Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 413: Medina’s Messy Game

"Good man, you have the same record as Sheva right now!" Pragg grinned; the frustration after losing the game earlier was gone already. "Now, it is your task to avenge me tomorrow, okay? Don’t bring shame to us geniuses, and don’t make him use us as a stepping stone!" He punched Arjun’s shoulder playfully.

"Ah... It is still not sure whether we are going to play each other tomorrow or not..." Arjun said with his soft tone, his eyes trying to avoid Sheva’s shyly. At this point, the contrast between his playing style and personality was so huge, like heaven and hell, and even Sheva couldn’t help but wonder, ’How could someone be so different like this?’

"Bah! There is no way you both wouldn’t play against each other! I tell you that!" Pragg scoffed, having already been used with Arjun’s personality. "Just remember, you have to take revenge for me, okay?"

Seeing the smugness on Pragg’s face, Sheva couldn’t help but snort. However, when he turned around and saw Anna still with a heavy expression, his gaze softened as he said, "Well, you can take all the revenge that you want, but get ready to receive the end of it as well. I have a girl I have to avenge as well tomorrow, so don’t be happy too early, okay?"

Right after that, he patted Anna’s head fondly, then with a single nod, they both left the two Indian prodigies in silence. They didn’t need to say anything else right now. The tension was there. The set was there. The story was there. Tomorrow, against Arjun, Sheva would have to go all out again, and yet, the boy clenched his fist, couldn’t even contain his excitement right now.

"Calm down, you are making a scene here," Anna whispered after they walked for a little while, tugging Sheva’s sleeves gently. "I don’t need you to avenge me, you know?" She asked softly.

"Oh, I know. I know you are not that petty." Sheva snorted. "I just need a reason to say that, or I would look weak compared to him." He grinned goofily.

"I will never understand you boys and your pride game." Anna shook her head in amusement.

It was surprising, but Anna herself didn’t feel upset or frustrated after losing to Arjun. Maybe her mindset coming to the game wasn’t quite right, thinking that she would definitely lose no matter what. If Sheva knew about that, he would frown at the girl silently. Even though he disapproved of that, the boy had to respect how she faced the reality calmly. However, Anna had to change that mindset soon, because it could be her downfall in the future.

"Anyway, let’s see how the others are going!" She grabbed Sheva’s arm before dragging him to stroll around the venue.

Two hours had passed already, and some of the games were already over at this point. However, for most of them, they had just entered the climax state, so this was probably the best moment to take a look. Their first destination was Medina’s game, where the woman was fighting for her life against Vaishali Rameshbabu, trying to get something in a very equal endgame.

It was such a bad coincidence, though, that they came in right to witness Medina making a huge blunder that could potentially be a decisive factor in this game.

"Urgh... Sister Medina is overthinking again..." Sheva groaned weakly. He had been reminding that woman over and over again that sometimes, the simplest move was the best to pull in the most complicated moment. "She wants to get rid of her doubled pawn, I get it, but it is not necessary! All she needs to do is take that rook, exchange it, and everything will be manageable. But no! Of course, she doesn’t follow that plan! Now, not only did he lose her two pawns on that A file, but Vaishali’s rook will be infiltrating deep enough to create trouble for her."

Anna just smiled amusedly when she heard Sheva’s rant. She knew that the boy always cared about everyone’s improvement the most. Even though he didn’t actively give it, whenever someone asked, Sheva would always be eager to give more advice, hoping that the others could follow his step and leap into a higher stage. Unfortunately, not everyone was like Sheva, so it was not an easy task to pull off a miracle.

"Well, Sister Medina also has her own difficulty. Changing a playing style is a difficult task, you know?" She nudged Sheva’s waist lightly.

"Uh... I know that..." Sheva groaned once again. "It is just frustrating to see the mistake that I keep reminding her to happen on the board over and over again..."

"Well, just wait. Maybe it is not over yet." The girl smiled mysteriously.

Even though Sheva didn’t understand why she said that, he still kept his eyes on the board. However, it would be a lie if he said he was optimistic. Even though the attack wasn’t that overwhelming, Vaishali now held the initiative, and it would be hard for Medina to escape.

However, to her surprise, in the next few turns, the Indian girl suddenly made a shocking move. She gave up the attack straight away, offering a queen exchange out of nowhere. This move was enough to stun Sheva, as the boy had his jaw dropped instantly.

"W—What... How... I don’t... Why?" He was too speechless to utter a coherent word, turning around at Anna for an explanation.

"You are still looking at everything with your glasses, which is not wrong, but you forget that not everyone can calculate as meticulously as you. What you consider obvious blunder, more often than not, are something that we couldn’t really see on the board, and it might be simple for you, but even for me, the position on the board is still blurry, so even though I didn’t expect she would offer a queen exchange, I could see her make a blunder as well to make the game equal again."

This explanation was ridiculous, yet Sheva didn’t have any argument to deny that. The fact was in front of him right now, and no matter how he felt, it didn’t change anything. The game continued, and Medina didn’t refuse the exchange offer this time. Now that there was only one rook and an opposite color bishop for both sides, the game was a clear draw, and they only needed to wait for who would offer it first.

After dilly-dallying for a bit, in the end, it was Vaishali who offered a handshake. With both players having a bishop yet in a different color, the game couldn’t progress further, and even if they didn’t want to admit it, a draw was bound to happen.

This also ended the small matchup between Indonesia and India, with the players from both countries having to be satisfied with a draw result.

Indonesia 1.5 – 1.5 India