Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 572: Laysa Forcing a Draw!

Meanwhile, in the women’s section, Laysa was also facing the game of her life, what with her getting a matchup against Bathkuyag Munguntuul. The Mongolian woman was definitely not the highest-rated player she had ever faced—or beaten, even—but somehow, the girl found herself in the most tense situation she had ever been in during her career.

Just like what Sheva suggested, she also tried to offer a quick draw. However, Bathkuyag Munguntuul decided to reject the offer and instead opted for the normal Ruy Lopez opening. Unlike what Sheva and Irfan analyzed, the woman didn’t show any hint of slowing down or getting tired even after playing for so many games in the last couple of days.

Hell, if anything, it seemed the Mongolian IM was more determined than ever to win this game.

As a result, Laysa had to swallow the bitter pill here, going for the Ruy-Lopez Opening that she herself was not quite familiar with. Still, she had a solid plan here. Whenever the girl had a chance to exchange more pieces, she would jump into it without hesitation. In her mind, the more pieces were thrown to hell, the better her chance to force a draw would be.

Yeah, she had already accepted Sheva’s suggestion that a draw was better here. Not because she lacked confidence, but Laysa herself knew that with her current condition, trying to push further would only put her at risk later, which was not something that she wanted to face in this game.

’No, my stability in the crucial stage is still questionable. I can improve it in the future, but for now, a draw against the top-seed player is not that bad.’ The girl thought, assessing her own situation.

She had a cold sweat on the back, though, since Bathkuyag Munguntuul decided to strike early with an aggressive approach, pushing three pawns on the queenside to challenge the center. It was enough to make the girl panic, not even knowing that the computer engine evaluated that the position was slightly better for the white piece right now.

"She is getting intimidated here." Irfan couldn’t help but sigh when she saw the current situation on the table, especially at the big frown on Laysa’s face. "Laysa comes to the game with the mentality to get a quick draw, so when she sees this position, her first thought is not an opportunity, but a threat. Right now, her mind is calculating on every possible move that could kill her, not even realizing that she has a chance to throw a punch first here."

In his mind, the man also started to regret his decision to support Sheva’s idea of suggesting Laysa get a quick draw. Not that they were wrong, considering how nervous Laysa was before the game began, but if this was the girl in her normal state, there was no way she wouldn’t be able to see such a blatant advantage in front of her eyes.

Sarah pondered for a second, also noticing that the girl’s state was not right. "So, what should she do now?" She couldn’t help but ask.

"... It is... Difficult, I think." The frown now was seen on Irfan’s face as well. "We just hope something clicks inside her head that makes Laysa realize her advantage, or that Bathkuyag Munguntuul will make a bigger inaccuracy that forces Laysa to see it. Other than that, I don’t think Laysa will be able to get out of her passiveness soon."

Indeed, as long as Laysa still thought that all she wanted to get was a draw, the girl would never be able to see any mistake except for the most obvious one, which, in this case, was clearly impossible to get. Even if Bathkuyag Munguntuul didn’t really play that accurately, there was no way she would make a basic mistake that would throw the game immediately like that.

Still, it wasn’t like Laysa was unhappy with the position right now. No, if anything, she was ecstatic, seeing a lot of maneuvers to get her into the end goal she foresaw before the game began. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

’Okay, I can exchange my knight first... Then what? Oh, the light bishop! She has to do that, or I will get her rook! Then move back, take that pawn, she takes it back, then I can move my queen there... There... And right to the C4 square! I can exchange queen! After that, everything will be simpler for me! Yes, I can do this!’

Yeah, everyone felt pity because they could see the evaluation from the computer engine and knew that Laysa had a slight advantage. However, the girl herself couldn’t do that, and in her mind, the position was difficult to develop even in her normal state.

So, the best way to handle it was to stick with her original plan, not overthink anything, and just exchange all of her pieces to get the draw that she wanted.

Hell, right now, she could feel her hand shaking, her legs moving around to contain her excitement. She was so close to forcing a draw against the top-seed player of the tournament, which would be huge in the later stages if she could maintain her performance for the rest of it.

Then, soon, her plan began to take shape.

All the pieces on the board, one by one, started to fall as she thought. First, it was the knight, then the bishop, and the queen. Not only that, but she was also so close to getting one of the rooks out of the equation, and with so many variables off the board already, a draw was so close in her grasp.

Of course, Bathkuyag Munguntuul still wanted to give it a try here. After all, as the best player in this section, she still had her own pride. However, once she knew Laysa’s original plan, her spirit started to waver, and when so many pieces fell on the battlefield, she finally convinced herself to end the game.

Yeah, after one hour of playing, after 21 moves, she finally offered the first handshake, accepting half a point for herself and Laysa from this game.