CHAPTER 102: ANNA VS IRFAN! THE DECISIVE GAME!

"So, the game has already entered the 25th move, yet none of them dares to make the first breakthrough. What is your opinion about this, Master Irene? Do you think that the game would end up in anticlimax? No action happens, and both players shake hands for a draw?" Bagas, as the host of the live streaming, asked the professional next to him.

"Hmm... It is quite difficult to say..." Irene Kharisma Sukandar, the legendary women’s chess player in Indonesia, didn’t answer the question immediately. "Anna is quite unlucky that Master Irfan decides to go for the Italian Opening, especially the Giuoco Piano variation. This is one of the most solid, or if we use your language, most boring openings in the chess world, and often leads to a draw result. You can also see it yourself that even after twenty moves have passed, even with all the exchanges that have already happened here, the evaluation bar doesn’t even bulge, staying still in the middle to show how balanced the game is."

Sarah, the second host, clicked her tongue silently at the answer. While she couldn’t deny Master Irene’s words since the woman was the expert here, that didn’t mean she had to like it. After all, she and Anna had already been familiar with each other to the point that they called each other close friends. Of course, she would want Anna to win this game.

"So, does that mean it would end up as a draw?" Sarah asked, not even noticing that her tone was unfriendly. Unfortunately, it seemed that Master Irene didn’t notice—or didn’t mind—her disrespect here, as the woman shook her head quickly.

"No, I have never said that." She denied Sarah’s words immediately. "Although the chance of a draw is quite big, it is clear that Anna comes to this game with a mission today. She is just one win away from getting her first IM norm, something that I assure you is hard to achieve. There is no way she would be satisfied with a draw. No, she is still building her attack while waiting for Master Irfan to make a mistake here. You can see that she starts pushing her center pawns forward, trying to form a decisive attack."

*Author’s note: If you want to visualize the position better, check the comment below.

True enough, Anna had three pawns in the center that were about to enter Irfan’s territory. She also rerouted her knight and rook to make sure that the pressure on the center of the board was still there while keeping her eyes on all of Irfan’s pieces, not wanting to make a mistake here.

They both kept shuffling their pieces for a while, trying to build a long-term advantage. For a moment, it looked like the game was about to end in a draw. However, the pressure built by Anna on the center of the board finally gave a positive result. She didn’t know what had happened here, but it seemed Irfan panicked after seeing her three center pawns rushing forward. Instead of avoiding the center of the conflict, he let his king jump to the E2 square, probably wanting to support his center.

When the evaluation bar spiked for Anna’s favor, all three people in the commentary booth jumped immediately.

"Oh! Master Irfan makes a mistake!" Master Irene explained, still staring at the board in disbelief. "He should’ve just let his king run to G1 and avoid the direct contact with the enemy! Now, it is like the king itself is running straight to the lion’s mouth! Now, it is pretty simple for Anna! Push the pawn to E4, take, take, and kick his knight back to the D2 square! Then, she could exchange her knight with Master Irfan’s bishop, and right after that, her own bishop could come and check his king! A discovered attack on his rook! If everything is going smoothly, Anna is going to have a +2 advantage!"

True enough, everything happened just as Master Irene had calculated earlier. However, there was a slight mistake in her calculation. She, just like any other human being, liked to simplify the game once the advantage came. That was why she recommended Anna’s bishop to check Irfan’s king while also opening her rook to attack the IM’s rook. However, the computer didn’t think so. Instead, it wanted Anna to keep more pressure on Irfan’s exposed king by bringing her own queen to the G3 square and using her anchored rook that protected the F file to hunt his king.

*Author’s note: If you want to visualize the position better, check the comment below.

Fortunately, it didn’t give away the advantage that much. The evaluation only went from –4.1 to –2.2, which was still a big advantage for Anna.

"Now, the task is quite easy for Anna." Master Irene continued explaining. "Master Irfan still has more pawns with 6 here compared to Anna with 5. However, once she could force a queen exchange, it would be a rook against a knight, which is a huge advantage for her. Everything should be under her bag!"

Claudia, who watched the game closely, also clenched her fist when she saw Irfan’s blunder. While she felt bad for her coach, it was nothing compared to her big sister’s happiness. However, the closer the game was to ending, the more she was nervous here, even if the little girl herself wasn’t the one who played on the table.

’Come on, Big Sis...’ She murmured, praying silently. ’Master Irfan has already given you a huge advantage! Don’t waste it, please!’

Fortunately, Anna was not an amateur here. She played a very clinical endgame, maneuvering her rook to take Irfan’s pawn one by one. Not only that, her king was also pretty active, hovering around the center of the board to keep everything intact. Compared to Irfan’s king, which was stuck in the second rank, it was clear that Anna owned this game.

Still, that didn’t mean Irfan would give up easily. No, he kept playing for a while, making his knight jump from one square to another to create as much trouble as possible for Anna. Even though it was clear that Anna’s advantage was too big, somehow, Irfan managed to drag the game into the 62nd move, forcing the girl to think hard in every move. Unfortunately, it was still a futile attempt, especially once her rook managed to get Irfan’s third pawn in just ten moves.

Down three whole pawns with the evaluation bar showing –8.2 for Anna, finally, Irfan shook his head, feeling like the game was unsavable. He stared at his own student with a complicated gaze that no one could understand, and in the end, the man offered a handshake.

"Sorry, Master Irfan." Anna smiled weakly. "But this game is mine."