Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 558: Taher’s Research!

A few hours later, Sheva was back at the venue again, and still occupying table 1, he saw that Taher was already there, waiting for him to arrive. Seeing him concentrating like this, Sheva smiled, feeling something burning inside his stomach.

"Hey, Brother Taher! Good to see you again!" He greeted the man, offering a handshake.

"Yeah, you have become a celebrity right now. It is so hard to meet you." Taher sighed mockingly.

Sheva had a sweat drop on his face. "Please, don’t joke about that so easily, okay? You don’t know how troublesome it is to live under so much scrutiny like that!" He complained while also setting the chessboard quickly.

"Tch! You can say that because you are already in! You don’t know how many people are willing to trade their lives so that they can enjoy that perk."

"Including you, Brother?"

They chatted for a while, trying to catch up with each other. Based on how relaxed they were, it was hard to believe that those two were about to go for each other’s throats after this. However, they both knew that this pleasantry would only last for a while, and the moment the alarm rang, their expression changed immediately, turning into a more feral one.

"Hey, Shev! Show me your best, okay? Don’t you dare underestimate me!" Taher warned, his eyes were dangerous.

"Hah! I should be the one who said that! Don’t lose too quickly, Brother Taher!" Sheva retorted, full of competitiveness.

Before that, of course, Sheva didn’t forget to check the man’s stats, and it was easy to say that he wasn’t expecting this.

[Name: Yoseph Theofilus Taher]

Attacking 84

Defense 77

Calculation 79

Strategy 79

Intuition 79

Time management 74

Current State: 88%

’Goddamnit, he is on fire! 88%? Really?!’ Sheva shook his head in astonishment. ’Still, why is it that his stats are not increasing?’ He couldn’t help but ask.

[It is because your Strong Man Aura title lowers all of his stats by 5 percent, Host.] The system answered. [It negates the effect of his current state, making him back in his normal state.]

Well... That settled it.

Sometimes, Sheva really forgot that he came into this tournament with the biggest cheat code in the world. However, even though Taher was able to get out of his title’s influence, the boy was still confident that he could best his senior here.

Then, as the game started, Sheva was taken aback by the opening choice that Taher picked here. Instead of going for the 1.d4 move that he had expected, the man moved his king’s pawn two squares forward, the standard opening that Sheva would always play as white in every game.

’Is he serious?’ He frowned, glancing slightly at Taher. Unfortunately, he couldn’t catch any expression on his face, not even a hint of it. ’Is he really going to challenge me in my best field?’ He muttered incredulously.

Of course, anyone who saw this would think that Taher was desperate, and it was just a suicidal game for him. However, the man had a strong reason behind this. In fact, he was excited right now, thinking that this was the best chance for him to beat Sheva.

’Sheva is good at the 1.e4 opening, yes, but that is as a white piece.’ He recalled the result of his research. ’As black, he has never faced an opponent who dares to do that, as they probably thought Sheva would be good at it with the black piece as well. However, there is no proof on it, so I have to try this instead of going for another 1.d4 opening that he would definitely expect.’

Sheva shook his head quickly, wanting to snap the doubt from his mind. Even though he didn’t know what Taher thought or planned here, since the obstacle was in front of him, of course, the boy wouldn’t hesitate to tackle it.

Still...

’The Ruy-Lopez? When was the last time I played this opening in an official tournament like this?’ Sheva frowned. Then, something clicked in his brain as he realized it. ’Ah, so that’s why you want to go down this route, Brother Taher? Interesting... But if you think I am weak on it because I have never played this opening, you will pay the price soon, Brother. Get ready, because this will be an ugly game!’

With that thought in mind, Sheva also started turning his engine on, moving so fast to get through the theoretical stage in the opening phase. In the end, Taher went for the closed version of this opening, trying to ensure that it would be a long and boring positional game. Sheva had to give the man a hat’s off here, since it was clear that he had done his research.

’But again, if he thinks I am weak at a positional game, that would be naïve, eh?’ He smirked, kicking out Taher’s light bishop from his own territory. ’My calculation and strategic stats might be the lowest, but that doesn’t mean I am vulnerable in those two aspects. They have already reached the strong GM level, so there is no way you can take advantage of them, Brother Taher.’

Hell, if anything, it was Sheva who took the initiative here. Not wanting to get entangled with a positional warfare where no one threatened each other, he started to march four pawns on the queenside forward, entrapping the light bishop far on an ugly A2 square.

Of course, Taher was willing to accept it, since the bishop was still controlling a strong diagonal, staring straight at Sheva’s king with only one pawn blocking the route. However, Sheva didn’t really think too much about it, since he knew that it would be hard to activate that piece again.

Then, some exchanges were made in the middle of the game. First, it was the queen, as Taher seemed to want to get rid of the strongest piece on the board quickly. Then, the moment the man wanted to activate the light bishop, Sheva blocked that route, forcing another exchange to happen.

Some pawns also fell on the battleground, and before anyone knew it, almost half of the pieces on the board were cleared already.

Still, Sheva was satisfied with his position, especially with two knights that were so strong anchoring each other in the opponent’s territory.

’Yeah, you will never get rid of them, Brother Taher. Get ready, because they are going to be your knightmare here!’

-Author’s note-

Hey, everyone! Thank you for supporting my story! I have written a new one with the hope of getting a contract for that story as well, the title is ’The Rise of the Iron Wall!’. It is a football story, so if you like, please give your support by adding it to your collection and giving your power stone to that story! Thanks!