CHAPTER 248: THE PAIRING FOR THE FINAL ROUND!

The fact that Bagas could earn that much money from broadcasting their games live shocked Anna and Medina to the core. However, Sheva was just surprised for a moment before his expression went back to normal. He knew that his best friend always had a screwed mind when it came to how to make money. It had always been like that since their high school time, and the boy was suspicious that Bagas had inherited this from his father.

Yeah, even though Bagas’s father was a veteran soldier, Sheva knew that the man also delved pretty deep into a lot of businesses. Well, it should be the case, as there was no way a normal soldier could make a lot of money to the point that he could send two teenage boys to Reykjavik for a full week just to play chess.

No, Sheva knew that Bagas’s father had his hands on a lot of businesses like an octopus, and even though the boy didn’t really know what kind of business it was, he still understood that it made a lot of money. That was why Sheva wasn’t surprised to see Bagas’s mind work wonders to earn that much money just from the streaming business.

"So, how much do you have to share with Master Irfan?" He inquired curiously.

"Just 10 percent, not worth mentioning." Bagas brushed it off nonchalantly. "Besides being the co-commentator on the live broadcast, Master Irfan didn’t really contribute that much to the livelihood of the channel. The one who runs it is always me, so that 10 percent is the cost of the copyright for using his chess club on YouTube."

Well, that was a bargain. Even though 10 percent was still a lot, at least, compared to what he actually earned, Bagas definitely won the trade here.

Knowing that money was not a problem, they ’partied’ for a little bit longer, chatting and laughing while eating all the snacks that they could buy with no worries. No alcohol involved, of course, as none of them were drinkers. Still, it was a memorable night, especially since Biel itself was a wonderful city. Honestly, after staying here for eight whole days, Sheva was convinced that this was the most beautiful city in the world, bar none.

Unfortunately, the good atmosphere only lasted for a while, as right when the night came, all of their phones vibrated simultaneously. When they checked, their expression turned solemn as their pairing for the final round was out already.

"Oh, well, I don’t really need to see it," Sheva spoke, breaking the tense silence with his nonchalant attitude. "I know that I will be paired against Muradli Muhammad, and since I got the white piece in the last round, I would go for black in the next one. So, don’t worry, I have already prepared myself for this."

The other three nodded unconsciously, knowing that Sheva was right. Hell, even without looking, they knew they would be able to find out his name on the top pairing, knowing that it would be the match that would decide the winner of the whole tournament.

Instead of looking at him, it would be better if they thought about themselves, which was what the two ladies were doing here.

"I got Viktor Erdos, huh?" Medina frowned when she saw the name she got paired with. "Another old man, this time from Hungary. He is at the same age as Master Susanto, yet his rating is still quite high, 2586. His performance is pretty unstable in this tournament, having a few stinker games where he was forced to take a draw against a far-lower opponent than him, while the man himself also managed to steal half a point from Yu Yangyi. That means I cannot really get an idea about his real ability, huh? That is troublesome. What about you, Anna?"

"Well, not that much different than you, Sister," Anna replied shortly. "My opponent is Milos Pavlovic, and he is a GM from Serbia. He is... 58 years old?! He is the same age as my grandma!" The girl widened her eyes in shock, followed by the gasps from the other three people around her.

"Are you serious?! How could someone that age still be playing?!" Bagas asked incredulously.

"Don’t be so prejudiced against old people." Medina reminded him. "Also, even though he is old, his performance is still quite good. Just look, he gets 5 points out of 8 rounds, better than the majority of the players here. Also, his rating is still quite high, so don’t underestimate him at all, okay?"

Bagas could only scratch the back of his head sheepishly when he heard that. It wasn’t him who had to play against Milos Pavlovic, yet somehow, the boy was confused about how Medina still took her time to scold him mercilessly like that.

Of course, Bagas wouldn’t say that out loud. No, the boy was still sane enough to notice an executioner when he saw one.

"Anyway, even though Milos Pavlovic’s point is quite good, the man also has a few stinker games, getting forced into a draw against a 2300-rated player in the fifth and sixth rounds in a row. His rating had also been declining below 2450 at this point, and Anna noticed that the man would always drop more points in the later stages of the tournament he joined. That showed that his endurance wasn’t as good as the other young people on the field, and Anna could take this opportunity to strike later.

While those three were engrossed by their next pairing, Bagas himself was also busy thinking about how to take advantage of the last round to maximize the result of his live streaming. He knew that in such a tournament, the first and last day would always be the ones that attracted people’s attention, so the boy needed to be prepared for everything tomorrow.

In the end, all four of them had different thoughts in mind. However, when they all raised their head, and somehow, their eyes accidentally met each other, some sort of wavelength seemed to connect them all, allowing those four to know what each other thought right then. After spending a few seconds staring at each other, grins formed on their face, and right after that, they spoke simultaneously, "Well, let’s create more chaos in the last round!"