Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 465: Getting An Upper Hand?!

The game between Sheva and Donchenko undoubtedly attracted attention from some other players here. Not because of Donchenko, of course, because no disrespect to him, but in the bigger scheme, he was just any other ordinary GM whose progress followed the normal trend. Sheva, though, was a completely different animal, coming like a meteor to threaten the hegemony of those top players.

This time, besides Pragg, who always took some time to take a peek at Sheva’s game, Fabiano Caruana was also there, taking a quick glance at the chessboard in front of the Indonesian boy, while Levon walked away after nodding in appreciation of the position on the board.

’As expected from Sheva, even Fabi and Levon got attracted to his game.’ Pragg couldn’t help but sigh.

The boy himself was here to stretch his stiff body. Today, he played the world champion himself, Ding Liren, and Pragg somehow got bored with it. Not because he underestimated Ding, but the Chinese GM always had a very solid style and took a lot more time in the early game, so it was no wonder that Pragg had a little bit more time to stroll around like this.

Moreover, he was also here to find some inspiration. It was the third round already, and yet, he only got 1.5 points out of 3 draws. While considering how difficult the opponents were, this result was acceptable. Pragg was far from satisfied, and yet, he still found himself stuck without any chance to break through.

That was why he was here, because watching the madness unfold on Sheva’s board could always give him something to think about.

’Hmm... It is Sheva’s turn to move... But what was the last move that his opponent made?’ He couldn’t help but feel curious. Unfortunately, the scoresheet was too far from his position, preventing the boy from taking a peek. ’Oh, well... It doesn’t really matter. I wonder what he is thinking right now...’

While waiting for Sheva to make a move, Pragg himself also calculated quickly inside his head. Yeah, instead of minding his own business since his opponent was the fucking world champion, the boy decided that this was a far more important matter.

Of course, Sheva himself didn’t quite notice that his game attracted some of the big names in the master section to take a glance. Right now, all of his focus was completely on the game, especially thinking of where his advantage was and how he should take advantage of that.

’Damn! I know he just made a mistake, but where? How should I exploit it?’ He scratched his hair slightly, finding this situation to be frustrating. ’His queen? Yeah, it should be the queen. He is too eager to get closer to my side. Still, how should I do this? Move back my knight to let the trade happen? That would kick out his queen as well, giving me a tempo. However, could he make another move?’

So many complicated lines flying in his head, yet in reality, only a few minutes passed as he got entangled in this position. Indeed, just as Medina said, after convincing himself that there was nothing wrong with jumping into Donchenko’s preparation as it was also his preparation, he didn’t hesitate anymore, and soon enough, Sheva got the advantage that he wanted.

Well, not a complete advantage. More like... A feeling. The moment Donchenko slid his queen to the H4 square, his gut told Sheva that something was wrong with the black position. Now, after thinking about it for about four whole minutes, he finally made his move, ready to capitalize on it.

"Yes! He finds it!" Bagas clenched his fist when he saw the move he was waiting for was on the board. "Sheva shuts the diagonal for Donchenko’s queen and also offers an exchange with the black knight on F5, and now, Donchenko cannot reject it! This will open up the F line for Sheva’s rook, and it is time for the counterattack!"

This short narration stunned Medina on the other side of the world, as the woman had her jaw dropped when she heard that. "Honestly, I am impressed, Bagas. Have you played some chess games with Sheva secretly? How could you grasp the situation right two seconds after Sheva makes his move?" No hint of sarcasm could be heard, as, indeed, Medina was curious here.

"Hehe... You can say that, Sister Medina..." Bagas grinned foolishly. If he were a dog, he would wag his tail happily for the compliment.

It wasn’t like Medina was wrong, though. Even though Bagas was no match for Sheva, the boy had been accompanying his friend since the beginning, becoming the punching bag whenever Sheva had a strange idea in his head. Not only that, as a host, he also needed to learn how to convey his analysis verbally, and it took a skill to do that.

Honestly, it had been a while since Bagas grinded his online rating seriously, but if he had half his mind to do so, his rating would’ve bounced way higher than before.

The game continued, and this time, Donchenko also started to have a difficult time. The man had his finger tapping the table quite often, showing discomfort over the current position.

He had already developed all of his pieces, yet the queen was pretty much isolated in the enemy’s territory. The knight and the bishop were still stuck in the seventh rank, not having any room to breathe. If anything, it was Sheva’s pieces that got into a strategic square, what with the white’s light bishop capturing the pawn and neutralizing the gambit that Sheva pulled earlier.

To make it difficult, Sheva also started forming a strong battery with the bishop and the queen, ready to shoot the bazooka from afar. Even though Donchenko still had a small chain pawn to protect the king from getting slammed by the enemy’s attack, the man could still feel that his defensive line was way too weak to stop it.

True enough, in the next move, Sheva finally showed his fang, telling Donchenko and anyone else who watched the game why his battery was dangerous. More than that, the boy did it in the most dramatic way, using the most famous move in the chess community right now.

Yeah, after thinking for a while, Sheva finally decided to sacrifice... HIS ROOK!