Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 491: Spicing Things Up

"Oh, Trompowsky Attack?" Levon exclaimed, and one of his eyebrows rose slightly. "It has been a long time since I played this opening!"

It wasn’t just him, but all the older guys also perked up when they saw the move. Magnus also nodded at Sheva, giving the boy his approval. "Not bad, boy. You really know how to spice things up." He commented.

Unlike the oldies, though, the youngsters frowned, finding this situation to be difficult. This was not the opening that they played quite often, and if only they were playing against anyone else, they would still be able to stay confident facing the game. However, their current opponents were far from being ordinary, and any mistake would only kill them sooner.

The only one who didn’t have a frown on his face was Pragg, and it was only because he faced this opening a lot in his youth. ’Yeah, this one was Arjun’s favorite in the past. Definitely not expecting to see it here.’ He glanced at Sheva sideways.

Sheva himself didn’t really care about the attention he received. Right now, his mind is focused straight on the board in front of him, especially the system that he deliberately picked for this game.

’Even though I don’t like 1.d4 opening, that doesn’t mean I am clueless. This is the trump card that I’ve been practicing on for a long time. Since the chance to exchange ideas with the best of the best comes, why would I hold back?’

The Trompowsky Attack itself was an aggressive and flexible opening for White, designed to immediately challenge Black by aiming to exchange the dark-squared bishop for a knight. The purpose was simple: to force a doubled-pawn structure for the opponent since the earlier part of the game, making it difficult for the black player to develop their pieces.

More than that, this opening also went out of the normal routine, such as the Queen’s Gambit, the Queen’s Indian, the Nimzo-Indian, or something like that. This was the opening that didn’t delve deeper into the theory line, good at attacking, and quite flexible if the player wanted to go for a positional battle. Overall, this was a perfect opening system for Sheva.

True enough, the game went exactly like what Sheva—and Magnus—wanted. Chaos descended on the board, with all the players went crazy on their moves.

Vincent Keymer made the first inaccuracy by castling too quickly when Nordibek wanted to reroute the knight first by using the square that was occupied by the rook after the castle. This made the white piece lose tempo for a few moves, as the knight was in such a passive square and was unable to move.

Then, a few moves later, Wesley So followed up with another passive move, pushing back the queen to the original square. This allowed the white piece to push forward, which would occupy more of the black’s territory.

Sheva also made a mistake that nullified the advantage, but in the next turn, Anish returned it with his own mistake. Honestly, the game really embodied what it meant to be a blitz game, crazy and full of action. Of course, with them fighting alongside each other, the thick wall that was there before the game began finally melted, as the teenagers started to scold and mock each other ruthlessly.

"Come on, Vincent! This is your second mistake already! Where is your gut, man?!" Sheva mocked the man without any reservation.

"Oh, shut up!" The German GM growled in irritation, his heavy accent even slipping unconsciously. "Can you see that we have to stabilize our position first? Nordibek’s move is so bad that I have to clean up his mess first!"

"My move is bad?!" Nordibek Abdusattorov was offended when he was blamed out of nowhere. "It is clear that you just overthink! No need to hide! You are just too nervous that Magnus’s move has a hidden meaning, right? A coward, you are!"

"Why, you?!"

"Hey, guys, no need to be cutthroat like that!" Levon, the oldest one among them, sighed like an old dad who got enough of his kids’ shenanigans. "It is good to be competitive, but we are just trying to have fun here!"

"You can say that because you didn’t play that well, Levon." Anish retorted while also moving the piece to the square that he wanted.

Then, Magnus, who had been quiet for a while, decided to chime in with his ruthless comment. "As if you have the right to say that, Anish. Are you still drunk from winning the tournament yesterday? You play like trash, you know?"

They kept bickering with each other, and honestly, Bagas, who was pretty much transparent behind the camera, had the corner of his mouth twitching speechlessly when he saw the scene unfold in front of him. Gone was the mighty air that the elite players always had in their eyes, as this was definitely not the behavior that the fans outside could ever think of.

’Still, this is quite good for them, right?’ He thought inwardly. ’At least, this makes them look human, not just a bunch of machines that are designed to make the most accurate move every day.’

As he was contemplating his thought, the game also continued, and this time, it was Nordibek who finally made a mistake. It was quite fatal, as the Indian GM let the black queen infiltrate the heart of the white’s territory. Still, at first, everything looked manageable, and none of the teenagers made a fuss about it. However, Pragg suddenly decided to double down in the next turn with his mistake, making the situation worse instantly for the white piece.

"What the hell, Pragg?! Are you trying to sabotage us here?" Sheva asked in shock, not expecting the boy to make such a rookie mistake. Both Vincent and Nordibek also turned to the Indian GM questioningly, noticing the blunder on the board.

"What do you mean by sabotaging?! It is a good move, okay? Don’t slander me like that!" Pragg defended himself weakly, stuttered a little as he himself also realized the mistake that he made.

"Ha! You youngsters finally crumble! As expected, you kids are still inexperienced!" Anish mocked with his trademark teasing smile.

Seeing the mistake was made on the board, there was no way a bunch of veterans in front of them would let it slide so easily. They were like a group of sharks smelling blood from far away, starting to chase the source of it ferociously. Even Wesley So, the calmest one among them, also turned into an aggressive beast, ready to pounce on the white’s defense alive.

For a moment, everything looked bleak for white, and Sheva even had half of his mind resigning the game. However, the others seemed to have a different idea, so he could only suffer while following their lead.

However, suddenly, in the most crucial moment, the miracle that the youngsters’ team was waiting for finally arrived, and it came from the most unexpected person here, making everyone snap their heads to the culprit.

’What the hell... Magnus makes a mistake?!’