Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 406: Pragg’s Thought

Meanwhile, in another hotel, where the Rameshbabu Siblings were staying...

"You are still awake?" A girl, about 20 years old, wiped her eyes tiredly, still finding the light on. "What are you doing? You know that rest is an important part of being in your best state, right?"

"I know, Big Sis. Calm down." The boy—still at 17—just shrugged off the concern nonchalantly, staring at the netbook in front of him without even batting his eyes at his sister. "Wait a second, it will be over soon." He didn’t forget to add, afraid that his sister would just grab the netbook to force him to rest now.

"You know that if Mom is still awake, you will be in a lot of trouble, right?" The girl sighed helplessly. However, she just sat next to her brother, glancing at what he was doing curiously. "What are you researching, by the way?"

"Of course, it is Sheva’s game. You don’t know how terrifying he is." The boy said confidently.

Those two were the Rameshbabu siblings, Vaishali and Pragg, and even if it was almost midnight and they still had to wake up early tomorrow, both teenagers were pretty much awake right now. Praggnanandhaa, in particular, was way more excited than he had been in any other game he played this year. After all, he was the first one who recognized Sheva’s terrifying talent, and that was when the Indonesian boy was still at the bottom of the well.

"He is that good?" She picked up the netbook without even asking for permission, just like any other good sibling in the world, looking at what Pragg was searching for carefully. "Hmm... Indeed, he has won a lot of games in the past, and the Olympiad is probably the highlight of his career, right? Wait, when was the last time he got defeated?"

"It should be against Gukesh in Reykjavik," Pragg answered as a matter of fact. At this point, he was pretty much familiar with Sheva’s career path, even remembering all the details outside of his head.

"Damn, that long time ago?" Vaishali blinked her eyes in surprise. "So, he hasn’t lost a single game since... What? Five months ago?"

"Yeah, and to make it worse, he plays in two tournaments during that time span, and his winning percentage is quite high." Pragg nodded solemnly. "Look, in Biel, he managed to get six wins and three draws, sneaking to the second place of the tournament with 7.5 points out of 9 rounds. He even beat Kirill Aleeksenko and forced Yu Yangyi to a draw, which is a hell of a feat to achieve in one tournament. Then, you also know his legendary run in the Olympiad, where he swept all of his opponents mercilessly. Yeah, not a lot of strong opponents were on that list, but he basically killed all the 2500-rated players on that pool, something that even Magnus himself would probably find to be difficult to get."

With how Pragg painted a vivid image of Sheva’s monstrous record in the last couple of months, Vaishali was stunned, not expecting someone to be this good with such a low rating. However, she wasn’t really worried here. "Well, sooner or later, he would be defeated, right? Why can’t it be you?" She asked confidently. After all, she knew full well of her brother’s talent, and the girl even believed that even Magnus Carlsen himself had to be careful if the man didn’t want to get beaten by Pragg.

"Your blind trust in me sure is scary, Sister." Pragg sighed helplessly. "How about you? Who is your opponent?" He asked, changing the topic. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Oh, it is another Indonesian player. A strong one in the women’s section, this one. Medina, I believe her name to be." She frowned, trying to recall her memory. "Her rating is slightly lower than mine, but she knows how to switch from defense to offense quickly to catch her opponent off guard. She will be difficult to handle, but I don’t think I will lose that game." She said with full confidence.

"Don’t underestimate your opponent." Pragg couldn’t help but remind her. Even though Indonesia was a far weaker country in chess compared to India, he always thought that the country that could produce a genius like Sheva would never be mediocre. The lack of good players should be because of the lack of opportunity, but in reality, all of them had the chance to break through the top level in chess.

"I know, I know. Who is the older sibling here?" Vaishali rolled her eyes exasperatedly, rubbing Pragg’s head with fondness. "Anyway, don’t stay up for too long, or Mom will wake up and scold you! I will go to sleep first, okay?"

Pragg just shook his head in exasperation at his sister’s antics before putting his focus back on the netbook in front of him. Although he was confident in his own ability, he had been following Sheva’s career since they met in Reykjavik, so the boy knew almost everything about his next opponent.

’With the white piece, he would always go for 1.e4, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know how to play the queen’s pawn opening. No, he shows his adaptability with the black piece whenever the opponent goes for 1.d4, and his response to the English opening is also quite good. That means I will not be able to gain any advantage in the opening stage. Also, I need to be careful, because he likes to carry out a surprise attack from the beginning of the game. It seems that I have to check about all the strange openings in my repertoire.’

From all the games that Sheva played, Pragg knew that the boy excelled in the Dutch Defense, and this was one opening that Pragg had been preparing to face tomorrow. However, that didn’t mean he would neglect the others. No, Sheva’s strength lay in his unpredictability, so it was important for him to be prepared for everything on the board.

’Hmm... I have already covered all the grounds here... Let’s see how you will try to surprise me, Sheva. Don’t disappoint me!’