CHAPTER 80: FIFTH ROUND - UMMI FISABILILLAH

Sheva didn’t know what happened to both Anna and Claudia after the conversation was over. Hell, he didn’t even give the two girls any chance to speak, just leaving them there immediately when they were still stunned at what he had just said. Although it was rude, the boy knew that those two needed more time to proceed with this conversation inside their heads.

He himself just hoped that what he said would get through Anna’s head. After all, beating her in this state was far from satisfying. The boy didn’t lie when he said that Anna forgot her true self. After all, she, who was always aggressive and played with the ambition to win, somehow suddenly turned into a cowardly player who aimed for a draw in every match. While no one would blame her since her opponents were basically higher in ELO rating than her, Sheva still felt pity that she would be intimidated by them and threw her original style.

Still, even though Sheva was worried about the girls, he shook his head quickly, knowing that this shouldn’t be his problem anymore. No, what he had to do was to go home, take a quick bath before going straight to bed. Well, he also didn’t forget to chat with his mother, giving her the update on the tournament and his current situation. Let’s just say that she was beyond proud of him, having already been preparing for the celebration party once everything was over.

’No, don’t think too much about that. Don’t jinx it like that.’ Sheva shook his head quickly. ’Everything still could happen in this tournament, especially tomorrow. I need to be ready for an exhausting day.’

Yeah, the fifth day of the tournament would be a double-header, with two rounds played continuously in one game. The first one would be at 8 in the morning, and the second one would be at 3 in the afternoon. Sheva had already had an experience of playing in such a hectic day like this during his time in Vietnam, and while somehow, the boy managed to win four games out of two double-headers, that didn’t dismiss the fact that the day really took a toll on him.

To make it worse, though, his opponent in the fifth round would be the top-seeded player, the Women’s International Master (WIM) Ummi Fisabillillah. Yeah, Sheva would play another woman here. However, unlike in his third round, where the woman’s skill didn’t quite match her rating, Ummi was a completely different matter here. She was one of the best prospects in the country a few years ago, and while she was struggling to reach her peak and following Irene Sukandar or Aulia Warda’s steps to become the WGM or even the IM, the woman was still strong and solid enough to dominate this kind of tournament.

Facing her would definitely be the most difficult game he had in his very short career, and honestly, Sheva wanted to make a splash here.

’Bagas should have Master Irene’s contact, right? Should I ask her about this Ummi’s playing style and particular weakness?’ Sheva amused himself with such a thought while also staring blankly from his little bed at the short rooftop of his house. In the end, though, he shook his head quickly. ’No, I am sure that this Ummi will never ask about my style, too. It would be more satisfying to beat her with the intelligence that I obtain by myself.’ He thought cockily.

The next day, Sheva was a little bit surprised when he saw the entire hall was filled with more audience, far greater in number compared to the first four days. However, after thinking about it for a second, he could understand where this was coming from. After the tournament had been running for five days, the shape of the table had been formed quite well, and it was clear who had a good tournament and who had a stinker one.

In the U2250 category where Sheva was in, there were four players with the perfect points, and they all would fight till death today to grab the number one spot. As for the GM section, Suleymanli Aydin was at the top of the table as the Azerbaijani youngster somehow managed to upset Master Susanto in more than 70 moves in one game. Right now, Aydin and Li Tian Yeoh were the only players in that section who still had a perfect record, with the Malaysian player himself was only a few steps away from getting his dream GM title.

What surprised the most, even including Sheva, though, was in the IM section. While the composition was a bit weaker than in the GM section, the players there were quite good players in the section, with two of them being the FIDE Masters from Australia and Vietnam. However, somehow, Laysa was dominating the entire field, getting 3.5 points out of four rounds. Hell, the girl even beat the top-seeded player and the FIDE Master from Vietnam, giving her an edge to win it all and even get her WGM norm later.

That was why she was surrounded by a lot of people before the game began.

Fortunately, though, the U2250 category didn’t attract a lot of attention. Even though there were some people who recognized him and asked for a photo or two, they didn’t hinder Sheva’s journey to his table. Of course, Sheva wouldn’t reject the request at all. He had already made up his mind since the first time he met a fan in Hanoi that he would never reject a request from his fans. After all, they were already willing to spend their time to support him, a complete stranger. Compared to that, a photo or a sign seemed to be too easy to give.

Anyway, back to the game, after getting away from the crowd, he went straight to table one, where Ummi, a woman in her early twenties, was already waiting for him. Just like Laysa, she wore a hijab to cover her head. However, she was definitely calmer and quieter, far different than Laysa, who sometimes acted like a wild animal.

She was a woman with few words, so Sheva didn’t bother making small talk, just sitting patiently until the game started. Right after the alarm rang, they both shook each other’s hands before Ummi made her first move. Sheva himself took a deep breath, trying to focus on the board in front of him.

’Okay, this is it...’ He thought to himself. ’The best player of the section, huh? Let’s see if I can beat her or not... Come on!’