Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 400: A Little Crack

It all started with a little crack.

In a heated endgame, where almost all the pieces were gone already, the computer wanted Predke to put more pressure on Sheva’s rook while also activating his poor-positioned bishop to a more engaged square. However, instead of doing that, the Russian GM slid his inactive rook that was still at its home square, A8, to E8, wanting to involve it in the game as well.

The thought was decent. With Sheva’s rook controlling the empty D file, he also wanted to do the same for the E file. The only problem was that it was in a perfect square for Sheva’s rook to make two jumps in a row and fork it with the king as well. If that happened, that would be a disaster for the Russian GM. That was why the computer engine moved slightly upward, giving Sheva a +1.7 advantage for that mistake alone.

Neither player really sees that as a mistake, though. After all, the square for the knight to fork was still protected heavily, and once Sheva made a jump, that would alert Predke immediately. So, yeah, even Sheva himself didn’t think that he had an advantage.

However, just like any crack in the world, it always started small and was ignored by the others, and then, it slowly leaked, spreading like a wildfire until it couldn’t be ignored again. After Predke ignored the looming threat from Sheva’s knight twice in a row, the boy started to ponder, wondering if he could make the man pay for this chance.

’If my knight jumps to the H5 square, he would counter it with the pawn to F6 move, preventing my knight from getting closer to that side. Wait, no! I could still sack my bishop and knight! Getting a rook and a pawn is pretty much fair compensation! No, no, no, I don’t even have to go for that fork! My rook is so close to his defensive line, so why not infiltrate it first? Yeah, once I could get that rook in the seventh rank, it should’ve been no problem for me to win!’

So many lines and variations flew inside his head, waiting for Sheva to pick. The boy also started sweating profusely. As they entered the endgame phase, the side effect of the Endgame Master title kicked in as well, and even though Sheva had already been training his physicality to death, two weeks of training seemed not to be enough to improve his body by much.

In the end, Sheva picked up one of the lines that he thought to be feasible. It was one where he baited the opponent’s pawn to move to the F6 square, then instead of sacrificing his bishop, he let his rook infiltrate through the seventh rank, ready to take down all the opponent’s pawns that hadn’t made a move yet.

Of course, that didn’t mean Sheva would win the game absolutely. No, the boy himself didn’t really think that his advantage was that great. Also, in such a close endgame like this, even a simple blunder like misplacing the pieces one square away could be fatal, so he didn’t dare to be overconfident until everything was final.

However, Alexandr Predke, on the other side of the table, started to feel uneasy. Even though the advantages and disadvantages in this kind of endgame were so subtle that it wasn’t easy to see with naked eyes, he, who had been playing in a top-level chess tournament for the last few years, could feel it. Something crawled on his skin, as if screaming that he was in danger right now. Predke knew that if he ignored his instinct, his life wouldn’t last for too long in this game.

’No, this is dangerous.’ He shook his head quickly, trying to regain his concentration on the game. ’I have managed to control the damage to only one pawn instead of my major pieces, but he has already infiltrated my defense. My king needs to get out before it is too late. No, I have to kick out that knight first. His bishop is also in such a strong diagonal that it threatens and defends everything, even without moving a single inch. How could his position suddenly be this good?!’ He growled in frustration.

Yeah, Sheva’s situation was a bit hard to describe. Out of five pawns that he still had, three were in their home square, while the other two only moved one square forward since the beginning of the game. However, the pawn’s passiveness was compensated for by the three ridiculously strong pieces. The rook, the dark bishop, and the knight, all in a very strategic square, pointing their gun at the opponent’s wall. It was no wonder that Predke was so flustered. If not being handled properly, he would lose another major chunk of advantage, and when that happened, his life would be over.

Predke also thought of a counterplay here. He started pushing his pawn to deflect Sheva’s bishop from controlling such a strong diagonal, moving his rook to threaten the opponent’s knight, and hell, at some point, he was even so close to getting a backrank mate. Sheva felt cold sweat rolling down his forehead, as he was so close to not noticing that.

’Fortunately, I want to move my bishop here, so that I can notice that square on the back that could be my execution spot. It would drive me crazy if somehow I fail to win after such a crazy attack like this.’ He muttered to himself.

Fortunately, it was quite easy to neutralize the incoming attack from Alexandr Predke. Sheva didn’t even need to think of so many complicated lines here. It was just a one-liner amateur attack that didn’t have any follow-up, so after giving his king a room to escape, everything was fine for Sheva’s side.

On the other hand, though, his attack also started to overwhelm his opponent. All of his pieces coordinated flawlessly, luring the black king out of its safe zone toward the middle. Hell, even his own pawn also contributed to this king hunt event, trying to be the Goliath that annihilated the David on the other side of the board.

In the end, after running away for so long, the black king was finally exhausted. The same could be said for Predke, who let out a deep, long sigh. After pondering for a bit more, the man finally did what everyone on Bagas’s live broadcast was waiting for.

The man resigned, giving away another point for Sheva.