Meanwhile, outside of the hall…
"He has done it!" Bagas roared, clenching the microphone in front of him with a face full of excitement. "Adrian Sheva, the new star from the Black Rook club, has finished his first-ever match here, beating Do Duy Manh, the youngster from Vietnam with the ELO rating of 1799, just in seventeen moves! He has done it in only forty minutes! Welcome to the chess world, Adrian Sheva!"
Yeah, somehow, Bagas managed to negotiate with the official team to put broadcast equipment and record the game live. No one knew what the bargain chip he used here was, but Bagas somehow managed to come out from the meeting with the Vietnam Chess Federation's president not only unscathed, but also secured the full support from the local association to get decent equipment to allow him to set up the best broadcast booth here.
This heroic commentary, unfortunately, was followed by a lot of ridicule from the chat room, all of whom were mocking Bagas and Sheva here.
Jax123: Damn, the way the host talks makes me believe that he is going to be the fucking world champ!
BlibliXOXO: Yeah, it is just a fucking novice, and he only beat a fucking eight-year-old boy! Calm down, Bro!
JinaCutie: The host should be one of GothamChess's viewers, always childish and not knowing that chess is an elegant sport.
D0D01: I know, right?! What a fucking idiot!
All of those chats were displayed live on the broadcast section, and Bagas could read them clearly even from afar. Hell, even Irfan, his co-host, also frowned when he saw this, not expecting the netizens to be so cruel. After all, even though Sheva was indeed a rookie, the win was something worth celebrating. This was the beginning of someone's career in chess, and Irfan felt that the only thing the audience could do was to support the player until the end, not just being cruel like this.
However, Bagas didn't think too much about it. Hell, he didn't bat his eyes at it. Right now, his attention was on the screen next to him, or to be more exact, the live footage of what happened in the hall and Sheva's pure reaction after winning this game. This short footage would have a very high value in the future when Sheva managed to break through his career and went straight to the moon, fighting against the other superstars in this game. Bagas knew it, and he would call it right now.
Moreover, somehow, looking at the smile on Sheva's face after the boy shook his opponent's hand, Bagas felt pride swelling in his chest. Even though he wasn't the one who fought against the opponent, the fat boy also felt that this was his win. After all, he had already done almost everything for Sheva, so this felt quite right to get his cookies too.
"Don't get too excited, Bagas." Irfan nudged him quietly. "This is still in the middle of the tournament. Just stay quiet, or you will be kicked out."
"Yeah, yeah, you are right. Sorry, Master Irfan." Bagas smiled sheepishly, feeling like his breath was finally calmer than usual. "It is just… I cannot believe that this is happening, man… I am so glad that he managed to win this game..." He confessed, not even realizing how nervous he was earlier.
"Well, yeah, that is within your rights, of course. You are his best friend, so being here and witnessing this would definitely be a lot for you both." Irfan finally said. "Still, if things go well, you would have to be here to commentate on his games for the rest of the tournament. You'd better be more prepared in the future and don't get too excited too easily, okay?" He advised the fat boy genuinely.
"Yeah, sorry, Master Irfan." Bagas rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, not even complaining about this matter. "Anyway, can you give me your commentary about this game, Master Irfan?" He asked quickly, trying to change the topic of the conversation as soon as possible. Fortunately, this worked, as Irfan gave him a thumbs-up for this little trick.
"I think Sheva did a good job of keeping his calm for the entire game." Irfan started speaking, trying to make everything unbiased. "It is not a really amazing game, you know? Just Sheva waiting for his opponent to make a bunch of mistakes before slowly punishing them in their own area. It is clear that Do Duy Manh is not trained for this opening variation, what with an early inaccuracy just in the third moves of the game. Still, I will give Sheva credit here. It is always the hardest thing to do to convert a winning position, yet he did it so cleanly. It is a well-played game for Adrian Sheva." The IM smiled, fixing the microphone in front of him first before leaving.
Bagas's eyes beamed in delight when he heard that. It wasn't such a glowing review, just emphasizing how bad the opponent's performance was today. However, the pride feeling grew inside his heart, knowing that his best friend was still able to capitalize on the advantage he was given to, calm enough to end the game cold-bloodedly.
"Anyway!" He finally coughed, trying to get his distracted mind back on track. "Thank you for your commentary about his game, Master Irfan. I am sure that Adrian would appreciate it. Unfortunately, the game is still going on here, and we cannot talk about him all day. So, let's move on from this beautiful game before we go straight to the marquee match today, our young Women International Master, Anna Marisa, is having a tough game against the veteran International Master from India, Radha Devan, in the IM section. Let's see how our young superstar is going to fight this battle!"
Right after that, the screen changed instantly to Anna's game. There, anyone could see Anna with the black piece, fighting against a middle-aged man from India who was probably about the same age as Irfan. She was having a difficult time here, with a frown constantly on her face. The position was very complicated, and it was hard to see who was having the advantage here. However, after spending a whole minute staring at the board, Irfan narrowed his eyes suspiciously, muttering something rapidly before finally having his eyes bulge wide in realization.
"What the heck… Anna is losing?!"