Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 455: First Game, Sheva VS Max Warmerdam!
"Hello, everybody! Welcome back to the Black Rook Channel, with me, Septian Bagaskara, as your host today!" Bagas opened his live stream with the usual enthusiasm, bringing an instant hype from his viewers. "I know it has been a long time since we have a tournament stream, but I also know that this is something that you all have been waiting for, right? All those open tournaments, they are not enough to satisfy your hunger anymore, right?"
Hilda99: Hell, yeah! Finally, an invitational tournament!
Froggies: At least, this is the testament that Sheva’s ability starts to get acknowledged, right?
MessitheGOAT10: With this and the Prague Tournament next month, Sheva is definitely flying higher this year!
Hilda99: Come on!
(+122 new chats)
Bagas nodded subtly, satisfied with the result. After three months of only posting daily vlogs of Sheva’s tournament without streaming it, this was the exact reaction he wanted once the channel made a comeback for a big tournament.
"Just like the usual, I will not be alone here." He coughed a little, trying to control the crowd better. "With me, a familiar face will help guide us all together through the entire game! You all know her quite well, so let’s just welcome the second woman to become the International Master from our country, Aulia Medina Warda!"
Right after that, the screen split in half, and the woman’s image could be seen connected to the broadcast. Even though the hint of stillness was shown on her face, she still smiled politely, greeting the viewers with her usual business tone.
"Hello, everyone."
"Now, let’s see the matchup of the day!" Bagas said, and right after that, the screen changed into the venue, where Sheva had already sat there with the opponent in front of him. Below, a well-edited line popped, showing who would play against him.
Max Warmerdam (2616) – (2528) Adrian Sheva
"So!" Bagas smiled, starting his usual routine. "What do you think of this matchup, Sister Medina? Can Sheva, who is still in his winning streak in the classical game, continue his hot form?"
"I will say that it is hard to predict here," Medina answered quite bluntly. "While yes, Sheva is in a hot form, but the last time he played a classical game was three months ago, right? You can say that the long period of rest is enough to dull his edge a little."
Bagas nodded silently, acknowledging that the problem existed.
"Also, Max Warmerdam is the local here, so he will have more motivation to win this game," Medina added a tidbit of information to paint a picture of how hard the game would be. "So, while Sheva will definitely go all out since the beginning, nothing will be set in stone." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
Honestly, if this were a few months ago, people would just scoff at this broadcast. After all, Bagas and Medina talked as if it was Sheva who was favored, when in reality, his rating was far below Max Warmerdam. However, the boy had already built a reputation for himself as the dragon slayer, and while some were still skeptical about him being clean, most people thought that his level was at least around mid to high 2600.
While those two were chatting, though, Sheva, who was in the venue, took a deep breath, trying to regain his composure. He was slightly agitated after receiving special treatment before entering the building. While the other players only got checked for formality, the security put a more thorough and detailed attention on him, even bringing the scanner that was used in the airport to ensure that Sheva didn’t carry any electronic device in his body.
While the process only lasted for two or three minutes, compared to the others who could just walk away after getting checked for 15 seconds, this was definitely enough to trigger some emotions deep within himself.
’Damn! With all of the shits happening, I really have to win this game, or some haters will use this to doubt me!’ He clenched his teeth inwardly.
’Oh, the moment the security gets tightened, Sheva only gets a draw? Oh, does that mean the consecutive wins are not clean? As expected, he is in the same league with Hans! What can you expect from him? His career is shady from the beginning!’
Imagining all of those words thrown at his face, Sheva’s face started to get ugly, and even his opponent noticed it, whispering awkwardly in a thick Dutch accent, "Urgh... Are you okay?"
Sheva shook his head quickly, trying to banish any distracting thoughts flying around there. "Yeah, sorry. Just had a rough experience." He said shortly.
"Ah, I get it." Max Warmerdam looked at him sympathetically. He realized that with the security getting tight around Sheva, the boy in front of him would need to win the most today. However, while he pitied the boy, Max didn’t have any intention to show weakness, knowing how dangerous Sheva would be once given an opportunity.
’He might be in trouble, but that doesn’t diminish his accomplishment.’ Max thought. ’At least, I have to be careful here.’
There were quite a lot of formalities before the game began. Well, more in the master section, as that was where people put their attention. Everyone was eager to see the heavy hitters like Magnus or Ding, the new world champion, fight against each other, and only a few who were really interested would go for the challenger section.
It took a while, and finally, after some higher-ups finished making the first move for Magnus, everyone could start the game as well. Sheva took a deep breath, trying once again to put his concentration back on the board. Playing as the black, he waited, wanting to see what kind of opening Max wanted to lead him into.
’Oh, E4!’ His eyes lit up for a moment when his favorite first move was on the board. ’At least, we can go for an aggressive approach today! Let’s see what you are up to, Max Warmerdam...’
He slid his king’s pawn immediately to return the favor, not even thinking about it for a second. However, right after that, Max also blitzed his move, and just in the second move of the game, Sheva was already stunned by his opponent’s choice.
"This..."
