Road to be the Best Chess Player in the World!

The Reykjavik Open was finally over, and it left so many stories and dramas to be told for the public. In the final round, the upset draw Sheva pulled against Hans Niemann didn't really create a huge splash, as they were overshadowed by the game on table 1. There, the two Indian prodigies, Gukesh Dommaraju and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, fought against each other in a civil war to snatch the first place of the tournament.

With the Nimzo-Indian defense, both players are going all out since the beginning, not having any intention to hide their fangs. The scene on the board was pretty chaotic, not resembling their style of 'cutting-edge precision' that the media always talked about. The two teenagers wanted to throw punches at each other without even caring about their safety. In the end, it was Praggnanandhaa who struck first, taking Gukesh's knight on the F3 square and forcing his fellow Indian boy to have a doubled-pawn on that file. This move also opened up the defensive wall that was protecting the white king, giving him the illusion of advantage for a moment.

Yeah, illusion was the keyword here.

Being so proficient in a defensive maneuver, Gukesh showed his resourcefulness by turning the threat into an opportunity. It was like a boxing match, where one boxer would defend all the time, and once his opponent got caught off guard, he would throw the biggest punch straight to where it would hurt.

Even though his pawn structure was horrible, the boy managed to flip the table, pushing back to the point that the computer really gave him +2.4 for his masterclass in offense and defense.

At one point, the entire audience thought that Gukesh would win the game. Hell, even Praggnanandhaa himself felt hopeless. He would be more in despair when the boy knew the evaluation bar had even touched +5.5 for Gukesh's advantage. However, his resilience finally bore fruit.

Somehow, after getting a passed pawn on the A file, Gukesh got impatient, trying his best to force a queen exchange and simplify the game. However, that was proven to be a mistake, as the evaluation bar suddenly dropped into a neutral position again. The position gave Praggnanandhaa a chance to counterattack by forming a battery with a rook and a queen, trying to push Gukesh's king to the edge of the board.

Unfortunately for Gukesh, though, that was not the only blunder he made in the game. It seemed that he really panicked, as in the next few moves, he seemed to be possessed by the God of Misfortune himself.

Everything he touched turned into a disaster, and in the end, he was even forced to get checkmated by his Indian compatriot with a smothered mate, getting cornered by his own armies while Praggnanandhaa's knight gave the last decisive blow.

Truly, a humiliating way to end the tournament.

*Author's note: If you want to visualize the position better, check the comment below.

The win against Gukesh also put Praggnanandhaa on top of the standings, crowning him as the sole leader of the entire tournament. After all, on the other side of the board, the game between Mads Andersen and Max Warmerdam, the two players who could match Pragg's point if one of them managed to win, ended up in an anticlimax. They went for the boring line of the Berlin defense, ending the game prematurely.

In the end, here was the final standing:

Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu – India – 2624 – 7.5

Max Warmerdam – Netherlands – 2599 – 7

Mads Andersen – Denmark – 2584 – 7

Then, after those three, a bunch of players followed behind, including Gukesh, who lost the decisive match, and Sheva, who somehow snuck among the elite players of the tournament.

Overall, though, Sheva was satisfied with his performance. After listening to Claudia's story about Anna's failure in the past and getting rid of his unrealistic ambition to win the tournament, he himself felt that a draw against Hans Niemann was a good result. In addition, the grandmaster norm he bagged was also a huge plus point, as even though he was still an untitled player, at least his status was elevated into a potential grandmaster, making his fame soar at least in the Indonesian chess community.

Not only that, after his amazing result here, in total, he got 193 additional ELO rating points, catapulting him into the threshold of 2300. Now, the boy's rating was 2308, only 20 points below Anna, the person he looked up to the most since his career started a few months ago.

It seemed surreal that, even though he himself had never won a single game against Anna, now, Sheva's rating was so close to hers. Of course, since his rating had already passed the 2300 threshold, it would be less easier for him to raise his ELO rating. However, that was a problem for the future, as right now, Sheva was celebrating over something else.

He managed to enter the national team for the Chess Olympiad three months later!

Yeah, at first, this little target had already been forgotten by the boy, as his focus was completely on the tournament. However, after everything was over, Irfan suddenly gave him a call, congratulating him on his amazing tournament and the GM norm before telling him to get ready. Next month, they would start their preparation for the Olympiad, and as Sheva managed to achieve his target of crossing 2300 ELO rating, he would be a part of the team.

It was insane when he thought about it, as just a few months ago, Sheva was still scraping money by selling snacks and chickens in Bagas's food stall. Now, he was about to play in one of the best stages in the chess world, representing his country in to play against the top players in the world.

Of course, the boy completely forgot that he was just going to be a reserve player, so even if he played, it would just be against the weakest player on the opponent's team. However, Sheva didn't care about it. No, the fact that he was about to enter the Olympiad itself was a proper reason to celebrate, and he couldn't wait to go back to his homeland and tell his mother about this news.

Unfortunately, that would have to wait, as right now, still in Reykjavik, Sheva had to face one of the biggest fears that haunted the male species on Earth. Yeah, facing the two ladies in the group, he was dragged into the most boring and arduous activity he had ever known.

Shopping.