Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 494: Bagas’s Thought & Plan for the Future

The Gathering of Giants!

What is Going on Here???!!!

Old VS Young! The Exhibition After the Tata Steel Chess Tournament!

As he enjoyed the soft bread in his hand, Bagas nodded in satisfaction as he read those titles. Those were not from any ordinary platform. No, the first one came from the Chess.com account itself, while the second one was the one and only GothamChess. As for the last one, ChessBase India also made a video analysis about it, which boosted the event further.

Yeah, they were all talking about the gathering yesterday. Somehow, Bagas had a brilliant idea of sharing the footage with those big names in the industry, and in return, they had to mention his channel and couldn’t just put the raw footage on their channel. No, they still had to modify it to their style so that all the viewers flocked to his channel when they thought about the original video.

Of course, those three platforms jumped into the boat without hesitation. After all, this was their original intention, as that meant they could give their little touch to make the video theirs. The fact that Bagas himself didn’t ask for money or anything outrageous was definitely a plus point, making them all embrace their reckless side to accept the deal.

’Good, it goes viral in just a few hours.’ He nodded silently. ’Now, let’s wait and see until at least tomorrow morning how many viewers and new followers I will gain after all this commotion... Fuck! Why is it so cold right now?!’

Bagas shivered a little bit as he also tightened his jacket unconsciously. It was a cold, quiet night on the plane, and the only thing that could be heard was the constant humming of the plane’s engine all over the metallic bird. He glanced around, just to find that his best friend was snoring lightly next to him.

They were currently on their way back to Indonesia, and after the little event earlier, it seemed that Sheva was too exhausted to stay awake. Well... That, or the boy was still having motion sickness. Nevertheless, Bagas hadn’t heard anything else from his best friend since they were on the plane, and honestly, it worried him a little bit.

’Is he still getting bothered by Anish Giri’s taunt?’ He thought, couldn’t help but curse that Dutch GM. ’Fuck it! How could that man be so shameless, taunting a person way younger than him?!’

Yeah, in his mind, Bagas had already labeled Anish Giri as a shameless person and someone who liked to court death. The man’s sharp tongue would bring him trouble sooner or later. However, while Bagas cursed Anish inwardly, the fat boy still figured out the crux of this matter, which was Sheva’s envy due to the boy’s lack of opportunity. So, after being satisfied with his curse on Anish, the fat boy started to rack his brain quickly.

’Shall I start pitching Sheva to another big tournament? It works twice for the Tata Steel Chess and Prague Chess Festival, who knows if it could work again?’

With that thought in mind, he opened his email, wanting to see which invitational tournament would be scheduled next. However, it seemed Bagas didn’t realize that Sheva’s name had been spread through the entire world so widely, what with him winning the challenger section yesterday and the viral video of Sheva being in the same league as the other elite GMs.

That was enough to make some of the big organizers move fast, as when Bagas accessed his email, he was dumbfounded by the new message at the top of the list.

’An Invitation for Adrian Sheva? TePe Sigeman?! What the hell?!’ If he weren’t in a quiet plane like this, the boy would’ve jumped out of his seat and cursed already, not expecting to get surprised like this. ’What is this? Is this even a legit tournament?’

The first thing Bagas did after reading the invitation was to check the tournament’s history, trying to figure out whether it was real or not. After all, he had never heard the name ’TePe Sigeman’, so it was a good thing to stay cautious right now.

’Wait, this is not a bad tournament at all!’ Bagas widened his eyes as the information was on the screen. ’It is not the strongest and the most prestigious, but the overall rating last year was 2678. Sheva is definitely interested in this. The only problem is the time...’

Yeah, this was what troubled Bagas the most. Sheva’s schedule was so tight in the mid-year, starting from the Asian Championship Zone 3.3 that would be held in April. It was a weak tournament, and with Sheva’s current rise, his best friend would definitely be the top-rated player there. With that in mind, there was a high probability that Sheva would lose rating in that tournament, and honestly, Bagas didn’t really want Sheva to play there.

Unfortunately, this tournament was the best way for Sheva to qualify for the World Cup, and Bagas knew that this was the path that his best friend eyed to advance to the Candidate Tournament next year.

’Then, there is the Asian Cup, Asian Games, some open tournaments that Sheva would definitely try to join, and so many more...’ Bagas couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh. ’Damn, this year is going to be busy...’

"What are you doing, Gas?" Suddenly, Sheva’s weak voice snapped him from his thought.

"Ah... It’s nothing..." Bagas put off his phone immediately, turning to his best friend, who was still half asleep. "Just thinking that... This year is going to be busy..." He only hinted at a clue, not saying anything since Sheva himself was still not fully awake. He would need his best friend to be locked in completely before they could discuss more important matters for the future.

For now, though...

"Don’t worry, Gas! My goal is to be the world champion!" Sheva slurred sleepily; his eyes were 80 percent shut again. "I will work my ass to death for that!" He declared bravely, and honestly, if not for Sheva acting like a drunkard, Bagas would believe that declaration.

In the end, he just snorted lightly, and watching Sheva falling asleep again, the fat boy couldn’t help but think with determination, ’World Champion, huh... Don’t worry, Shev, just focus on your chess. I will be the one who clears the path for you!’