Chapter 607: A Call from Afar
"Dmitrij, it is good to hear you again." A little smile curled on Sheva’s face when he finally figured out the person on the other side of the call.
Yeah, it was Dmitrij Kollar, his good friend, who was also the second-best chess player from Germany besides Vincent Keymer. To have the man contacting him like this, Sheva didn’t even need to second-guess, knowing full well that it would be related to the game tomorrow.
They were always contacting each other with social media, though, so to receive a direct call like this definitely startled Sheva for a moment.
The answer he got, though, was an exasperated snort.
"What do you mean, it is good to hear me? You should be ecstatic, you know?! What the hell, Brother! You just asked me so many favors for teaching your kids, and after that, you disappeared instantly without saying anything? I am not a little girl that you can ghost any time you want, okay?!"
Sheva sighed helplessly when he heard the man’s rant on the call. ’Honestly, how could a German like him be so talkative? I mean, should he be like the others, stoic and stiff toward everything?’
"What?! Are you complaining about me there?!"
Sheva choked, not expecting the man’s instinct to be that sharp. "Of course, no! Why the hell would I complain about you? Don’t you say it yourself that I owe you a big time?"
"Yes, that’s exactly what I said. It is good that you know it."
While Sheva couldn’t see Dmitrij’s face, he could imagine how smug the man’s expression was when he talked about this. Bagas, who overheard the conversation, stiffened a chuckle, starting to open his own laptop to keep him busy while waiting for Sheva to finish the call.
"Anyway, what do you want to talk about?" Sheva asked.
"I heard that you are going to play against Vincent tomorrow, right?" His tone was back to the serious mode again.
’Ah, this is the German characteristic that I searched for before. Blunt, straight to the point, and no nonsense.’ Sheva smiled wryly. Still, he answered, "Yeah, any useful intelligence you could tell?"
"Just that he is a stubborn bastard who wouldn’t bite at any bait that is thrown at him." The man said. "He is so pragmatic and full of calculation, rather going for a boring endgame than a complicated tactical battle that he couldn’t see anything about."
"... That’s it?" Sheva frowned. For a top player who managed to cross the 2700-rated club, this intelligence seemed to be a little bit too... Ordinary, right?
"Bah! You think it is so simple?! His endgame ability is top-notch, you know?! I swear, he is at the same level as Magnus or even Fabi in this regard! He can calculate everything so well that even a glimpse of mistake will not slip from his eyes! Trust me, I am talking from my experience here, but you will never notice him lurking in the endgame until he gets your throat from behind."
Ah... That was the kind of intelligence that he wanted.
Still, this was a troublesome situation here. While his confidence level in the endgame phase soared a little bit after winning against Peter Svidler, that didn’t mean the boy was comfortable with it. If somehow, Vincent managed to drag him there, he was unsure of how to handle that boy.
"So, any other intelligence? I mean, something like his weakness?" He asked, trying to be casual.
Unexpectedly, all he got was an amused snort. "Bah! I have already given you so much information for nothing, at least try to do something by yourself!"
Right after that, the call was disconnected, leaving Sheva stunned by the man’s rudeness. Hell, he didn’t even say goodbye or something like that, for God’s sake!
"What, he cuts the call abruptly again?" Bagas asked, the corner of his lips twitching in amusement. Based on his tone, it was clear that this was not the first time Dmitrij had done something like this.
"Yeah, that bastard is always like this, no fucking manners at all!" He cursed once again.
Honestly, Sheva didn’t have a sailor’s mouth, but whenever he talked with Dmitrij, so many bad and nasty words would be spouted out of his mouth. It seemed the German GM was a real bad influence on him.
"Still... The information he gives is quite useful, though."
"Oh?" Bagas raised his eyebrows slightly. "Pray tell, what did he say to you?" The fat boy asked curiously.
He repeated his friend’s words to his other friend, and while not word-for-word, it was still enough to let Bagas grasp the main idea here. The boy nodded thoughtfully before saying, "This is from someone who comes from the same country as Vincent, someone who has fought so many times against him. Even though you cannot just trust them all blindly, it is indeed a good direction to start your research."
"I know, right?" Sheva nodded happily, enjoying the apple juice in front of him. However, his expression turned into a resentful one as he added, "If only he could say Vincent’s weaknesses as well, though, everything would be perfect." He pouted slightly.
In return, Bagas just snorted lightly. "It is good to have a reliable informant, but at the end of the day, you still have to rely on yourself, you know? Don’t wait until your skill becomes rusty before picking it back up, or you will regret it later."
Sheva nodded solemnly before realizing who the person was who said this, and his mouth was twitching unconsciously. ’Yeah, I forgot that Bagas sometimes likes to say like an old man. Bastard is messing with my head again.’
Still, he did what Bagas advised, which was to rely on himself. Even before going back to the hotel, he had already started the research, finding everything about Vincent Keymer. It also helped that he got a massive hint from Dmitrij before.
’Find his weakness by myself? That means it is quite obvious that I don’t need any help from him to figure it out, huh? Why, thank you, Dmitrij. Don’t worry, I will take the advantage of your intelligence to the fullest and win the game against your rival tomorrow. Just sit still and see me perform!’