Chapter 53: Anna’s Situation
Tak!
Tak!
Tak!
Unlike the situation in the side hall, where almost all the players had already left since Sheva ran away from the crowd, the main hall was still pretty much occupied by people, all of them watching the game either from close distance or observing from afar. Even with the crowds around, the silence and tension there was palpable, enough to suffocate all of those players with weak hearts.
Everyone could see that most players who were still on the table were frowning, all thinking hard about their situation. This was a very important round for both sections, as the current leader for the GM and IM sections could secure their win in this round. Both leaders of the two sections, two Indian players, had the chance to dominate the entire tournament here. They only needed a draw to secure the win in their section, and honestly, for a professional player, it was pretty easy to force that.
However, while on the GM section, the leader managed to secure a quick draw by exchanging almost everything and entering the endgame phase in a draw situation, the same couldn’t be said for Radha Devan, the current leader of the IM section. The man was getting pushed hard by Gerry Mandagi, Anna’s current rival, who also eyed the top-seeded players to gain more rating. He also thought that since Anna had the chance to tie the score here, the boy would give it all to help her hold Radha Devan back. That was the least he could do for the fellow Indonesian player in this section.
Of course, the other main focus in this section was Anna, the girl who was currently fighting for her life. However, there was no hint of nervousness on her face, as if it were just another Monday for the girl. It was quite strange, but when everyone watched the board, they would immediately understand the source of her confidence.
Currently, she was in a winning position, stripping her opponent’s pawn structure on the king’s side while also building a strong attack to the queen’s side, where the black king was castling to. Even though the girl was down a full bishop, she still held the advantage here. Hell, the fact that the opponent’s knight and bishop were still stuck on the last rank without being able to get out only made it worse for her opponent. It even gave everyone the illusion that it was Anna who was up to full bishop.
’Tch! I know this young girl will not back down so easily!’ Pham Hai Yen, a 36-year-old woman who was also Anna’s current opponent, clicked her tongue in annoyance. ’This is getting ridiculous! Since when did she gather almost all of her strongest pieces to stare at my king?!’ She cursed inwardly.
Anna, a cold-blooded player that she was, didn’t even react at the loud ’tch’ that her opponent made, just staring at the board blankly. Inwardly, though, she had her fist clenched tightly. A few minutes ago, when she went out to the restroom, the girl heard the commotion created by Sheva, and she also got the information that the boy managed to win the entire section in just eight rounds. This information was enough to burn the spirit inside her heart, and now, the only thing she wanted to do was to beat the veteran in front of her.
’Come on, just give up already! You have nothing else to overturn the situation here!’ Anna bit her lips nervously, chanting those two sentences over and over again like a gospel. ’Come on... It is a dead loss already! Don’t waste our time!’
Even though it was rude, her complaint was quite valid. Normally, in a dead lost situation like this, it would be counterproductive to continue the game, especially in the standard format. It would be understandable to be stubborn in the shorter time format, where anything could happen during the time scramble, but in this case, as long as Anna managed her time wisely, there was no way she would make a huge blunder that would cost her the game.
Unfortunately, the woman, Pham Hai Yen, came here with the nothing to lose mentality. She had a pretty bad tournament here, being dead last after only gathering 1.5 points from 3 meaningless draws against her opponents. Hell, she even lost more than 35 points, which was a big blow for a player of her caliber. However, if anything, this only made the woman more dangerous, especially in this game. After all, the most dangerous player in the world was the one who was cornered and had nothing to lose already.
The two players kept making one move after another, not willing to give more advantage to their opponent than what they had already given. Fortunately for Anna, though, a miracle was a rarity in the real world, and she wasn’t the victim of it in this case. After a while, she finally managed to sneak her rook into the seventh rank by sacrificing a knight, locking the escape route for the opponent’s king. Once it was her turn again and the queen joined the party, everything would be over with the win on Anna’s hand. It seemed that her opponent also realized that, so she resigned with no choice left on her side.
"Good game." Pham Hai Yen gave a nod of acknowledgement toward the younger girl.
"Thank you." Anna nodded back in return. However, she was also in a hurry, so the girl rose from her chair as quickly as possible before going to the table where the decisive match was held. "Sorry, but can I leave first?" She asked.
"Oh, yeah, sure!" Pham Hai Yen nodded. "Just pray to God that your comrade is enough to hold back Radha Devan for his rampant behavior. It wouldn’t be easy for him to get stopped, you know?"
Anna stopped for a moment when she heard that, giving a stiff nod at the woman before scampering over to table 4 where the game was being played. She knew that Pham Hai Yen was right. She had seen it with her own eyes how hard it was to stop Radha Devan, and honestly, the girl didn’t think that Gerry would be able to do that. Still, there was a little bit of hope here, so she wouldn’t just give up that easily.
Just like her game earlier, the audience also surrounded Gerry Mandagi and Radha Devan crazily, wanting to be the witnesses of this historical event. Unfortunately, the situation there was quite bad, with Gerry down a full rook and his king being chased all over the board by Radha Devan’s relentless pursuit. In the end, he couldn’t bear it anymore, choosing to resign when the opponent was only a few moves away from checkmating him.