As both girls walked back to the hall, Sheva stood still silently, staring at the hand he used to shake Anna's hand and toward the back of the two girls, back and forth. He still tried his best to reconnect with his brain, feeling overwhelmed by everything. Fortunately, Irfan was there to force his consciousness back to his body.
"So, how is it? Has she apologized already?" The International Master asked.
"Yeah…" Sheva nodded unconsciously, still having a hard time putting his mind in the right place.
"Don't think too much about her." Irfan patted his shoulder lightly. "Besides her sister and me, this is probably the first time she has been defeated by a player she has ever faced for the first time, so that girl is probably still in shock. Give a little bit of time, and I am sure you will get along well. Both Claudia and Anna are nice girls, I tell you that."
Sheva nodded, yet his mind caught something important here. 'This is the third time someone has emphasized the fact that her big sister is able to defeat her… The girl herself is a pretty troublesome opponent, so I wonder how strong her big sister is…' He stared at the girl's back for a moment, somehow feeling like her fighting spirit burned brightly. "Interesting… I wonder if we would play against each other today…" He murmured lowly.
Right after that, both he and Irfan went back to the hall, with Sheva going straight to Bagas. His best friend gave a questioning gaze, but Sheva signalled subtly that they were going to talk about it later. For now, he needed to concentrate as the next round of the game was about to begin.
As for his next opponent, it was still the same, determined by a random drawing. However, to make the tournament fair, they all would play against the other players with the same score, so Sheva would have to face a player who also won the first round earlier. After the quick random drawing, the pairings were finally done, and once again, Sheva met a player whom he didn't know anything about.
Adrian Sheva 1 – 1 Johan Krisna
"Table two, huh?" Bagas next to him hummed lowly. "You sure climb your way quick, Shev." He made a comment.
"Are you sure there is a relevance between which table I play in and my rank?" Sheva couldn't help but ask.
"I don't know, maybe." Bagas shrugged. "Well, I will prepare my recording tools first. Good luck, and keep your head calm! You get this, Shev!" He offered his fist.
"Yeah, I get this." Sheva smiled, bumping his fist to his best friend's.
His next opponent, Johan Krisna, was a middle-aged man who looked like he was just out of the office. His attire was so formal that it somehow made Sheva a little bit nervous. However, the light shining on his eyes was enough to ease the tension, as it was clear that the man loved chess very much here.
"So, you are the new boy, huh?" The man greeted, offering a handshake. "Well, if you can beat Little Ia in your first match, I am sure I will not be a good opponent to challenge you. Still, have mercy on me, okay?" He chuckled lightly.
"Uh… I don't know if my ability is as good as you are talking about…" Sheva smiled awkwardly. However, it was nice to face a player who was nonchalant like this.
A moment later, Irfan finally signalled everyone to start the game, and as the one with the white pieces, Sheva made the first move with a regular e4. The win he gained last game was enough to boost his confidence, so this time, he took a bold approach by going for the opening that led him to this club, The King's Gambit.
Johan frowned when he saw this, clearly not expecting such a radical opening to be used against him. It was clear that he had no preparation against it, as his movement was slow and chaotic. It didn't take too long for Sheva to gain advantage here, as in the ninth move of the game, he already had two of his knights controlling the center while both bishops stared from afar, and his queen acted as the spear that was ready to penetrate the opponent's defense.
Johan tried his best to navigate his way to get out of this situation, yet the more he made moves, the deeper he dug his own grave. In the end, with Sheva's knight and queen staring at the king while the white bishop also stared at Johan's rook, the man heaved a deep sigh, stopping the clock before offering a handshake of resignation.
"Good game." The man smiled. "You really surprised me with your opening choice."
"Thank you." Sheva also smiled, relieved. "This is the opening that I used against Master Irfan that made him invite me to this club." He said with a smile, reminiscing about the challenge that he won yesterday.
"You mean to tell me that you use this kind of opening against him?!" Johan had his eyes widened in shock at this tidbit of news. When he saw Sheva's nod, though, he tried his very best to hold back a laugh. "Man, no wonder he is so excited to bring you here! You have the gut and the ability to back it up! I cannot wait to see how far you would go today!"
Sheva smiled a little when he heard that. He let out a deep sigh once again while also glancing at the clock. This time, he managed to win this game with six minutes left on the clock, which gave him enough time to rest and observe the others' games. However, it seemed that he wasn't the fastest one here, as Anna and Claudia Marisa had already won their game. This was the testament of how much stronger they were compared to the players here. Now, Sheva started to understand why everyone said that they were the most talented players here.
'I wonder if I will also face the big sister today…' He mused.
It seemed that God heard his prayer, though, as after winning two more games and having already collected four points out of four games, the drawing for his opponent on the fifth round finally revealed what he was hoping for. Sheva could hear the gasps and the laughter from the people around him when he saw his name on the top box, straight next to the girl that he had been waiting to play against.
Anna Marisa 4 – 4 Adrian Sheva