Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 497: The Three Teenagers (II)

Sheva was anxious right now. He kept turning his eyes from his phone to the road over and over again, wondering when they would be able to start moving again. Unfortunately, the traffic itself didn’t really care about how anxious he was or whether he would be late or not, as it just moved so slowly like a snail. The car he was in was trapped completely, unable to move even for a single inch for the last five minutes.

"Goddamnit! Why would Mister Wahyu decide to let the meeting happen in the federation’s office? Does he know that the traffic here is crazy?!" He couldn’t help but curse.

Yeah, the federation’s office was located in one of the busiest districts in Jakarta, and it was the place where traffic would always exist every day, no matter what the occasion was. Honestly, Sheva didn’t really know how such a place could exist, especially when so many people had already complained about this to the local government.

’Should I complain this to Mister Anies?’ A thought flashed inside his head, recalling the memory of the kind governor of the province who always followed his journey. However, that thought was banished instantly as he realized how ridiculous the idea was. ’I am just a chess player, what the hell am I doing by complaining to the governor himself? Let’s not make any unnecessary drama...’

Seeing his best friend’s anxious look, Bagas, who was in the driver’s seat, just shook his head exasperatedly. "If Mister Wahyu has a choice, he would probably rent the whole floor of the most luxurious hotel for you, you know? Honestly, if I didn’t know better, I would think that you are his illegitimate son or something like that..." He mumbled the last part.

Sheva narrowed his eyes dangerously, throwing a pack of tissues at his best friend’s head. "Don’t talk nonsense like that! My mom is loyal to my father 1000 percent, don’t you dare question that matter!"

"I know, I know..."

Sheva took a deep breath, shaking his head while also trying to stay calm. "Anyway, what do you mean by if Mister Wahyu has a choice?" He asked, catching the first part of his best friend’s explanation.

"It is exactly what I said," Bagas said, pressing down the accelerator slowly as the traffic finally started moving a little bit better. "At the end of the day, no matter how much money Mister Wahyu donates for chess’s development in our country, he is not an official person. It is okay if he sponsors you personally, but it is a different matter when it comes to players who want to represent the country in an official event from FIDE itself. He needs to go through the official path, and that’s when the federation comes into the equation."

Sheva nodded silently, yet his eyes told Bagas that he wasn’t focused on the topic. His mind wandered for a while before the boy asked again, "I mean, I get the logic. It should be related to the politics behind the scenes, right? My only complaint is why the federation has to provide the place? Their office is located in the worst place on earth, for God’s sake!" He grunted.

"Oh, don’t be such a spoil sport, it is not that bad..." Bagas snorted, not even turning his eyes from the road.

They waited for 15 minutes, and the car hadn’t even moved for more than 100 meters from the spot where they first been trapped by the traffic. Honestly, walking would probably be faster than this. Knowing that it would take a while before they could arrive, Sheva sighed, opening his phone again to read his new students’ files.

’Nayaka Buddhidarma, 16 years old, the winner of the High School National Tournament 2022. He is a year younger than Anna, huh? Also, in 2021, he beat Duta for the Middle School National Tournament, winning the entire thing by himself. With his resume, how could no one take an interest in him?’ He frowned, looking at Nayaka’s ELO Rating.

The boy’s rating was just 1800, and in total, he played only 3 FIDE-rated tournaments in his life. That amount was too low considering his achievement. Hell, Duta himself was so close to 2000, and the younger boy had been beaten by Nayaka often in the past.

’Speaking of Duta...’ He scrolled down, reading the information about the boy, whom he was a little bit familiar with. ’He has quite a rivalry with Nayaka, with the head-to-head of 1-4-2 for Nayaka in the standard format. Their game is always close, but at the end of the day, Nayaka always has the upper hand. Duta’s endgame composure has to be improved, or he will not go too far in the future.’ He took a note inwardly.

Honestly, Sheva could see that Nayaka was a bit better in almost everything compared to Duta. However, the latter one was luckier, since he lived in the capital city where resources were everywhere. Hell, just by joining Master Irfan’s club allowed Duta to play in about two international tournaments, one in Dubai with Sheva a few months ago, and the other in Thailand. Compared to that, Nayaka had to fight for the scarce resource back at the boy’s hometown, which resulted in his career being quite stagnant.

’As for the last one...’ Sheva scrolled his phone again, finding the photo of a girl with hijab and glasses. ’Shafira Devi, 14-year-old, always fighting for the best girl of the generation against Claudia. However, it is the same case as Nayaka. She doesn’t have the same opportunity as Claudia, making her rating stagnant. Interestingly enough, I can see a little bit of my style in hers...’

What Sheva meant by that was, when he checked Devi’s last few games, he could see the girl trying to imitate his style, throwing a subtle bait that the computer would disapprove but the human opponent wouldn’t be able to find just to catch the opponent off guard, and once the opportunity came, she would land the most decisive attack to end the game quickly.

It wasn’t refined yet, and some of the baits were too obvious and borderline blunders. However, Sheva could see the vision, and if he could give some pointers, he was so sure that the girl would improve quickly.

’So, a boy who is not good under pressure, another boy who lacks opportunity, and a girl who tries to imitate me, huh?’ A little smirk formed on the corner of his mouth. ’Man, this is going to be interesting!’