NOVEL NEXT Chapter 309: A Crazy Game!
"Well, guys, now the two guests who we have been waiting for are finally here! Let's welcome the two prodigies who are currently having a day off today, Adrian Sheva and Anna Marisa!"
"Hello, everyone." Sheva smiled stiffly, waving at the camera with an awkward expression. Anna herself also took a seat next to Sarah, greeting the viewers with the pretty smile that was enough to make another explosion in the chat room.
BlibLi1212: Holy fucking shit… Lord, kill me now…
BTS356: Damn that smile! Marry me, please!
Hilda99: Wait! They are wearing a matching outfit here! Are they really dating, just like what the gossip says?!
Arina54: Oh my gosh! They are so cute together! I ship them!
It was so fortunate that Sheva didn't read the live chat, or he would be dying inside while not being able to run away from this booth. Right now, he was still entangled with the small chat that both Bagas and Sarah dragged him into, as those two knew exactly that if they didn't engage him in conversation, he would never take the initiative to say anything, choosing to fade into the background.
"So, which game are you both feeling excited the most about today?" Sarah asked.
"Of course, it would be my sister's game," Anna answered that question easily. "I know I am biased here, but I helped with Claudia's preparation, and I know that she is more than ready to take down Tania Sachdev. Don't look at the current position right now and think that it will end up in a draw, because I assure you that this is a part of her strategy."
Bagas nodded thoughtfully before turning his attention to his best friend. "What about you, Shev? What game are you most excited to watch today?" He asked.
However, Sheva didn't answer the question immediately. No, his gaze wandered far, entering the dreamland while the boy himself had a slight goofy smile on his face. It seemed that he was still imagining the date earlier that went pretty well, giggling quietly whenever he remembered all the photos that they took in Semmozhi Poonga this morning.
'That photo of us sitting together on the edge of the pond feeding fish is quite nice… Let's upload that to Instagram and give a little nice quote as the caption. Hmm… I wonder how people would react to that photo… Hehehe…'
Yeah, even though Sheva himself didn't really use social media, at the end of the day, he was born in a time when everything should be uploaded to the internet to satisfy his own ego. Almost all the young couples nowadays had the same consensus, and that was the fact that half the fun of the relationship was when they bragged about how romantic they were on social media, and Sheva himself couldn't escape that hole. He had been the one who always felt envious whenever the boy saw Bagas uploading his photo with Sarah on the Internet, so Sheva wanted to be on the other side of the road just for once here.
"Um… Shev?" Sarah's awkward tone suddenly snapped Sheva from his daydreaming. When he turned around, his three friends just looked at him with a stiff smile, while Bagas was trying his best to hold back laughter. That was when the boy knew that he had screwed up big this time.
"Cough! Sorry about that, I lost my focus for a moment." He said quickly, trying to hide his embarrassment. "Anyway, what is the question just now? What is the game I am excited the most to watch, right?"
"Yeah, exactly that." Sarah nodded, knowing that this was Sheva's attempt to change the topic. She would let it slide for now, but later, when the live streaming was over, the girl would dig everything from him without mercy.
"Well, if I have to say one, I think I am excited the most about Laysa's game against Vaishali." Sheva finally answered after pondering for a moment.
"Oh?" Bagas crooked one of his eyebrows slightly. This was definitely not the answer he expected here, as the boy thought his friend would go for Claudia's game too. "Any reason why?" He asked curiously.
"Oh, it is simple, actually. If you have done your research about Vaishali's game and compare it to Laysa's style, you will find that those two are cut from the same cloth. They are both the insanely aggressive type who always go for your head, and one careless moment will be enough to get your head. So, it is a sure thing that the game will be a roller coaster, and in a classical game, that is definitely what excites the most, instead of a boring and drawish game that ends up just within the first hour of the clock."
Right after that, the camera panned onto Laysa's game, and everyone could see the board clearly. True enough, just as Sheva expected, the game was pretty chaotic, with Vaishali having just made a mistake on the board. On the screen, all four of them could see the big question mark with the evaluation bar go slightly up for Laysa's favor, yet just a moment ago, it was Vaishali who had the advantage.
"You see, this mistake is something that should be avoidable, but Vaishali is anxious enough to create something here," Sheva explained. "She wants to free her light bishop from that terrible position by moving her knight away, but this gives Laysa a chance to infiltrate with her queen. She could take that pawn on F6, and once it is taken back, her queen will slide deep into Vaishali's territory, taking that E pawn freely. At that time, Laysa will not only be up a pawn, but her claw is getting closer to Vaishali's neck."
*Author note: If you want to visualize the position better, check the comment below.
Of course, Laysa didn't disappoint. She spotted everything that Sheva was talking about, moving all of her pieces in grace before pointing all of her guns straight to her opponent's king. The computer engine showed +3.7 for her advantage, and it was not the subtle advantage where one mistake was enough to wipe it all away instantly. No, it was a clear advantage where even Bagas and Sarah, who were novices in this sport, could spot immediately, as all of Laysa's pieces were ready to kill the enemy's king.
Seeing this, all of them somehow clenched their fists tightly, inwardly punching the air in celebration. 'Yeah! Laysa is going to win our first point today! Come on!'