Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 588: Seventh Round!
The seventh round of the game was about to begin, and yet, a comical scene could be seen in the broadcast room. Bagas exchanged a glance with Irfan, as they were both confused right now, witnessing how Sarah tried to coax Nayaka, as if she had just stolen his dog or something.
"Come on, Nay... Don’t be so gloomy like that! Here, I have an ice cream!"
"Bah! I am not that child anymore! Don’t treat me like that, Sister!"
"Then... What about the strawberry flavor?"
"This...."
Bagas tried to hold back the urge to laugh here when he saw Nayaka’s tempted face, clearly getting shaken by the seduction Sarah tried to pull. Still, there were so many questions lingering inside his head, waiting desperately for someone to answer them all for him. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
’What is Nayaka doing here? Should he be at the venue? Also, how could Sarah know Nayaka? Is there something I don’t know here? Not that I am jealous, of course, since Nayaka is just a little boy. Still, what is going on here?’
Fortunately, Irfan, as a veteran, didn’t have any reservations about asking. "So, what’s wrong, Nayaka? I thought you had a game to play?"
As a result, the pout on his face intensified more, making Sarah squeal in excitement.
"How cute~!"
Bagas had a sweat drop on his face, somehow staring at his girlfriend in disbelief. ’So, she is trying to coax him because she treats him like a child? Or a dog? Sarah, that’s a bit too much, you know? As a man, he should have his own pride, and you wound it right now.’
Of course, he would only dare to think about it inwardly. No, in reality, he was the type of man who liked to get bossed by his girlfriend, so as long as it was not outrageous, he would’ve just let her do anything she wanted.
Not bothered by the girl gushing over him, Nayaka just crossed his arms in front of his chest, and with a huff, he said annoyedly, "I don’t have a game."
"...Eh?" Bagas blinked, not sure if he heard it correctly.
"Yeah, I don’t have a game in this round!" Nayaka nodded in confirmation. "My opponent should be Sumiya Bilguun, a GM from Mongolia, but that man withdrew from the tournament out of the blue, leaving me here with nothing to do! This is so infuriating!" He whined childishly.
Irfan turned around at Bagas immediately, and the boy knew what he had to do. He checked the website quickly, just to find Nayaka’s name at the bottom of the list.
Nayaka Buddhidharma (1980) – Bye
"This... Seems to be true." Bagas then turned to Irfan again. "What is the consequence of getting a bye?"
"A consequence? There is only a good consequence for this." Irfan snorted. "Usually, only those who haven’t earned any points yet get a bye to level the field, since anyone granted this will get one free point out of nowhere."
"Wait, that’s good for Nayaka, right?" Bagas blinked in disbelief. "I mean, he can keep tailing Sheva without even breaking a sweat! Why would you not be happy with that?" He looked at the boy with a puzzled expression.
"You don’t understand shit about this!" Nayaka threw more tantrums, which made the boy twitch the corner of his lips a little. "It doesn’t matter whether I am in second, third, or fourth place! The fact remains, Brother Sheva’s position is unshaken, and the ticket is in his hand! I don’t care about the free point, but my target from the first place is to get my rating as high as possible!"
Well, that excuse was more reasonable. Bagas knew full well that his best friend also did the same, never giving up any possible win in his career, as he said that every single drop of rating was valuable.
’It seems you managed to instill the idea in your disciple’s head, even though this boy is way too immature to be associated with you, Shev.’ The corner of Bagas’s lips twitched once again.
Meanwhile, back at the venue, no one knew that a boy was throwing a tantrum there, as everyone was so focused on their next game. Well... Everyone, except Sheva.
The boy was so relaxed at this point, knowing that no opponent should pose any threat for the rest of the tournament.
His next game would be against a Philippines veteran GM, John Paul Gomez, and the man only had 4.5 points, 1.5 away from him at the top of the spot. That was because Sheva had already beaten all the players closest to him, and what was left were those who still tried to climb.
More than that, he was just so close to winning it all, and the boy estimated that he could clinch the victory tomorrow morning. So, he wasn’t really that worried about his own game. He also didn’t need to pay attention to Nayaka, since the boy got a lucky bye in this round.
If anything, his main concern was in the women’s section, as the girls were going to have a battle of their lives right now.
’Laysa against Anna... That civil war is going to be explosive...’ Sheva glanced at table one of the women’s section worriedly. ’This is not their first game, so they know how to handle the aftermath. Let’s hope that everything is still within control, eh?’
It wasn’t the only explosive match on that section, though. Dita Karenza, with 5 points, would have to face Bathkuyag Munguntuul, who was still trailing behind with 4.5 points, and another explosive match would be on board, with Irene and Medina, two of the best Indonesian women players, would fight against each other.
As for Claudia, the little girl would have to face the Vietnamese WGM, who her big sister had just beaten this morning, Vo Thi Kim Phung, whose point was still stuck at 3.5 points. This was definitely a huge chance for the girl to score a point, since her opponent was currently in bad form. However, it would also be a huge test, since Claudia hadn’t won any game when her opponent’s rating was higher than hers.
The battlefield was already set for the seventh round, and as everyone eyed another win to solidify their position, the sound of the alarm was like a gun being shot to start the race. The moment it rang, everyone knew that this was the beginning of another war.
