CHAPTER 330: SHEVA VS SABINO BRUNELLO! THE FRENCH DEFENSE?!

About an hour later, the game was finally about to begin, and almost all the players were ready to start the new battle after the day off yesterday. In such a tight schedule, it was always important to have a break like this, as it allowed the players to recover from the accumulated fatigue since the start of the tournament.

Sheva also finally figured out who his opponent was. Here, sitting in front of him, was Sabino Brunello, a veteran GM whose ELO rating was 2536. The man came with his vast experience, and so far, he had done a good job, getting 2.5 points out of the 3 games that he played. With this rate, the man would be able to achieve Sheva’s record if only he had more chances to play, so Sheva had to be careful about the man’s momentum here.

’Oh, well, I also have quite a strong momentum here, so let’s see whose momentum is greater today...’ Sheva clenched his fist with eyes full of determination.

The venue was also a little bit noisier than usual. Even though it wasn’t enough to bother the players, at least, anyone could notice their presence, and it wouldn’t be so strange to see one or two players getting nervous playing in this kind of environment. Sheva’s guess was right. The fan zone would definitely be a game-changer, so anyone who was not mentally prepared would get destroyed here.

’Okay, now, let’s try to calculate our possible result today...’ He took a deep breath, starting to rack his brain. ’I cannot expect anything from Master Susanto. It would be great if he could force his opponent to a draw, so let’s just hope that it happens. Brother Taher is also going to have a difficult matchup. Lorenzo Lodici is not a joke. He even forced a draw against Pragg in the fourth round a few days ago. Then, Arfan’s game against Francisco Sonis...’

Somehow, Sheva felt the corner of his mouth twitching unconsciously before he banished that thought far away from his head.

’Yeah, why would I try to calculate this based on the information on paper? Of course, we will lose in all aspects. We are the weaker team here.’ He muttered incredulously. ’No, everything cannot be calculated on paper. If so, we will definitely lose against Romania. We still have a chance here. For now, I just need my game first and elevate the pressure on the other’s shoulder.’

With that thought in mind, Sheva was determined more than ever to win this game. Well, he also did so to get closer to his target, as the boy really wanted to get the medal here. Even though his record was good, some players still had the same or even better, so he needed to make a case for himself here.

He lost in his own thought for a while, before, a moment later, the alarm finally rang, signalling that the seventh round of the game had begun. Sheva was startled for a second, but reacted immediately by offering a handshake to his opponent.

"Let’s have a good game." He mumbled.

"Yeah, let’s have a good game too." Sabino Brunello nodded, pushing his glasses up slightly.

Right after that, Sheva, who played with the white piece, didn’t hesitate to push his E pawn forward. He hadn’t changed his strategy here, sticking with the King’s Pawn opening. Much to his surprise, though, Sabino Brunello pushed his E pawn one square forward, picking up the opening that Sheva didn’t expect at all.

’An Italian GM playing the French Defense?’ Sheva couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. ’What an irony...’

However, Sheva didn’t dare to lower his guard. Out of all the variations of the E4 opening, the French Defense was probably the least played opening he faced in the past. Not a lot of his opponents used this opening in the past, so while Sheva still knew all of its theory, in application, he was definitely weaker, so the boy needed to treat this game carefully.

Of course, the exchange variation was not an option here. No, Sheva didn’t want to get a quick draw. He still wanted to try, so the boy chose to push his E pawn further, going for the advanced variation. While its theory had also been studied thoroughly, just like the classical or the exchange variation, at least, the advanced variation still provided a room to create something, and that was what Sheva was eyeing today.

The opening phase went quite fast here, with both players moving like lightning. It was clear at this point that this was the memorization phase, as they moved based on what they remembered in the theory. The only time someone paused was in the fourth move, when Sabino Brunello put his knight to H6 instead of E7. Sheva was tempted to take it straight away, damaging the man’s pawn structure and never allowing him to castle on the kingside.

However, after pondering for a moment, he shook his head quickly, deciding to leave that knight there. Not only was it because Sheva remembered the famous quote, ’The knight on the edge is dim’, but the French Defense itself was a flexible opening that gave the players a choice on whether they wanted to castle on the kingside or the queenside, and it wouldn’t affect the evaluation too much.

It was such a solid opening that preventing his opponent from castling on the kingside wouldn’t give him an advantage. No, the strength of this opening was the center, so Sheva needed to tear it down as quickly as possible before Sabino Brunello could solidify his position further and force the game into a deadlock situation.

However, that chance suddenly came out of nowhere, and Sheva himself was taken aback by the initiative that Sabino Brunello took here. After some quick exchanges, the man let his knight jump from the flank to the middle, challenging Sheva’s light bishop at the F5 square. The only one protecting the knight was the pawn, so when he saw this, the boy didn’t even think, moving his knight instinctively to get that horse killed.

’Yeah, even though my bishop is in a nice position, this exchange will be a great investment for the later stage.’ A smile curled on Sheva’s mouth, happy about his current situation. ’Now, how are you going to respond, Mister?’