"Ah... The team’s luck in the open section seems to be pretty bad today..." Bagas sighed helplessly as he saw Novendra shake hands with Radoslaw Wojtaszek. "Grandmaster Priasmoro Novendra also follows Master Susanto’s steps, resigning after surviving for more than three hours. Now, it is official, we lose the matchup against Poland in the n’s section."
Froggies: Damn! All the hard work that Sheva and Taher have done is useless right now!
Filipulus13: Those two are useless! How could they be on boards 1 and 2 when all they do is waste away their teammates’ good results?!
Borja_854: Just give Taher and Sheva those spots! I think they would be able to do it better!
AlibaI79: Hell, even Arfan is okay! Even if he is not as good as Sheva, he is so young and full of hope! Give him a good experience!
Hilda99: You’re all ridiculous! Our opponent is Poland, you know?! Poland! Don’t you know how good they are?!
Borja_854: If they are so good, how could Sheva win his ga easily?
The chat room was filled with ridicule for Master Susanto and Novendra, and Arfan couldn’t help but frown when he read that. Even though he also got praised by so of them, the boy didn’t feel happy at all. He still respected both grandmasters for their vast experience, and what the chat said was a bit too much.
However, before the boy could utter any single word, he felt soone tapping his hand, and when he turned around, Bagas just shook his head at him.
’No, don’t do that now.’ The fat boy whispered. ’Even though your intention is good, doing it right now when the emotion is still running high will only worsen Master Susanto and Novendra’s situation on the Internet. Just wait until later when the tension goes down a little bit. For now, what we need to do is to distract them all with another topic.’
Arfan was stunned for a second, but the resolute gaze from Bagas was enough to let him think about it clearly. In the end, the boy finally gave a nod, knowing that the fat boy next to him was the expert on this situation. Also, since dina didn’t look worried at all, he thought that both GMs should have a solution to handle this, so it seed that his worry was for nothing.
Bagas also worked quickly here. He knew that the internet had a mory of a goldfish, so one diversion was enough to attract their attention away from the problem. Fortunately, things went pretty well for the won’s team, as Laysa finally got the draw result, and right when the screen showed Anna’s ga, it was right at the mistake that Sophie Millet made to equalize the ga. Seeing this, the boy didn’t hesitate, riding on the mont to get rid of all the negativity in the chat room.
"Oh! What do we have here?! It seems that Anna’s chance is coming here!" He shouted with a microphone in his hand. "Sophie Millet makes a mistake! The ga is back to equal once again, and the won’s team has a chance to take the victory for this matchup!"
"The mistake is quite subtle, but very fundantal. Sophie Millet fails to recognize which pawn should take the lead, and it results in the position being back to equal again." dina added, leaning forward as she watched the board closely. "She should advance her H pawn first here, as her G pawn is getting protected by the bishop on the back. That way, she could advance the two pawns on that flank slowly without having to worry about Anna’s pieces. Now, if she tried to do that, Anna’s king would be close enough to take one of the pawns there, and once that happens, the draw would end up in a draw."
"In fact, the mistake is not just that." Arfan also added, having already been moving on from the earlier problem. "Sophie Millet’s king is too far from her pieces. One basic principle in the endga phase is to get all of your pieces close to each other. Now, she doesn’t have her king supporting the pawns, so those two wouldn’t be able to advance further without getting taken by Anna’s pieces."
At this point, everyone who watched the ga also noticed the blunder that Sophie Millet made. Even the three other French players groaned weakly, realizing that the woman had thrown the matchup for Indonesia. Sheva himself clenched his fist unconsciously; his eyes were still locked on the board.
’Co on, Anna... Don’t waste this chance away...’ He prayed silently.
Fortunately, it seed that Anna was also in the best state right now. With the additional 30 minutes on the clock, she had ti to think carefully about the situation, and the girl finally made the best choice. She brought her king closer to the opponent’s pawns while also trying to prevent the white king from getting close enough to those pawns.
’Yes! That’s my girl!’ Sheva grinned widely, knowing that there should be no problem for the rest of the ga.
Not just him, but Claudia and Laysa, who also watched the ga by his side, also started celebrating, knowing that there was no way Anna would choke so badly in this ga. One bad situation was enough, and it would be bad if the girl suddenly jumped into another pit hole.
It seed that Sophie Millet also realized what a huge blunder that she had just made. The woman could be seen so frustrated, covering her face to hide her sha. She also didn’t make a move for such a long ti, burning her clock until it was back to under ten minutes once again.
She still continued playing, but it was clear that her mind was not in the right place anymore. Every move was made automatically, and it was just pure luck that she didn’t throw away the ga completely.
In the end, Anna managed to hold down the position without even a single mistake, and when only the king and bishop were left on the board, both players finally reached an agreent.
The ga ended in a draw, and Indonesia’s won’s team officially won the matchup.
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