CHAPTER 337: THE SITUATION ON THE MEN’S TEAM! CAN THEY PULL A COMEBACK?!

"Good job, everyone!" Sheva smiled, offering a high-five to all the strong ladies who had just slain their enemies. "You all are a bunch of beasts on the table. Oh, here, have some water." He offered a bottle of water that he bought outside.

"Thanks." Laysa didn’t even have any reservations, snatching one of them from Sheva’s hand before enjoying it to the fullest. "So, only Sister Medina got defeated, huh?" The girl smirked mischievously, not knowing that Medina was clutching her fist with a scary smile behind her. The girl sure was a glutton for punishment.

"You cannot blame me for losing my game!" Medina retorted with some heat. "My opponent is a player with the greatest momentum in the tournament, you know? She is winning all six games she had played before, and seven with this! Of course, it will be difficult for me to win!"

"Excuse, excuse!" Laysa giggled, really wanting to poke the angry bear. "Also, the one with the greatest momentum here is Sheva, right? He has won all of his games!"

"Yeah, but I have one day off, so we cannot compare me and her. Also, the one from Kazakhstan also still has the same perfect record, so some of the players here are still in great form." Sheva interrupted. "Also, I don’t appreciate you trying to drag me into the mud, Laysa." He gave the girl a stinky glare, which was returned with a rude hand gesture from the girl.

"Okay, okay, no need to make a fuss about it." Irene tried to defuse the situation. "We all won the matchup, and that is what matters the most." It was clear that the woman was in a good mood right now. She had just won a difficult game against a perennial GM, and that was despite all of the odds played against her. The win definitely boosted her confidence for the rest of the tournament, and now, she even dared to dream bigger for the Indonesian team.

"Anyway, what about the men’s team?" Medina suddenly asked, her gaze went sharply to Sheva. This also reminded all the ladies that Sheva was the only one here, meaning that the men’s matchup was not over yet. "What is going on there? Oh, also, how is your game? You win, right? I dare you to say otherwise here!" She clenched her fist threateningly.

Sheva had a sweat drop on his face at the threat. Even though he knew that Medina was being playful here, it was still enough to inflict fear on his consciousness, especially since the one who talked was Medina. However, at the expectant gaze that he received, the boy patted his chest proudly.

"Well, who do you think I am? Of course, I won my game!" He bragged with a huge smile.

"Really?!" Anna asked, beaming at the boy. "Good! As expected from you!" The other ladies also nodded, giving the boy a big thumbs-up for his win. At this point, they were not surprised at Sheva’s achievement anymore. No, rather than thinking that this was an upset from a weaker player, they would rather believe that Sheva was a GM-caliber player, and the only reason he looked weaker was that the number of games he played was still too few.

"So, what about the others?"

Well... For this, Sheva could only shrug helplessly. "The last time I saw, Master Susanto and Arfan were getting pushed back, while Brother Taher had a slight advantage against Lorenzo Lodici. I couldn’t bear watching the game for too long, so I left to watch yours here."

The others just stared at each other for a moment, yet the helplessness also spread on their faces. Even though Sheva didn’t say it out loud, all of them could feel the frustration built inside the man, and honestly, no one could blame him.

While they knew that the men’s team was not weak, their performance up until now was far below the standard. Of course, this also couldn’t be blamed on them, since the opponents they faced were always way stronger than they were. It was just... Sheva was just way stronger than they were, and that was why he unconsciously set his standard to the entire team, which was definitely not realistic to achieve.

So, yeah, in the end, no one could be blamed in this situation.

However, as they stepped outside of the venue and turned their phone to watch Bagas’s live streaming, all of them were taken aback by the current situation. Master Susanto was still losing against Luca Moroni, but the other two games developed kinda into the direction that the Indonesian team needed to.

After the war of attrition that lasted for a while, Taher finally managed to gain an advantage against Lorenzo Lodici. His pawn was already one square away from the promotion square, and he just had to think of which pieces he needed to sacrifice to get a new queen. The computer also showed +5.3 for the white’s advantage, and it would be hard to choke the game so badly to the point that the white piece lost all of its advantage.

Meanwhile, Arfan’s game also had a complete turnaround there. If before, he was getting pushed by Francisco Sonis, now, he has managed to equalize the situation.

Oh, he was still down by two pawns. However, the boy managed to make a strong blockade on the sixth rank, not allowing the opponent’s pawns to go further than that. The game entered a stalemate, and no matter how stubborn Francisco Sonis was, as long as Arfan didn’t bulge, the 50-move rule would be triggered soon, and the game would end up in a draw.

"Yes! We are so close to a draw!" Anna squealed in the same excitement as she had when she won the game earlier. It was as if she were a part of the men’s team, just like Sheva. "Come on, Arfan! Hold on and don’t make a mistake!"

Sheva himself also felt his knuckle turn white from clenching it too hard. His eyes were still locked in on the screen, and the boy couldn’t help but mutter, ’Come on, Arfan... Show me your true potential here....’