"So, you are going to play against the top seed, huh?" Claudia asked even though she already knew after looking at her phone. Then, she let out a deep sigh, her shoulder slumped a few inches down. "I am so envious... If only I could play against a strong player like him too..."
"Eh, maybe, try to get a win against the higher-rated opponent?" Sheva shrugged nonchalantly, not even knowing that his answer only fueled the fire here.
"What do you an by that?! Do you know that I won my ga against the Iceland IM?!" Claudia retorted.
"Then what?! Just one win, and you think it is enough?" Sheva sneered mockingly. "Try to win more gas first, okay? I an, you cannot even beat Brandon Clarke, the Englishman IM, who I beat in the first round, right?"
"Why, you?!"
It was just another day of those two bickering at each other like proper siblings, and honestly, Bagas and Irene had already been used to the noises they made. Hell, they even enjoyed their dinner silently, not even caring that the two brats of the group made so sort of commotion that caught everyone’s attention. If anything, they acted as if Sheva and Claudia didn’t exist. That, or they didn’t know anything about those two.
Still, that didn’t an the conversation between Irene and Bagas was quite smooth there. For example...
"So, how is the live streaming going on, Bagas?" Irene asked gently while still busy stirring her drink nonstop with the straw. "I an, it should be doing well, right? Sheva is doing fantastic, and Claudia is also following from behind. Your audience should be thrilled right now. As long as you didn’t show my ga, I am sure that your statistics will be higher and higher for the last two rounds."
"Urgh..."
Bagas was too speechless to answer this. While he knew that Irene’s last two gas were far from ideal, he didn’t expect the woman to be this self-depreciating about herself. The boy himself also felt a little bit guilty, as in this tournant, he covered Irene the least. It was ridiculous since Irene was the highest-rated player among those three.
Not that he hated or disliked her, of course, but Bagas was closer to Sheva and Claudia compared to Irene, and this emotional aspect led him to point out the cara to those two more compared to Irene in this tournant.
"Don’t make it difficult for him, Sister..." Sheva, who noticed the conversation, finally chid in. "He doesn’t think anything malicious about you, you know? It is just... He doesn’t think, and that is why he forgot about you." The boy smiled gloatingly at his best friend.
Bagas felt the corner of his mouth twitching, inwardly cursing, ’Brother, what the fuck?! If you are still in the middle of a quarrel with Claudia, fine! But don’t drag into this ss! You also slander ?! How dare you!’
Fortunately, Irene was just joking here, and she knew that she was being unfair to Bagas. In the end, the woman just let out a small, polite giggle before turning back to Sheva and asking, "So, what is your plan to go against Idani Pouya?"
This ti, all the eyes snapped on Sheva instantly, and the light atmosphere suddenly went out of the window. After all, this was him playing against the top seed of the tournant, so they were concerned about his preparation here. Also, unlike when he played against Pragg, this ti, only Bagas could help him, since Claudia and Anna still had their own problem to be solved.
Unexpectedly, though, Sheva was pretty calm, not even being too bothered by his tough pairing. The boy just waved his hand nonchalantly, taking another dumpling from the table before saying with his mouth full, "Donf... Don’t worry about . It is already in my bag."
This ti, even Irene, who was always polite, couldn’t help but feel her mouth twitching, not knowing where Sheva gets his blind confidence from. After all, the opponent tomorrow was the best player in this tournant, and even though she admitted that the boy was talented and had a high ceiling in the future, the woman still didn’t think that he was at Idani Pouya’s level yet.
Little did she know, though, that Sheva didn’t say sothing like that blindly. No, he had already done a little research after his seventh round was over, and while Idani Pouya’s rating was the highest here, that didn’t an he was the best player in the room. Hell, he knew three players who were better than the Iranian GM, and those were Gukesh Dommaraju, Praggnanandhaa, and Hans Niemann.
Of course, this conclusion wasn’t reached out of nowhere. No, he had already observed Idani Pouya’s first seven gas in this tournant, and all of them had one common the: the man was too conservative. His opening choice was always too one-dinsional, and the variation he chose was monotonous. Sheva even expanded his research and found the man’s last ten gas, and indeed, the pattern was obvious.
When playing with black pieces against a stronger opponent, the man would always refer to the Sicilian Defense, and the Iranian GM was quite apt in the Najdorf variation. However, whenever Idani Pouya played against a lower-rated opponent, the man would always go for the normal 1.e4, e5, or 1.d4, Nf3; letting his opponent take the initiative on what kind of opening they would play later.
Sheva didn’t know whether Idani Pouya looked down on the lower-rated player or whether it was a deliberate strategy, but after knowing that the man was a conservative player, a strategy suddenly ford inside his head. That was probably where the source of his confidence ca from.
Of course, there was no way he would say it out loud, especially after the boy looked at the blatant curiosity on his friends’ faces. No, he didn’t want to spoil the surprise, so with a mysterious smile, Sheva said, "Don’t worry, I swear I am not ssing around. Just wait for tomorrow, and you will see that I am more than prepared to take down the top seed of this tournant."
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