Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 483: The Other’s Reaction Back Home

"FINALLY! THE CHANCE IS HERE!"

Watching Bagas scream on the microphone like this, all the people in Irfan’s house winced unconsciously, with Irfan being the closest to the remote, turned down the volume immediately. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Damn... Brother Bagas sure knows how to scream, right?" Claudia cringed while also rubbing her ears; the voice was still ringing inside her head. However, once her attention was on the screen again, especially on the evaluation bar, her eyes bulged instantly. "What the... Hell? How could it be -2.2 out of nowhere?! What mistake does his opponent make?" She asked incredulously.

It wasn’t just her, but the others were also dumbfounded. Master Susanto rose from the sofa and got closer to the massive television they used to watch the stream, having both arms folded in front of the chess. Taher had a big frown on his face, and the girls who were chatting with each other a moment ago also stopped, leaning forward eagerly.

Hell, even Master Irfan’s wife also took a glance. Even though she didn’t know anything about chess, since everyone was attracted to what happened on the screen, the woman also couldn’t help but do the same.

"Mustafa Yilmaz is unlucky." Irene sighed after staring at the board for a while. "The computer wants him to sacrifice his queen for a rook and a pawn, which also allows his D pawn to move forward. However, I don’t think anyone is strong enough mentally to let go of the queen with nothing to return like this."

"Yeah, and also, Mustafa Yilmaz is not someone who is eager for an adventure, so it is no wonder he decides to back down like this," Medina added in agreement. "The exchange of rook and Sheva’s knight also looks quite good, removing a strong piece on Sheva’s side from the board. Except from the computer’s angle, everything looks okay for the white piece, and that’s why he chooses to do so."

Seeing everyone sighing gloomily like this, Laysa couldn’t stand it anymore. "Why are you all looking like it is Sheva who makes a blunder?! He is so close to winning the game and the entire tournament, you know? Cheer up a little!"

That was when they all realized that, yeah, this was good for Sheva, so why would they be like this?

"Master Irfan, I will start preparing my congratulatory card." Taher suddenly threw a joke. "Get ready to like and share, okay? I want to get my follower number increased, too."

Laysa perked up immediately at the idea. "You can ask Master Irfan, Brother Taher, but you know that the most influential one is Bagas! I will ask him to share my post, and who knows, if he also holds Sheva’s account, maybe I will get lucky too!"

"Bah! Shameless! As expected of you, Laysa!"

"Hey, just blame yourself for not thinking about this sooner than me!"

It seemed everyone also knew about Sheva’s jump in the follower number, and it wouldn’t be a lie if they said that no envy had ever crossed their mind. In this era of social media, where everyone was eager to be a big internet personality, a huge number of followers was the foundation, and once they got that, it was easy to get anything else.

Anna herself didn’t join the fun there. In fact, all of those commotions weren’t registered through her brain, as right now, her eyes were locking into the screen, especially the boy who was smiling confidently even though the game was still far from over. That smile spread on her face as well, as she could feel a butterfly on her stomach.

"She looks cool, yeah?" Someone suddenly asked.

"Yeah..." Anna nodded unconsciously before realizing what just escaped through her mouth. "E—Eh?! What?!" Her face flushed in panic, especially when she saw Laysa grinning at her knowingly.

"Don’t worry, even I have to admit that his confidence is attractive." She whispered lowly. "Who knows that a boy who didn’t know anything about chess a year ago would be able to fly higher than anyone else in this country in such a short time... Genius sure is unfair, huh?"

Hearing that, Anna could feel her gaze go blurry as she got dragged into memory.

’It was just a year ago, huh?’ She murmured, remembering clearly the first time they met. ’It should be in this house as well, and he was just a rookie at that time, finding it hard to beat Claudia. Now, here he is, standing among those elites... Time sure flies...’ She sighed in a melancholic mood.

The game continued with Mustafa Yilmaz, who started to burn his time more, and the more the evaluation bar moved down for Sheva’s advantage, the more excited the crowd in Irfan’s house was.

"It is good that Sheva chooses this approach." Medina nodded in approval. "Even though there are so many chances to go for a tactical approach, ultimately, everything is quite risky, so it is better to go for a conventional strategy."

"Yeah." Irene nodded, sitting back on the sofa with the elders like Master Susanto and Irfan as she added a tidbit of her thought. "This is the most crude yet effective way to capitalize the advantage. Just get as many pawns as possible before exchanging queens, and once all the big variables are gone, start moving the king forward to get a promotion. It has been a long way, but it seems that Sheva has become a mature player right now."

As Sheva got closer to the win, the crowd in the venue also grew bigger, and some even tried their best to get closer before the security team stopped them from crossing the line. Honestly, this was the sight that no one in Irfan’s house had ever thought that anyone from the country would experience, yet here they were, witnessing history firsthand.

Anna herself also clenched her fist unconsciously, not even realizing that her hand was trembling on her knee. The closer Sheva got to the win, the more nervous she became. It was as if she were afraid that something bad would happen, and all of Sheva’s hard work would be gone instantly.

’Come on, Shev... Hang on...’ She bit her lips nervously.

In the end, after the game entered the fiftieth move, Sheva’s advantage was so great, having four pawns and a bishop against Mustafa Yilmaz with two pawns and a bishop with the same color. Not only that, two out of the four pawns that Sheva possessed could just march forward, as all of the white pieces were too far from stopping them.

Facing this situation, Mustafa Yilmaz was so frustrated, yet nothing could be done about it. As all the Indonesian players watched from Irfan’s house, the moment the handshake was formed, hell finally broke loose.

"YES! YES! YES! SHEVA FINALLY WINS THE GAME, AND HE WILL BE CROWNED AS THE ULTIMATE WINNER OF TATA STEEL CHALLENGER 2023!"