"Okay, everyone! Welcome back to the Black Rook Channel, where we are going to witness the fateful day of the tournament! Today, our focus is just on two players! Our new IM in the town, Anna Marisa, will have to fight against Aryan Chopra from India, while our rising star Nayaka Buddhidharma will have to face Maus Deuer from Germany!"
Froggies: Let's fucking goooo!
Korn02: Damn! Who would've thought that we are on the last day already?!
HajiSayame8: I get why we are focusing on Anna, but why Nayaka, though?
Bagas picked the last question with the corner of his eyes and explained, "For Anna, of course, this is going to be a match to determine whether she could break through the invisible barrier in front of her and get into the podium of the tournament or not, and for Nayaka, today is going to be a big one, since he needs a draw to get his first ever FM norm of his career!"
Right after his announcement, the chat room exploded, with everyone being so excited to get another success here. While it was just a norm, not yet the real title, they would still be satisfied with any good news that Bagas brought. It also helped that Nayaka was lovable among the viewers, making his fans grow further toquite a large number.
While Bagas was engaging with the audience, though, Anna and the others had already arrived at the venue. Anna, in particular, took a deep breath the moment he entered the hall, savoring the feeling of everything inside as she knew this was going to be her last day here.
'Last year, I witnessed Sheva creating history, getting into the number two spot of the tournament. This year… It is my time to do that in front of him…' She clenched her fist tightly, eyes burning in determination.
Once she went to her assigned table, the girl saw Aryan Chopra was already there. The handsome man just chatted with the other Indian players casually, clearly not treating the game seriously. That, or he was confident in his ability to beat her. Nonetheless, Anna couldn't care less about it, since her mind was so focused on what was going to happen later.
The closest Indonesian player to her was Nayaka, who was a few tables away, as the boy was just half a point behind her. The boy was fortunate, though, that even if his point was quite high, he didn't get paired against a strong player. His opponent was just a normal FM from Germany with an ELO rating of around 2350, definitely beatable by Nayaka.
'If only his opponent were a little bit stranger, he would be fighting for an IM title already. Oh, well, no amount of regret would be enough to change this, and it is good that he goes slowly. Maybe, this is for the best…'
After waiting for a while, all the players were finally back on their assigned chairs, and in the next five minutes after that, the alarm rang, marking the beginning of the game. So many handshakes were formed simultaneously, with Anna being one of them as well.
"Let's have a good game."
Right after the handshake was made, she made the first move first, and instead of going for any other opening she usually used, the girl didn't move any of her pawns first, just letting her G knight jump to the F3 square.
This was the REti System, the opening that she learned in a cram class with Sheva last night.
"This is something that I learned pretty recently. The best way to face a passive opponent who likes to wait for the endgame phase is to throw the ball at them, letting them take the first initiative. Now, he is forced to go for an offense, and whether he is good at it or not, at least, you have already taken his most comfortable style out of his game."
That was what Sheva said last night, and honestly, just based on Aryan Chopra's slight frown when he saw her first move, Anna believed all of the reasoning he gave.
'There is no way a top GM like him couldn't pull an offensive game, but at least, I don't have to face another empty endgame against a superior player like him again.' She sighed in relief.
Yeah, Anna still suffered from trauma after throwing away two consecutive endgame advantages earlier in this tournament. The final result might not be her defeat, but she didn't want to experience something like that again in the future.
Aryan Chopra himself didn't think too much about it. While yes, he didn't expect Anna to use this opening, the man wasn't a 2600-GM for nothing. He adapted immediately, initiating a strong attack on the queenside. This was just a normal operation for the black piece against this system, as the main purpose of the system was for the white to absorb all the attack first before launching a counterattack later.
It was indeed a funny opening, especially as Anna hadn't moved her central pawn even after the first nine moves of the game. It was a rarity for the white piece, who usually took a quick control over the middle, but one that was deliberately attempted with a full theory behind her.
'Now, I just need to be patient, building my defense first like a cocoon before starting to look at any chance he is going to give me today.' Anna muttered inwardly.
The game went quite slowly, with both players taking their time in every move. That didn't mean everything was peaceful, though. There were some ripples here and there for both players, as they wanted to poke each other and test their opponent's toughness first before deciding on how to take down the opponent.
Still, everything was equal for a while, and honestly, this was the worst scenario for a broadcaster who didn't know a single shit about chess like Bagas. Hell, he even stiffened his yawn here, not wanting to look like a country bumpkin who was completely out of place.
When he caught the situation on Nayaka's board, though, his eyes lit up immediately, knowing that something interesting must be going on right now.
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