Chapter 608: Sheva VS Vincent Keymer! (I)
The next day, Sheva stepped into the venue with a deep bag under his eyes. His shoulder slumped a few inches, and while he tried his best to hide it, exhaustion clearly reflected on his face, as if he had just spent a night without sleeping.
Well, that was definitely closer to reality than anyone had ever thought.
Last night, Sheva’s mind was drifted by his own research that he didn’t really notice he stayed awake until 2 in the morning. Even though in the end, he was still able to sleep for 7 hours—yeah, he woke up at 9. His mom would beat his ass if she knew that—this was enough to mess his biological clock, and now, he was like a night owl that was forced to come out in broad daylight.
However, even with him being dead tired, the boy’s spirit was at its peak right now. His research bore a good result, as he found several ways to deal with Vincent Keymer.
’He is indeed a conservative guy, always overcalculating everything. His time management is not that good, so if I approach the game from this aspect, I would likely gain something unexpected.’
Of course, that didn’t mean the advantage was obvious. Against any other ordinary GM, Vincent Keymer would just flip the table and beat them mercilessly. Only those who were at the 2700-rated club could probably take advantage of this weakness. However, Sheva was confident that he could become one of them, and that was the source of his belief to win today.
There was also one more weakness that he took notice of. Vincent Keymer’s repertoire was not that deep, and the boy would rely on his understanding of the position rather than the theory itself. That was definitely another point that Sheva could take advantage of, what with all the strange systems in his arsenal.
Still, the moment he saw Vincent Keymer on the table, especially at the burning spirit in his eyes, Sheva’s gaze wavered for a moment, somehow getting a strange feeling that something would go wrong today.
’Yeah, he comes prepared.’ The boy muttered under his breath. ’Still, how far is his preparation, and is it going to be enough to contain me?’
Out of curiosity, Sheva also didn’t forget to check the boy’s stats. Honestly, it had been a long time since he checked his opponent like this, but Vincent Keymer’s state right now really unnerved him.
[Name: Vincent Keymer]
Attacking 89 (+0.89) (+4.45)
Defense 93 (+0.93) (+4.65)
Calculation 96 (+0.96) (+4.8)
Strategy 91 (+0.91) (+4.55)
Intuition 89 (+0.89) (+4.45)
Time management 88 (+0.88) (+4.4)
Current state: 92%
Title Slot: [Endgame Master] [The Conqueror of Europe: White level]
The stats were basically what he expected from the boy in front of him. It leaned more on the positional stats, since those were Vincent’s stronger point. Other than that, the boy’s titles were quite similar to Sheva’s, so he wasn’t really worried about the boy’s base stats.
However, what startled him was the German boy’s current state.
’Damn, 92 percent? Even after losing a game yesterday,’ He whistled lowly, slightly impressed by the number. ’If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought that he had a grudge against me. I mean, damn, he is so determined to kill me, huh?’
Honestly, if Sheva didn’t have the ability to see his opponent’s current stats, he would be fooled by Vincent already. Hell, even at this point, he couldn’t even see any hint of hostility from the boy in front of him, just a steely determination that promised he wouldn’t take any nonsense in this game.
This alone was enough to make Sheva worry, as his mind wandered about what surprise Vincent had prepared for him for this game. However, once the handshake was made and the first move was on the board, the opening system that Vincent picked really surprised Sheva, and it was definitely not in a good way.
’The Caro-Kann? Really?’ He clicked his tongue in annoyance. If he could, Sheva would also put both hands on his hips to show his dissatisfaction here. ’I know I should’ve expected this, but his eyes before really startled me, enough to make me think that he will do something unusual. Tch! How annoying!’
Yeah, this opening was something that Sheva had already predicted Vincent would pull. Just like he said before, Vincent’s opening repertoire wasn’t that vast, and he always used the same opening over and over again. Before coming, Sheva had already prepared for either this or Sicilia, in which he would try to pull the Alapin Variation that Vincent had never played before.
Maybe that was why Vincent didn’t go for that opening.
Still, the Caro-Kann Opening was definitely good for Vincent, since it was enough to ensure a stable position until the endgame phase began, and that was when the boy would thrive later. This definitely put Sheva in a not-so-good mood, because he was just dancing on Vincent’s palm at this point.
Still, Caro-Kann was the oldest trick Sheva had in his arsenal. This was the card he got the first time he had the system invading his head, and it was even way before the system got a massive overhaul and became sophisticated like the version today.
Sheva might not like this opening, but that didn’t mean he was easy to bully. The boy didn’t even blink, moving so quickly while also picking the variation that he was the most comfortable with.
Not the complicated fantasy variation, nor was it the advanced variation he always used. It was just a normal double-knight variation, where he took the two knights out of the territory immediately.
Of course, just like the opening’s nature, some exchanges would happen in a pretty early stage, with one of Sheva’s knights and his light bishop off the board already in the 13th move of the game.
Hell, with how each piece was placed, it even looked like they were so close in an endgame phase right now. Sheva himself didn’t shy away from this. If anything, he welcomed it with open arms.
’So, you want to get me in the endgame? Fine, let’s see if you had it within me!’