Chapter 196: The First Game is Over?! Who Wins?!
"So, how is it going, Boys?" Master Irfan and Master Susanto walked toward Sheva and Arfan’s direction, wanting to see the development of this game.
At this point, not just them, but even Bagas, Irene, and Medina also came over. After all, the game between Irene and Medina was over in a disappointing draw, with both deciding to play conservatively in the first game of the tournament. So, it was a no-brainer for the attention to fall onto the other game, especially since it was an exciting one.
"Anna is in the lead," Arfan answered shortly. "Still, a few mistakes here and there from her side too, so everything could still happen here."
Yeah, Arfan also changed his mind about his prediction on this game. If at first, the boy thought Anna would win easily, now he was unsure about what would happen after this chaotic sequence was over. It wasn’t like he believed Claudia was better, but it seemed Anna was not in her best state, resulting in some little mistakes that should never happen from a player of her level.
Hearing the short assessment from the boy, and looking at Sheva, who was concentrating on the board that he didn’t even play in, the four veteran players couldn’t help but take a curious look. There, they saw a chaotic and imbalanced game, and indeed, just with a glance, it was clear that the white piece was at an advantage right now.
"The three connected passed-pawns on the E to G files are going to be a pain in the ass for Claudia to deal with in the future. Not only that, getting rid of Anna’s knight on the D4 square would be a hassle. Claudia’s best choice right now is to exchange the rook first and get rid of Anna’s rook at the C file as quickly as possible, or it could be her downfall in the future." Master Susanto made a quick judgment over the game.
"But Anna’s rook on the B7 square is also difficult to deal with." Arfan frowned. "Anna could take the A7 pawn after this, and she would be up to two pawns already."
"And isolating her own rook on that side of the board? No, I don’t think that is a good idea." Sheva finally spoke for the first time. "It could be done later once there is any other piece to support the rook on the seventh rank, but before that, taking the pawn would only kill herself in the long run."
They were debating over all the choices that Anna could take, but in the end, the girl went for the line that Arfan said before. She took the A7 pawn without hesitation, making herself up for two pawns. The computer engine thought it was a mistake, as the big sister’s advantage was gone immediately. However, Claudia seemed to be frustrated with the situation here, as she made a mistake by moving her queen to get closer to Anna’s rook.
This was a mistake because originally, her queen was guarding the bishop on the seventh rank, and as it moved away, Anna could get rid of Claudia’s several minor pieces with just her rook. In the end, she managed to get a lot from the exchange. Even though Claudia’s rooks were still intact compared to hers, where only one of them survived, Anna still had two strong knights fighting in the middle of the board, and coupled with the two-pawn advantage she earned earlier, the advantage was completely on her side.
*Author note: If you want to visualize the position better, check the comment below.
Seeing that her position seemed to get worse in the second, Claudia bit her lips nervously, thinking hard to make a counterplay. She put one of her rooks straight in front of Anna’s knight on the C3 square, trying to make a battery with another rook to pressure that knight in the long run.
Honestly, it should be pretty easy for Anna to handle this position. However, due to the time left for her side being only 13 seconds, the girl panicked, and she finally blundered for the first time.
Anna really wanted to defend the knight on the C3 square, so she moved her other knight to protect everything while also kicking out Claudia’s queen from her defensive line. However, it was proven to be a mistake, as she also opened up the diagonal that went straight to her king, and Claudia moved her queen immediately to put pressure on it. Right after that, the evaluation bar jumped down from +2.9 to -1.8 instantly, giving the advantage straight to Claudia’s hand in a blink.
*Author note: If you want to visualize the position better, check the comment below.
With her pawn being pinned on the E3 square, Anna realized straightaway the mistake that she had just committed. She wanted to do damage control by moving her queen to guard that pawn. However, the rook that Claudia wanted to use as the battery on the C file was still on the E file, and with the queen also staring at the pawn, the girl didn’t hesitate to take that particular pawn in one breath.
Material-wise, Anna was still up to one pawn. However, the last few move sequences allowed Claudia to infiltrate closer to her big sister’s king, and if Anna was not careful enough, she could get checkmated by her little sister.
In the end, Claudia managed to take advantage of Anna’s panicked state to exchange her own rook with the big sister’s two knights, which also made the material advantage that Anna had a moment ago disappear instantly. Now, they both still had one queen, one rook, and three pawns, yet Claudia was already very close to getting her big sister’s king.
Of course, that didn’t mean Anna would give up. No, she still thought that at least a draw could be achieved here. However, in such a disadvantageous position, coupled with the fact that she was in a time scramble, there was not much she could do to survive this situation.
She shifted her pieces back and forth for a while, yet in the end, all the moves she made only strangled her own king on the edge of the board. After a few moments of King’s hunt from Claudia, in the end, Anna finally let her clock run, finding that she couldn’t find any chance to escape from the opponent’s guillotine.
Yeah, she gave up, giving her little sister the first win of the tournament.