CHAPTER 77: THE SECOND ROUND OF THE TOURNAMENT!

Be bold, but delicate.

Quick, but certain.

Stay calm, but remember to have fun.

Honestly, Sheva couldn’t even remember when did the last time someone managed to shock him with beautiful words like that. Hell, he even often thought that those kinds of words were only used by the cheap motivators outside to sell their scam product. While some of them could probably work, it was clear that motivational speech like this, more often than not, was just a forgotten wind, easy to dismiss.

However, this time was different. Well, at least for Sheva. This was the first time he heard Irfan say that, and while he didn’t know where did the IM get that quote, it still resonated in his heart. He could even still feel his heart beating fast in excitement, especially at the last part of the quote.

’Stay calm but remember to have fun, huh?’ Sheva grinned widely. ’Is that basically the reason why I still continue playing this game?’ Of course, somehow, Sheva conveniently forgot that his reason was to get as much money as possible. However, that would be for another story.

"So, who is your opponent today?" Bagas asked.

It was another brand new day, and they were currently on their journey to the KONI office for the second game of the tournament. Sheva just sat behind Bagas, who controlled the steering of the vehicle silently before finally answering, "Still a local player. I don’t know what his name is, but his rating is quite high, 2161."

"Good." Bagas grinned. "This is another chance for you to climb higher. Don’t you dare lose against that bunch of nobodies, okay?"

"Who do you think I am?" Sheva snorted snidely.

Of course, this arrogance only showed up in a private conversation with Bagas. There was no way he would dare to say something that provocative out loud, especially in front of the other club’s members. However, that was indeed his feeling. Even though there were about 300 differences in rating, Sheva still thought that he shouldn’t have any problem in facing his opponent today.

Right after they arrived at the venue, the two boys exchanged fist bumps before going their own way. Sheva went to the table he was assigned to, while Bagas went straight to the media booth. This time, Sheva didn’t have any chance to meet Claudia or Laysa like yesterday. After all, there was no official ceremony this time, so everyone went straight to the table where they would play today.

For the second game of the tournament, Sheva would have to fight against another veteran player named Husnaini. It was admirable that the old man still played even when his hair had already turned white and his face had a lot of wrinkles. Still, that didn’t mean Sheva would show any mercy here. Hell, if anything, he would go crazier, especially considering the number of ratings he would get after winning the game against this old man.

After exchanging handshakes with each other, the second game of the tournament finally began. The old man started with the 1.c4 opening, going straight with the unconventional English opening. However, Sheva had been improving so much since the first time he saw this opening during his first fight against Anna in the past. This time, he didn’t even show any slight hesitation. Instead of going for the copycat or the complicated queen’s gambit decline, the boy struck back in the middle of the board, pushing his E pawn two squares forward.

Still, it seemed that the old man was a professional in this opening. He didn’t even flinch at Sheva’s move, going straight and fianchettoing his light bishop to the G file. By doing that, the old man wanted to keep pressure on Sheva’s queenside, and slowly, he would try to gain more advantage as the game went by.

They both moved so quickly for the next moves, improving the position on their own side first. However, when it seemed like the game would be another one with a lack of action, the old man suddenly made a mistake. Instead of improving his position slowly, he was too eager to attack, pushing his F pawn two squares forward. Sheva even had to take his time carefully here, wondering whether there was a trick or not in this situation.

’Why would he do that?’ He frowned. ’He gives up his E pawn and the protection of his king for what? It is not like he has any other attack incoming, right?’

However, that was not the only strange move that his opponent made. Right after Sheva retreated his rook back to the eighth file, the old man in front of him suddenly sacrificed his knight to fork both of Sheva’s rooks. At first, it looked like the situation was bad for him. However, Sheva found a way to counterattack immediately by using the old Gothamchess trick, the danger level.

Since he knew that one of his rooks would be gone, instead of trying to save one of them, he struck back by threatening Husnaini’s rook with his bishop. The old man seemed not to care about that. Instead, he exchanged his strong knight with Sheva’s dark bishop, and right after it happened, that was when the old man decided to take Sheva’s rook.

Honestly, Sheva felt like he was playing against a drunkard right now. The movement was erratic and had no thought of defense at all. Not that Sheva could blame the old man, of course. He himself was also the same when he first played, and only changed when Anna reminded him about that.

Still, knowing that his opponent went way too aggressively, Sheva made his move quickly before he was eaten alive. He forced the exchange of almost all his minor pieces, and after the dust was settled, it was clear that the advantage was completely on Sheva’s side. Although he only had three pawns compared to Husnaini’s five soldiers, the presence of a knight on his side was enough to make a big difference here.

They still kept going for a while, but once Sheva managed to trap the old man’s king in the middle of the board with no way out except for the sacrifice of his queen, the Husnaini shook his head repeatedly before he finally gave up, resigning with a helpless smile.

Sheva won his second game in a row, gaining another 33 rating points ELO from the old man Husnaini.