Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 439: The Decisive Moment of Sheva VS Amin’s Game!
Sheva himself didn’t really notice that he was being stared at by the Marisa Sisters. Well, that was for the best, as the game entered a crucial stage. One single distraction was enough to destroy all the hard work he built painstakingly since the beginning of the game. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
’Hmm... The situation might seem to be bleak, but I should’ve had something here, right?’ He frowned, tapping his own thigh under the table with his finger. ’His rook has already infiltrated my seventh rank, but there is nothing really worth his going there. I could still control that line quite well with my other pieces. If anything... Should I offer a rook trade? No, I should take that pawn on the A file with my bishop first. Then... What?’
A thousand lines were flying in his head, and currently, the boy was trying to pick the best one to play. The effect of the Endgame Master title also worked to the fullest right now. His mind was sharp, calculating every action and its consequence to see which one to take.
He also glanced for a second at his opponent, and just like him, Amin Tabatabaei also frowned, leaning his body back against the chair while also folding his hands in a thinking pose. Both players seemed to recognize the reality in the small battlefield in front of them right here. It might look like a stalemate, but an explosion was looming from the dark, and the winner would be determined by who would be able to take advantage of it.
In the end, Sheva chose one line that he thought had potential. First, he let his bishop escape, then, after that, the boy offered a rook exchange to Amin. His opponent accepted the offer, and now, both sides had one more rook on the board. Little did he know, though, that his choice was the best in the computer engine’s eyes.
"Master Irfan, I don’t get it," Sarah spoke in the broadcast room. "It is clear that Sheva has -1.0 advantage, so why is it that he doesn’t act that way?" She asked the master here.
"Hmm... How should I say it..." Irfan pondered for a second, forming an argument inside his head. "It is clear to us because we both can see the computer engine. In reality, though, the advantage that Sheva has is quite fragile."
"Fragile?" Bagas repeated the last part slowly.
"Indeed, any single mistake that he makes would put the game into an equal state again," Irfan confirmed. "Also, it is not easy to see the best line. Sheva still has one knight on the back, so the most logical thing is to let it out on the board. However, look here." He demonstrated the move on the screen. "See? Once I make a move with my knight, it will make the evaluation bar swing to the opponent’s side, and now, they are the one who has the advantage. If it were me, I would’ve lost the game on the spot with that one move."
Honestly, this just showed how completely on a different level Sheva was right now compared to Irfan. The move that the man said he would pick in a normal situation didn’t even get a consideration in Sheva’s eyes. No, the boy knew that instead of following the basic principle, maximizing his advantage was a better option here, and he knew full well which part of the game was his advantage.
’My rook can get into his territory quicker, and while my pawn structure is horrible, at least all of them are quite advanced, and my bishop can at least support two of them. I should start utilizing them all to the max.’ He thought.
Yeah, his pawn structure was horrible. Sheva could still remember how GothamChess described this situation as him having archipelagos; so many pawns getting isolated like a bunch of islands. However, even though they spread across the board, at least some of them had already reached the fourth rank, getting so close to occupying all the space needed for Amin to create something.
Moreover, his rook controlled the whole B file, allowing itself to slide into any rank easily. This gave his pawns better protection, and Sheva really started to use that to bring out his advantage.
Of course, Amin himself didn’t want to get outmatched. He tried to create a counterplay, taking one of the isolated pawns that was protected by the black’s dark bishop, trying to offer another exchange. The Iranian GM also started moving his lazy rook, not letting it stay and watch the entire battlefield from the back.
Unfortunately for Amin, Sheva had a devious tactic on the board. It took a while, but the moment he saw it, his eyes lit up instantly.
’Wait... I could get his bishop just for a pawn, right?’ He leaned his body forward, putting both hands on the table. ’Wait, it shouldn’t be this... Easy, surely?’ Even he himself couldn’t help but doubt it, considering how basic the tactic was. ’How could Amin miss this?’
The sequence itself was simple. Since Amin’s bishop was pinned to the king, it couldn’t move, and in the last move, Amin had just taken Sheva’s pawn on the same diagonal as that bishop. Sheva’s bishop was in the vicinity, so it could slide over to skewer both pieces. Then, no matter where the rook moved, the bishop would be gone with a check.
It was just a two-move tactic, and any titled player should be able to see it clearly. However, it seemed that Amin made a lapse in judgment earlier, resulting in this mistake.
Of course, Sheva would never waste such a golden chance away. No, after thinking for a minute, he shook his head quickly before making his move. ’Screw it! If there is a hidden trap and I get caught in it, I really deserve to lose. But for now, let’s go with the plan!’
The boy followed the line he had calculated earlier. True enough, Amin didn’t really notice that hanging bishop until it was too late. The moment Sheva took it, he could hear a weak groan on the other side of the table, startling him for a second. When he turned around, though, Amin just shook his head repeatedly with eyes full of regret before finally, in a very decisive moment, he offered a handshake.
He resigned straight away, startling everyone who watched the game.
-0-
Author’s note: Hey, everyone! I just write a new novel as an entry to the WSA 2026 competition, with the title of ’I Am the God of Football in the Fantasy World’. Please, help me support this new novel by adding it to the library and leave your comment in it. Thank you!
