Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 560: Escaping Through the Needle Hole!

Taher hung his head low, not from being dejected, but to hide his eyes from Sheva. He remembered full well a lesson he learned from a YouTube video, and the man really treated the lesson as gospel.

’Remember, eyes are the window to your soul. If you don’t want people to read you easily, you have to control your eyes.’

Yeah, that was just a short, yet somehow a very specific lesson. Taher himself forgot what video it was that he watched firsthand and why. However, the lesson stuck, especially as a chess player, since he didn’t want his opponent to get a grasp on his current emotion.

That was why he looked so cold right now, not even showing any hint of emotion, even though he had just climbed from hell to get his second life.

On the outside, yeah, it might indeed look like he didn’t care. However, inwardly. The man was jumping in ecstasy, punching the air while also shouting so loudly to celebrate this. Under the table, his fists tightened, sweat formed on his palm slowly.

He was excited, but more than that, the man was also nervous here.

’The rest of the game will depend on Sheva’s reaction.’ He couldn’t help but mutter. ’If he failed to rise, this would be my chance to step over him. But if he managed to regain his composure... Well, it doesn’t matter. This is the endgame phase already. As long as I could play safely, there was no way I would make a mistake. Yeah, I can force a draw!’

For all the excitement bursting inside his heart, people would be disappointed to hear that his aim was just to get a draw. However, no one could blame him here. Sheva had been in a monstrous streak, winning all the games that the boy wanted, and only got a draw when he initiated it.

This had been the case since the Prague Chess Festival, and if Taher was able to continue his performance, he would be the first one after a while who managed to force Sheva into a painful draw like this.

Facing the ever-stoic Taher, Sheva couldn’t help but scowl. It wasn’t like he was not willing to let his record break, because a record was always meant to be broken like this. No, if anything, he would be glad to be able to escape from that shackle, finding all the records following behind was just another unnecessary pressure.

However, while he didn’t mind losing that record... The boy would definitely mind losing it due to his own stupidity. Now, even though he regained his calmness quickly, the boy couldn’t stop berating himself, inwardly cursing whenever he made a move.

’Yeah, fuck! How could he be so precise out of the sudden?! Fucking hell...’

’No, don’t be stubborn, please?! Don’t you see that I am threatening a skewer? Move your fucking rook!’

’Goddamnit, Brother Taher! Stop repeating moves! I don’t want a fucking draw!’

As time went by, his mood kept getting worse, as his face turned so dark that it scared the shit out of the man in front of him. The situation on the board was a dead draw, with both sides having two rooks and a bunch of pawns on their respective side.

Honestly, in a normal situation, this would definitely end up in a draw. Hell, Taher even often offered it subtly, repeating the exact same move twice as a silent request for a draw.

Out of spite, though, Sheva rejected them all, opting to continue the game till drop. If he had to take a draw, he would rather it come from the 50-move rule, where he had already exhausted all of his resources before finally accepting his failure.

However, it seemed that God really favored the child who didn’t know how to give up. That... Or a mysterious hand behind the scene—system, cough!—pulled some string to defy the fate.

When Sheva... No, not just Sheva. When all eyes thought that the game couldn’t progress further, and only a draw awaited both players, the crack that Sheva had waited for finally came.

The mistake was simple, honestly, that if Taher observed carefully, he would be able to avoid it. However, with him being low on time, even with the additional 30 minutes, the man still rushed things up, and that was when he messed up everything.

He had two choices: either reinforce the pawn that was so close to the promotion square by putting a rook behind it, or take Sheva’s unimportant pawn with the same rook. With his logical mind, the man concluded that the first option was better. However, it was proven to be a mistake later, as the computer engine went south immediately.

"This is incredible..." Bagas shook his head in exasperation. "And when you think that the game is over..."

"Poor Taher, his mistake is so subtle here." Irfan also had the same gesture, shaking his head in astonishment. "The biggest mistake in this position is that Taher’s rook is completely isolated from the king, as it is straight behind the pawn. Now, it is easy for Sheva, as the only thing he has to do is push the king as far away from that rook with a ladder technique.

Even though it didn’t end with a checkmate, Sheva was quite satisfied with the result. After all, now, not only did Taher’s king get cornered on the edge, but Sheva’s two rooks were also knocking on the door, surrounding Taher’s other rook on the edge of the board that was protecting Sheva’s promotion square.

With that rook being sandwiched, the only way for Taher to save the game was either to sacrifice it for nothing or do a suicidal attack to drag one of Sheva’s rooks down. However, poor man, at the end of the day, it would only prolong his life, not giving him enough spark to flip the table once again.

Knowing that he had the second wind, Higo couldn’t help but let out a small, relieved sigh, and this time, it was truly from the bottom of his heart.

’Now that even the God of Chess itself is on my side, I cannot show any embarrassed moment here. Sorry, Brother Taher, but you will have to step aside from me!’

-Author’s note-

Hey, everyone! Thank you for supporting my story! I have written a new one with the hope of getting a contract for that story as well, the title is ’The Rise of the Iron Wall!’. It is a football story, so if you like, please give your support by adding it to your collection and giving your power stone to that story! Thanks!