CHAPTER 92: AN ENDURANCE BATTLE!

’Hey, hey, they are still going here?! Until when do they want to continue this meaningless fight?’

’Well, ask that Sheva! He is already down a lot here! If only he were willing to stay down and get beaten, everything would be over!’

’Ha! As if! Everything could still happen here!’

’Yeah, if Sheva could outlast Arfan’s stamina, he would be able to laugh in the end!’

The furious whispers from the sideline echoed around the crowd surrounding the table where Sheva and Arfan played. By now, almost all the players of the tournament had already gathered, including all the top dogs like Master Susanto and the Azerbaijani Master Suleymanli Aydin. After all, this was basically the last game of the day, and everyone was interested in how the end would unfold here.

The arbiter of the tournament even had to check from time to time so that there was no violation of the game. After all, with the low time and exhaustion that both players suffered, a slip of concentration was enough to end the game prematurely. The arbiter was also there to calm down the crowd, since they could affect the game with their noise.

Arfan and Sheva themselves didn’t quite notice the crowd around them. No, they were currently locking in, not realizing that they made a commotion here. Every move was made in between two or three seconds, not wanting to waste their time and give their opponent any chance to think.

The current situation on the board was indeed on Arfan’s side. Holding the white piece, he had the advantage of a queen compared to Sheva, who only owned a rook and a dark bishop. Hell, even in terms of pawn number, Arfan still held the advantage with him having two on his side compared to one on Sheva’s side. As a result, the computer gave Arfan a better evaluation with +3.4.

However, the thought of giving up and resigning from the game had never crossed Sheva’s head. No, he still kept fighting relentlessly, trying to grasp a slight hope of a miracle. He kept defending his area well while also keeping his bishop alive since it protected Arfan’s promotion square.

*Author’s note: If you want to visualize the position better, check the comment below.

They kept shuffling pieces for a while, and without anyone noticing, the game had already entered its seventieth move.

’Damn, why is he so stubborn?!’ Arfan clenched his teeth, frustratingly. ’Just give up already! It is hopeless to continue!’

Meanwhile, somehow, even if Sheva didn’t know what Arfan thought right now, his thought was pretty similar to that of his opponent right now.

’Oh, for fuck’s sake! Just tilt, man!’ He scowled inwardly. ’Come on! I know you cannot go on like this forever! Just make a fucking mistake!’

The reality right now was that those two players had already lost their ability to stay calm. They were too exhausted to rack their brain for a long and calculated move, and right now, everything they did relied on their intuition. Reckless, of course, but this game had been going on for too long that even their body couldn’t bear it anymore. The only thing that prevented their body from collapsing on the spot was their stubbornness, and it wouldn’t last that long to keep them alive.

Still, the two teenagers didn’t care about that. No, what they had in mind right now was how to deal with the opponent in front of them. Somehow, though, it was Arfan who made a crucial mistake first. He tilted for a moment, losing one of his last two pawns to bring the game closer to an equal state. He also rushed his other pawn too hastily, trying so hard to get it closer to the promotion square, even under the bishop’s protection.

However, Arfan’s impatience finally became his downfall.

It was on the 79th move, and his pawn was already one square away from becoming a queen. In such a position, he could’ve sacrificed his queen first to get rid of Sheva’s bishop that protected the last square, but that was definitely a mistake. What he had to do right now was to make sure Sheva’s king got separated from the rook, since that would make it easier for him to fork Sheva’s last two pieces and get rid of the rook in the future. He needed to give a bunch of meaningless checks first to drive away the black king from his pieces’ protection.

Unfortunately, that calculation slipped definitely slipped from his mind. He was too eager to get rid of Sheva’s bishop and simplify the game, and in return, right after he made a new queen and Sheva’s rook was back to protect the king from a close distance, the evaluation bar moved down instantly to a draw position.

Yeah, even with a queen advantage against Sheva’s one pawn and one rook pieces, the computer still evaluated that this was an equal game, something that shocked everyone who watched the live broadcast with the help of the engine.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Bagas, who watched the game from the commentary booth provided by the official tournament, jumped excitedly, completely forgetting his role as a host when he saw the computer engine move back to the neutral state. It was like God itself being so kind to give his best friend a second breath, a second life in such a critical moment like this. "It is a draw now! Sheva could force a draw in this position!" He shouted at the mic lively. However, it seemed that Master Irene disagreed with what he had just said.

"No, Arfan still has a slight advantage here." The legendary IM shook her head quickly. When she saw the questioning gaze from both Bagas and Sarah, who were pretty much novices in a chess game, the woman explained immediately. "You have to know that both Sheva and Arfan are human beings, not just a computer without emotion. Even though the computer suggests that the game itself is a draw, Arfan still has a queen on his side, the strongest piece on the board. It is enough to give him a sense of safety while also putting more pressure on Sheva, and Arfan only needs Sheva to make one more mistake to push him to the edge once again later."

"So, does Sheva still have a chance in this game?" Sarah asked immediately before Bagas could even speak. She knew that her boyfriend was biased toward Sheva, and not that she could blame him here. However, neutrality still had to be kept, and it was her role to do so.

Master Irene pondered for a moment, trying to think of how to say it. In the end, she nodded her head firmly, giving her stance on this situation. "It would be hard, but if Sheva could show the same level of resilience for the rest of the game, the chance is quite big to steal a half point in this game."