Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 534: Potential

"Hey, hey! Let’s cheer for all the success that we have achieved so far! Cheers for ourselves!"

"Cheers!"

They were currently at the local restaurant, having a big launch together after the eighth round of the tournament was over. Even though, just like the usual, no alcohol was involved, the atmosphere was quite festive, with everyone chatting there, relaxedly. Of course, as the one who had just come here, Sheva became the main focus instantly, especially the trophy that he brought here.

"Damn... So, this is the trophy, huh? It is way different than the one from the national tournament..." Nayaka stared at it longingly. "Brother Sheva, when do you think I will be at the level to get this kind of trophy?" He asked, yet his mind was still wandering far.

"You? If your improvement is steady, probably in three or four years, you will be able to compete for that trophy." Sheva answered casually. However, the answer was like thunder for everyone else, as all eyes suddenly snapped at him in shock.

"Say, what?!"

"Um?" Sheva blinked confusedly, not understanding how heavy his words felt. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No, Brother, are you serious?! You think that I can compete at that level within three to four years?" Nayaka asked, still in disbelief.

It wasn’t like three or four years were long. If anything, it was too short, making it hard to believe. Master Susanto also nodded, wanting to hear the explanation. After all, he had been fighting in this game for about 20 years, yet he failed to reach the level that Sheva was currently in.

"Are you mistaking him with someone else? Remember that his rating is still around 1900-2000; it is not easy to reach a 2500 ELO rating just in three years, you know?" He joked, trying to lighten up the mood.

Nayaka didn’t feel hurt when he was looked down on like that, since he himself also believed that Master Susanto was right. However, he knew Sheva wouldn’t deceive him, so he really wanted to hear his teacher’s argument here.

"... Are you guys underestimating Nayaka a little bit too much here? Although his strength is not that high right now, his aggressive style really has the potential to climb higher, you know? He just needs to fix some flaws in his game, and he will be a formidable player in Asia soon enough." Sheva explained. "As for further... He could climb higher, if..."

"If..." Everyone trailed the words behind, waiting eagerly for the boy to continue.

"If... He manages to keep his improvement steady." Sheva finished his explanation calmly.

"Eh?!" Nayaka was the first one to react, slamming the table in shock. This was enough to attract people’s attention, and after apologizing to the owner of the restaurant, he asked Sheva, "Is that it?!" There was a hint of disbelief in his tone.

"What? Don’t think that it is something easy, okay? Ask anyone in the world, and only those prodigies would say that improving your game is easy. In fact, most people would meet so many walls in their career, and a lot of them chose to give up, not knowing how to climb. Don’t think that steady improvement is easy, it is probably the hardest part in this industry!"

Master Susanto, the most experienced one here, also nodded in agreement, seeing where Sheva wanted to lead the conversation. "Indeed, I myself also experienced the same in the past. After winning the national tournament for the first time, I went abroad arrogantly, believing that no one could beat me. However, I realized soon enough that I was just a frog in the wells, not knowing how vast the world is."

"There are a lot of reasons why players failed to improve, from arrogance, resource limit, not being able to find a breakthrough, and so many more. So, yeah, don’t think it is easy, but if you are in a stage where you are improving rapidly, take advantage of that and climb as high as possible." Master Ervan advised.

The three teenagers just nodded silently, pondering every single word that they heard here. Sheva just shook his head with a little smile on his face, inwardly thinking, ’They might not understand it the fullest yet, but later, when they face a wall they couldn’t climb, they would also agree with my statement.’

Of course, he was the biggest hypocrite in this conversation. After all, with the system inside his head, there was no way Sheva would meet any wall that he couldn’t climb. If so, the system would find him a bulldozer to break the wall forcefully, allowing him to go through the higher level with a shortcut.

"Anyway, let’s not talk about this too much. That is the problem for the future you. For now, let’s start focusing on the last game of the tournament." Sheva said, snapping everyone from their daydreaming.

Right after that, the three teenagers perked up immediately, knowing that this was the most crucial stage that they had to go through. Devi was quite relaxed, since she herself had already secured the trophy in her section. It was Nayaka and Duta who were still in tension, as, while they were already sitting in first and third place of the standings, their position was still not that secure.

Nayaka’s current point was 6, a very good result which was usually enough for anyone to bring the trophy back home. However, behind him, Duta and an Uzbek boy named Javokhir Bozorov followed closely, with them having 5.5 points, only half a point away from the top. That meant all of those three had a chance to snatch the number one spot, so everything could happen in the last game.

"So, who are your opponents?" Sheva asked.

"Wait a second, let me see the website." Duta scrolled through his phone. After refreshing the homepage of the tournament, he found that the pairing was out already, and right after that, the other two teenagers surrounded him immediately.

Nayaka Buddhidarma (1831) – (1985) Javokhir Bozorov

Satria Duta Cahaya (1955) – (2252) FM Alexander Khripachenko

-Author’s note-

Hey, everyone! Thank you for supporting my story! I have written a new one with the hope of getting a contract for that story as well, the title is ’The Rise of the Iron Wall!’. It is a football story, so if you like, please give your support by adding it to your collection and giving your power stone to that story! Thanks!