CHAPTER 99: ANNA VS JODI!

’If there is any advantage in being the lowest rated player in the tournament besides how easy it is to gain rating...’ Anna muttered at herself while staring at the chessboard in front of her. ’It should be that everyone will underestimate me, thinking that I am an easy prey, right?’

Anna Marisa was a man on a mission. Well... She was a girl on a mission.

After winning her game yesterday against Master Priasmoro, she was aiming for her second consecutive victory. Her current opponent was Azarya Jodi Setyaki, the second-lowest rated, just above her. However, the rating difference between those two was quite far, about 70 points or so. More than that, Jodi was also a veteran player with vast experience. No matter from which angle did the people look, they would find that Anna was the underdog in this situation. That was why the girl wanted to treat this game carefully.

Or... So that was what she initially thought.

That thought disappeared instantly right after Jodi played the third move. Instead of playing the main line of the Open Sicilian by challenging the center directly with 3.d4, which he usually did, the man chose a different approach now, going for the more direct and flexible Rossolimo Variation. He moved his light bishop to the B5 square, aiming straight at Anna’s knight while also blatantly announcing that he wanted to force his opponent to have a doubled-pawn from the very early stage.

Unlike the other Sicilian Defense variations, this Rossolimo one was less theoretical, making the game enter a dark territory quite soon. This would test both players’ understanding of positional warfare and their patience, too. After all, the advantage of the Rossolimo variation more often than not was in the long run, just like a veteran investor patiently waiting for the stock market to climb rather than gambling unnecessarily.

By using this opening against Anna, Jodi basically tried to tell her that he wasn’t afraid of her game, since this was definitely her favorite kind of play. Yeah, sometimes, people misunderstood her for an aggressive type of player who would always try to find a tactical hole, no matter how tight her opponent’s defense was. No, she wasn’t that kind of player who liked to use brute force like that. If anything, while there was an edge of aggressiveness in her playing style, Anna’s main principle was to keep everything stable while also overwhelming her opponent with the imbalanced position and long-term weaknesses.

Still, the fact that Jodi tried to fight in her best territory definitely meant he was underestimating her, and there was no way Anna would let it slide without punishing him first.

’Now, I have a lot I can do. What should I choose first...’ She tapped her chin quietly, pondering over her position on the board. ’I could chase his light bishop first to put more pressure on his queenside. I could also strike back to gain control of the center of the board. Waiting is also a good option here, letting me see what he is trying to do. Hmm... Now, what kind of move would hurt him the most? Decision... Decision...’

In the end, she decided to play a long-term game by fianchettoing her dark bishop to the G7 square first, trying to put her king into a safe side while also wanting to see what kind of move Jodi would play. Not only that, this move was also her preparation before she would go for Jodi’s queenside, especially his weak light bishop on the B5 square.

For a moment, everything went perfectly as she planned. The girl also managed to force an exchange pawn on the center of the board, weakening her opponent’s control on the center even if she had to own a doubled-pawn on the E file. However, that was the consequence that she was willing to pay.

Not only that, after shuffling pieces for a while, Anna also managed to force Jodi to overextend his E pawn, going straight to the E6 square without any support. In doing so, though, she had to give up her right to castle, since the discovered attack from the rook on the first rank forced her king to move. However, once again, this was the price that she was willing to pay, especially since she had already planned to start targeting his kingside too.

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

The game was running for a while, and Jodi started to think really hard now. He furrowed his brows deeply, getting entangled with his own position. He didn’t even notice that the initiative was gone already, as right now, all he could do was protect his pieces from falling into Anna’s hand without any chance to make a counterattack. Hell, even though Anna’s king looked like it was in a pretty weak position, he couldn’t even think of a way to pressure that side, not without giving up his protection toward the king first. However, that was the risk that the man would never dare to pull in the middle of such a crucial situation.

While waiting for Jodi to make a move, Anna decided to take a walk, stretching her stiff body while also refreshing her mind. It was important to do so once in a while, so that her body wouldn’t deteriorate so quickly. This also allowed her to watch the other game, which sometimes could give her inspiration about what she should do in her game.

’Hmm... It is clear that Master Aydin is winning here. No need to watch him, he is the clear winner of this section.’ She pondered for a moment while also walking through each table slowly to observe the game. ’Wow, Master Irfan was in big trouble right now. How could he get dragged into Brother Yoseph’s favorite playing style?’ The girl widened her eyes when she saw that her teacher was losing.

Anna kept walking around for a while, trying to look for the game in the other section. Even though she had never thought about it, it was clear that her consciousness led her into the U2250 section, wanting to take a look at the game between Sheva and Claudia. However, before she could reach that spot, the girl met those two already, both waving their hands at her cheerfully.

’Wait, their game is over? What about the final result?’ She asked herself. However, after thinking for a moment, the girl shook her head quickly, realizing how stupid her question was. ’Neither of them is too depressed nor too ecstatic, which means they resolve the game with a draw result. Not bad... It is a pretty fair result since they have been performing wonderfully in this tournament. Still... I cannot make them wait for too long. I need to get my game over as quickly as possible! Come on, Anna! You can do this!’