Unlike both Sheva and Claudia, who were bantering back and forth outside of the hall with ease after they had won their gas, Anna wasn’t really in a good mood at the table, finding the situation on her board to be pretty much dire. The girl didn’t even know how things could go south like this when, in the beginning, she thought that her opponent was going for an easy quick draw.
Right now, Anna was playing on board 2, facing the veteran French player Sophie Millet. Playing with the white piece, the girl was forced into a Petrov Defense by Sophie Millet, and with a lot of exchanges happening pretty early, the ga had already entered the endga phase in just fifteen moves. Then, in the 25th move of the ga, both players also exchanged a rook, officially agreeing to enter the endga phase with the sa color bishop.
Normally, this kind of an endga would end up in a draw, as none of them could advance their pawn further. However, this ti, Sophie Millet had the space advantage, starting to take control over Anna’s territory with her pawns.
Now, the girl was in a dilemma here. She could just advance her pawn to challenge Millet’s strong structure, yet doing so would give the initiative to her opponent directly. However, not challenging Millet’s pawn chain was also not an option, as it would’ve been stronger the further the ga went by, and Anna would be pushed back further into her own territory if she didn’t make a move now.
’Why do I put all of my pawns on the light squares?’ The girl couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh, feeling regretful over her own position. ’Now, she could just infiltrate from the back of my territory and stab from that spot, eating all of my pawns and advancing hers easily.’
More than three hours had already passed, and yet, they still hadn’t reached the 40 moves threshold to get the additional ti. The only reason that they could still survive right now was due to the 30-second incrent for each move that they made. However, ti was ticking away for both players, and with less than five minutes on the clock, they needed to navigate their way through the ga flawlessly to get what they wanted right now.
Anna couldn’t help but bite her lips nervously, trying her best to force every single cell of her brain to work. She also glanced sideways, just to find out that only her ga and Laysa’s were still going right now. However, the girl also noticed that her friend was so close to drawing the ga, so the pressure was completely on her shoulders right now.
’If Laysa gets a draw, with Sister Irene and Claudia’s result, we will be up to one point. I just need to draw my ga too, so that we can steal the win. However, my situation is definitely not the best right now. This endga is killing slowly, and except for if she made a mistake, there is no way I could overturn this situation.’
Well, that was a fair assessnt. Even the computer engine showed -4.3, telling everyone on the live broadcast that Anna was on the verge of losing this ti. Honestly, if the girl knew about that number, she would be more devastated, and there was a huge chance that she would resign from the ga prematurely.
However, Anna didn’t really do that. No, she still believed that it was hard for the black piece to navigate her way to win this endga. With only a bishop and so pawns on the board, one slip from Millet was enough for Anna to trap her into a draw, either from the threefold repetition or the 50 moves rule. Hell, at so point, that scenario was so close to happening, just for Millet to refuse the unspoken draw offer and continue the ga.
Sheva and Claudia, who watched the ga from a close distance, also grew nervous at how it went.
"Sheva... Do you think Big Sis has a chance here?" The girl bit her lips in exactly the sa way as Anna did earlier, showing how nervous she was.
"I really want to say that she has a slight chance, but that will be a false hope for you." Sheva smiled bitterly. "In this exact position, any experienced player should know how to convert this endga, so it will take a miracle for Sophie Millet to make a mistake here."
Claudia could only clench her fist when she heard that, feeling frustrated about her sister’s situation. Even all the good mood after winning her ga earlier had already gone, as it would be nothing if her sister lost this ga.
Ti passed by, and they both finally got their 40th move of the ga. With the additional 30 minutes on the clock, it would be hard for Sophie Millet to make a mistake. The woman also managed to infiltrate deep, taking Anna’s two pawns that blocked the G and H file so that she could let her own pawns run amok. It seed that everything went well for the woman, and she only needed to be careful about which pawn she had to advance first to win the ga.
However, that was probably the miracle that Anna had been waiting for.
It seed that God was still kind enough to the players who didn’t give up until the end. Right when all the things that Sophie Millet had to do was to march her pawns forward, the woman made a mistake in the move order, moving her G pawn first instead of the H pawn. It was such an easy mistake to make, especially if the player’s confidence was at its highest. However, it cost everything, as the evaluation bar that seed to be covered with black color was back once again to the equilibrium, showing that the ga was equal once again for the first ti in such a long ti.
"She makes a mistake!" Sheva whispered a little bit too loudly, enough for Claudia to hear him. "Sophie Millet makes a mistake! Now, Anna’s king and bishop are close enough to kill the pawn that tries to advance further! It is a draw ga again!"
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