Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 419: Sheva VS Arjun Erigaisi! (II)

Tak!

Tak!

Tak!

Several minutes passed, and yet, the game had already succumbed to chaos. Somehow, Arjun, who got the initiative earlier, was now down by 15 minutes. It wasn’t because he got pushed. No, if anything, he was the one who did that. It was just... The boy was puzzled by the series of strange moves that Sheva made in the last couple of minutes.

First, instead of strengthening the kingside by putting two knights on that side, just like the King’s Indian setup, Sheva moved back his knight to the C3 square after taking Arjun’s knight, wasting a full tempo that could be used to solidify his defense. Then, under Arjun’s threat to break through the middle, Sheva ignored it completely, choosing to castle and let his opponent regain the center from him. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

To make it worse, he let Arjun plant a strong pawn in the third rank, becoming the anchor that prevented all of his major pieces from getting out of their territory. It was also infuriating to see that after refusing to solidify the kingside for the first time, after a while, Sheva finally did that, putting the two knights side-by-side to protect the king.

Honestly, with how bad Sheva played, Arjun couldn’t help but suspect that he really didn’t know how to play the Pirc Defense.

’Okay, let’s not overthink it.’ Arjun took a deep breath, trying to regain his focus back ot the game. ’Mister Sagar said in the live broadcast yesterday that Sheva is good at the mind game, at playing in a blurry line. What I have to do is simple. I need to treat him like any ordinary mistake. If he makes a mistake, then it is a mistake, not just a trap that is prepared to deal against me. Not everything is a conspiracy.’

It seemed that he learned something from Pragg’s game yesterday. While it was always good to be wary, sometimes, being overly cautious would only become his downfall. With that in mind, a gear switched in Arjun’s brain, and he started going berserk.

First, he started prying Sheva’s defense open, forcing the pawn exchange to empty the E file. It was a strategic file straight next to where Sheva’s king was getting protected, and now, with it being quite open, the next thing was simple. He just slid all of his rooks to form a battery, connecting each other to stare directly at that line. With the addition of the queen that was already so close to support them, while the two bishops could jump at any time they wanted, now, it looked like Arjun’s offense started to overwhelm Sheva.

Hell, even Bagas and Sarah also started to feel nervous when they saw the current situation on the board.

"It seems that this situation is not good for Sheva, right?" Bagas laughed weakly.

"Indeed, while the computer engine said that it is -1.4 for Arjun, I think that the pressure on the white’s side is greater than that." Sagar Shah nodded while also taking over the mouse, starting to show the sequence of moves in his mind. "Arjun doesn’t even need to do anything right now. He could just bring his dark bishop back, then get his queen to the same diagonal, and he could infiltrate Sheva’s defense directly. Once that happens, I am afraid that it would be difficult for Sheva to survive in the long run."

Although Sagar Shah sided a lot with Arjun, just like what he did yesterday for Pragg, that was only because they were countrymen. However, deep down, he still held his neutral stance, commenting on the game with great professionalism.

"So, how do you think Sheva could survive this situation, Mister Sagar?" Sarah couldn’t help but ask.

"Well... It is quite difficult, if you ask me..." The man pondered for a moment.

While they were discussing this matter, the main protagonist, Sheva, wasn’t really that worried, even for the slightest. No, he just took the glass of water that he brought for this game and enjoyed it without anxiety, having a great feeling that something would happen that could give him a chance to flip the table.

’Yeah, I need to be patient and bide for a chance. He is not like any other players that I have ever met before. He is a Buddha. The more dangerous the situation is, the calmer he would get. There is no way I could get under his skin, but at least, I could send a strong jab from the shadows.’

Yeah, even Sheva himself knew that the situation looked bad for him. However, this was already within his plan. He knew that once Arjun was in his berserk mode, he would start swinging his blade like crazy. This was a two-edged sword, but not a lot of people dared to take advantage of the flaw that he revealed. The reason was simple, and that was because Arjun’s offense was always overwhelming.

However, Sheva came prepared in this game. Instead of going for an all-out offense like his usual style, the boy decided to set up a strong cocoon, playing a strong defense while also waiting for the enemy’s attack to subside.

Yeah, it was a strong defense that Sheva was playing right now. Even though at first glance, his king’s position was quite open in the air, but all of his pieces were close enough to support each other, and when the real attack came, it wouldn’t be able to even scratch his skin. If anything, it would be Arjun who was in danger, as once the dust was settled, he would have no attack anymore, and if anything, it was his king that was going to be in a far more dangerous position.

This was already within his calculation since a few moves ago, and that was why Sheva was eager to reveal his weakness more.

’What is wrong with him?’ Even Arjun couldn’t help but feel uneasy. ’Everything is under my control right now, so why is he still smiling like this? Does he still have something under his sleeve, or is it just another bluff?’ Noticing that his time started to run down too quickly, the boy finally gritted his teeth, concluding, ’Yeah, this is just a bluff! I don’t need to think too much about it, he cannot stop me!’

Right after that, the boy tried to force a bishop exchange, wanting to remove another defender from Sheva’s kingside. However, this was what Sheva had been waiting for, as in the next turn, the boy’s eyes shone brightly.

’Yes! You finally fall for the trap!’