Chapter 109: Sergei Azarov
"Eh, Ivanov, my brother! It’s good to see you again, da!" Once the video call on Irfan’s phone was connected, a middle-aged man who was still pretty good-looking appeared with a flustered face. "Want a shot of Vodka, yes? Just like the old time?" He asked with a grin—or so that was everyone’s impression based on his tone, the thick Russian accent really tickled everyone’s ears.
Sheva and the others stared at each other with bewildered expressions, not expecting that the coach Irfan found for them was a drunkard like this. Even though they had already agreed to try first, it was understandable for them to question the man’s credibility when the first impression they had was this bad. Hell, it was still 1 P.M. in Jakarta, which should be around 10 A.M. in Minsk, where the man lived. Who was crazy enough to start drinking this early?
Irfan, unbothered by the man’s drunk state as if it were a normal occurrence, just answered lightly. "You know that I don’t drink, right?" His face was deadpanned. "Anyway, is this a bad time? Can you be a little bit more sober?"
The man on the other side of the phone said a lot of gibberish things for a while before Irfan lost his patience and closed the call abruptly. All the teenagers there looked at each other confusedly, not knowing how to react here. Irfan himself didn’t notice their state. No, he scrolled his phone once again, and right a few seconds later, it was connected to another call.
"Ivanov!" This time, what greeted them was the soothing voice of a gentle woman with a perfect British accent, telling them all that the woman should be in a more ’proper’ condition compared to the man earlier. "It has been a long time since you called me! Sergei has been talking about you in the last couple of days, you know? So, how is it? Do you want to visit Minsk or what? If so—"
"Sabrina, sorry for cutting you off abruptly like this," Irfan suddenly interrupted, albeit a little bit rudely. "I just called Sergei a moment ago, but it seems he is still drunk. Do you know anything about it?"
"Say, what?!" Gone was the gentle tone, replaced by the murderous shriek that was enough to send a shiver down everyone’s spine. "That fool! He knows that the doctor has been telling him to reduce his alcoholic consumption, but it seems he still tries to sneak one or two shots from me! Damn! Thank you, Ivanov! I will deal with him first. Let me call you later, okay?"
BEEP~ BEEP~ BEEP~
An awkward silence fell on the room for a moment, with no one able to react to what they had just heard. Still, even with no words coming out, everyone had the same thought here. In the end, it was Anna, the one who was coached by Irfan most of the time, who voiced their concern here. "Uh... Master Irfan... Not trying to doubt you, but are you sure that your friend is... I don’t know, reliable?" She asked hesitantly.
"Eh, don’t worry. Sergei might look like a drunkard, but he is definitely not the ordinary drunkard." Irfan waved their concerns nonchalantly. When he saw the doubt still lingered on their faces, the man added, "If you are really that worried about him, just check on Google about his profile. Look at his FIDE profile and his Wikipedia page, and you will know that he is more than capable of coaching you three."
Although a little bit skeptical, Sheva still opened his phone and followed Irfan’s order. The girls also surrounded him, wanting to read the page together. After getting to know the man’s name, he put it on the search engine, and within a second, all the information about the man lay in front of them.
The name was Sergei Azarov, and he was the old Belarusian Grandmaster who was active around the year 2000 – 2010. Although the man had never reached the level of a super top player in the world, in his heyday, he made a huge wave around Europe, winning a lot of great tournaments like the Istanbul Chess Festival in 2006 or the Bethune Open in 2011. He also had a lot of experience playing on the highest stage, like in the FIDE World Cup or Olympiad, which was a valuable experience to share with the youngsters. His peak rating was 2652, which was far greater than any Indonesian player had achieved in history.
Seeing his resume, Sheva had to admit—albeit begrudgingly—that the man looked far more capable than the drunkard impression he gave earlier.
"So, how is it? He is good, right?" Irfan grinned knowingly. "However, the most valuable thing that you can learn from him is not something that would be written on his page." The man smiled as he was about to drop another bomb.
"Uh?" All the teenagers there looked at each other, confusedly. "If this resume is not the most valuable thing that we can learn from him, then what else?" Sheva couldn’t help but ask.
"Well, of course, it is his experience in learning chess!" Irfan answered with a smile. "You might not notice it, but even though he is a Belarusian, he grew up as a Soviet boy, and just like any other chess player at that time, he experienced directly the greatness of the legendary Soviet Chess School."
That... Definitely got them hooked. Hell, even Bagas and Sarah, the two teens who didn’t delve deeper into the chess world, still knew about its existence, showing how legendary it was even outside of the community.
The Soviet Chess School itself was a legendary powerhouse that revolutionized the world of chess, transforming it from a game into a science of strategic mastery and mental prowess. Under the guidance of visionary coaches and inspired by the nation’s emphasis on intellectual achievement, the Soviet Chess School produced an unparalleled dynasty of champions, including legends like Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov, and Boris Spassky. Its influence extended beyond mere competition, shaping modern chess theory and inspiring generations of players worldwide, cementing its greatness as a beacon of strategic brilliance and intellectual achievement.
Even though right now, there are not a lot of elite chess players coming from Russia, that was only because the country itself was banned by FIDE for its invasion of Ukraine, which made most of their elite players change their federation country so that they could still play without any restriction. In reality, there were still so many elite players who graduated from the Soviet Chess School, showing how legendary this chess school was. No wonder they were all excited about this.
’Sergei Azarov, huh?’ Sheva muttered to himself, and a little grin formed on his face. ’I wonder if he is worth the hype here...’