Chapter 121: A Fantastic Day for the Indonesian Players!
"Oh! Vignir Vatnar Stefannson resigns!" Bagas jumped excitedly when he saw that the Iceland IM offered a handshake. "Claudia Marisa has done the impossible! She steals the win from an International Master whose rank is 400 above hers! This is the biggest upset in the century!" He couldn’t stay calm, holding his mic tightly while also describing Claudia’s achievement in such an exaggerated manner.
Yeah, it was pretty much exaggerated, as the biggest upset in the century was indeed a little bit too much. However, this was enough to convey Bagas’s emotion to his audience, and somehow, they all felt the same here, thinking that this was probably the biggest underdog story of the century. Well, that was at least for an Indonesian chess player, as no one had ever beaten someone around 2500 rating when they were still 2100. Just like Bagas said earlier, Claudia had already done the impossible here.
Hilda99: Hell, yeah! Claudia, you rock!
MessitheGOAT: Damn! This little girl is so damn crazy! Is she even better than her sister?!
Frwoggies: No way! Anna has already had her WGM title! Claudia is still a little bit behind!
Hilda99: I mean, let’s wait for one or two years before we talk about that, okay?
Hakeem94: Come on, Claudia! You did a fricking good job here!
The chat room exploded instantly as Claudia finally declared herself the winner of the game. Bagas himself didn’t notice that part. No, his attention was on Claudia on his screen, as the girl smiled exhaustedly while tension seemed to ebb away from her shoulders. Looking at her like that, a small, genuine smile formed unconsciously on Bagas’s face.
"Look at that smile! Look at the relief on her face! Yeah, after playing for about three hours, she deserves to have a moment of peace like this!" He said, trying to take a deep breath to calm himself down. "Master Irfan, what do you think about this result?" He didn’t forget to ask the expert here.
"Well, I think that she did a fantastic job here." Master Irfan complimented the girl. "She was calm, composed, able to be patient for almost all the time, and in such a crucial situation, where exhaustion started to hit her hard, she was able to show her cold-blooded side, waiting patiently until the IM Stefannson made that fatal blunder that killed the game completely. This is a wonderful result for the girl, as I have just checked, this win alone will increase her rating points by 36, as she would continue to climb higher to reach her sister."
That wasn’t the only reason why Irfan was happy. He knew how much pressure Claudia had to bear due to the unrealistic target that he had set before. Well, not just her, but also with Sheva. Even though those two didn’t see the target as a burden, the man still felt it was too much to ask. At least, this win was enough to ease his mind, and he was able to give a little—just a little—glimpse of hope that maybe, they could achieve the target before the deadline day.
"Oh, well, it seems that today is really a good day for Indonesian players in Reykjavik..." Bagas continued his job as a host once again as he noticed something here. "In fact, Claudia is not the first one to end her game. Before her, Master Irene has already finished her job, knocking out the Swiss youngster, Heer Stephan, and now, Sheva is also on the way to make another upset here. He is still having the momentum, with the computer engine giving –3.8 as the evaluation for his side."
Yeah, right now, Sheva was also in the lead, and the boy was confident that he could win the game.
It all started with Brandon Clarke’s blunder, with him trying to get Sheva’s bishop on the A file, equalizing the game instantly. However, not stopping just like that, the Englishman made another blunder by taking Sheva’s bishop directly, letting Sheva infiltrate his own defense with the queen. True enough, Sheva took revenge by giving several checks to the man, and in the next few moves, his advantage grew into –5.
*Author note: If you want to visualize the position better, check the comment below.
Brandon pondered for a while, burning his clock slowly as he thought of a counterplay here. However, any player who saw the situation on the board would be able to tell that it was hopeless for the black pieces to continue the game. The only thing that could save the game for white was if Sheva made some stupid blunders, but the boy would never let this rare chance to win against someone with a high rating like him slip away like that.
In the end, Sheva turned the next few moves into a king-hunting game. He chased the black king relentlessly, trying to freeze it on its own side with his queen. Not only that, his knight also jumped to join the fun, trying to give help so that the checkmate could be achieved soon.
It was ironic that even though Brandon still had a queen, a rook, and a knight, all the pieces couldn’t move even for a single inch to save the king. The rook’s path was completely blocked by its own king, and the man used his knight to block Sheva’s rook from joining the attack, even though it was a futile attempt. The worst part, though, was that his own queen didn’t participate in defense at all, getting isolated on the A file for the greediness to take Sheva’s bishop far earlier. Even though Brandon wanted to bring the queen back, it wouldn’t be quick enough, as Sheva’s pawn blockade ensured that the queen would never go back to the game again.
*Author note: If you want to visualize the position better, check the comment below.
The hunt lasted for a while before, in the end, Sheva forced the white king to do a walk of shame, getting chased back and forth from the first rank to the middle of the board just to be back on the first rank again. Now that Sheva’s knight was in position to support the queen, and without any support from the black pieces, checkmate was already on the line of sight, and Brandon could also see that coming.
So, after thinking for a while, the Englishman finally couldn’t find any solution to get away from this position, and he did what Sheva and everyone were waiting for.
The man, the International Master from England, Brandon Clarke, finally resigned, giving Sheva the first win of the tournament.