Chapter 624: After the Game
At first, Sheva thought that after forcing a draw against Gukesh, he would be ecstatic. After all, he was so close to losing the whole game, just for the Indian boy to miraculously make a mistake in the last second. No matter from which angle he looks, the boy should be grateful that he managed to survive until the end.
However, his mood plummeted to the bottom of the pit the moment Sheva retrieved his phone and discovered the comment section in the broadcast room.
Tch! For all the bragging about revenge, Sheva sure shows a disappointing performance!
Even my grandma can do better than him!
Holy shit, is he stupid or arrogant?! He knows the opening doesn’t work the first time, and he still wants to try again?!
Yeah, as expected of a teenager, he is not ready for a big scene.
’Fuck you and all of your ancestors! Who else is more ready than I in this country?!’ He cursed inwardly while also keeping his eyes on the phone. If only he could shoot a laser from a mere glare, the entire phone would’ve been destroyed at this point.
The last comment was indeed ridiculous. Sheva was the current best player and the biggest superstar in the country, and yet, some people still doubted him?! Hell, Sheva would even say it confidently that if not for him, not a single strong player would’ve glanced at Indonesia except to go for a holiday, and yet, he was being mocked so crazily like this?! Just for a draw against Gukesh?!
"What? Still reading the comment?" Bagas’s voice suddenly popped, snapping Sheva from his business. The boy turned around, just to find his best friend looking at him amusedly. "Honestly, if I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought you have a masochist tendency here. I mean, you know that people will say shit about you, and yet, here you are, reading them one by one."
In return, Sheva sent his fiercest glare, reaching the closest pillow from his hand and throwing it to his friend without hesitation.
"What? You disagree? I mean, can you blame them?" Bagas grinned while dodging the throw easily. "Even though you yourself have never spoken anything about it, everyone knows what you want in this game, and yet, can you honestly say that you are close to beating Gukesh even for a single turn in this game?"
Well, this silenced Sheva immediately. Indeed, he was never at an advantage in that game, getting pressured from the first move he made.
"I mean, I cannot blame you for wanting to prove something with the Dutch Defense, but think about it, that opening doesn’t really work in a classical game against a top-level player, right? Maybe, start thinking about another system to face that 1.D4?"
"Yeah, yeah, I know!" Sheva clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Still, why is it that everyone is shitting on me? I mean, Gukesh is a top player, and getting a draw should be something worth celebrating, right?" He scowled, putting down his phone immediately.
"Eh, that’s the internet for you, right?" His best friend shrugged nonchalantly.
Feeling infuriated, Sheva closed the social media app immediately, going straight to the Chess.com platform to check the current situation of the tournament.
’Fortunately, I am still the number one right now.’ He couldn’t help but let out a relieved sigh. ’I would’ve been a laughing stock already if somehow, I lost the first place from this draw.’
Well, in this case, Sheva really worried for nothing, because even though his closest competitor, Peter Svidler, was able to win his game, the man would only tie his score, and since their first meeting ended up with a win for Sheva, the boy would be the one who was in the lead in that scenario.
That was the case IF Peter Svidler won his game. In reality, he was stumped by Vincent Keymer, as the German GM really showed a resistance beyond what anyone could believe, defending almost every game flawlessly. Honestly, Sheva really wanted to check the game between Gukesh and Vincent a few days ago again, feeling curious about how the Indian prodigy beat the resourcefulness of Gukesh.
Then, his eyes wandered to the other game, just to find a particular game that caught his interest.
’Arjun lost against Jorden Van Foreest? I swear, Jorden doesn’t really play that well in this tournament.’ He frowned a little. After checking the Dutch GM’s current result, though, he shook his head quickly. ’Oh, well... Yeah, forget whatever I said. It seems I am really getting detached from reality.’
Yeah, when he only cared about himself and Gukesh, the other players also didn’t stay idle. Jorden Van Foreest was also the case here. After losing the first two games against Gukesh and Sheva, the man managed to bounce back, getting 2.5 points out of three games. The only draw he got was also against Peter Svidler, the second-best performer in this tournament.
With that amount of points, he might still be sitting in sixth place in the standings, but the man had already proven to be a troublesome player to face, what with Arjun also falling in his hands.
Still...
’Why is Gukesh trying to act so mysterious when talking about Arjun? If this is only what he is capable of, I don’t think I should be worried, right?’ Sheva scrolled through his phone once again with a frown.
The boy also checked Arjun’s game earlier, and everything was equal and boring for more than 50 minutes before the Indian boy finally made a fatal mistake. That level of play, that level of concentration... Honestly, even if Sheva didn’t say it out loud, he would still be really confident that he could win this game seamlessly.
So, what was Gukesh trying to say at the end of the game? Is this the boy’s attempt to help his friend?
’Oh, well, let’s not overthink it too much.’ Sheva shook his head quickly. ’Two rounds left, and I am still up for only half a point. This is definitely not a secure lead. No, I need to win at least one more game to ensure the trophy here. Let’s just treat everyone the same and try to win one game after another! Come on! I can do this!’