Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 516: Sheva’s Current State

'System, show me my stats.' Sheva commanded.

[Name: Adrian Sheva]

Attacking 89 (+0.89) (+4.45)

Defense 87 (+0.87) (+4.35)

Calculation 85 (+0.85) (+4.25)

Strategy 84 (+0.84) (+4.2)

Intuition 85 (+0.85) (+4.25)

Time management 88 (+0.88) (+4.4)

Current state: 81%

Title Slot: [Endgame Master] [National Resonance] [The Strong Man Aura] [The King of Asia: White level] [The Conqueror of Europe: White level]

'Whoa, my current state is 81 percent?!' Sheva gasped in astonishment. "Sorry about that one. Just remember something in my preparation." He apologized quickly as his reaction somehow attracted Mateusz Bartel's attention.

Even though Bartel didn't quite understand since Sheva somehow slipped into the Indonesian Language, the man just nodded silently before minding his own business. Seeing this, Sheva couldn't help but sigh in relief. After that, he put his focus back on the stats.

'System, how could my current state be that high?' He couldn't help but ask.

[In fact, it is quite low, Host.] The system's answer surprised him.

'Oh? How so?'

[Compared to your state in the other tournaments, this can be considered the lowest in a long time.] The system answered coldly. [For reference, your average state in the Olympiad is around 91 percent. In the Dubai Master Chess, it is around 87 percent. In The Tata Steel Challengers, it is around 88 percent.]

This time, the answer shocked him to the core. 'How could my state be that high?' He asked the system incredulously. However, the miraculous machine inside his head decided to stay quiet this time, letting him ponder the answer by himself.

'Hmm… The state is based on my motivation, right? In the Olympiad, it was the first time I represented the country, so my state should indeed be quite high. Then, in Dubai, I'm still carrying the great momentum from the Olympiad, and I also faced a lot of strong opponents there. As for the Tata Steel, it should be because it was the first invitation tournament I have ever played.'

Sheva was not a stupid person. Just within a second, he managed to analyze the answer to match what he felt in the past. This time, he could figure out why his state number was quite low compared to the other tournaments.

'I am still quite excited about the system's mission and new feature, but my motivation is not at all time high since I have already experienced glory in Wijk Ann Zee last month, and the opponent's level in this tournament is not quite high. At least, I didn't feel awe toward anyone anymore, which is why my state is quite low. Fortunately, I still receive the 5 percent boost, helping me enter the super GM realm even if only temporarily.'

Not only that, but Sheva was also satisfied with the additional one percent boost coming from the 'The Conqueror of Europe' title. Just like any wise man said, even a mosquito was also meat. Moreover, there was a huge chance that he would be able to upgrade the title here, what with him being the favorite to win the tournament.

'Oh, well, enough with the calculation!' Sheva shook his head strongly, slapping his cheeks quite hard. This move startled Bartel once again, and the Polish GM couldn't help but feel concerned.

"Are you okay?" He asked with his strong accent.

"Yes, just need a little bit of a wake-up call." Sheva smiled quickly.

Before Mateusz Bartel could ask more questions, the alarm finally rang, signalling the game to begin. Realizing this, the man offered a handshake immediately. "Let's have a good game."

"Yeah, you too." Sheva nodded, accepting the offer.

Right after that, the man made his first move immediately, pushing the C pawn two squares forward before hitting the clock within a second. Sheva crooked one of his eyebrows lightly, finding the situation to be interesting even with only one move on the board.

'It should've been quite a long time since I played against the English Opening, right?' He couldn't help but mutter. 'Should I transform it into the Queen's Gambit Decline?'

That thought flashed in his mind, and Sheva intended to make that happen. However, it seemed Bartel had already foreseen this and rejected the transformation, as instead of pushing the D pawn, which was the most essential part for the Queen's Gambit, he pushed the E pawn two squares forward, trying to take control of the D5 square with the help of the C pawn two squares away from it.

'Hmm, it seems he really wants to force me into this opening… Not bad…'

While Sheva thought so, he couldn't deny that this opening really forced him into a defensive mode. The E pawn that Bartel pushed a move ago advanced further, pushing into the E5 pawn. This also threatened Sheva's knight that had just moved to the F6 square, and Sheva had no choice but to push it back to its original square.

That wasn't the worst, though. No, what made everything difficult for him was that the pawn on E5 controlled his knight's landing spot, forcing Sheva to abandon one of the basic principles in chess, never put the knight on the corner.

He didn't want to block the development route for his dark bishop and queen, yet Sheva still wanted to get his knight out on the battlefield. That was why the knight was rerouted into the H6 square, and without hesitation, Bartel took it with the bishop, forcing Sheva to have a doubled-pawn on the kingside in such an early game.

Also, to add salt to his wound, the doubled pawn really prevented Sheva from castling on the kingside, as the G file was quite open to be penetrated from any direction. That meant he would have to fight with the king in the open area, hoping that his defensive resilience was enough to let him survive.

Or… So that was what everyone thought.

However, after pondering for more than five minutes—a very long time for one move, according to Sheva's standard—he finally decided to go against the norm. The boy castled short, putting the king into the fire immediately.

Seeing the startled opponent in front of him, Sheva just smirked mischievously. 'Come on! I have already invited you to the scene, attack me with all you have!'