Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 452: The End of the World Championship, The Beginning of A New Race!
The World Chess Championship was finally over, ending with the coronation of the new king of the chess world. The Chinese GM, Ding Liren, someone who barely scraped his way through the candidate route, someone who was strong yet had never been considered to be strong enough, now stood still on top of the world, unshaken.
Even Magnus Carlsen himself, the one who decided to not defend his throne, congratulated Ding, citing his move in the last game to refuse the draw offer and even use his own rook as the ’self-pinning to immortality’, believing that the seemingly ordinary move was the one that break Nepo’s composure in the last moment, immortalizing Ding Liren in the history book of chess world.
It was also a heartbroken defeat for Ian Nepomniachtchi, the Russian GM who had been so close to the throne yet always failed in the last moment. This would be his third time losing in this stage, and just like any wise man said, the runner-up was the biggest loser in the world. As he grew older, he might still be a strong player, but no one could guarantee that he could maintain the performance that was good enough for him to challenge the Chinese GM two years later.
This event left so many stories, leaving anyone else sighing in a complicated mood. Some were impressed with Ding’s persistence, and some sympathized with Nepo’s heartbreak. Nevertheless, for the spectators, this was the spectacle to be seen to end the year.
Sheva also clenched his fist as he witnessed Ding Liren being crowned. There was a slight jealousy, yet the more dominant feeling was determination. The desire to stand there as well.
’This might be a pipe dream, but within two years, I have to be able to fight for that spot as well.’ His eyes burned with determination. ’For that, I have to play more, accumulate experience, and more importantly, learn how to control my composure during the most crucial situations. Tata Steel Chess is not enough. I need a higher stage.’
Yeah, even though his stats were still far from the best, that was something that he could improve as time went by, so Sheva wasn’t really worried about that. However, the system couldn’t really track his mental fortitude, so this was something that Sheva had to pay more attention to in the future.
The memory of Nepo, with a shocked face and trembling hand, walking deeper into his own grave, was something that would forever be engraved in his mind. Even though Sheva didn’t have a good impression of him, the boy acknowledged that the Russian GM was a very strong player, and if even that kind of man crumbled in a clutch situation, Sheva was not sure if he could do better.
’Now that this is over, I have to start preparing myself for the next year.’ He thought to himself.
Yeah, with the end of the World Championship, the start of the long race for the Candidate tournament finally began. Sheva had already calculated, and in his mind, only two roads were feasible for him to walk through.
’One spot is for Nepo as the loser of this event. It is impossible for me to get through the rating path. No, I am far from making that particular road possible. Getting through the circuit is also quite hard, especially since the top-event tournaments that would give big points would be monopolized by the same players who received the invitation over and over again.’ He crossed some of his options. ’Then, that means either I have to be in the top three in the World Cup or top two in the Grand Swiss. Not an easy job, but definitely a feasible one.’
The path was clear and concise, so he just needed to put more focus on that.
’Well, let’s see if I am ready for those two events or not.’ Sheva thought. ’System, check my stats, please.’
[DING! The scan is successful!]
[Name: Adrian Sheva]
Attacking 88
Defense 86
Calculation 84
Strategy 84
Intuition 85
Time management 88
Title Slot: [Endgame Master] [National Resonance] [The King of Asia: White level]
Note: The King of Asia gives the host a boost in stats whenever the host plays on the Asian continent. The more the host wins a high-level tournament in Asia, the higher the level of the title will be.
White level: Give the host a 1 percent boost when playing in Asia.
’Hmm... Not bad...’ Sheva nodded in satisfaction. ’Besides intuition and time management, everything is stagnant. However, it is understandable, since I only played rapid and blitz in the last couple of months, and the level is not that high. Still... With the support of the titles, my ability should be around high 2600 or low 2700, right?’ He mused.
As for the last title, The King of Asia, that was the reward he got after winning the Dubai Master Open. It was a useful title, especially since he would mostly play around Asia. The promise that it could get upgraded once he managed to win more tournaments was also crucial, meaning that another upgrade could happen in the future. This also gave Sheva foresight that he could achieve the same for Europe and any other continents.
’Oh, well... That would be a matter for the future. For now, I have to put my focus on Tata Steel first.’
Even though it was the challenger section with a weaker lineup, Sheva didn’t dare to underestimate any of his opponents. For him who was aiming for a win, any mistake was unforgivable. That was why he kept polishing his strategy and all of the openings in his arsenal, trying to force his body to remember everything instinctively.
Time passed by quickly, and without anyone noticing, January finally came. Sheva celebrated it with his mother, watching the fireworks exploding from afar. It was a nice change of pace after training like a bull for so long, and somehow, it allowed him to adjust his mentality for the next year.
Then, after that, the real race for the Candidates finally started, and Sheva began it all with another great news from Bagas.
"SHEV! Something unexpected happens!" The fat boy shouted as he barged into Sheva’s house, chest breathing heavily, clearly having been running for a while. Before Sheva could ask anything, though, his best friend continued, "YOU HAVE BEEN INVITED TO ANOTHER TOURNAMENT!"
