Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 460: A Simple Yet Difficult Strategy to Win

"Sheva doesn’t really play like his usual style, right?" Bagas said as he was hosting the broadcast once again. "I mean, whether it is the game today or his matchup yesterday, he seems a little bit more... Reserved? I don’t know, but his lack of aggressiveness really worries me."

It had been almost one hour since the match began, and both players had already entered the stagnant phase where they would spend their time more carefully. To fill the gap, Bagas tried his best to engage in more conversation, and this was one of the few questions he felt would pique the viewers’ interest.

Hilda99: Yeah, he is playing more like a super GM now! More stable!

Froggies: I am a little bit sad that he lost his aggressiveness, but as long as he could maintain his form, I don’t care how he plays!

Kara06: Yeah, if he lost, it doesn’t matter how beautiful he plays! Winning is still the highest priority!

Medina, the partner and expert in the broadcast room, couldn’t help but sigh when she read the comments. "It is not like he stops playing aggressively, but his experience in rapid and blitz for the last three months really shapes his mindset, giving him an idea of how to play safely while still aiming for the win."

"Oh? Is there something that good?" Bagas couldn’t help but ask, curious.

"Indeed. Hmm... How should I put it..." Medina pondered, a frown could be seen forming on her face on the screen. "What do you think is the most efficient strategy in rapid and blitz?" Instead of answering, she suddenly asked another question.

"Rapid and blitz?" Bagas was taken aback. "It should be Sheva’s usual strategy, right? Dragging his opponent into an unknown territory and defeating them all under time pressure?" He answered, unsure.

"Well, yeah, that is a good strategy, but definitely not the most effective one." Medina nodded. "In fact, the one that most elite players, including Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, often use is simple. Get a simple and quick advantage, then simplify everything and expand that advantage in the endgame stage."

Bagas blinked for a second, not knowing whether the woman was serious or not. After all, it sounded so... Simple?

"I am serious here." Medina smiled, noticing his change of expression. "This is what those elite players are good at. They try to get a simple and quick advantage, regardless of whether it is one point material, doubled-pawn, isolated-pawn structure, or even a locked piece. Once the advantage is on the board, they will try to simplify the game and... BAM! In the next second, that advantage will be too great to be ignored, and the opponent doesn’t have any choice but resign."

When Bagas heard that, he had to admit that it was a reliable strategy. No fancy and risky tactic, just a simple approach to ensure the win quickly. It was definitely a good thing for Sheva to learn something like this. Still...

"Isn’t that really easy, though?" He asked skeptically.

"Easy, my ars—I mean, what do you mean by easy?" Medina frowned, almost slipped in a live broadcast of more than 6000 viewers. "The concept is easy, but the execution is so damn difficult! Ensuring that you can play like a machine for almost the entire game while also waiting for the opponent to slip is not something that could be done in a blink! Also, if somehow the opponent managed to play with the same perfection, everything would end up in a draw! That’s why, only those elite GMs were able to pull this strategy!"

Bagas could feel a cold sweat on his face from the little slip that escaped from Medina’s mouth. Even though it was not a television broadcast and there was no strict rule for it, the no-curse rule seemed to be the unwritten rule here, and honestly, Bagas himself didn’t know how to handle it if that slip was complete. It seemed that the viewers also noticed that, as they all laughed their asses off at Bagas’s nervousness.

"Anyway~!" The fat boy coughed awkwardly. "Since Sheva is confident with this playing style, and he himself was able to get a positive result with that yesterday, does that mean he has officially entered that elite realm?" His tone was excited, easily guiding the viewers to forget about the previous topic.

"Well, I cannot say yes for sure, but at least, we can expect a massive improvement in Sheva’s playing style!"

While those two were busy analyzing—glazing—over Sheva’s new playing style, the boy himself didn’t really care about that. Hell, he himself didn’t even notice the change, feeling like he was still himself three months ago. Well, that was something to be thought about later, as right now, he put his focus completely on Amin Tabatabaei.

Somehow, while the game itself was still equal, Sheva managed to push Amin into passiveness, what with him being the one taking the initiative of what piece would they trade first and which one would be kept in tension for the near future.

Unfortunately, that was it.

Other than that, Amin always responded to everything perfectly, not giving Sheva any opening that the boy wanted. To make things frustrating, though, the Iranian GM also went for the same playing style, waiting patiently until Sheva slipped into his own madness, like how it was in the past.

’Damn, does he think that he can outmatch me in the patience duel?! If so, he is fucking right!’ Sheva couldn’t help but curse. ’Still, what the hell with his passiveness, letting me get all the good positions to attack?! Isn’t he afraid of my attack, or does he still have anything up his sleeve?!’

Honestly, it was not usual, but today, Sheva got outmatched in the mind game where he always excelled. Amin himself just sat still, sometimes even strolling around calmly, showing his nonchalant attitude. If anything, this was the most infuriating part about this game, as the Iranian GM had never shown any hint of weakness in his emotions.

’Yeah, fuck it! He is a heartless robot, I can tell!’ Sheva shook his head quickly, trying to adjust his mental state. ’Well, if he wants to play like this forever, let’s see how he would handle the endgame against me!’