Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 529: Bringing the Trophy Back Home!

"...And for the winner of Prague Chess Festival Challenger Section, please welcome, Grandmaster Adrian Sheva from Indonesia!"

As the announcer called his name, as the people around rose and gave their standing ovation, Sheva walked calmly to the podium. He ignored Bagas, who was busy filming this scene, having his skin thickened already from his best friend’s antics.

It was quite strange, walking in such a calm manner as he was about to receive a reward. If it were him a few months ago, he would never have dared to think about something outrageous like this. However, as time went by, and with the accolades that he accumulated, the boy slowly started to get used to this scene; the firework in his heart wasn’t exploding as big as in the past anymore.

"Congratulations, young man!" The representation of the organizer, a man named Petr Boleslav, shook his hand firmly before giving a small trophy that Sheva accepted with a polite smile. "It seems, in the future, our tournament could brag that we are a part of a legend’s rise, don’t you think so?" A smile cracked on his face.

If it wasn’t a formal occasion, Sheva would’ve snorted already, somehow thinking that the man in front of him was like Bagas, not caring too much about formality. Unfortunately, the man in front of him was a man in a position, and Sheva was far from it. He didn’t dare to do the same here, especially under the flashlight of the camera. So, he just nodded politely, holding back the urge to throw a sarcastic remark.

"Thank you, Mister. I am far away from being a legend." He said.

"Hah! Young men nowadays, they don’t know how to brag!" The man laughed once again, and Sheva could only smile awkwardly as the man slapped his shoulder playfully. "Anyway, congratulations! I will watch your journey as you climb higher and prove me right!"

After some formalities with the other higher-ups on the venue, Sheva finally let out a relieved sigh, walking back down to his seat while also having a trophy in his hand. The moment he threw his body back to the chair, though, that trophy was snatched by Bagas instantly, as the fat boy inspected it thoroughly.

"Hmmm... It is not as high quality as the Wijk Ann Zee one, but it has a unique charm here." Bagas hummed, taking some photos from different angles to upload them to social media. "Still... Two trophies in two months, huh? Not bad... Not bad..."

Sheva just nodded silently, yet no excitement could be seen on his face. While yes, he was happy, inwardly, the boy recognized that those two tournaments were just small fries in the grand scheme of the chess world. No, this wasn’t him being cocky because he had won those two, but in reality, all the elite players also didn’t treat the tournaments he won as something special.

It wasn’t just because the participants weren’t that elite, but also due to the fact that the points the winner of those tournaments earned were so small in the FIDE Circuit Stage that they could basically be ignored.

The FIDE Circuit Stage was one of the paths that a player could walk through to qualify for the candidate tournament by accumulating points they earned from their performance throughout the year.Only one spot was available, and with the limited number of the tournament that was approved by FIDE, the fight for this spot was basically a Hunger Games.

Usually, winning two tournaments would be enough to put a player into a good spot, especially if it was the Tata Steel Chess and the Prague Chess Festival, two major tournaments held in the early year. However, it was completely different for the challenger section.

In the Tata Steel one, Sheva gained 10 points from winning the challenger section, and in the Prague one, he got 7.8 points after snatching the first place. In total, he had only earned 17.8 points, and for comparison, Nodirbek Abdussatorrov got 18.42 points for sitting in third place of the Tata Steel Master this year.

So, yeah, even though Sheva won two tournaments, in the grand scheme, it wasn’t even better than being in third place in the other elite tournaments. That was why he wasn’t that ecstatic, knowing that his journey was still far.

No, he was more interested in the new reward that he got from the system.

[New Title: End It Strong!]

[If the host managed to take the lead in the first half of the tournament the host is playing, the Host will receive a 10 percent boost for the rest of the tournament.]

This was the title he received after completing the mission that Sheva himself completely forgot about, which was the one where he was required to enter the top 100 players in the world. Yeah, after finishing strong in Prague, the boy managed to sneak into that elite list, becoming the first Indonesian player to do that.

’This title is interesting...’ Sheva couldn’t help but mutter. ’The requirement is quite difficult, having to lead the tournament in the first four or five rounds there. However, the boost I receive will also be massive. I mean, 10 percent? This should be the highest one, right?’

Indeed, usually, a title would only give a boost of around 5 percent at the maximum. However, the requirement was quite harsh here. Don’t be fooled into thinking that it was easy since Sheva managed to do so in the last three or four tournaments he played, but later, when he entered the big league, where all the top 20 or 30 players in the world were playing, it would be hard to reach the requirement.

’Still... At least, this will be another trump card under my sleeve. Not bad...’ Sheva couldn’t help but nod in satisfaction.

"Oi, Shev!" Bagas’s voice suddenly snapped him from his daydreaming. "The closing ceremony is over already! What are you waiting for?!"

Sheva blinked for a moment, scanning his surroundings. Indeed, while some people were still chatting around, most of the people here had already left, ready to go back to their home countries. Seeing this, Sheva turned on his phone, checking the time immediately.

’20:00? Good, I still have four hours.’ Sheva let out a relieved sigh. Then, he stared at the sky for a moment, couldn’t help but clench his fist. ’Wait for me, you three! I will be there tomorrow!’

-Author’s note- 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Hey, everyone! Thank you for supporting my story! I have written a new one with the hope of getting a contract for that story as well, the title is ’The Rise of the Iron Wall!’. It is a football story, so if you like, please give your support by adding it to your collection and giving your power stone to that story! Thanks!