Chapter 615: Throwing a Bait from the Start!
The moment the handshake was made, Sheva, going with the white, didn’t hesitate to make his first move. However, instead of the king’s pawn push that he usually pulled, the boy picked another opening system here. He let the knight on the G file jump, letting his opponent take the first initiative here.
"The Reti?" Bagas blinked confusedly. "This is definitely not Sheva’s go-to opening, right?"
Irfan, in the broadcast room, also nodded; a big frown formed on his face. "I swear, if he thinks he can experiment here just because Nils Grandelius is weaker..." he didn’t finish his words, but he was growling like a ferocious beast right now.
Bagas himself just rolled his eyes secretly. Out of those two, he felt like he had the right to judge whether Sheva was underestimating his opponent or not. After all, the boy witnessed the scene directly, how his best friend stayed up until late in the night just to prepare for this game.
’If that was underestimating his opponent, I really want to know what Sheva has to do to rate his opponent perfectly.’ He grumbled.
Of course, Sheva himself didn’t know about that, nor did he care enough about the voice outside. Honestly, it was always like this, even when he was in the middle of Hans Niemann’s cheating storm last year. His mind could be hazy, but the moment he sat at the table, seeing the opponent in front of him, everything became clear, and he entered battle mode immediately.
No, right now, Sheva even forgot about the conversation he had with Bagas earlier. He was too busy looking at Nils Grandelius’s reaction, feeling satisfied when the boy caught a glimpse of surprise in the man’s eyes.
’Yeah, you didn’t expect that I would pull for the Reti one, huh?’
This opening was basically a direct challenge for the black, with the white piece throwing away his tempo advantage and saying, ’Go on, just attack me first!’. It definitely put Sheva in a passive mode, but this also prevented the Swedish GM from going with his ultra-defensive strategy here.
’Yeah, you want to go for a cocoon defense? Unfortunately, no! You have to attack me now! Come on, let’s throw punches at each other!’ He smirked challengingly.
Honestly, though, this was not a new opening for Sheva. The boy had been using this quite a lot since he saw it for the first time when Hans Niemann pulled it against him in Reykjavik last year. He had been pulling this opening several times, with the last being in the game against Erwin L’Ami from the Dutch in the Tata Steel Challenger last January.
The purpose was clear here. Since Nils Grandelius had a strong momentum with his great wall strategy, Sheva would force the man to go on an all-out offense.
Of course, Nils Grandelius could’ve just ignored it, going into his original cocoon style. However, in doing so, he would waste the tempo that Sheva gave him, and the boy could strike back quickly with a more devastating attack.
So, yeah, the Swedish GM didn’t have any choice but to follow the scenario that Sheva had prepared beforehand.
Of course, Nils Grandelius wouldn’t stay idle. Knowing that he had fallen into Sheva’s trick, the man was determined to make the best of it. He was just flustered for a moment before starting to march his pawns on the queenside to control that flank.
Not only that, but he also cleared his kingside immediately, fianchettoing the bishop to the G7 square while also getting the knight out of the stable before castling the king into that side. Somehow, after the first few moves, the position resembled the Catalan Opening here, yet with the black player who moved first in the game.
Of course, with him losing one tempo here, it was understandable that the advantage was on the black’s side. Even the computer engine showed that Sheva was down by –0.3, and while it wasn’t that much—it was basically still equal, Sheva said—the direction of the game had shifted a moment to the opponent’s side.
However, the boy was prepared for this. He knew he would be at a disadvantage, and he had already prepared to go on defense at the beginning of the game.
’Let’s see if he can crack my wall here,’ Sheva thought.
After the first eight moves were made in a blitz, Nils Grandelius finally paused, getting stumped with what move he should make in this position. He had a choice to exchange the light bishop, which was never an option here since it was a bad move, getting his knight shut down the path between those two bishops, or he could even clear the way on the queenside immediately.
’The situation is still dangerous, but the initiative is mine. If I could start the trade here...’ The Swedish GM glanced slightly at Sheva before shaking his head strongly, somehow ambition driving him crazy. ’No, I just need to be patient and improve my position first. The advantage is still on my side, it wouldn’t disappear just from one inaccurate move.’
So, instead of going for a conservative move and exchanging for everything, Nils Grandelius went all out, moving his knight first before charging on the queenside. This was definitely the right move, as the computer engine approved it.
The bar just changed slightly from –0.3 to –0.4, yet nevertheless, the idea that Nils picked was a correct one here.
In fact, it was Sheva who made an inaccurate move first, and it was not just once, but twice, even!
The boy decided to let Nils Grandelius kick his knight out of the middle, letting the man plant a strong pawn in the center of the board easily. Not only that, but he also let Nils’s knight jump straight into the heart of his territory, the place where it was so close for the Swedish GM to infiltrate further.
Seeing this, Bagas couldn’t help but frown, feeling the sweat on his palm clearly. ’I swear, Shev, you better win the game, or Master Irfan will haunt you for the whole tournament because of it!’