Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 575: The Current Situation of the Tournament!

The result on Sheva’s table only made the boy fly higher, leaving everyone in the dust. With his win, he had already collected 5 points out of five rounds, with the closest one only having 4 points. He led with an absolute dominance, having one full point ahead of his other competitors.

The closest one behind him was the Vietnamese GM, Le Tuan Minh, who was forced to a draw result in the last round. Then, with the same point, the surprising name came, as Arfan and Nayaka snuck into the big league after making some upsets in the last few rounds before.

Yeah, that Nayaka, Sheva’s student, whom the boy also beat in the first round.

Somehow, that boy managed to bounce back, beating everyone black and blue and gathering so many ELO ratings in this tournament. Hell, the boy even managed to beat Novendra in the last round, earning 70 ELO ratings in one go. In total, just from the four wins he achieved, the boy gained 149 ELO ratings, catapulting his rating from around 1900 to a low of 2100 immediately.

’Damn, as expected of him, he just needs a chance to showcase his talent.’ Sheva shook his head admiringly. ’Should I take time to take a look at him? Yeah, I should do that, right?’

That was guilt that drove him to think about it. After all, the third day of the tournament was about to end with five rounds having passed already, and yet, Sheva only talked to Nayaka once during their matchup in the first round. After that, he seemed not to care about the boy anymore, letting him loose like a wild beast to beat everyone who stood in front of him.

He could say that he was busy, of course, that his preparation as a GM was more meticulous and needed more time to spend. However, that would be a lie, since he himself was still able to help the three girls with their research when they asked him to.

The treatment difference from him toward the girls and Nayaka was somehow enough to make him guilty and ashamed, and the boy put it on the back of his mind to rectify this matter tomorrow.

’Yeah, let’s do it tomorrow morning. His opponent should be either Master Susanto or Tin Jingyao, right? My insight will definitely be a huge help for him.’ Sheva nodded at himself secretly.

Arfan was also thriving in this tournament. However, he also suffered a down rate, since the two draws he got were in the first two games of the tournament, when his opponents were still the low-rated players here. The boy managed to bounce back with three wins in a row, but the damage had already been done. In total, the boy lost 7 ELO ratings here, a contrast to his position in the table.

Not only that, to make it worse, there was a huge chance that the boy’s next opponent would be Sheva. After all, the only one on top of the standing that Sheva hadn’t beaten was him, and this was definitely the worst-case scenario for Arfan.

’Still, the last time we played against each other was in the Jakarta Chess Festival last year, right? We fought for about five hours with a draw after 108 moves. What a crazy game, that was...’ Sheva couldn’t help but smile in reminisce.

Of course, he had no intention to get a draw again. Even though it couldn’t be said as a rivalry, considering how high Sheva flew already, the boy still treated Arfan as a formidable opponent, so slipping in this game was a no-go.

Still, the situation in the men’s section was stabilized, with Sheva having beaten all the top players of the tournament already. It was a completely different situation compared to the women’s section, where everyone was still going for each other’s throats.

After a long and torturous battle in the fifth round, Medina finally managed to secure the position as the current sole leader, being the only winner out of the five players who had 3.5 points in the last round. She managed to beat the Vietnamese WGM, Vo Thi Kim Phung, which was a huge result, as that Vietnamese woman was also one of the favorites in this tournament.

Behind her, so many players were following in her step. With 4 points, Bathkuyag Munguntuul, Irene, Dita Karenza, Laysa, and the Singaporean WGM Gong Qianyun were still eyeing the top spot.

Yeah, in the last round, Irene managed to beat Claudia, keeping a close distance with Medina as the top leader. This result also made things difficult for the latter to have hope for the World Cup’s ticket, what with her being only 2.5 points out of 5 rounds, 2 points behind the top standing.

She would need to win the rest of the four games to have a chance, and that still depended on the result that the other players had. It was not controversial to say that Claudia’s chance to get the top spot was basically close to none.

Then, there was also Dita Karenza, probably the biggest surprise in the tournament.

Honestly, Sheva had never heard her name before, and that was only because she lived in a different circle, a different city. In reality, she was another strong player buried in the mud, trying to survive on the grassroots level with the scarce resources there.

In reality, the woman was probably around 2300 to 2350, and given opportunities like him and the three girls under his tutelage, she could earn her WGM title immediately. Just another strong player in a deep pool of women’s talent in this country.

’Damn, how could all the hidden talents of women? When will someone strong appear in the men’s section?’ Sheva sighed helplessly.

Nevertheless, the tournament started to take shape for the women’s section as well. Now, Medina had a huge chance in winning the entire tournament, what with her being the top leader and having already played against all the difficult players in the section. Even though her lead was only half a point, that was still enough to give her an edge for the rest of the tournament.

’Now, let’s see the pairing for tomorrow’s round...’