CHAPTER 214: ANNA’S BIZARRE OPENING, SHEVA’S CHAOTIC GAME!

What Sheva witnessed on Anna’s board made him stop walking and even formed a frown on his face. He was puzzled by the current situation, not knowing what kind of storm was able to destroy one side of the board like this. Yeah, the queenside of Anna’s territory had been cleared by now, while her own kingside had already been pretty much open. However, in compensation, her pieces were developed in a nice position, staring directly at the white’s territory and were ready to snipe whenever it was necessary.

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

Even though Sheva had only been in this game for just half a year, at this point, the boy prided himself on being a knowledgeable person, having been playing a lot of games on so many different systems in the past. However, this was not something that he was familiar with, so the mere thought of this situation was enough to make him pause and think.

Knowing that trying to overthink about it would cost so much time, Sheva decided to lean forward, wanting to take a look at Anna’s scoresheet on the table. There, he saw the move order happen in this game, and after reading the move order of this game, especially in the pawn sacrifice in the third move of the game by the black piece, the boy couldn’t help but have his eyes widen in surprise.

’A fucking Benko Gambit?! Anna knows about this?! Since when?!’

The Benko Gambit was a popular chess opening that arose after the moves 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5. It was a provocative and dynamic choice for Black, where black sacrificed a pawn early on to gain active piece play and long-term pressure on white’s queenside. The gambit aimed to challenge white’s control of the center and create asymmetrical positions, often leading to complex and aggressive battles.

However, despite its strengths, the Benko Gambit had fallen out of favor among many grandmasters in recent years. One reason was that with the development of the computer engine, white had found effective defensive techniques and theoretical resources to neutralize Black’s compensation. Additionally, top-level players often preferred openings that led to more predictable and solid positions, reducing the risk of falling into unfamiliar or highly theoretical lines.

Still, just like any other unorthodox opening, this Benko Gambit was still good at catching the opponent off guard, just like what Anna did in this game.

Sheva himself knew a little about this opening when he tried to enrich his repertoire. However, the boy abandoned this because of the queen’s pawn unorthodox opening; he himself had already possessed a good amount of knowledge about the Dutch Defense. That was why, the first time he saw the aftermath of the gambit itself, the boy was puzzled, seeming not to be so familiar with the system.

He might pick up this gambit in the future, but for now, having too many weapons would only confuse him more in the game.

’Oh, well, since Anna dares to go for this gambit, she should’ve made some preparation, right?’ Sheva muttered to himself. Then, at the distress on Eduardo Iturrizaga’s face, the boy could only pity that Spanish Grandmaster silently. ’Oh, you are so unfortunate, being chosen unwillingly as her stepping stone. Let’s just hope that you could handle this matter perfectly, or it would be your head that would be hanged later.’

After walking around for a while, Sheva finally went back to his own table, and there, he saw that Niclas Huschenbeth had already made his move. The boy frowned for a moment, trying to connect his brain with the game again after leaving it for a while before returning the move.

The situation on the board seemed to be complicated, with Niclas having already had two pieces staring straight at Sheva’s queenside, where the boy had just castled. Not only that, Niclas still also had a dark bishop sniping from 700 miles away, ready to take Sheva’s head whenever it got a chance. Sheva really played a dangerous game here by letting his opponent’s queen and rook stare directly at his own king.

Still, Sheva wasn’t that worried about this situation. He knew that even though Niclas’s pieces seemed to be threatening, it was like a paper tiger, not having enough power to break through his defense. Hell, even if Niclas wanted to make a pawn break on the queenside, it would only give the advantage to Sheva’s side, as that would only make things easier for Sheva to organize his defense.

Not only that, Sheva himself also didn’t stay passive in the back row. No, he also pushed his kingside pawns forward, letting them march and gain a foothold on Niclas’s own territory. Sheva was a lot of things, but timid was definitely not one that could describe him. No, if his opponent tried to strike at his gut, he would strike back where it would hurt the opponent the most. That was always his style. That was why he indulged Niclas’s silent request to go for this chaotic game.

Of course, that didn’t mean there was no danger involved in this style. No, if anything, it was not a sustainable style, as almost every move was like navigating himself in a land full of minds blindly. One wrong move, and Sheva would find his position explode, and the next thing he knew, the game would already be over. No, that was definitely the last thing he wanted to happen right now.

However, it was clear that a mistake was bound to happen in this situation. Unfortunately, Sheva was the first one to do so, as the boy was too worried about his king’s safety and put it on the A1 square. It was a pretty isolated spot where not a lot of pieces would go there usually. However, in this case, Niclas’s queen was just one move away from getting there, and with one move, the German GM could reach that spot and threaten Sheva’s king easily.

Right after that happened, the evaluation bar moved down immediately, giving Niclas a slight advantage. The evaluation bar even showed -1.2, thinking that the situation was worth one pawn advantage.

Fortunately, God seemed to favor Sheva here, as in the next turn, it was Niclas’s turn to make a mistake, and within a second, the evaluation bar spiked up once again for Sheva’s favor.