"Hey, hey! Another positive result! Come on, let's cheer for another good day!"
"Cheers!"
The festive atmosphere was back at the Chinese Restaurant, and this time, everyone was involved. No matter how hard his three students wanted to skip this part, Sheva would never allow it, wanting them to bond with the other people as well. Dita Karenza also came, wanting to wind herself up after a stressful three rounds of the tournament.
"Hey, Sheva, what do you think of my game today?" Claudia suddenly asked, as usual, wanting praise from the coach here.
"Bah! You are so shameless asking that, Ia! Of course, he would praise you! Brother Sheva is too polite not to do that!" Devi retorted, her face flushed red. No alcohol was involved in the scene, but some of them were so excited by today's result that they couldn't help but smile widely right now.
"Why do you care about whether I am shameless or not?! Just mind your business, loser!" Claudia bit back with the same heat.
"Ha! Loser? I have the same point as you, Bitch!"
As those two went to each other's throats again, Sheva just sighed tiredly, somehow feeling so helpless that they forgot about their promise to be civil yesterday. Still, he didn't interrupt them, knowing full well that they needed this bickering after spending the first few days here in tension.
After waiting until they were calm enough, he finally gave them both a nod here. "You both did great, even better than I expected. None of your opponents are easy so far, and yet, you still went with only a few scratches, never truly suffering from any opponent around your level. If you managed to maintain this level of performance, you would go back home with a title norm on your back, you know?"
Both girls perked up instantly, knowing that this was why they came here. It wasn't just to raise their rating and gain more experience, but with such a strong field, it would be a waste if they failed to get any norm here.
Still, Sheva didn't really lie in this case. He truly saw them doing a great job, especially in the last round.
Claudia managed to bounce back after a tough loss against Bu Xiangzhi yesterday, beating a strong FM with an ELO rating of around 2390 in a battle lasting for 44 moves. It was a tough positional warfare, and her advantage was only clear in the last five moves or so. Still, it was enough for her to secure the bag today.
As for Devi, somehow, she got paired against another strong GM here. After managing to force a draw against Aryan Chopra in the first round, this time, she had to face a young Indian's new GM, Pranav Anand, whose rating was around 2550.
The boy was slightly older than her, but his experience was definitely way better here. However, Devi managed to outmaneuver him with her tactical sacrifice, forcing perpetual checks to snatch half a point from the boy.
It was another strong result from her part, and while she only got 2 points so far and was quite behind on the table, the rating she earned couldn't be compared with that. So far, the girl managed to snatch 44 points in one go, getting her to around 2120 just in one go.
Sheva could only shake his head when he knew that, getting reminded of how easy it was to gain a rating in lower-level chess.
Speaking of that, though, his other two students also did a fantastic job. While their opponents were still quite easy since they lost on the first day of the tournament, both boys played so clinically, securing two wins against a slightly higher-rated opponent than themselves.
So far, they have earned 2 points as well, the same as Devi and Claudia. They kept themselves closer to the pack, not wanting to be left out of the fun here.
"Still, get ready, though." Sheva couldn't help but warn them. "After getting two points, your next opponent will be quite difficult. So, don't be too disappointed for any loss you suffer next, okay?"
In return, Devi just pouted slightly here. "We know, Brother! We are not children, you know? This is not even our first rodeo!"
"Yes, yes!" Somehow, Claudia was also in agreement with her rival. "Losing is not a bad thing here. All of our opponents are stronger, so one or two defeats don't really matter."
Seeing how patient Sheva guided the youngsters in front of him, Dita Karenza couldn't help but smile here. "You are so good at dealing with them, you know?" She suddenly spoke.
"Ah, Sister Dita?" Sheva blinked, then rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, they have been studying with me for a while, so I am somehow responsible with them here. I don't really want to put too much pressure on them, so I have to make sure that they don't get too greedy."
"Yes, as I said before, you are good at this." Dita nodded in approval.
Dita Karenza herself also managed to bounce back after losing the first round. Now, she also sat at the same seat as the others, earning two points out of three games. Well, it was a normal development, since Dita Karenza herself was also a strong player in the first place.
As for the two strongest players in the group, just as everyone expected, they were soaring so high in the sky. Even though Anna failed to snatch the win from Bu Xiangzhi, she was still half a point behind the number one spot with 2.5 points, somehow competing for the top of the list.
Laysa was also on the same path here, even though her way was less rocky compared to her rival. After failing to win the second round yesterday, she went berserk, beating her opponent, a weak FM with an ELO rating of around 2290, in a quick 25-move game that gave her another chance to stand next to Anna.
Up to this point, though, everyone had a good tournament, what with them having more than 50 percent of the points available so far. Unfortunately, the good mood had to be over soon, as their phone suddenly buzzed at the same time. Without even checking twice, they all knew what was coming next.
"The pairing is out!"
Comments