Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 412: Anna’s Despair

"Hey, no need to get violent!" Sheva rubbed his shoulder in a faux-hurt tone as he had just been slapped playfully by Pragg. "Mister Arbiter, look at what he did to me! This warrants a disqualification, right?" He asked the arbiter next to him like a mischievous kid rattling their sibling’s bad deeds to their parents.

"If that slap is what you consider violent, that means you are being too weak!" Pragg cursed. "Mister Arbiter, just look at him! So tiny, scrawny like that! Let alone my slap, even a slight breeze of wind will be able to hurt him, right?"

"Hey, now, no need to be so offensive like that!"

"Bah! You are the one who started it, you shameless bastard!"

The arbiter, a middle-aged man in his late 40s, just sighed helplessly when he saw the two teenagers, the two geniuses who could shake the entire chess community, bickering like this. He probably remembered how his children behaved back home, and the best way to deal with this situation was just to let them do whatever they wanted. As long as it didn’t go physical, bickering and bantering were something that would make the bond between siblings closer.

"Okay, child, tone it down." The man hissed, finally having enough of their antics. It was one thing to have that friendly banter, but to do it so loudly in the middle of a chess tournament was unforgivable. Even though no one said anything, the look that the other arbiters gave was enough to make him uncomfortable.

"Oh, sorry, Mister Arbiter! We will leave first!" Sheva rose hastily before bowing his head.

"Yeah, sorry to bother you!" Pragg followed his action before those two started walking together, with both arms around each other’s shoulders, like they were old friends.

The man just shook his head in exasperation. Honestly, this was the first time he had seen two players acting so buddy-buddy in the middle of a tournament, and the strangest thing was that one of them had just lost earlier. It was either that the loser didn’t really care about the game—which the man found to be impossible, since he also knew a few things about Pragg—or that their friendship was deep enough that they could laugh at the loser’s face after the game was over without being afraid to hurt each other.

"Oh, well... What a strange friendship..." He shook his head once again in amusement.

While the two boys were walking side-by-side, back to the broadcast room, Sagar Shah could only sigh with a complicated mood. "I know that they have been friends with each other for a while, but I didn’t expect that it would run this deep. However, this is the essence of a sports competition. They are best friend, but also rivals to each other." He sighed with melancholic eyes.

"Indeed, the most important thing in sport is the friendship forged from the rivalry, and they are not the only ones. I can also remember how Laysa from Indonesia and Vaishali, who is also Pragg’s sister, seemed to get closer after the Olympiad. It is wonderful how sports can bring us closer." Sarah added solemnly.

Bagas could only twitch the corner of his lips speechlessly, not expecting them to get so philosophical like this. "Oh, well, with this win, now, Sheva is the sole leader of the table, still with a perfect score, 4 wins out of 4 games!" He announced, trying to get the discussion back on track.

"Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be that long before the situation changes." Sarah interrupted with a solemn tone. "In board 1, it seems that GM Arjun Erigaisi is so close to winning the game against Anna. This not only will put him straight next to Sheva, but it will also equalize the matchup between India and Indonesia today." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

It was ridiculous how, somehow, everyone treated this day as a matchup between Indonesia and India. While, indeed, they had three straight games on the top 10 boards against each other, the fact that everyone hoped that Indonesia had a chance was crazy. After all, the rating difference between them was so massive that it should be called bullying. However, that was what a good streak and reputation brought them.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to help Anna’s case today, as right now, she was pushed by Arjun to the edge of the cliff. Even Sheva couldn’t help but frown when he saw that position, somehow whispering to Pragg, who was next to him.

"If you were her, what would you do to get out of this situation?"

"It is hard to say," Pragg whispered back bitterly. "You know that some positions are unsavable except when the player made a mistake, right? But I don’t think that Arjun will make one here. The closer he gets to the win, the calmer he becomes. He is a Buddha in the decisive battle, I tell you that."

Sheva snorted when he heard that, thinking that it was such an apt description. However, he also saved this information on the back of his head, knowing that either tomorrow or two days later, he would have to face the Indian prodigy in front of him.

While they were chatting excitedly, no one really noticed Anna’s frustration with the board. Somehow, the girl was cursing everything inside her head, from herself, Sheva, to the opponent in front of her. "Just fight, my ass. You will have a chance, my ass. You really are a liar, you know what, Shev?"

This was definitely a mental-shattering game for her. Before coming today, the girl had already prepared so much information in her head, from Arjun’s habit, favorite opening, playing style, technique, time management, and many other useless things about him. However, the moment she sat in front of him, all of them were thrown away into the garbage, losing all of their values instantly.

Arjun really showed why he was a top player, crushing Anna’s position like a bulldozer from the very first minute of the game. No matter how desperately she tried to defend her territory, it was of no use. Every move she made would only be used as a weapon to turn against her, forcing the girl into desperation.

After fighting for a while, she finally had enough. This was a game with no hope since the beginning, so resigning was always an option. Now, she would take it with a head up, filling her heart with pride because her run had to be stopped by such a very strong player.

In the end, Anna resigned, giving a point to Arjun Erigaisi.