CHAPTER 245: IS THIS REAL?!

Back to board 1, where Sheva was currently playing against Kirill Alekseenko, a little crowd formed slowly as most of the players in this section wanted to see how Sheva would fare in this game. After all, the miracle he pulled in this tournament was outrageous enough, so they wanted to see whether he could continue the trend or not.

Much to everyone’s surprise, though, it seemed that Sheva was thriving in his game, having a slight edge against Kirill Alekseenko, the second-best player in this section.

Even though material-wise, the game was still pretty equal, but in terms of position, Sheva had managed to sneak one of his pawns straight into the heart of the black’s defense, only two squares away from getting promoted into a new queen. Not only that, the boy also supported it with a bishop from behind, and the battery of rook and queen on the F file was quite strong to target the weak pawn on that exact file.

Compared to that, Kirill Alekseenko didn’t really have any countermeasures to handle this situation. His knight was stuck on the back, getting all of its route closed down by Sheva’s pawn. The only way to get out was by forcing an exchange with Sheva’s bishop, but doing that would only allow the boy to infiltrate into his own kingside with an open door. No, that would be a suicidal move, and Kirill Alekseenko still didn’t want to lose the game yet.

*Author note: If you want to visualize the position better, check the comment below.

Still, it was clear that it was Sheva who was at an advantage right now, and anyone else who watched this could only admire the boy silently.

’Holy hell...’ Aryan Chopra, the Indian GM who was beaten by Sheva in the third round of the tournament, could only mutter in astonishment. ’If he could maintain this performance and beat Kirill Alekseenko, this is going to be the biggest underdog story of the year! He will be so close to winning the entire tournament at this point!’

Indeed, if somehow Sheva managed to win the tournament, he would get 6.5 points out of 8 rounds, and the boy would also pass Kirill Alekseenko’s position on the standings immediately. Even though Muradli Muhammad, the Azerbaijan GM, also had 6.5 points right now and would turn into 7.5 if he won the game this round, it would still be quite pale compared to Sheva’s achievement.

This was also the advantage of winning against a far higher-rated opponent like Kirill Alekseenko. It wasn’t just to boost his rating, but also his fighting spirit. Even though it could act as a double-edged sword and make him cocky, at least, Sheva wouldn’t have to worry about his confidence. After all, he managed to force a draw and steal a win against two top-rated players in this section, so why would he need to worry about the others?

Oh, well... That would be something to enjoy after he finally secured the win. For now, though, Sheva was still trying so hard to think of a way to capitalize on the situation on the board.

’In the next turn, my bishop would be able to support that D pawn on the seventh rank, and I don’t think I need to worry about his knight anymore. His queen might cause trouble if he wanted to get a perpetual check, but I can hide my king pretty easily in the next turn. Then, that E pawn is going to be mine, and once my rook infiltrates his defense, the only problem to face is how to kill him for good. Yeah, I can do this!’

Somehow, Sheva could feel his legs shaking under the table and his breath turning erratic, and he couldn’t contain his excitement even for a bit. If somehow, Sheva managed to maintain this result and get the win that was already in front of his eyes, this would probably be the biggest win in his career, which was so impressive considering how young his entire career was.

Still, it was quite rare to see a 2300-rated player beat a super GM like this, let alone on the verge of winning a tournament with the average ELO rating of around 2500. This result could elevate Sheva’s status in the chess world from being a nobody to a prodigal player like Gukesh or Pragg from India.

Imagining that, Sheva clenched his fist again, his eyes turned red and bloodshot as he was blinded by the desire to win this game.

Fortunately, it didn’t quite affect his mind, as the boy could still keep his calm and see what was in front of him right now. He knew that even though the current position was in his favor, Kirill Alekseenko only needed one slip from him to strike back and overturn the situation. No, that was probably the worst outcome he could think of, and the boy really didn’t want to see even a hint of something like that to happen on the board in front of him.

’No, I still have to be careful.’ He muttered to himself. ’Everything could still happen before he resigns the game for good. I cannot lower my guard even for a second.’

Without anyone noticing, two hours had already passed since the game started, and right at this moment, Sheva started to see his opponent sweating. Inwardly, he clenched his fist, punching the air in celebration for being able to make Kirill Alekseenko sweat like this.

Even though right now, the win was already in front of his eyes, Sheva still hadn’t forgotten his main purpose in this game, and that was to make the man in front of him sweat and force the man to remember his name after the game was over. Looking at how anxious Kirill Alekseenko was, Sheva was sure that his target had already been achieved at this point.

The game kept going for another twenty minutes, yet the more Kirill Alekseenko moved, the more he strangled himself into the trap that Sheva had been set earlier. In the end, though, wanting to get out of the oppression from Sheva’s pieces, the Russian GM slid his queen far away to Sheva’s own territory, abandoning his own king’s protection.

When Sheva saw this, a sequence of moves suddenly flashed inside his mind, and right at that moment, the boy’s smile widened instantly, as he muttered to himself, ’Yeah, thank you. I win.’