Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 570: Fifth Round’s Pairing!

Even though she bragged the loudest here, honestly, Laysa was the most nervous one when the pairing was out. After all, the higher her position on the standing was, the harder her opponent would be. This was the case in all the chess tournaments, and Claudia also suffered from it when Medina beat her after keeping her big mouth open in the second round of the tournament.

True enough, the chess god did not seem to like a kid who had a habit of bragging. Here, after teasing everyone relentlessly, the girl found out that her next pairing would be the top-seeded of the tournament, the veteran Mongolian IM, Bathkuyag Munguntuul herself.

"Oh, God... This is the worst..." She covered her face in despair.

"Hey, hey, no need to react like that." Claudia had a shit grin on her face, the mocking in her tone was clear by day. "Come on, you will find a way here! It is you that we are talking about, right? The one who is confident to beat Sister Medina?"

Sheva couldn’t help but snort, somehow feeling funny at how the tables turned. It was just two days ago that Laysa was in Claudia’s position, and now everything has changed. Anna herself just looked at her friend in pity, yet she didn’t offer any consolation. This was definitely karma through and through.

Honestly, Laysa herself didn’t mind facing Bathkuyag Munguntuul. With her skyrocketing confidence, the girl still believed that she would be able to get a full point in their matchup. However, the timing was not right for this case.

Right now, all Laysa needed was to get a comfortable win and solidify her position at the top of the standings. Also, she had a bad record when playing in a clutch game, not really having a great time playing under pressure recently.

This matchup was definitely going to be her worst nightmare here.

"Well, it is not like you have to fight hard, you know?" Sheva suddenly offered a different insight, which made the girl turn around to look at him. "I mean, try to offer a quick draw, what with the Berlin Defense or something like that. This is the second double-header day in a row, and the fourth game we play in 48 hours. There is definitely no way it doesn’t affect her, so you can give it a try." He shrugged nonchalantly.

"That is a valid strategy, Laysa." Irfan nodded in approval. "This will also ensure that you get half a point against the top-seeded tournament, and you will not have to fight against her in the later stage. Even if you fall, you will only be half a point away from the top of the standings, which can still change drastically depending on everyone’s performance."

Now, Laysa was in a dilemma. At first, the thought of offering a quick draw slightly offended her; it didn’t sit quite well in her stomach. However, just like what Irfan said, the strategy was valid, and probably the best one she could pull out of her sleeve right now.

Still, the infuriating gaze from Claudia was enough to rub her the wrong way, and she couldn’t help but retort, "Why are you looking at me like that?! Don’t you have your pairing to face?!"

This was indeed enough to turn the attention away from Laysa. Claudia still gave her a sneer, but the young girl also shifted her eyes back to her phone.

However, the moment she saw her pairing next, the girl couldn’t help but scowl, her face darkening several degrees.

Laysa was curious, so she also took a glance at the pairing from her own phone. The moment she read the name, she choked instantly, looking at the girl gloatingly. "You are so unlucky, Ia! How could you meet Sister Irene the moment you start winning the game? Also, Sister Irene was Anna’s opponent in the last round, right? You siblings are so unlucky here!"

To say that Claudia was unlucky was probably the understatement of the year. After winning the first round two days ago, she got paired against Medina, and after getting back to the winning track today, she got paired against Irene? How could she be paired against two of the best women’s players in the country so quickly like this?!

"There is a shady business here, I can tell! I will file a complaint with the organizer about it!" Claudia huffed, stomping the floor hard in fury.

"Hey, hey, as if you can change anything with a complaint! Hey, maybe, if you did something big and stupid enough like withdrawing, they will give an explanation, right?"

"What do you mean by withdrawing, you Bitch! I will never do that!"

"Also, why are you assuming that they have something shady here? Ia, you are not important enough to be tricked like this, you know?"

"Why, you?!"

Sheva sighed once again, turning his attention from their bickering. If he paid attention, he would’ve missed all of his free time here. Instead, he turned his attention to Anna and asked, "What about you?"

"Me? I will play against Dita Karenza." Anna replied relaxedly.

Sheva nodded silently, knowing that the pairing was reasonable here. Irene, as the highest-rated player with 3 points on the standings, would face Claudia, who was still at 2.5 points, while Anna, the second-highest rated player with 3 points, would face Dita Karenza, the lowest rated player with 3.5 points on the standings.

This was a standard operation, and definitely not a shady one, just like Claudia thought.

Still, looking at the relaxed Anna, he couldn’t help but remind her, "Don’t underestimate your opponent. You heard what Sarah said about her two days ago, right? Also, you know that after forcing a draw against Laysa, she won her next three games brilliantly. Her rating doesn’t matter because she is a real deal here."

"I know, I know, don’t worry about me." Anna just smiled amusedly, her lips tugged as she listened to Sheva’s nagging. "What about you, though? Who is your opponent?"

"Me?" Sheva was taken aback before turning his attention back to his phone. "My next pairing is... Oh, well, it seems I have to fight against Master Susanto today."