Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 481: Tenth Round of the Tournament, Sheva VS Mustafa Yilmaz!
"Okay, welcome, welcome, welcome back, Everyone!" As the live streaming began, Bagas’s face popped on the screen with the usual enthusiastic smile spread from ear to ear. "Today, we are going to have probably a game point for Sheva! One win away, and he will be able to win the entire tournament!"
Froggies: Fucking finally! This is going to be lit!
IreneKS: Come on, Sheva! We are supporting you from here!
Hilda99: Wait, is Master Irene also here?!
IreneKS: Not just Sister Irene, but we are also here! ~Laysa and friends :)
Bagas himself was also surprised to see the message from Irene. However, he read in the group chat that the girls would watch the game together today at Master Irfan’s house, not wanting to miss out on the historical moment where Sheva would stand tall at the highest spot of the tournament.
Even though some Indonesian players were able to win one or two international tournaments in the past, no one had ever come close to reaching this level, where all the elites around the world gathered, so this would just be another milestone for the country’s chess community. Well... At this point, all of Sheva’s moves should be historical, considering how shallow Indonesia’s foundation is in the chess world.
’No, let’s not think too big this time. For now, let’s just focus on what is in front of me.’ Bagas shook his head before he continued the broadcast. "Today, we will have a special guest! Someone who is familiar to a lot of us, let’s welcome, Mister Sagar Shah from ChessBase India!"
Right after that, the computer split in half, with the familiar India’s IM smiling politely at the camera. "Hello, everyone. I don’t know what Bagas said about me, but please, don’t believe whatever nonsense he spouts, okay?" He joked with his trademark thick Indian accent.
"Oh, don’t worry, Mister Sagar, I can assure you that I only say flattery here." Bagas smiled with a similar tone.
While they were chatting, Sheva himself was already sitting on his assigned seat, trying to fix his slightly disheveled collar after getting swarmed by the fans outside. After making a name for himself in the Olympiad in Chennai, this time, his current result allowed Sheva to gain a strong foothold in Europe.
’Still... While having fans is nice, isn’t this a bit too much?’ Sheva could feel the corner of his mouth twitching.
Around him, a lot of fans were still chatting animatedly, with some kids still hanging around and asking for a photo. Even though Sheva didn’t see it, he could still feel the hostility coming from the other side of the board. Well, it was understandable, since it was just him who got approached, while his opponent was completely ignored by the crowd. Even the most tolerant player would be offended if they got this kind of treatment.
Fortunately, it only happened for a while before the security team swept through the venue to make sure that the crowd was not getting too close to the players. This was the sign that the game was about to begin. True enough, within fifteen minutes, the alarm finally rang, and after that, countless handshakes were formed simultaneously in the building.
"Let’s have a good game!"
Playing with the black piece, Sheva waited for Mustafa Yilmaz to make the first move. When he saw the D pawn moving two squares forward, the boy snorted, having already expected this to come.
’As expected, the information about my disdain for the 1.d4 opening has already spread among the players here. There is no way anyone else would give me an easy time when I go with the black.’
Still, Sheva had already predicted this outcome. In the second move, he went for the opening that the boy was quite fond of playing in the last couple of months, the Benoni Defense. By offering his C pawn quickly, he would be able to create an imbalance position, allowing him to get a strong initiative in the queenside.
He didn’t just pull this opening because he was good at it. No, more than that, Sheva found out something interesting during his research about the man in front of him. During more than 20 years of Mustafa Yilmaz’s career, he faced the Benoni Defense about 6 times, with the last one being about three years ago, and yet, the man failed to get even a half point out of those matchups.
Yeah, Mustafa Yilmaz had a bad record with this opening, always getting beaten black and blue whenever the opponent took the initiative to trigger this line. This time, Sheva also wanted to try his luck, finding that the approach was reasonable.
’Let’s see if he has improved his game or not...’
Little did he know that Mustafa Yilmaz had also expected Sheva to pull this opening in this game.
’His preparation is top-notch, showing that his team’s research ability is good as well. There is no way he would miss such a glaring weakness in my record.’ The Turkish man thought. ’Even though I still don’t like playing this opening, at least I come prepared for this game, so maybe I have a chance to get a positive result today.’
As for the thought of beating Sheva, it had never crossed his mind even for a single second. After all, Sheva’s achievement in this tournament was off the charts, and with the boy riding that momentum, Mustafa Yilmaz wasn’t really confident that he could stop the avalanche today. So, yeah, getting a draw was probably the most realistic target that he could set in this game. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
Seeing that his opponent was prepared, Sheva decided that he wouldn’t go for his favorite Benko Gambit. No, instead of doing that, the boy went for the modern variation of the Benoni Defense. He was familiar with its system, so even though the computer didn’t think too much about the variation, Sheva was still confident that he could overturn the situation on the board later.
He let his opponent push the pawns further, forcing the Turkish GM to overextend the line of defense on the back. This was basically the most common strategy for Benoni, luring the opponent into a false sense of security before striking back from the dark.
Seeing that he managed to force Mustafa Yilmaz to think hard just in the sixth move of the game, Sheva couldn’t help but smirk as he muttered, ’Let’s see how far have you prepared for me...’
