Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 512: A Solid Draw?

"I don’t like this," Bagas stated solemnly. "I really don’t like how the game progresses so far." He added, emphasizing that the game was already out of his expectations.

It was about two and a half hours since the game began, and while it was still the 26th move of the game, half of the board was already cleared from the carnage that had descended on the battlefield. Gone were all the major pieces, falling one by one from the cruel war. Now, only one rook and a bunch of pawns were still standing for both sides, trying to defend their homeland from the enemy’s desperate attack.

"I know why you are feeling that way, but honestly, you don’t have any reason to worry," Medina said. "While yes, this is not the kind of game that we see a lot from Sheva, but it is not like he is bad at endgame. You still remember how he beat Johan Sebastian Christiansen from Norway in the last Olympiad, right?"

Bagas didn’t have a clue about what she was talking about, but Irene, who also remembered that game, shook her head quickly. "No, bad example, Medina. He passed out right after the game was over, remember?"

"Oh... AH! I remember that one!" Bagas exclaimed with eyes wide in realization. "Um... Well... I don’t really remember the game, just the fact that Sheva passed out in that game, and indeed, Master Irene is right, Master Medina. That is a bad example." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

Medina flushed in embarrassment as she also just remembered how the game ended. However, truth to be told, this was not a bad example. After all, in that game, Sheva showed for the first time ever his brilliant mind in the endgame phase, and that was when the other players realized that they couldn’t bully him in that section anymore.

"Well, anyway, my point is, Sheva is also a strong player in the endgame phase, so you don’t need to worry too much about him." She shifted the topic quickly, trying to save herself.

"Also, you have to see the time control," Irene added. "Just like the usual, Sheva’s superior time management manages to land him in a favorable situation. Right now, he still has 25 minutes left, while his opponent’s remaining time is only about 6 minutes. They are still 14 moves away from getting an additional 30 minute, so we can see him putting more pressure right after this."

True enough, soon enough, Sheva started to speed things up, moving in within ten to fifteen seconds. It wasn’t the most accurate choice, and the evaluation bar even showed that most of the moves that he made could be considered a mistake. However, due to his confidence in forcing a move and the reputation he painstakingly built, the opponent didn’t see anything wrong in each move, and it only made the man more nervous.

’Yes, that’s how it should be done.’ Sheva smirked as he glanced slightly at his opponent. ’You might get a stats boost out of nowhere, but that doesn’t mean you can be good instantly out of nowhere. Your mindset is still the same. Just like any other player, you will start panicking once you are down in time like this. Now, it should be time for me to reap the benefit of it, right?’

Well, that was what Sheva thought. Unfortunately, he still underestimated the boost that Jergus Pechac received just for this game. It was as if he consumed a drug that could make him stay calm even under time pressure, and the man executed everything perfectly. The tight wall he erected to stop Sheva’s attack was so frustrating, and honestly, the boy even considered forcing a draw for a moment.

’No, no, no, this game is still winnable.’ Sheva shook his head quickly. ’I just need to be patient and consume his time more. Once he is in real time trouble, that’s when my chance comes. Before that, I need to make sure that he doesn’t get the easy draw he wants.’

What he meant by the real time trouble was when Jergus Pechac was really down in time with no hope of getting any additional time. For now, the Slovakian GM wasn’t really worried because he would get 30 minutes more after the 40th move. But later, things would be different for him.

Jergus Pechac was startled when he saw that Sheva was going to prolong the game. For a moment, he thought that the boy was finally willing to take a draw, especially since the boy was about to make two repeated moves in a row.

It would be a lie if the man said he wasn’t ecstatic about that prospect, since he knew that Sheva was a tough nut to crack. Unfortunately, now that Sheva didn’t want to amuse that idea anymore, it seemed that he still had to continue fighting for a point here.

’Oh, well, it should be an easy endgame to force a draw. As long as I didn’t make a mistake, I would be able to get something from this game.’ The man naively thought.

Indeed, as an experienced player, this endgame should be an easy one to convert into a draw. Jergus Pechac also did everything perfectly, starting to exchange more pawns to make things simple. This was the standard strategy in the endgame phase, especially for the player who wanted a draw, and when Bagas saw this, he couldn’t help but feel worried.

"Does Sheva still have a chance to create something here?" He asked weakly.

"... How should I say it..." Irene pondered. "I think... A draw is still a good result. After all, no players could win forever, right? It is better to get a draw right now against a higher-rated opponent and try to recover for tomorrow, because the tournament is still quite long."

Yes, even Irene herself had already deemed the game as unwinnable. There was nothing else Sheva could do except to wait for the opponent to make a blunder, but the possibility was quite low. Bagas could only sigh dejectedly, knowing that this was the best outcome.

However, Medina shook her head quickly, knowing that this was not far from over.

"No, Sheva hasn’t given up yet. He still has a chance to win this game. Just wait."