Playing Go

Plot Synopsis

When Genius Meets Crime: The Chessmaster's Deadly Game

Hold onto your Go stones, folks—China's latest crime thrillerQi Shi (The Chessmaster)is about to makeBreaking Badlook like a kindergarten teaparty. Starring Wang Baoqiang (yes, the martial arts comedy legend!) as a socially awkward Go teacher turned criminal mastermind, this 2000s-set drama serves equalparts brain teasers and brotherly betrayal.

A Board Game That Breaks Bad

Ourprotagonist Cui Ye (Wang Baoqiang) isn't your typical antihero.Picture this: a meek Go instructor with crooked ties and social anxiety, scraping by in a rapidly modernizing southeChinese city. His life changes during a credit union robbery gone wrong when he's taken hostage. But here's the kicker—he doesn't just survive. Using Go strategies sharper than a sushi chef's knife, he helps the robbers outsmart the cops.

Suddenly, our chess-obsessed underdog discovers a dangerous truth:planning crimes feels suspiciously likeplacing stones on a 19x19 grid. Cue the moral descent montage!

Brother vs Brother: Cops & Robbers Edition

Enter Cui Wei (Chen Minghao), Cui Ye'spolice officer brother. Imagine Elliot Stabler finding out his sibling is the UnSub—but with more Go metaphors. As Cui Ye evolves into a criminal Rain Man (his bank heists resemble Go's "chain captures" technique), Detective Wei faces an impossible choice: family loyalty vs slapping cuffs on China's answer to Moriarty.

The brothers' cat-and-mouse game servespremium drama:

• Cui Ye leaving coded clues using Go scoring rules
• A tearful midnight confrontation over tea ("White stones fall, black stones die—but aren't we allpawns being eaten by this era?")
• Thatgut-punchfinale where handcuffs click louder than any Go stone ever could

Why we Will Stan This

1. Wang Baoqiang's face journey—Watch theForrest Gumpof Chinese cinema transform from twitchy nerd to stone-cold mastermind. His mirror scene in Episode 11 ("I'm the one holding the stones now") deserves its own Emmy category.

2. Go = Better Than Chess?The show turns ancient strategy games into criminal blueprints. Ever seen a murderplanned using "ko fights"? You will.

3. Moody 2000s nostalgia—Think flipphones, CRT monitors, and apre-smog China where even criminalspause for tea breaks.

4. Real moral ambiguity—When apoverty-stricken genius uses his gifts for crime, are we watching a villain's origin story...or society's failure?

The Final Verdict

The Chessmasterisn't just about crime—it's about howpoverty can tubrilliance toxic. As Cui Ye smuglyplots his next move fromprison transport, you'll wonder: Did the system create this monster...or did the monster outplay the system?

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to bumy Go set before I get any bright ideas.

Wang Baoqiang
Cui Ye

Chen Minghao
Cui Wei

Chen Yongsheng
Jin Xiasheng

Wang Zhi
Gao Shuhua