Chapter 195: A War of Attrition
"So, how is it?" Arfan suddenly asked Sheva with a whisper, even covering his mouth so that he wouldn’t be a distraction for the players. "Anything interesting happen?"
"No, not really," Sheva answered with a little sigh, somehow trying to hold back a yawn here. It would be rude for the boy to do that, as if saying that the game in front of him was boring, even though he really felt that way. "The game is progressing slowly, but if I were asked to play, I would rather be in Anna’s position right now."
Arfan took a glance at the board for a moment before nodding quickly. "Yeah, she is just one step away from launching her wave of offense. One little slip from her little sister, and the trigger is on, and BOOM! The game is over."
Sheva glanced at the boy sideways, somehow feeling the corner of his lips twitching at how Arfan described the situation on the board. He himself also felt the same way, knowing that Claudia’s position was very unpleasant. Once Anna managed to muster her guts to push her G pawn further, it would kick out her sister’s knight quickly, and the only square it could escape to was on the H7 one. Imagining a knight on that far corner of the board was enough to make Sheva shudder, as the move was a big offense for the chess world.
Still...
Even though Claudia was at a disadvantage...
Even though it was Anna who took the initiative of this game... His gut still told Sheva that this wouldn’t last for the entire game. The glimpse of ambition in Claudia’s eyes told the boy that she was ready for a win-or-die situation in this game, and this slight hint of madness was enough to make Sheva think that the little sister still had a chance to make an upset in this game.
"You mean that you are optimistic about Claudia’s chance? Nah, mate. Anna is still a way better Marisa in the house." Arfan shook his head when he heard Sheva’s thought.
Well, that thought was pretty much understandable, as due to the age and rating difference, Arfan knew Anna better than he knew the little sister. They had been in a lot of cutthroat battles in the past, so the boy knew full well what the big sister was capable of. Compared to her, indeed, Claudia seemed to be far more immature here.
However, Sheva could make an argument that he knew both sisters better recently. After all, he had accompanied their trainings all the time, sometimes even guiding them in overcoming their weaknesses. Also, he had the ability to see their overall statistics from the system, which was probably the advantage that was very valuable for all the chess coaches in the world.
Even though Claudia’s stats were still far worse than Anna’s, the chess game was not something that could be solved with statistics. Well, it could, if the players were computers. However, since Anna and Claudia were human, the emotion factor played a big role here, and in this regard, in this game, Sheva felt like Claudia had a slight advantage.
Yeah, it only applied to this game. After all, unlike Anna, who was always stable and could maintain her composed state, Claudia was still pretty volatile. If she were in her best mood, the little girl would be able to slaughter the higher-level opponent like she did against the Icelandic IM Vignir Vatnar Steffanson in Reykjavik. However, once her mood was down, even playing against a lower-rated opponent would be a hassle for the girl. This was the weakness that Claudia needed to overcome in the future.
However, in this game, the girl was very motivated to bring down her big sister. That was why her move often seemed to be quite aggressive compared to her usual playing style. She made several inaccurate moves, but the confidence radiating from the girl was enough to convince her sister that the mistake she made was just normal, not a serious one.
In the end, the evaluation bar fluctuated around +0.8 to +1.3 for Anna, but the fact that the big sister couldn’t find the mistake was a good sign for Claudia.
They kept blitzing their way through the opponent’s side, wanting to poke and probe for a slight weakness that would get their sister flustered and make a mistake. Each move was done in between ten and twenty seconds, but some of them sometimes even took 40 seconds to be made, especially when things got complicated. Still, overall, they played pretty accurately, not giving their opponent any chance to penetrate their defense.
After a while, though, in the end, it was Claudia who tilted first.
It was a complicated position, and honestly, the computer wanted her to make a jump with her knight to the E4 square. This would fork Anna’s queen and rook, forcing the big sister to exchange her light bishop that was in a strategic position with the knight.
However, it seemed that Claudia also didn’t like the passive position of her light bishop in the original square, especially since it was stared directly by Anna’s rook battery on the C file. She slid the bishop one diagonal, and immediately after that, the computer evaluation bar moved up for the big sister’s advantage.
Sheva, who saw the game from the sideline, also widened his eyes in disbelief, even having to hold back the shocked gasp from escaping his mouth.
*Author note: If you want to visualize the position better, check the comment below.
’No! Why would you do that, Ia?!’ The boy cursed as he noticed the mistake instantly. ’This is just a basic mistake that could be punished immediately! You will lose your B pawn square to Anna’s rook, and your big sis could infiltrate your defense line easily in the next turn!’
Well, the mistake was quite basic, so Anna didn’t have any trouble noticing that. She moved her rook swiftly, taking the pawn on the B file while also kicking out Claudia’s queen and planting one foot on her sister’s territory. It was like hitting three birds in one stone, an impressive feat that brought the big sister closer to the win.
Claudia bit her lips when she finally realized the mistake. Sheva could even see her lips trembling, showing how nervous the girl was. Fortunately, Anna made an inaccurate move too, bringing down the evaluation slightly and letting Claudia breathe. However, the little girl seemed to panic here, as right after that, she made another blunder, and once again, the evaluation bar moved up for Anna’s favor in this game.