"Oh, what do we have here? Does our powerful broadcaster get stumped by the challenge in front of him?"
Before Bagas could even say anything, a familiar voice suddenly popped from behind. The boy himself wasn't angry at the teasing. If anything, his eyes lit up brighter than ever, realizing who had just come to save his living grace.
"Sheva! You are finally here!" Bagas laughed.
Yeah, the person who had just arrived here was Sheva, the one who pulled an all-nighter to help the others prepare for today's game. The fat boy didn't forget to write a note before he went out, asking Sheva to come as quickly as possible after he woke up from his deep sleep. Fortunately, his friend didn't disappoint him, coming just half an hour after the game began today.
Gonk30: Damn! Look at how happy he is! I bet he is sweating cold without anyone to help him, right?
Froggies: I mean, what's wrong with that? Bagas has admitted for a long time that he is not good at this analysis part, right?
Jinxy59: Hell, yeah! Welcome back, Sheva!
Sheva just snorted amusedly when he took a glance at the chat room on the screen. He didn't say anything, just picking up the headphones silently before adjusting the microphone in front of his mouth.
"Urgh… Check, check… Can anyone hear me?" He spoke slowly, testing whether the equipment worked well or not.
"Affirmative! Everything is perfect here!" Bagas nodded, giving him a big thumbs-up. "Anyway, before your arrival, we are going to watch how Nayaka is fighting on his table. Do you want to see it too?" The boy asked while moving the cursor quickly to the other game.
"Sure."
Right after that, a different scenario board showed on the screen, where everything was quite wild, even though it was still the eighth move of the game. Compared to this, Anna's game, where both players were still trying to poke around left and right, was definitely a tame one.
"Oh, the Rossolimo Attack?" Sheva arched one of his eyebrows slightly, noticing the system that Nayaka used instantly. "Well, not that I didn't expect it, since this is one of the opening variations that he has been learning for a while. Still, the confidence to use it in this moment… At least, we know that he is not just going for a draw, but aiming for a win as well for this last game."
"Oh? What is this Rossolimo Attack, and can you explain a little bit more of Nayaka's strategy today?" Bagas inquired, inwardly happy.
The first thirty minutes here were hell on earth for him, as he failed to navigate the audience without any guidance from a professional. Now that Bagas had Sheva next to him, he would take advantage of every second of it, squeezing all the chess knowledge from his friend's brain.
Sheva himself felt the corner of his mouth twitching, too speechless at Bagas's shamelessness. Still, he didn't dodge the question, answering it to even the tiniest detail possible.
"The Rossolimo Attack is one of the Sicilian Defense's variations, often used for white to bypass the heavy theoretical preparation that this opening usually forces. This is kinda like the Alapin that I always use, but this variation seeks a quick imbalance position. In fact, I think this is one of Fabiano Caruana's favorite variations, as I can remember him playing a lot of this in his past tournaments."
"Oh, so we have a cutting-edge opening here?"
"Well, I'm not going to say a cutting-edge opening. More like a solid one with the hint of sharpness on its edge." Sheva pondered. "It is just surprising, though, that Nayaka decides to go for a win. However, that's how a young player should be, ambitious until the end." He gave a nod of approval.
Nayaka himself didn't know that he was the center of conversation outside of the venue right now. No, his attention was completely on the German boy in front of him, as he was waiting for the boy to make the move.
'This is still the tenth move of the game, and yet it is already 40 minutes since the game began. I don't need to speed things up, but I have to manage my time wisely, or I will be punished later.' Nayaka thought to himself while glancing at the clock next to the board.
Not that he had to worry, since Marius Deuer, his opponent, burnt the time more recklessly than he. While Nayaka still only spent seventeen minutes of his clock, the German FM had already used almost 25 minutes, with about 10 minutes gap between them.
It might not look that much in an early stage of the game, but once everything was accumulated and they entered the phase where every second mattered, that was when this difference made a crucial advantage for Nayaka later.
The situation itself was pretty much equal, but the initiative was definitely on Nayaka's side. The boy managed to force a doubled-pawn structure on his opponent's side, and not only that, but his pieces' activity was also stronger, all being out in a good square and ready to launch a big gun on his opponent's side.
Of course, not everything was great here. He basically gave up both his bishops to get rid of his opponent's knights quite early. Still, Nayaka remembered clearly one intelligence that stood out from what Sheva gave him this morning.
'He doesn't do well in an endgame with his opponent having a knight, so I have to make sure that at least one of them survives here. Even if I failed to confront him in a positional battle, at least, my advantage in the later stage will be clear.'
Time passed quickly, and more exchanges also happened on the board. Soon enough, at least, half of the board was cleared, with more pieces falling on the battlefield. However, both sides still had so many pawns on the board, so everything would be decided on how they utilized their grassroots soldiers later.
Things were still pretty much equal, but in this situation, somehow, Sheva was optimistic that Nayaka could get an upper hand here.
"The doubled-pawn structure that he created in the early stage of the game will play a massive part right now," Sheva said solemnly. "Now, Nayaka has to be calm, because it should be his opponent who is anxious. Be patient, and everything will come to his side!"
Comments