Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 450: Watching the World Chess Championship (III)
Soon, the short break was over, and the second round of the tiebreaker was finally about to start. The moment Nepo pressed the clock, though, just as Sheva predicted, the Russian GM marched forward without hesitation. He went for the aggressive line of the Ruy-Lopez, taking up all the spaces in the black’s territory.
It took a while, but slowly, Nepo gained a strong advantage. He even had a chance to break through Ding’s stronghold defense, and once that happened, it would be hard for the Chinese contender to fight back.
Sheva frowned when he saw this. It wasn’t the fact that Ding was at a disadvantage that worried him, but more of the man’s psychological state. He had been following this event since the beginning, and occasionally, Sheva would see Ding trembling or even freezing in the middle of the game, showing that the man’s mind was quite fragile.
It would be bad for Ding if somehow, he relapsed today.
’Come on, Mister Ding! Don’t disappoint yourself!’ Sheva clenched his fist unconsciously.
The wave of attack from Nepo finally came, and honestly, even Sheva himself fidgeted his fingers unconsciously. The sweat on his palm was the sign of his nervousness, and if it were him on Ding’s shoes, Sheva wasn’t sure that he could handle the pressure there. He also had to admit that Nepo’s playing style was poisonous.
’Yeah, what the hell is this? Still having 10 minutes while your opponent’s time is about to go down to 2? Why are you playing so quickly? Who are you trying to impress here?’ He complained inwardly. Little did Sheva know, though, that it was something that most of his opponents felt in the past when Sheva started to put pressure on the time aspect.
Nepo kept trying to poke through Ding’s defense, but like a true Tai Chi master, the Chinese GM kept neutralizing every threat coming to his side. It was a beautiful display of defense, and even Sheva himself learned something from watching the game.
’So, you can force a draw that way, huh?’ He muttered in a flash of inspiration. ’Trading blindly more often than not will be a dangerous strategy, so it is important to time the moment perfectly. His territory was attacked quite a few times in this game, and one moment of mistake is enough to get him punished, yet he did everything with no flaw. As expected of the world challenger, his skill is no joke at all.’
After realizing that he was led by his opponent’s tempo, Nepo looked quite frustrated, yet in the end, he could only accept the draw result. However, the man couldn’t hide the sourness of having to get a draw this time, especially since he had a good advantage in the beginning with white. Sheva could understand that, since it would be hard for Nepo to get the same advantage later, and if somehow the man lost the game, he would regret this miss for the rest of his life.
"Man, that was such a tense game! Would it be like this for the rest of the day?" Duta couldn’t help but ask. Yeah, the boy who joined the fun in Dubai two months ago was also here.
"Would it be like this? Don’t be naïve." Laysa snorted. "If anything, everything will be worse. The battlefield will change from tactical and strategic to a mental one. Whoever can handle the pressure in the most crucial time will reap the best reward today."
"Urgh..."
Thinking about the situation a moment ago, and imagining how it could go worse, some with weak consciousness had the urge to vomit. Indeed, only the best among the best, even in the mental state, could stand at that stage.
A moment later, both players went back to their seats once again, and the third round of the tiebreaker was ready to start. This time, Ding Liren decided to show his fang, choosing the aggressive line of the English Opening. He made some tactical choices that gave Nepo a headache, forcing the Russian GM to think since it was outside of his preparation.
The decision was smart, and Nepo’s usual time advantage was gone this time. For a moment, everything looked promising for Ding Liren. However, just like before, once the game hit the wall, the Chinese GM didn’t dare to make any breakthrough, and in the end, after repeating moves several times on the board, he offered a draw, which was accepted happily by his opponent.
"This is going to be a long day, huh?" Laysa frowned, whispering lowly to anyone around her.
"Yeah..." Sheva sighed helplessly. Honestly, even though he knew why they were being so conservative like this, that didn’t mean he had to like it. In his mind, this was the problem with high-level chess.
All of the best players in the world were content with their current position, never daring to be bold for fear of losing too much in the process. This resulted in the game losing its soul, its creativity. Oh, they wouldn’t really lose anything. After all, they had already made a living with that. However, the stagnancy they brought would affect the entire ecosystem, making the future become unbearable to watch.
’Oh, well... For this event, maybe, I could cut them some slack.’ Sheva sighed. ’This is the world champion event, so going for a safe draw without risking anything while also waiting for the opponent to slip is the best option.’
However, if the draws continued, they would be stuck here for a long time, so someone had to step up and take the initiative. Unfortunately, neither Nepo nor Ding was the player anyone would find when asking for someone to be bold.
"So, you think that the next game will also be the same?" Laysa’s face dropped when she listened to Sheva’s explanation.
"Well, yeah... I mean, what can you expect?" Sheva shrugged.
Both Anna and Claudia also looked weary, somehow feeling tired when imagining they would be here watching draw after draw with no end. Little did they know, though, that the next game, the fourth game of the tiebreaker, would be far more explosive than they had ever thought.
