Chapter 621: Sheva is at Disadvantage?!
Tak!
Tak!
Tak!
Time passed so slowly, and yet, the tension still failed to ebb away from the air. Both players went with a slow approach, even including Sheva, who was always proud of his playing speed.None of them wanted to make a stupid mistake by being too hurried, just opting for going with the flow and waiting for the right opportunity to come.
Even Bagas himself was so nervous right now that he couldn’t sit still as he felt his legs were shaking. It was a rare occurrence, since usually, the boy would’ve just yawned already at this point, probably feeling bored from listening to Irfan’s long-winded explanation.
However, just for this game, he couldn’t do that.
"It has been eight minutes since Sheva made the last move, and before that, it also took him about 11 minutes before lifting his pieces. It is definitely not often to see him thinking so long for every move. Do you think it will affect him in the long run, Master Irfan?" He couldn’t help but ask, trying to fill in the silence.
"Hmm... It is hard to say, Gas..." The man pondered for a second. "Normally, yes, it would affect him even if it was just barely. After all, for a player who usually puts pressure on his opponent’s time management, being put in his victim’s shoes would definitely be the first experience for him, and in such a high-pressure game like this, experiencing something for the first time is definitely not a good idea."
Bagas felt his stomach sink when he heard that, already thinking of the worst-case scenario right now. It didn’t help that the computer engine leaned on Gukesh’s side more, giving the Indian boy a slightly better evaluation.
"Still, you have to remember that Sheva has been preparing this game for... Well, forever, I guess." Irfan continued, ignoring the boy’s stiff expression on his screen. "If I have to guess, he is prepared for a long game like this, and he doesn’t want to be reckless here, double-checking every move to make sure that no loophole is made during the game. If only he could do that for every game..." He ended his explanation with a long sigh.
Bagas himself choked for a moment, wanting nothing but to strangle the man on the screen to death. ’At least, if you want to explain something like this, make sure you do it in one go! You almost gave me a fucking heart attack, Master Irfan!’ He cried inwardly.
The game itself was running quite slowly. Well, Gukesh just played at a normal pace, but Sheva approached everything so carefully today. Even the move that he usually made in a heartbeat took a few more minutes today, not wanting to make a mistake.
It wasn’t like he did it on purpose. No, it was his unconsciousness that took over, whispering in his mind that one wrong move would be enough to give Gukesh the opening stage to kill him. This was probably the bad side of overpreparing for the game against a better opponent, as his brain was haunted by all of his opponent’s strengths.
Unfortunately, though, even with the extra cautiousness he pulled, Sheva still fell at a disadvantage. It was the 18th move of the game, and yet, the situation had never improved to Sheva’s favor even for once in this game.
’My queenside is getting locked down entirely, huh? I need to find something to break through right now...’ Sheva took a deep breath, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he got a headache from the current position. ’At least, he offers me that insane knight in the middle. But it would only replace that piece with his dark bishop, and it would just be a more troublesome matter in the future. How should I deal with it?’
Sheva had to admit that this was the most difficult game he had ever played. Gukesh was like a sniper today, never missing even a single inaccurate move that Sheva made and punished them all decisively.
Right now, the man had already taken over control on the queenside, while on the other flank, the pawns there started to march forward after knowing that no enemies would be quick enough to threaten their king.
Sheva’s position was so bad that all of the viewers on the broadcast started to get nervous.
Meanie15: Hey, hey, are we sure that Sheva can survive? I mean, look at this!
Jrozu: Hell, I don’t even know anymore!
Hilda99: Bah! You bunch of fake fans! Have some trust in Brother Sheva!
Froggies: Well... I mean, I cannot even blame them right now...
Honestly, if Sheva had any other choice, he would never want to be in this position. However, things had already gone this far, so he could only swallow it silently and move on to get a better position.
The pressure from Gukesh continued, with three pawns having already advanced on the fifth rank. They still had no option to march forward for promotion, but their presence was still the biggest problem that Sheva had to solve.
Gukesh also started to exert his muscles. With so many pawns on the opponent’s territory, he took advantage of that, exchanging a few of them to sneak a major piece there. In the end, Sheva had no choice, as the Indian prodigy’s knight was too strong on his side. He had to sacrifice his rook to neuter that piece, throwing it off the equation first.
Of course, this was not without consequence. As the move was made, the evaluation bar moved slightly, showing +2.4 for Gukesh. Even though it didn’t really change a lot from before, the amount was enough to make them all nervous.
"No, he cannot do this for too long!" Irfan shook his head strongly; somehow, his voice rose as he also felt the tension in this game. "Sheva has to start taking initiative! His queen has a chance to sneak, and he has to take it and start pushing back! This is his only chance to make a counterattack, and he has to find it!"