by the time the game reached the halfway point, both Ah-bing and I were stunned. A moment ago his manoeuvres seemed to lack precision and skill, but now he went on the offensive. In a series of strange and eccentric moves he began to put pressure on me, harassing my stones, forcing me to slow my pace and think more deeply about each and every piece. I soon discovered that it would be difficult for me to regain the initiative. He was advancing with every move and consolidating his position. There seemed to be fewer and fewer avenues open for me to break through the stranglehold he was building. I had no idea what move to make.