Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 389: Their Next Tournament?! (I)

"Indeed, this is related to the good news that I talked about way before the Olympiad began." Irfan nodded in acknowledgement.

Hearing that, all the teenagers here; Sheva, Bagas, Laysa, Anna, and Claudia leaned forward immediately, losing all the laziness in just a snap. "Oh? What good news do you bring here, Master?" Laysa asked curiously.

"Well, after fighting with the federation for so long, we finally managed to secure the right to host the Asian Championship zone 3.3 next year!" Irfan dropped the bomb without hesitation, stunning everyone else in the room.

The zone 3.3 reflected the countries in Southeast and East Asia except for China because of their massive size and chess community compared to the other countries. This was the tournament that not only determined who was the best in that region, but also a Hunger Game with 2 tickets to the FIDE World Cup next year, one for the open section and one for the women’s side.

Yeah, this was one of so many roads to lead into the FIDE World Cup, the one tournament that Sheva had already set his eyes on. Besides that, a player could get a ticket from the rating spot, which was difficult if they were not a 2600-rated player or above, or if they won the continental championship.

Of course, there was also a free ticket that was provided by the organizer so that each country could have a representation, but earning without doing anything was definitely not Sheva’s style, so the boy had never considered it before.

In fact, Sheva had been eyeing this tournament for a while, waiting for the registration time to come. He also wanted to play in the Asian Chess Championship next year, wanting to cast the net a lot for a possible failure. It was definitely a great surprise to have the tournament in this city, as that only meant he didn’t have to adapt to anything else, like during his time abroad.

"So, we are going to be the host, huh?" Bagas pondered for a moment. "That means we have the privilege of players, right?"

What he meant by the privilege was the number of players from the country that could play. The rule didn’t state clearly the upper limit of it, so the host country could just send a flood of 100 local players, and no one could complain about it. This was also a chance for the local players to show their fang, as it was quite rare for such a big tournament to be hosted in Jakarta.

"Yeah, the federation has already received the list from the branches all over the country, wanting to get the consideration here. I think there would be around 10 to 15 players for the open section that want to play, while 7 to 10 women’s players also want to join the other section." Irfan nodded.

"Wait a second, what do you mean by the branches of federation have already sent their list?! How could we not know about this?! Does that mean we are too late to register our name?!" Laysa asked in panic.

The others were startled, then realized that Laysa was right here. However, Irfan shook his head quickly. "No, I have already registered all of your names before." He explained. "In fact, all the members of the Olympiad team have already been registered. It has been a long time since we hosted such a huge tournament, so the federation really hopes that we could win both sections and snatch the two tickets for the World Cup!"

He said the last part while also glancing at Sheva and Laysa, the two players who dominated the entire field in the Olympiad. Even though the man recognized Anna and Claudia’s improvement, in his mind, since the first two had already done so much, this should be easier for them to execute. Of course, if somehow the Marisa Siblings managed to get a breakthrough and thrive further, this would be the best case for him.

"So, this is the good news that you talked about, huh?" Sheva pondered with a hand on his chin.

"Oh, no, that is just the teaser." The man smiled, startling everyone else. "No, the good news is something else." He said mysteriously. This time, even Bagas was surprised, as he only knew the first news beforehand.

"Master Irfan, no need to tease us like this! Just say it out loud!" Laysa whined immediately.

"Yeah, Master Irfan! Let’s not waste our time here!" Claudia also nodded to support the older girl.

"You both and your impatience... How could you be so good at chess with this lack of patience?" Irfan shook his head helplessly. "Okay, the good news is... This!" He pulled out a flash disk from his pocket, confusing everyone else.

"Um... What is that?" Anna asked confusedly.

"This, my dear... Contain four unnamed tickets for the next week’s Dubai Open. So, does anyone want to have one?" He smiled teasingly, wiggling the disk like it was a meat to lure prey.

"Wait, Dubai Master Open?!" Bagas gasped, attracting everyone’s attention. "That is one of so few open tournaments with high average rating players left this year! The top 25 on that list are all GMs with an ELO rating of above 2500!"

Hiss....

If before, no one really thought much about the ticket, now that Bagas had already spilled the tea, it would be a lie if they said that they were not interested. Right now, they have already gained the exposure that they wanted, so the next step should be to play as many high-level tournaments as possible and try to get a good result.

The high average rating in this tournament also allowed them to chase a norm, giving them hope to upgrade their title. So, yeah, playing in this Dubai Master Open was definitely a good decision for everyone else here.

However, Sheva didn’t jump into the boat quickly. Even though he was tempted, the boy could smell something hidden here, especially after looking at Irfan’s smile. No, Sheva could feel a trap here, and it would be foolish to jump into it without having a gist about what kind of pit hole was in front of him.

So, the boy shifted his body a little bit, putting his hand on his chin before asking, "What is the catch here, Master Irfan?"