CHAPTER 353: THE OPPONENT NEXT ROUND!

In the end, nothing had been done to solve the conflict. While Irene and Medina were willing to be the peacemakers, both subjects of the conflict, Sheva and Novendra, were not willing to see eye to eye. In their mind, it was not their fault that the conflict escalated, so why would they have to apologize to each other?

Both women could only stare at each other helplessly, not knowing what to do now. If they were facing children, it would be easy, as they could force them to talk. However, both Sheva and Taher were adults already, and if they didn’t want to reconcile, nothing could be done about that.

Fortunately, chess was not a team sport from the very beginning. Even if they didn’t see eye to eye, there would be no problem in letting them both play on the same table. It was just... They would never share the joyous feeling with each other, and the awkwardness between those two would definitely kill the atmosphere in the team. It frustrated the two women that they knew the problem in the future, yet they couldn’t do anything about it.

"Fortunately, there are only two rounds left..." Irene sighed, rubbing her forehead due to a headache.

"I still stand with my judgment, by the way, Sister." Medina also took a seat next to her with a frown on her face. "At a time like this, it shouldn’t be us who are working hard to mend the team, but Master Susanto. Once he calls those two and forces them to sit together and talk about it, they would have to do it no matter how much they both hate it."

"Yeah, I know. But... Master Susanto..." She trailed her words behind, and once her eyes met Medina’s, they both let out another helpless sigh.

Yeah, the best way to solve this conflict was for the team leader to be firm here. Unfortunately, Master Susanto was not one who did that. His action was too ambiguous in this conflict. From the outsider’s perspective, it looked like he was siding with Master Susanto. However, the man also didn’t do anything to punish or at least reprimand Sheva here. He was just like a confused person, not knowing what to do to handle this conflict.

Sheva himself didn’t mind that. The boy knew that he couldn’t rely on Master Susanto to help him on the team. Fortunately, Bagas was also here, and after the fat boy pulled some strings, he gave Sheva a thumbs-up.

"Don’t worry, it is official now. You are going to play tomorrow." He said.

"Thanks God..." Sheva said as he felt his shoulder slump. "Still... I feel bad for Arfan..." Yeah, for him to enter the squad again, someone had to be sacrificed here. Unfortunately, the two veterans had just won their game, so it was impossible for them to step down voluntarily. In the end, it was Arfan who decided to be the bigger man, asking for a day off with the excuse that he hadn’t had a great tournament so far.

It was a lie, of course. A chess game was like a gamble. If someone was in a bad form, they would be so eager to cut off the loss and go back to the better track, and if someone was in a great form, they would never stop, wanting to ride the great momentum to push further in the tournament. Arfan was the same here, so the excuse should be his stance to say that even if he sided with Novendra in this conflict, the boy still didn’t want to cut off their relationship here.

Sheva also didn’t blame Arfan for taking sides. In fact, he pitied the boy for getting caught like this. He probably wanted to be like Taher and the others, declaring their stance on Sheva’s side immediately as they realized that he had the potential to be the best Indonesian player in the future. However, Novendra was also Arfan’s mentor, so he couldn’t abandon the man while he needed support the most.

"Well, you can feel bad about Arfan, but you don’t need to feel guilty," Bagas said. "You can feel guilty if I use this kind of a backdoor deal to get you into the team while you are not capable. But since you are in a historical run, what is wrong with pulling some strings to smooth your way? There are a lot of talented players in the world that are buried in the mud since they don’t have the right connection, I tell you that."

Sheva just nodded silently, deciding to trust his friend for this case. He also put this matter on the back of his head, promising himself that he would apologize to Arfan later. However, after getting the confirmation that he would play tomorrow, Sheva started to shift the focus onto that game immediately.

’So, my opponent is either Dmitrij Kollar or Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, both with an ELO rating of around 2650, huh? It has been a long time since I faced a tough matchup like this... Man, this is so exciting! As expected, it is always better to play against a strong opponent!’

Even though there were so many strong players in this tournament, as a reserve member of a weak team, it was so rare for Sheva to fight against a high-rated opponent like this. The only time he got a tough matchup was against Wojciech Moranda in the fourth round, and somehow, he couldn’t help but feel nervous about it.

’Man, it would be good if my opponent were this Nisipeanu.’ Sheva thought while reading the player’s information thoroughly. "He is 46 already, and the last time he competed at the highest level was so many years ago. Playing against him would be easier than Kollar."

Sheva still held the same principle here. It was easier to beat the older man, as he could drag the game into a patience battle and kill the man after wearing him out. Unfortunately, beggars couldn’t be choosers here, so he just had to accept everything that was thrown at his face with open hands.

’Yeah, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who my opponent is going to be.’ He clenched his fist unconsciously. ’Since I talked so much shit already, I need to back it up with a result, or I will only give an opening for Brother Novendra to strike. No, I have to win this game!’