bookpower Chapter 632: A Fucking Petrov?!
Chapter 632: A Fucking Petrov?!
Chapter 632: A Fucking Petrov?! A moment later, Sheva found himself back again in the venue. However, unlike the last couple of days, he walked like a programmed robot, going straight into the table he was assigned to without offering a chat or even a smile toward the people there. He still looked restless, and based on his dazed state, it was clear that he was still battling with his demon inside.
’Just one round, come on! I can survive this shit!’ He shook his head strongly, trying to get himself into the right mind state. ’System, check my stats.’
[DING! Scan is successful!]
Sheva skimmed through the numbers there quickly, not really reading them seriously. No, his eyes fell straight to the bottom, looking at the one that mattered the most in his situation right now.
Current state: 26%
Warning! Your state is at its lowest! All of your stats will be reduced by 5 percent! Treat the game carefully!
’Ouch! Even the system itself said that I am not okay.’ Sheva cringed. This was definitely the lowest percentage he had ever seen from the system. ’A five-percent reduction, huh... Not bad. This definitely affects me. If it were against anyone else, I would be in trouble. But against Boris Gelfand? I want to see how he would take advantage of this matter.’
Yeah, he was being cocky here. This was also a way for the boy to pump himself up. After all, with how down he was right now, Sheva needed all the motivation in the world, and if he had to create it by himself, so be it.
He waited for a moment before his opponent finally arrived. Boris Gelfand came with a forced smile on his face; his complexion was pale. It was clear that he himself didn’t have a great time in this tournament. If only there was still a motivation left within the man, it should be that he didn’t want to end the tournament bringing a bad momentum on his shoulder.
However, when Sheva checked the man’s stats, he couldn’t help but snort.
’31 percents, huh? Just slightly above me, but he also still gets the same 5 percent reduction in his stats. Good to know. At least, the game will be equal since the beginning of the game.’
After shaking hands with each other, both players waited in an awkward silence. They didn’t have a great expression here; both had the same restless face while taking a deep, exhausted breath. However, no one was willing to give up on today’s game.
Sheva himself was slightly worried about this game. He came with a mind like a blank canvas, not knowing anything about the man in front of him. After all, instead of researching, he fell asleep immediately after the game yesterday, and now, he had to face the consequence of it.
However, once the alarm rang, that thought disappeared immediately. ’No, it doesn’t matter what he is up to. Just treat it like any normal game and don’t think too much. Come on, I can win this!’ He slapped his cheek lightly one after another, trying to hype himself up before starting the game.
Just like the usual, he went for the King’s Pawn opening, pushing the soldier on the E square two squares forward. Boris Gelfand also reacted quickly, going for a normal development. It seemed the man was also not up to a heavy theoretical Sicilian Defense here.
However, just in the second move of the game, Sheva had already groaned here, looking at the man with eyes full of resentment.
’The Petrov? Really? You want to have a boring game in the last round?’
Yeah, this was one of the most boring openings in the chess world, with nothing really happening until at least most of the pieces were gone and they had entered the endgame phase. However, usually, both players would’ve agreed to a draw beforehand, not wanting to get entangled with a meticulous endgame.
Well, not that Sheva could blame the man here. If he wanted to go for a draw, this was probably going to be a safe bet. Even if the man wanted to go for a Berlin Draw, if Sheva went for the Italian Game, it would be him who had a headache in the later stage.
If it were yesterday, Sheva would agree to this offer in a heartbeat. However, this time, he was not in the right mind state, so the boy decided to let his pettiness take over again.
’You want to get a quick draw, huh? No! Fight it with your life!’
In the end, instead of taking the E pawn in the beginning like any normal Petrov Defense developed, the boy delayed the move first, opting to push the D pawn two squares forward to keep the tension on the center.
Of course, the state was broken immediately in the next turn, when Boris Gelfand decided to take that exact pawn with his E pawn. However, this would ensure that a dead draw and boring game from the normal Petrov Defense could be avoided, and Sheva could go crazy later if he decided to push forward.
The opening stage went quite quickly, what with the Israeli GM also blitzing his way through the opening stage. Honestly, if Sheva didn’t know better, he would think that Boris Gelfand also wanted to end this game as soon as possible.
It also didn’t help that Boris Gelfand initiated a lot of exchanges here. First, the two pawns in the center were gone. Then, one knight followed in exchange for Sheva’s light bishop, and after all those pieces were gone, the queen was also off the board for the two sides.
Just in the twelve moves of the game, half of the board was cleared already, as both players were ready to enter the endgame phase.
’Damn, are they going to agree to a draw later?’
’There is no way, right? I mean, Sheva still needs a win today!"
’Yeah, he is not stupid enough! If Vincent or Peter Svidler won their game, they would be out of the competition immediately!’
People whispered whenever they saw the situation on Sheva’s board. Well, not that they could be blamed since this was the last round of the tournament, and they wanted to see excitement. Fortunately, Sheva didn’t disappoint, as the boy suddenly sacrificed his H pawn out of nowhere, letting Boris Gelfand’s rook infiltrate further on the second rank.
As he made this move, the boy couldn’t help but smirk, inwardly muttering, ’Now, will you take the bait or not?’