It was almost noon, yet the weather was still quite chilly in Reykjavik. The sun hung straight above them, yet it didn’t give the scorching feeling that they usually felt in Jakarta. Honestly, if this were the regular weather for this city, Sheva would think that this was the best city to live in.
Unfortunately, he knew that this was only because it was spring. Once winter ca... He didn’t want to imagine living in temperatures below 0 degrees Celsius. No, that was too insane for him.
After having a shopping spree for more than two hours, both Sheva and Claudia arrive at the airport. It was strange, though, since their belongings were still at the hotel. Not having anything to bring to the airport was definitely sothing new for Sheva.
They walked faster to get to the café that Bagas said, not wanting to keep their friends waiting for too long. Soon, they arrived at a small yet comfortable building, and the ambience there was definitely the best for people to spend their waiting ti at the airport. Sheva had to give his best friend a hat off for his thoughtfulness here.
Once they went in, those two teenagers noticed Bagas and Irene’s presence imdiately. Those two were sitting close to the windows, not wanting to disturb the café with their chatter. However, to Sheva’s surprise, he found two more people already sitting next to them, and sohow, he felt a little bit familiar with those two.
’Hmmm... I wonder if they are the people I know about or not...’
It was Claudia who reacted first. She was also surprised to see the two new people there, but the girl recognized their identity almost in a heartbeat. "Master Sergei? Sister Sabrina? You are finally here?!" She exclaid in a happy surprise.
Yeah, the two strangers who were chatting with Bagas and Irene were Sergei Azarov, the teacher that Irfan found for the three teenagers, and his wife, Sabrina Anashkin. Sohow, Sheva didn’t recognize their faces after eting so many strangers from all around the world this week, and he also forgot that the old Belarusian grandmaster had already promised that he would co here.
"My sweet Claudia! It is good to see you here!" Sabrina, being kind and gentle as she usually showed during their online eting, greeted Claudia enthusiastically, engulfing the little girl in a bear hug. Then, she turned around at Sheva—who sohow had a bad feeling out of nowhere—and made an invitation gesture to join the hug. "Co here, Sheva! Don’t be embarrassed."
"Ah! Urgh.... Never mind, Sister Sabrina... Let’s keep it this way..." Sheva said awkwardly, glaring at Bagas, who was snickering at him. Then, he noticed Sergei’s flustered state and couldn’t help but ask, "Is he drunk already? Is that even allowed at the airport?"
For that, Sabrina just let out a defeated sigh, staring at her husband in a dissatisfied manner. "He has been like this since his teenage years, always having the urge for vodka whenever he steps on solid ground again after a long flight. Don’t worry, though, he knows his limit. I will ensure that he won’t take more than one shot at the airport. It would be troubleso if the security team found him to be drunk here."
Sheva had a sweatdrop on his face when he heard the answer. ’The problem should be that he takes it at the airport, not the amount he takes, right?’ Of course, he wouldn’t say it out loud. Still, the boy couldn’t help but look at his ’unreliable’ teacher warily.
"What, Boy?" Sergei narrowed his eyes slightly, clearly noticing his hostile gaze. Even though his face was red due to his drunk state, it seed that his senses were still sharp. "Don’t think jus’ because you have a good tournant, dat you can disgust like zat, Boy!"
Yeah, the man was completely drunk. Not only did his accent slip, but he also daydread here. Sheva didn’t even do anything, yet he got a random shot from the man. It seed that Sabrina also had enough of her husband’s antics. She dragged the man forcefully, not even saying anything before they both went to the closest washroom. They left the four Indonesians alone, staring at each other awkwardly.
Then, a mont later, the couple was back, and Sergei looked like he was more sober than ever. It was just... His entire upper part of his body—from the neck above—was so wet, as if soone had just dunked him in a pool. This sight was so out of place, especially at the airport where they were currently in. Everyone looked at each other awkwardly, then turned around at Sabrina, whose smile was still angelic as before. However, the dark aura surrounding her was enough to tell them all that while she was gentle, the older woman was definitely not soone they could ss with at all.
"Sorry, everyone. That is a horrible display for ." Sergei coughed; his voice was raspy. He also ignored his ssy appearance, taking a seat once again as if there was nothing wrong with him. "Anyway, Sheva! Good job doing your best in your tournant! Everyone is always talking about your ga against Idani Pouya, and I am sure you are tired of hearing that already. Instead, I will talk about your last ga against Hans Nieamann, which not a lot of people talk about yet. Your resilience and defensive resourcefulness really impress . It is rare for a new player to achieve sothing like that this quickly. It is unfortunate that you couldn’t show that against Gukesh, but it is what it is. I cannot expect you to always co with a miracle in every ga, right?"
"Claudia! Your first ga against that Icelandic IM was good! You are always better when playing a slow and positional ga, and you really showed your potential at that ti! However, I took notice of a few things here, for example..."
"Irene, honestly, I don’t even need to comnt on your ga, as you should’ve known how horrible your performance was, right? Still, I have so advice for you, and that is..."
The three Indonesian players listened to Sergei’s evaluation of their results in the tournant, not even blinking their eyes in fear that they would miss sothing. Even though Sergei was a drunkard, when he was sober, his ability to analyze the ga and his attention to detail were top-notch, and it helped them realize a few blind spots that they missed and could improve in the future.
This was really the advantage of having a good coach in one’s career.
"Anyway, you three are entering the Olympiad team of your country, right?" Sergei suddenly asked, taking a glass of water to relieve his thirst.
Both Sheva and Irene nodded as they had already qualified for that, while Claudia pouted slightly as she was so close to the ELO rating threshold that Irfan set for her. "Not yet, Master. I am currently still 2233, and Master Irfan said that I should try to raise my rating to 2250 first before I get accepted into the team."
Sergei nodded in understanding, clearly knowing how the system worked. "Well, with your ability, it would be easy for you to reach that point. Just find a small tournant close to Indonesia and try not to lose any ga there, and I am sure that you will pass that threshold soon."
Claudia could only nod begrudgingly, knowing that Sergei was right here.
"Anyway, I have one more good news for you guys!" Sergei suddenly announced, making all the people there look at him curiously. A small smile curled on his face, satisfied with the gazes he received before he continued, "One month from now, I will be going to your country to help you guys prepare for the Olympiad next July! So, be prepared for , okay?!"
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