Chapter 611: Sheva VS Vincent Keymer! (IV)
"No way..." Bagas gasped, staring at the screen in disbelief. "No fucking way... Sheva missed such a huge advantage?!"
Even though +1.4 didn’t look that much, Bagas knew that in a high-level game like this, all advantages mattered. Hell, as long as it wasn’t below +0.5, there was still a chance the white piece could extend the advantage, and it worked well, especially for Sheva.
Bagas had been witnessing his best friend’s rise from the beginning of his career up to this point, and yet, he hadn’t often seen that Sheva failed to grasp the win from this advantageous position. The last one should be against the Uzbek GM, Javokhir Sindarov, in the Tata Steel Chess last January, and since then, no one could stop his berserk state at all.
Now, it seemed Sheva would be forced to get his second draw of the year, what with how Vincent Keymer was able to hold the position up to this point.
Still, Irfan, who was in the broadcast room with a video call from Jakarta, clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"I said before how important it is not to be arrogant and not underestimate your opponent, and I even took Gukesh as a bad example of it, but it seems our young talent is also suffering from the same disease, huh?" Sarcasm laced in his tone quite well.
"Uh... How so, Master Irfan?" Bagas asked, a little bit embarrassed here. He knew where Irfan was going, but Sheva was his player, and he still had to defend him here.
"Tch! You know what I am talking about!" Irfan’s expression was full of dissatisfaction. "Yawning, stretching his body, strolling around like he owns the place... Who does he think he is? I swear, the first time he gets out of the venue, I will give him a piece of my mind!"
This time, Bagas had a sweat drop on his face, knowing that his best friend was in for another round of scolding.
’Sorry, my friend, but unfortunately, you are on your own for this.’ He muttered, sending a silent prayer for Sheva.
"Anyway, while I think it is karma for him underestimating his opponent, the sequence that leads into this position is quite educational for young players to learn." Irfan decided to shift back to explain the move again. "We can see Sheva’s vision here, being able to open up the kingside and create a doubled pawn for his opponent on the F file. However, this allows Vincent Keymer to push that front F pawn further, planting a strong foothold on his defense in which Vincent’s queen is able to infiltrate."
Bagas blinked for a moment. "Is it that serious?"
"Don’t underestimate that simple pawn push, because that allows Vincent Keymer to lock Sheva’s king on that side forever," Irfan answered solemnly. "What Sheva should’ve done was to push his rook and pin that pawn to the queen, never allowing the pawn to go further. Instead, though, Sheva picks the conservative move, offering a queen’s trade in this situation."
"But exchanging it this time is not that bad, right?" Bagas hesitated, but still expressed his opinion. "I mean, after that, Sheva’s rook could maneuver to E3 first before going to the G3 square, controlling that file and never allowing Vincent Keymer’s king to run away."
"Yes, but at what cost?" Irfan retorted back. "Now, his queen, his strongest attacking piece, is gone, and he has to put all of his pieces to that side to start an attack again, and it would take a long time to do that, which Vincent Keymer would definitely never let him do."
Bagas pondered for a moment before sighing inwardly. Indeed, Irfan was right here. The queen exchange basically nullified Sheva’s own advantage, and now, if he wanted to gain an upper hand again, the boy had to pray for his opponent to make a mistake.
Of course, Sheva himself didn’t really know that he was getting scolded by his two good friends in the broadcast room right now. No, he still thought that nothing really big happened in the game, and his mind was working hard to evaluate how he could force a mistake out of Vincent’s brain.
’He would never take any easy and cheap bait, so it will only bring me to a disadvantageous position.’ Sheva’s brain spun fast. ’However, a bait has to be thrown out if I still want to create something. The question is, which piece do I have to use here? The pawn on the A file? What about the B file? Push forward? But that means the A file will be vulnerable, and my bishop is not flexible enough to cover that spot. Hmm... Decision, decision...’
This was just the nature of the endgame phase. The more space he could put his pieces in, the more he had to be careful, since there was still only one best move here, so the chance for Sheva to find it would be relatively smaller.
Soon enough, more pieces were exchanged, and both players only had one bishop, one rook, and several pawns on the board. They both had the same color bishop, so there was a chance that they could still win the game. That was why no draw offer was made yet.
However, as time went by, no progress was made, and in the end, Sheva had no choice here. He smiled wryly, offering a handshake while asking, "A draw?"
Vincent Keymer paused, staring at his eyes for a second before nodding stiffly. "Sure."
With that, the game was finally over, with Sheva gaining half a point from this game. It wasn’t definitely a bad result, but considering Gukesh managed to beat the same boy yesterday, Sheva felt like he would fall at a disadvantage later on.
Still, he didn’t forget to praise Vincent here. "Your endgame technique is amazing. I heard about it from Dmitrij, but seeing it myself is different. If only I lose my concentration for a second, I would lose the game, you know?"
It was just a polite remark, but Vincent still smiled and returned the favor.
"You as well. I know you are amazing since the Tata Steel last few months, but this is the first time we face each other, and I really sweated a lot during the game."
They still exchanged some pleasantry until the whispers nearby snapped their attention.
’What?! Gukesh also gets a draw? Damn, this is crazy!’