Chapter 288: Arfan Seals the Deal! Indonesia Wins the Match!

“COME ON!” Bagas howled, even shaking his own laptop as he saw Sheva and David Gavrilescu shaking hands on the screen. “SHEVA WINS HIS GAME! NOW, WE ARE UP TO 2-1! WE! ARE! GOING! TO! WIN! THIS! SHIT!”

At this point, all the people from all around the world who were in the media booth to report the Olympiad to their home country knew how to ignore Bagas’s shenanigans. Two days were enough for them to learn that the boy liked to hype up the Indonesian players crazily, even to the point that he would shout and jump around like a loon.

“Now, we are at least securing the draw result here, which is not bad, especially since Romania has two grandmasters with an ELO rating of more than 2600 and two other grandmasters who are solid as rock on the last two boards.” Novendra let out a relieved sigh, finally starting to relax. His shoulder slumped, and the tension that was on his back for almost all the time suddenly got lifted.

“No, no, Master Novendra, you are being too conservative here.” Bagas shook his head immediately, still in ecstasy. “Arfan doesn’t even have to win his game. As long as he survives, even if it is an ugly draw, we are going to win this matchup! Now, the rest depends on him!”

The viewers suddenly rose once again as the camera was panned on Arfan. Novendra could only smile wryly as he saw this. Of course, he knew that they were so close to beating Romania here. However, he didn’t want to mention it as that would only put more pressure on his protegee. If anything went wrong, the man couldn’t imagine how crazy the scrutiny that Arfan had to face from the internet trolls was, and that was something that he didn’t want to see.

Little did he know, though, that Arfan didn’t even feel any pressure at all at this moment. No, if anything, he was more excited to continue the game, ready to deliver the result needed for the team to win this matchup. Hell, the pressure should be on his opponent right now, as the man really needed to win the game to save the day for the Romanian team. However, there was no way Arfan would hand the game so easily, not when the boy himself had already done so well on the board.

’Yes, I don’t need to overthink this situation.’ He muttered inwardly. ’I just need to exchange all the pieces here, and I would be able to secure the draw already! Yes, I can do this!’

Even though he would like to try to go for a win, the boy was still clear-headed enough to consider the overall situation here. Also, his initial target in this game was to get a draw, and the boy had already done so well locking down the position on the board to the point that he and his opponent couldn’t move freely, and in his mind, he could already envision that threefold repetition would happen soon. It would be foolish for him to change strategy in the middle of the game, and he wouldn’t even be able to ensure the result later.

So, yeah, the best thing to do right now was to stick with the original plan, and he was already halfway through the end of the road here.

’Come on…’ The boy clenched his fist, glancing sideways at the opponent, who also looked anxious. ’You cannot do anything here! Just accept the draw, please!’

His opponent, Mircea-Emilian Parligras, was still quite stubborn here, trying to make something out of nothing. He kept probing Arfan’s defense, putting more pressure on the boy to get a win. It wasn’t really a futile effort, as at some point, the boy made some inaccurate moves, which gave the man a slight advantage in the game. However, the man was 42 years old, and just like any veteran who was still in the game, their approach tended to be more cautious, and this made the man fail to take advantage of that situation.

In the end, though, Arfan finally came out as the absolute winner here, as the boy managed to trick the man into a trap. By sacrificing his own rook, the boy completely locked his opponent’s king on two squares on the edge of the board, and his queen was able to force it to dance on those squares three times in a row. That sequence of moves was enough to seal the draw, which also secured a massive win for the Indonesian’s side.

“YES!” Bagas punched the air, celebrating this result excitedly. “With the draw between Arfan and Parligras, we are securing a historic win here! Coming out with a full point against Romania, the 20th team in the tournament, with an average rating of 2605! We are on the right track right now, and maybe… Just maybe, we could reach the target that Sheva aimed for here, the top 15th country on the final standing!”

Buddykat03: LET’S FUCKING GOOOOO!

Horitakaale16: Goddamnit! The teenagers on the team are such a beast!

Hilda99: They sure have the nerve of steel here! Come on, Sheva! Arfan!

The players themselves also celebrated the win at the table. Even though they didn’t really do anything excessively since the Romanian team was still in front of them, the smile and shoulder pat here was enough to show the relief on the Indonesian team.

It was not an easy win, with Master Susanto, the best player on the team, being beaten by Bogdan-Daniel Deac. Even though Taher managed to tie the score, things didn’t look good considering they had to put the fate of the entire country on two teenagers who didn’t have any experience here. However, those two took over the game far better than anyone else could do, especially Sheva.

The boy was sharp, having keen eyes on the tactical moment that could happen on the board. That ability was crucial, especially during the last few moves of the game when he tried to find the winning move there.

In the end, he and Arfan clutched in their respective game, helping the team bring down Romania and using them as the stepping stone.

“Good job, everyone.” Master Susanto looked at the three players who were far younger than him with a proud face. “You guys really saved my ass today.” He sighed. Indeed, out of the four, Master Susanto was the only one who got defeated by his opponent in this matchup.

“Eh, don’t worry, Master Susanto.” Arfan chirped, feeling awkward with the guilt flashing on the man’s face. “No one will blame you for this result, you know? I mean, you are out there playing against the opponent’s best player! Whoever is stupid enough to complain about this doesn’t know about chess at all!”

“Yes! Don’t worry about anything else! Just enjoy this win first and prepare for tomorrow’s opponent!” Sheva also added, not feeling comfortable seeing the leader of the team being down like this.

“You guys… I am not that fragile to the point that I need you to reassure me like this, you know?” The man sighed helplessly. However, the fondness on his face clearly told everyone his feelings right now. “Anyway! Let’s get out of this place first! We also have to see how Irene and the women’s team are faring, you know?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep