Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 429: The Others Go Crazy~! (II)
In fact, it wasn’t just Anna who was having a good day. Laysa and Medina were on the same boat, currently thriving after following Sheva’s suggestion. It seemed that the boy was right; facing an engine-like playing style, it was important to throw a curveball to catch them off guard.
In Laysa’s game, everything went beyond everyone’s expectations. Well, not everyone, per se. Just Sheva, since the boy was the only one who cared enough to watch the game. However, it was indeed true that he had never thought that Laysa would go down this path.
The opening that she picked for this game was not for the faint-hearted. If usually, anyone with the black piece would go for a stable or even an aggressive approach if they were bold enough, this time, the girl went super passive, going for the knight to the F6 square to respond to her opponent’s 1.e4 move.
This was called the Alekhine Defense, named after the one and only Alexander Alekhine, a legendary Russian player who dominated the chess world in the early 20th century. Its main purpose was to lure the white pawns to go further than necessary, using the knight as the bait to force the opponent to overextend their pawn structure.
However, it wasn’t without a risk. There was a reason why this opening was abandoned in the modern era. If the opponent knew how to deal with it, he wouldn’t have to worry about any trap, because it was quite easy to handle. If anything, it would be the white who dominated the entire field. After all, the initiative was on their side since the beginning of the game, and it was only a matter of time before he got a greater advantage.
Fortunately, Laysa’s gamble worked perfectly in this game.
Even though her position was quite passive, and even the evaluation bar gave +1.0 advantage for white, she also started to gain a lot of time advantage here. Her opponent, Avinash Ramesh, could also be seen holding his head with both hands, thinking so hard to handle this situation. Laysa liked to imagine that this was the sign that her opponent was not familiar with the system, and she would count this as a win.
’Yes! Come on, just struggle and burn your time more!’ The girl laughed inwardly with her menacing smile. This was enough to make the boy in front of her squirm, adding another psychological pressure that worked better for her side.
Sheva himself just shook his head amusedly when he saw the confidence flashing in the girl’s eyes. He still couldn’t believe that Laysa picked this opening, since it was completely different than her aggressive style. Who would’ve thought that Laysa, who was always reckless, could be so attentive in her defensive approach? Oh, well, he should’ve expected something like that, since Laysa had already reached this point in her career, and she would definitely not just be a reckless and hot-headed player.
’Oh, well... I wonder how Sister Medina is faring right now...’ The boy muttered, continuing to stroll around the venue to see the big sister’s current situation.
Out of anyone else, the woman was probably the one whom Sheva worried the most. He didn’t really think too much about Anna and Laysa, since he had been practicing with them a lot in the past. At least, the boy had an idea what kind of hidden weapon those girls had under their sleeves, so he knew full well what they were capable of. However, Medina was a different matter here. Sheva didn’t know what kind of an unorthodox method the big sister would go for, and it was kinda worrying.
’Let’s just hope that she doesn’t make a fool of herself...’ He shook his head, not wanting to entertain that thought.
However, it seemed that he was worried for nothing. Despite the fact that she couldn’t be considered a young player anymore, it seemed that Medina still had the spark of youthfulness in her arsenal. Once she was determined to unleash the fireworks, nothing could stop her from getting what she wanted.
Hell, even Sheva himself couldn’t help but frown, finding himself unable to read the situation on the board. ’Is this the Dutch? No, it shouldn’t be. Sister Medina’s D pawn is still on the third rank, so it shouldn’t be that. Still, why does this system resemble the Dutch a lot? What kind of opening did Sister Medina pick that leads into this mess?’
Curious, he couldn’t help but lean his head forward, wanting to peek at Medina’s scoresheet even for a second. The moment the boy read the record, though, even just for a flash, he understood what was going on immediately.
’The Bird Opening? And Sister Medina is bold enough to pull this up?!’ Sheva was taken aback before stepping back immediately before the arbiter saw. ’Man, it seems I need to re-evaluate Sister Medina’s ability here. She still has something under her sleeves!’ The boy couldn’t help but grin excitedly.
The fact that he knew exactly about the opening just from a split second was not because his knowledge was so great, but more like how easy it was to recognize the Bird Opening. It started with the move 1.f4, the one that so many coaches would warn their students to avoid since it weakened the kingside from the beginning of the game. However, for those who could take advantage of it, this opening could lead to a very sharp tactical battle that gave the slight edge to the white piece, and that was exactly what happened in Medina’s game.
Even though the situation was unclear, Sheva could see a few tactical moves, like trying to tear apart the black’s kingside with pawn advancement, getting the knight involved on that side as well, or even abandoning the threat of her rook getting taken just for a chance to get the black’s queen. This led the boy to believe that Medina was in control of her game, so he just let out a sigh of relief before walking back to his own board.
’Yeah, they are going to be alright, so I just need to deal with my own game, and we will celebrate this great day later.’
