Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 475: Sixth Round! Sheva VS Vaishali

This small episode was over quite fast, but the effect lasted for a long time. Even after the day passed, Sheva’s spirit was still burning, eager to play against those two again. Hell, in his mind, the boy had already imagined that he would stand on the same level against them, playing in some of the best tournaments in the world or something like that.

Unfortunately, he also still had to face the cruel reality here, which was the fact that he himself was 150 ELO ratings behind Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa. That was not a gap that could be closed down quickly, so it would be quite a long time before he could realize his dream.

’Oh, well, let’s not think too far in the future.’ Sheva shook his head strongly, trying to clear his mind. ’For now, the most important thing should be to focus on whatever is in front of me. Let’s not chew more than I can bite.’

For now, he put his focus on what was in front of him, which was the girl he knew a little bit, as she was friends with some of the girls back home.

Vaishali Rameshbabu.

Yeah, after a day off, his opponent would be Pragg’s older sister, the young girl who was predicted by so many people to be India’s third woman who would become a GM after Humpy Koneru and Harika Dronavalli.

"Sister Vaishali, it is going to be the first time we play against each other, right?" Sheva smiled politely. However, that smile in Vaishali’s eyes was so devious, like a predator trying to act innocent in front of its prey.

"Yes, this will be... Interesting." Vaishali smiled wryly.

Honestly, with her current record of 2 draws and 3 defeats, Sheva was probably the worst player she could meet today. The girl was really in need of a positive result to boost her confidence, and playing against Sheva, a ruthless juggernaut, would only do the opposite thing.

Even her brother was beaten by the boy in front of her, let alone her!

Sheva himself didn’t really know what was inside Vaishali’s mind. Still, based on her ugly expression, he could’ve guessed the gist of it, and somehow, this only made his grin grow wider. It wasn’t like he was a sadist who enjoyed his opponent’s misery, but getting an upper hand in this kind of psychological warfare meant that he was half a step ahead, and the win should be within his reach.

Not that he would need this kind of advantage, of course. No offense to Vaishali, but Sheva himself believed that his ability was far higher than hers.

’Also, my title, The Strong Man Aura, gives me a 5 percent boost in all of my stats against any lower-rated opponent, so there is no way I would slip this time.’

Yeah, this was the source of his confidence. It worked once against Thomas Beerdsen, the local IM, whom he beat three days ago, and even though the sample was just one, the boy had great confidence in the system’s product.

[Thank you for the compliment, Host.]

Sheva just rolled his eyes lightly when he heard that. At this point, he had already gotten used to the system that always came and left whenever it wanted, so the boy didn’t really think too much about that.

’Speaking of the system...’ Sheva suddenly pondered about something. ’Hey, system, can you show me my current stats?’

[DING! The scan is successful!]

[Name: Adrian Sheva]

Attacking 89

Defense 87

Calculation 85

Strategy 84

Intuition 85

Time management 88

Title Slot: [Endgame Master] [National Resonance] [The King of Asia: White level] [The Strong Man Aura]

’Hmm... Not bad...’ Sheva nodded in satisfaction. ’It has been five days since the tournament began, and my attacking stat has already increased by one point. It wouldn’t be long before it crosses the threshold of 90 that any super GMs possess.’

It had been a long time, but finally, Sheva was so close to crossing the threshold of the super GM. Of course, chess itself was not a pure game of statistics. Even with this crazy statistic, he could still lose a game or two against those with a higher rating. However, at least, this put his floor way higher than any other player, which also worked well in boosting his confidence.

While he was daydreaming, the alarm finally rang, telling all the players that the sixth round of the game had already started. This also snapped Sheva from his daydreaming, as the boy started to make a move already. Of course, just like the usual, he went for the normal King’s Pawn opening, believing that this worked perfectly for the boy.

For a moment, everything looked fine. Both players blitzed out their way through the opening stage, moving so fast that their current time was greater than the initial time provided by the tournament. This was a normal occasion, as, probably, all the games in the venue also went the same way.

Vaishali chose to go for the Sicilian Opening, which wasn’t a big surprise for Sheva. Although he was confident in winning this game, the boy was not cocky enough to not prepare for anything against his opponent, so he knew quite well that most of Vaishali’s games with the King’s Pawn opening as the black piece were either to go for the Ruy-Lopez or the Sicilian one, and he had already been prepared for them both.

Sheva also went with his best weapon, though. He didn’t hesitate to pick the Alapin variation, challenging the center immediately while also dragging the game out of the theoretical line immediately.

The girl also had the same indifferent reaction, not even bothering with his choice. Just like Sheva, she had also prepared for this line beforehand, knowing that the boy would go for this once she went with the Sicilian Defense.

The intelligence battle between those two ended up in a draw for the first round, with neither side able to gain an upper hand in the battle. However, Sheva wasn’t that worried, knowing that he still had one more piece of information in his pocket that could threaten Vaishali in the later stage.

’Let’s see how you will survive in this matter, Sister Vaishali...’