The pairings for the third round of the tournant were finally announced, and most Indonesian players were happy with what they got. Even though most of them had just won their ga, since they didn't get a perfect record in the two rounds they had played, not a single one of them got a difficult pairing.
Not to say that their opponent was weak, but none of them got one like a solid GM as their opponent. The most difficult one was Devi, as the girl had to face a young French IM, Marco Materia, at the age of 14 and an ELO rating of 2440. It was definitely a difficult opponent, since talented youngsters were really hard to read.
The fact that this Marco Materia could reach an IM level at such a young age showed that he had a talent for top-level chess in the world, and it would be a lie if Devi said that she wasn't intimidated. After all, her next opponent was at the sa age as her, and the boy's rating was 200 points more than hers. The vast difference was definitely another pressure on her shoulder.
Besides her, though, none of the Indonesian players got a strong opponent. Most of them were facing one with a similar level to theirs, and so were even lower. However, one was unlucky here, especially since she herself was the only one who had a perfect record after the first two rounds.
That person was, of course, none other than Anna.
"So, is it my turn now?" The girl couldn't help but smile as she sat together with Sheva in such a quiet late night.
"Sorry?" Sheva blinked for a mont, not understanding what she was talking about.
"I an, two days ago is Devi, right? Then, yesterday, you gave Ia a private lesson, and so, today should be , right?" She rested her chin on her hand, leaning forward a little with a pretty smile that was enough to make the boy blush. "So, teacher, what do I need to learn today?"
Sheva felt his brain short-circuit for a mont, unable to co up with any proper answer for that. It was also when he realized that this setup was everything that a young couple could dream of. They were sitting alone in a late night in such a nice restaurant, with the breeze of sumr giving a chill to cool down the hot temperature around.
For a mont, the boy was tempted to do a lot of things here. However, when he rembered that Anna had to face the top-seeded player of the tournant, he had to go back to the serious topic, even if he was reluctant to.
"Well, first of all, I'm sure you have done your own research for Ia's ga last night, right?" He coughed, trying to hide his blush. "First of all, let's compare our notes here, and let see if there is sothing I need to add."
Anna nodded imdiately, taking out her phone before giving it to Sheva. She also carried the note that Claudia got from the boy earlier in the morning, and right after that, they spent the next ten minutes in silence, both trying to find any new information that could help the girl survive tomorrow's ordeal.
"Okay, first things first, you have done a good job in your research. It is not a lot, I know, but you did it in the middle of your own preparation just to help your sister, and you still covered so basic grounds about Bu Xiangzhi. For that, I'll give you one point here." Praised the boy.
"Yey!" Anna grinned a little for that. "What else?" She asked, her body leaning forward.
"Hmm… Tomorrow, you are going to play as the white piece, so you have to set the tone from the beginning of the ga. Don't let him guide you into his rhythm. Also, I didn't really expect him to go for a quick endga phase earlier, but since he had a long ga against Claudia, I am sure he would try to do sothing else tomorrow, probably eager to get a quick win. So, be careful."
Anna nodded silently, taking a note on her phone about that.
After that, they spent the entire night delving deeper into the preparation for tomorrow's ga, with Sheva guiding the girl in what to do and what not to do in every system that she wanted to play.
It was strange, indeed, since Sheva himself was the least experienced player compared to the girl, and yet, he still knew better about how a top-level preparation should be. However, Anna didn't really mind, knowing that she was far behind compared to Sheva in chess.
As it was close to midnight, they both started yawning, and after checking the ti, Sheva finally said, "Let's get a good rest first. Just go back to your room and sleep imdiately, don't stay up too late after this. If you didn't get a good rest and couldn't concentrate tomorrow because of that, you will be the one who regrets it the most."
Anna just nodded silently, but she also looked at the boy with an amused expression. "You know what, Sheva, you will be a good father in the future." She blurted things out of nowhere.
Sheva choked imdiately, his face turned red like a tomato. "W—What are you talking about?!"
"I an it, you know? You really are a good father." She insisted. "I an, look at how you treat everyone here. You are so good with your students, even pampering them like they are your own children. You also stayed up late almost every night to help us prepare our ga, and more than that, even though you didn't say it out loud, you are always the proudest one whenever we have a good result. If that isn't a sign that you are a good dad, I don't know what else you have to show."
Sheva's face was so red at this point that he couldn't utter a word here. It wasn't like the praise got him, but that it ca from the girl of his life, and a vivid image of them having a child together suddenly ca into his mind that made his brain freeze.
However, it seed that Anna was not done here, as before she left, the girl suddenly dropped another bomb.
"After this tournant is over… Let's have a nice date again, okay?"
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