CHAPTER 327: SHALL I START PLAYING ONLINE CHESS?

"Come on, Shev! What are you doing here?!"

"I don’t know! Please, don’t distract me like that!"

"What do you mean by distracting you? You are trash in this, you know that, right?"

"Oh, shut up!"

"Check!"

"Fuck! Leave me alone!"

"No way! I have a checkmate on the board!"

"Goddamnit! One more time, please!"

Anna and Claudia, who had just come back with a tray full of food and drink, were dumbfounded when they saw Sheva and Laysa shouting at each other so loudly like that. Fortunately, they picked the table close to the door, where the noises from the street could still be heard, or they would’ve been kicked out straight away from the restaurant.

Still, those two were curious, though. What kind of game did they play to make them so excited like this? Also, Anna would never say it out loud, but a hint of jealousy appeared on her face, as the girl pouted slightly when she saw Sheva being so close to Laysa like that.

’That is my man over there! What is she trying to do with him?!’

"What are you guys doing?" Claudia, who didn’t have any concern, just asked, peeking at Sheva’s phone curiously. "You make some commotion, you know? Look, people are watching us here."

Sheva was taken aback, and when he noticed the stares from the people in the restaurant, the boy’s face flushed instantly, and he also didn’t forget to apologize. Laysa also did the same, finally realizing that they got carried away with their game.

"Sorry, sorry. I forgot how competitive this game is." Sheva said.

"I am teaching Sheva how to play a bullet game," Laysa added, explaining the matter clearly. "I never thought that you had played this format. It is quite fun and thrilling, and I like it a lot."

"Ah... So, that’s the case..." Even Anna nodded in understanding. Bullet game was the format where both players only had one minute on the board, so almost everything was made instinctively. It seemed that she also knew that this kind of format would always lead to an adrenaline game, so the kind of shouts and banters that she heard from them before were not that strange at all. "So, is he good or what?" She asked, also feeling curious here.

"Oh, it is the complete opposite here." Laysa smiled mischievously while also picking up the drink on the tray for her. She ignored Sheva’s flushed face and added, "He is a complete trash in this format. We have 4 games, and I win all of them."

This time, it was the Marisa Siblings who were dumbfounded. After all, in their mind, Sheva’s chess talent was unparalleled by anyone else, and in a time format that he was not familiar with, even though he would lose the first one or two games, the boy would’ve learned so quickly before bouncing back higher than ever. However, it seemed that this was not the case.

"This is because the stupid pre-move feature doesn’t work on my phone!" Sheva pouted in frustration. "Also, you are cheating! You know that I am still new in this format, and you pull all of your tricks like this?! The last two defeats are only because my time is up!"

"Bah! Excuse, excuse!" Laysa mocked him mercilessly.

They kept bickering even in the middle of lunch, and both Anna and Claudia just watched them in silence as if they had just gotten a new entertainment. Somehow, the conversation also shifted to online chess, where the bullet format could be played, and the girls tried to force Sheva to join the dark force.

"I mean, online chess is fun, but why would I want to put my focus there?" Sheva asked, genuinely confused. "Would it be better to use the time to study more about tactics or something like that?" In his mind, online chess was still like any other online game for students, good to relax, but would only harm his own interests if he got too addicted to it.

"No, no, no, you are being too conservative here." Laysa shook her head strongly, showing her disapproval. "You don’t know that online chess has been blooming quite nicely in the last few years, producing some of the best tournaments that you could see. From the Speed Chess Championship, Champions Chess Tours, and many more!"

Sheva just nodded silently, but it was also clear from his expression that the boy was not convinced at all.

"Well, there is also the weekly Titled Tuesday." Anna smiled, adding the detail here. By her smile, Sheva knew that the girl wanted to spice things up for him here. "It is the tournament that chess.com creates for all the title players around the world to compete every week. One is at 10 PM Tuesday, while the other is at 4 AM the next morning. You can play against all the best players in the world every week, and the first place in every tournament will get 1000 US Dollars."

"1000 US Dollars?! Are you kidding me?!" Sheva widened his eyes in shock. This time, he got hooked here. "You mean to tell me that I have a chance to get a total of 2000 US Dollars every week just from playing chess at home? Is that platform really that reach?!"

1000 US Dollars. That was probably around 15 million rupiah, the monthly wage of those who were already in a high position in a lot of companies back home. Now, he heard that he could get that every week?

As for the part of having to play against all the best players in the world and the low probability of him even sneaking into the top 30 of the standings, Sheva just ignored that part unconsciously. Right now, his mind was filled with that amount of money, still too dumbfounded by the information here.

"What a money grubber..." Claudia muttered under her breath.

"Well, yeah, I am a money grubber, and I am proud of it." Sheva waved his hand, dismissing the concern nonchalantly. "I mean, just try to live at my home for one week, and you will probably be the same for me, trying every means to get out of that hellhole as quickly as possible. I am still impressed that I can keep my sanity intact at this point, you know?"

Claudia felt the corner of her mouth twitching a little bit, speechless and feeling guilty a little bit, as she also knew the condition of Sheva’s house. However, the boy didn’t really pay attention to her feelings, as right now, he only had one thing on his mind.

’Shall I put this in my schedule in the future?’