CHAPTER 6: THE END OF THE GAME

Of course, Sheva himself didn’t really know what Irfan was thinking. No, his mind was busy calculating almost every possibility on the chessboard in front of him. Even though he had gained some end-game techniques in the last couple of days from the system, none of them mentioned this kind of imbalance position. Fortunately, the systematic knowledge he gained was enough to help him convert this winning position. As long as he was calm enough, Sheva was sure that the game was in his hand.

’Now, I need to be calm and not rush things here...’

Or so that was what he hoped. Unfortunately, at a time like this, Sheva’s inexperience played a big role. Even though he reminded himself to stay calm, his instinct forced him to push forward unconsciously, too eager to win. He made a couple of mistakes, and while they were not fatal, the accumulation was quite severe for his chances of winning the game.

Moreover, Irfan also started to get serious, showing the defensive resilience that was built from his vast experience in this field. Each of his pieces was connected, sticking to each other while also protecting the black king from the attack that Sheva initiated with his queen. Every probe he tried only met a great wall, and not only that, Irfan also used this as a way to counterattack, marching his pawns forward without giving any opening for Sheva to strike. Right now, even though Sheva had a queen, he had no other pieces to help the attack, and it was Irfan who gained the initiative.

’Damn, if I didn’t do anything, it would be me who loses miserably.’ Sheva gritted his teeth, racking his brain as quickly as possible. He glanced at the clock next to him and saw that he only had 10 more seconds to move. Knowing that he was on the verge of death, Sheva gritted his teeth, finally making a decision. ’Screw it! Everything is better than losing!’

With that decision in mind, Sheva navigated his queen to a threatening position. Of course, Irfan didn’t bulge even for a second, coordinating his pieces so well to cover any holes in his defense. However, to everyone’s surprise, Sheva didn’t try to probe like before, but sacrificed his queen for Irfan’s knight and bishop.

"Oh! Why would he do that?!"

"The boy is panicking! He is crumbling!"

"No, that is the best decision! Can you see that he is losing?!"

"Bah! You can only see it because you check the position with your phone! Don’t act so almighty!"

The crowd exploded in excitement as they saw Sheva make a big decision for the second time in this game. Unfortunately, the excitement died down quickly after that, as with several quick exchanges, the position was neutralized again. Now, both sides had two connected pawns and a rook, and their king’s activity was still pretty weak. After shuffling the rooks a few times to test each other, both players realized that there was no way their opponent would make a blunder here, so in the end, Irfan just stopped the clock and offered a handshake.

"Draw?"

"Yeah." Sheva nodded begrudgingly, accepting the handshake. Inwardly, he started berating himself, trying to think where he had made a mistake. After all, with a queen advantage, the advantage should be on his side, yet he failed to convert it into a win. He also admitted that the defensive wall that Irfan formed by connecting all the pieces together to block his attack was beautiful, not something that any ordinary player could achieve. ’Is this what an International Master is capable of? I really underestimate him...’ The boy sighed in disappointment.

Irfan, who sat next to him, of course, could see the sheer disappointment on the boy’s face. He snorted a little, knowing full well what Sheva was thinking right now. However, before he could say anything, the crowd had already swarmed the boy, patting and slapping the boy’s back enthusiastically.

"Good job, Boy!"

"It is so close! You almost won against Master Irfan!"

"Hey, look at the bright side here! At least he won the challenge, right?!"

"You are right! Damn, 1,000,000 rupiah is a lot!"

"What is your name, Brat?!"

"Hey, are you Sheva, Bu Diana’s son?"

"Bu Diana, who sells the traditional snacks at the entrance of the market?! Damn, she has a talented son!"

For a moment, Sheva fell into confusion as he was overwhelmed by the crowd here. He could also see his chubby best friend trying his best to sneak, yet Bagas’s fat body was pushed away by the crowd. In the end, it was Irfan who saved him from the embarrassment with his boisterous laughter.

"Hahaha! You almost kicked my ass, Boy!" The man grinned. "I didn’t expect that after holding this shenanigan for more than twelve times, a talented player would finally emerge in front of my eyes! What is your name and how old are you?"

"Sheva, Sir. I will be eighteen next November." Sheva answered, and his nervousness was back.

"As expected, you young men have to be feared..." Irfan nodded solemnly. Then, he turned his attention to the crowd and said, "Anyway, can I have a private talk with this young man first?"

All the people there gave an understanding nod before starting to walk off, but not before patting and giving Sheva a piece of their minds and some encouragement first. In the end, it was only Sheva, Irfan, and Bagas who were left there. Irfan crooked one of his eyebrows slightly at the sight of excited Bagas with a phone in his hand, sending a questioning glance at Sheva.

"My friend, Sir," Sheva answered the unasked question quickly. "He is the one who informs me about the event today."

"Oh, is that so?" Irfan stared at Bagas in a different light. "Well, then, thank you for bringing your friend here. I didn’t expect to find a wonderful talent in this barren land."

"My pleasure, Sir!" Bagas shook the man’s hand excitedly.

Those two chatted for a while, and Bagas, cursed his social butterfly personality, blurted out everything about Sheva, like how this was the first time it was for Sheva to play a serious game and how he had never seen his best friend picking up a chessboard before. The more Irfan listened to the story, the more dumbfounded he was at Sheva’s talent. If someone who had never learned the game outside of its basic rules managed to push him to the edge and even forced a draw against him, he really wanted to see how far the boy would go with proper training.

"Relax, Boy. I will not eat you alive." The older man laughed when he saw Sheva fidgeting with his fingers nervously. "Well, since you won the challenge, of course, you will get the prize from me. However, before that, care to listen to this old man’s request first?"

"Um?" Sheva frowned, not expecting this kind of development.

"Eh, don’t worry, it is not an excessive request." Irfan waved his hand nonchalantly. "You see, I notice a great talent in you. So, what do you think about joining my chess club?"