Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!-Chapter 580: The Reappearance of the Benko Gambit!

"Oh, what do we have here? The Benoni Defense?" Irfan blinked his eyes in surprise when he saw the opening move that Sheva pulled. "It has been a long time since he showcased his unique opening repertoire, right?"

"Indeed, the last time he pulled this opening was against Mustafa Yilmaz from Turkey in the Tata Steel a few months ago." Bagas nodded excitedly.

As the main follower of Sheva’s career, the boy could be said to know all the weapons under Sheva’s sleeves, from the one he liked to use to the one he saved the most for the special occasion. This opening was definitely the latter case, as his best friend didn’t use it quite often.

People knew that Sheva had it in his arsenal, yet no one could really prepare for that since the boy himself didn’t use the opening often.

"Now, the question is, will we see a normal Benoni Defense or will Sheva give us the pleasure to witness another masterclass in the Benko Gambit?" Bagas said his body was shaking in excitement.

Indeed, compared to the Benoni Defense, the Benko Gambit was even rarer, with a stricter requirement for the players to make a move. It was not often Sheva pulled this opening, but whenever he did, it was always a pleasure to watch.

’It is like watching a medieval warrior throwing away his shield just to get another sword. He might be wounded a lot, but in the end, his strike will have more damage to his opponent, often resulting in a decisive blow that will kill the enemy immediately.’

That was what David Howell, a legendary GM from England and also a prominent name in the chess commentator community, said to describe Sheva’s style. There was a part of it that was a flattery, since Sheva himself got along quite well with that man.

However, at the end of the day, Sheva’s capital was his strength, because without it, no matter how flowery the praises were, no one would believe even a single word of it.

Then, as if he listened to the chatter in the broadcast room, Sheva pulled the Benko Gambit out of nowhere, exciting all the people there.

"Hell, yeah! We are going to see another masterclass!" Bagas clapped excitedly.

"It is either a masterclass or a disasterclass, but we are going to see chaos in this game." Irfan smiled, somehow also couldn’t wait to see how the game would unfold.

Yeah, in a chess game that was usually stable with no ripples at all, seeing someone dare to embrace chaos like this was always a pleasure. Well... Not always, since it could also lead the game into a disaster, especially if too many blunders occur in the game.

However, if it was done correctly, with one player showing his dominance in navigating the chaos, everything could turn into a beauty, and that was what people often wanted to see the most in a game.

Well... Most people, of course. Unfortunately, it didn’t include the opponent, and in this case, it was Arfan who was the victim of the unorthodox opening.

’Why is it that...’ The boy could feel the corner of his lips twitching. ’Out of all of his opponents in this tournament, I am the unlucky one who has to face this shit?’ If it were an informal occasion, he would’ve groaned already, probably even banging his head on the table.

Honestly, Arfan knew that Sheva had this gambit in his arsenal. Hell, he was aware of it such a long time ago, and even learning the system and thought of how he should combat it when he had to face the opening directly.

However, just as it was said before, it had been such a long time since he read anything about the Benko Gambit or even the Benoni Defense, and all of his knowledge had already slipped away from his head. Now, Arfan had to take a little bit more time to think, or to dig up all of the hidden knowledge inside his head, hoping that it would be enough for him to deal with the situation.

Sheva himself didn’t really know what was inside Arfan’s mind. However, when he saw the big frown on the boy’s face as that boy also muttered so quickly that he interpreted it as a long series of curses, Sheva couldn’t help but smirk, somehow thinking that he had already won the first round.

’Ha! You think you can surprise me with your improvement? Dream on, Arfan! Let me show you that I am not the same boy again!’

Yeah, even though Sheva didn’t say it out loud, he always had two people to beat inside his mind. The first one was Gukesh, since that boy was probably the only one who managed to beat him in the official game so far, and the second one was Arfan, the one he had to fight and even drag the game until the 108th move before finally getting the draw result that he wanted.

At that time, Sheva was still an amateur player, having his status far lower than Arfan, who had already established his name as a young prodigy. His position was just an underdog, and Sheva also still thought that it was the hardest game he had ever played in his career.

So, by winning this game, it was as if the boy wanted to show himself that he wasn’t the same boy he was last year. He didn’t really need to do that, but Sheva felt like this was a comfort that he needed to push him further.

Arfan, of course, would never lie down and let himself get beaten so easily. He tried to put up a fight, even marching all of his pawns simultaneously. He wanted to take the initiative, knowing that if he let Sheva take control of the tempo, it would be difficult—impossible, even—for him to handle.

Hell, things even started to develop in his favor, giving Arfan the illusion that maybe he could do something better in this game.

’It is still far from the end, but can I... Beat Sheva here?’