"We are playing India again?!" Claudia was the first one to break the silence here. She blinked her eyes rapidly, staring at her screen in disbelief before turning around at the others questioningly. "Is there anything wrong with this?"
"No, there is not, Ia," Anna replied solemnly. "We are going to play against Team India for the second ti in this tournant, but unlike yesterday, tomorrow will be tougher, as the one we face will be the main team."
"Indeed, if against the second team, the match is pretty much equal, I am afraid our ga next would be one-sided." Master Irene gave a nod with a rare frown could be seen on her face. "I will have to play against Humpy Koneru, the number three won’s player in the world, below Hou Yifan from China and Alexandra Goryachkina from Russia. Her ELO rating is 2580, so close to the 2600 threshold. In fact, she is one of a few won players in history who managed to cross that threshold, showing how ridiculously strong she is."
Those who had been in the chess world for a while knew about this fact, so none of them were that surprised here. However, Sheva, Bagas, and Sarah, who were still pretty green in this field, had their jaws drop, realizing that the won’s team would have to face the real deal tomorrow.
"In fact, she is not the only one we have to be wary of," dina added grimly. "Harika Dronavalli is also another strong grandmaster with an ELO rating of 2517, and Vaishali Rashbabu is also very talented, even though she hasn’t gotten her grandmaster title yet. Then, they have Tania Sachdev as their closer, making it look impossible for an ordinary team like us to steal a win from them."
"Oh, well... They are not the top-seeded team for nothing, right?" Irene smiled wryly.
Yeah, tomorrow, the won’s team would have to face the favorite team to win this tournant, India, in the fifth round of the tournant. It was a surprise, yet sohow an expected thing to happen here. After all, Indonesia’s won’s team managed to win all the first four rounds, so they would have to face India’s first team sooner or later. That didn’t an they liked it, though, as Irene and dina still hoped that they had a chance to build their montum further before this matchup happened.
"Wait, Rashbabu?!" Sheva suddenly widened his eyes in surprise, catching sothing interesting here. "The sa as Praggnanandhaa’s last na? Are they related or what?" He asked.
"Yeah, they are related." Irene nodded. "Vaishali is Praggnanandhaa’s big sister, so you can expect her playing style to be quite similar to his."
Sheva felt the corner of his mouth twitch when he heard that. Out of all the people here, he was probably the one who knew how strong Praggnanandhaa was, having played against the prodigy in Reykjavik a few months ago. If Vaishali could even produce half the quality that Pragg showed that day, Laysa would be screwed no matter how much she struggles on the board.
"Um..." Claudia suddenly raised her hand, a little bit hesitant. However, it was still enough to catch everyone’s attention. "Tomorrow is an important matchup, right? Should Big Sis replace and play?" She asked.
The question stunned everyone instantly, as they all rembered the agreent they made yesterday.
"Serbia is also another tough matchup, you know?" Bagas also raised his concern here. "Not that I look down on you guys, but Serbia’s lowest-rated player is Milos Perunovic with the ELO rating of 2538. Would it be better to continue sticking with the player whose montum is at the peak right now?"
Sheva and Anna exchanged stares for a second before a wry smile ford on their face. Even though they knew that they would be needed for tomorrow’s ga, it was ridiculous for them to have to go like this without a rest. It was even more unreal for Sheva’s case, as the boy was originally the reserve mber here. Also, no matter how much both teenagers loved chess, they would still be unhappy when their one-day vacation plan was about to be ruined like this.
However, before they could respond to that, Novendra suddenly arrived, slamming the door out of nowhere. It startled everyone in the room, as all eyes suddenly fell onto him.
"No, we need to stick with the plan." The man said solemnly, ignoring the chilly glare from dina that could freeze even the deepest part of hell in a second. "Not to ntion that Sheva and Anna deserve so rest, at the end of the day, we, the veterans, also need to show that we are strong enough to be on this team. No offense to Arfan and Sheva, but people are rooting for them right now, and while it might sound like I am targeting them, but at the end of the day, they are just the players to fill the blank. We still need to show the public that they can rely on the strongest mbers of the team, which are , Master Susanto, and Taher."
A pin-drop silence fell on the room as everyone stared at the man in disbelief. Sheva himself didn’t know whether he should be angry or laugh at Novendra. That should be the most long-winded and pointless argunt that he had ever heard in his life. Hell, even Master Susanto and Taher, who were ntioned as the strongest mbers of the team, also showed their disapproval here, as they all recognized that Sheva and Arfan were probably the most valuable mbers of the team.
It seed that Novendra wasn’t just angry here. The man also felt so sort of jealousy, and although Sheva thought that this matter had been resolved a long ti ago after their first eting, the feeling sparked once again under the pressure from the internet.
Still, Sheva didn’t really want to think about it too much. In the end, he just shrugged nonchalantly, saying, "Well, if we want to go as planned, then I would be happy to enjoy my rare day off tomorrow."
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