Time passed quickly, and before anyone knew it, the game had been running for about two hours. Somehow, though, the pace was so slow that they were still in their 17th move of the game. It seemed that both Anna and Bu Xiangzhi didn't want to rush things up here, wanting to take their sweet time to calculate every single move possible on the board.
This was just a normal development, but for Bagas, who was used to commenting on Sheva's fast-paced game, this was definitely boring as hell.
"Urgh… How could they be so slow? I swear, the move is so obvious, right?" Bagas groaned out loud. Fortunately, they were still taking a break right now, so they were not connected to the microphone on the live broadcast.
"This is how a normal game usually goes, you know?" Sheva smiled wryly. "You are so spoiled by my quick style that you cannot even bear the thought of waiting patiently here. What would happen if you had to commentate on my game against a more patient player like Fabiano Caruana or even MVL in the future?"
Those two players were always prominent for their slow build-up and patient playing style. What made them formidable, though, was that even with them moving slowly, they had never been in real-time trouble, always able to drag their opponent into their pace with a complicated and sophisticated game.
"Oh, so you are that confident that you will play against them in the future?" Bagas teased.
"Ha! It is not confidence, but more like something that I know for sure will happen. I mean, my rating is around 2690 right now, and soon, once I cross the 2700 threshold, the bigger tournament will start to invite me left and right." Sheva shrugged nonchalantly.
Bagas nodded silently, liking his best friend's confidence. He was also glad that the boy was back to his cheerful self. At least this was better than his lost state a week ago, when the boy was so burned out that he wanted to accept a deliberate defeat in the last game of the tournament.
'It seems the decision to come here is a correct one. He is indeed getting better with more familiar people surrounding him.' He nodded in approval.
After chatting around outside, they were finally back to the media booth, just to find out that Anna hadn't made a move yet since they left the scene. Everything was still the same, with half of the board—especially the center field—clear from any interference.
Yeah, somehow, Bu Xiangzhi went for the same approach as he pulled against Claudia yesterday. She went for a quick endgame state, wanting to best the girl in the most complicated positioning game with fewer pieces on the board.
It wasn't really that empty, though, the chessboard. Anna still had two knights, two rooks, and a light bishop on the board, with six pawns spanning the second rank of the board. Bu Xiangzhi's pieces were quite similar, but with him having two bishops and one knight in return. Other than that, the positions were still mirrored to each other; no big improvement was made.
However, with the queen off the board for both players, the game indeed became more monotonous. Everything looked so similar, and anyone who saw this at first glance would conclude that the game would end up in a draw.
Still, the situation seemed to be calm, but this was when both players could easily make a mistake in the game. They just fell into a too-relaxed state and slipped, and in the next second, the blunder was on the board, one that would make them regret it for the rest of the game.
Anna had learned from her sister's mistake yesterday, so there was no way she would repeat it today.
'Now, I don't really need to take initiative in my pawn push.' The girl frowned. 'Let him take care of that first. For me, I need to develop my pieces into a better position first. Both my knights are in very awkward positions and could get exposed very easily, but which one should I take out first? Screw it! Let's avoid the middle ground first and wait for him to take action. Let's just be passive and wait on the back, maybe he will surprise me soon.'
As she made her thought, the girl chose to play passively, shifting her pieces back and forth while also maintaining the fortress of pawns on the back. She didn't lose anything, anyway. Even if Bu Xiangzhi didn't respond, the game would end up in a draw, and against the top-seeded player of the tournament? This result was anything that she could hope for.
However, Anna also kept her eyes clearly on the board. Based on Claudia's game yesterday, the girl knew that Bu Xiangzhi would never accept a draw result, especially against an opponent whose rating was more than 250 below his. No, he would take an action soon, and when that happened, that was when she should strike with all of her power.
'Yes… Just stay patient, no need to rush things up…' She inhaled a deep breath, trying to keep everything steady.
Everything went quite well for Anna, going in the direction that she wanted. The girl navigated her pieces like a veteran war general, always thinking three or even four steps ahead. More exchanges happened on the board, with both sides losing a rook deliberately.
Then, Bu Xiangzhi also started taking action. It seemed the Chinese GM also started to get anxious, wanting to rush things up with his pieces. He tried to infiltrate through the second rank with the rook, preventing the king from moving from its awkward place.
This was when the situation was the most dangerous for Anna, and somehow, this was also the one where chance often came to her side.
True enough, after waiting patiently, what she was waiting for finally came.
In a hasty move, Bu Xiangzhi wanted to control more squares on Anna's sides, so he moved his light bishop to the second rank as well. However, the computer said that it was a mistake, and the evaluation bar moved up as well to prove that.
Now, it was +1.4, and the advantage shifted to Anna's side immediately.
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