Chapter 202: A Dramatic Fifth Round, A Crazy Tournament!
With the game between Anna and Claudia over, the fourth round of the tournament was also concluded. However, unlike Sheva’s expectation, only one draw happened in this round. On the other game, Irene and Medina went for a cutthroat game, wanting to snap each other’s necks in a very crazy game.
Going with the aggressive line of the Sicilian Defense Rossolimo Attack variation, both players went all out since the beginning, not even having any intention to hide their killing intent anymore. Hell, just in the thirteenth move of the game, Irene had already been up to +2.8, but five moves later, it was Medina who had the advantage with -1.1 evaluation from the computer engine. The game was so volatile that no one could predict who would win the game.
This state lasted for quite a while, but in the 24th move of the game, Irene managed to steal a point here by sneaking his rook to get a free pawn in the middle of the board. Even though it was just a pawn, this was the long-term investment that the woman gained with a lot of hard work, and in the future, she believed that the pawn advantage would be a huge decisive factor in the result of the game.
True enough, even though one pawn advantage wasn’t that massive, in a high-level game between two top players like this, something so small could be turned into huge pressure against the opponent. After dilly-dallying for more than 36 moves, Irene finally showcased why she was still the best woman player in this country by capitalizing on all the small advantages that she accumulated, winning a crucial game against probably her biggest rival in this internal tournament.
With this result, the position in the standings changed once again. Medina, who lost the fight, had to be satisfied with the throne on her head getting pulled down by Irene, and not only that, she also got the same point as Anna. Moreover, Claudia was still eyeing them all from behind, trying to get back into the race when an opportunity arose.
After the fourth round was over, here was the current standing of this mini tournament.
Irene Kharisma Sukandar – 2.5 points
Anna Marisa – 2 points
Aulia Medina Warda – 2 points
Claudia Marisa – 1.5 points
Now, with only two rounds left, the tension would be high for all of them. Even dropping half a point would be fatal, as a win for any of them would be a huge boost in their position in the standings.
However, the craziness didn’t stop just like that.
No, the fifth round of the game was spiraling out of control, going in the direction that nobody had ever expected before. Having pocketed a win against Medina, Irene had a pretty easy schedule playing against Anna and Claudia for the last two rounds of the tournament. On paper, she should’ve never had any difficulty dealing with those two. However, in the fifth round, the woman was beaten mercilessly by Anna, who really needed a win to stay in the race.
Yeah, Anna beat Irene in the fifth round, completing a full sweep against the woman, as she had already done that in the second round. This time, she caught Irene slacking by going for a conservative line of the Italian opening, probably wanting to get a quick and easy draw while also aiming for a win against Claudia in the final round to secure her number one spot in the tournament.
Anna only needed one mistake from Irene’s side, and she capitalized on it all with the precision of the best player in the world. It took about 23 moves, but the girl ended the game neatly, not giving Irene a chance to make a counterplay even for once. She really became Irene’s kryptonite in this tournament, refusing to become the stepping stone for the woman to be the number one lady in this room.
As for the other game, Medina was eager to get a win after the defeat she suffered against Irene, and she went all out from the beginning to pressure Claudia’s defensive line and force some sort of panic reaction on the girl, and exploit the weakness in the later stage of the game.
However, Claudia seemed too exhausted to be treated as a punching bag here. She fought back pretty hard, even sending some aggressive moves that were threatening Medina back and forced the woman to back down to her own territory. The game went back and forth quite volatily, but after the dust had settled, both players had to be satisfied with sharing a point here, which only made their chance to win it all decrease by a factor.
Anna Marisa – 3 points
Irene Kharisma Sukandar – 2.5 points
Aulia Medina Warda – 2.5 points
Claudia Marisa – 2 points
Now, the situation was completely in Anna’s favor. She only needed a draw against Medina to secure her win, as even though Irene managed to snatch a full point against Claudia, based on the head-to-head statistics, Anna won two games against Irene, so if they had the same points, Anna would be the one on top of the table.
Of course, it wasn’t going to be easy for her to force a draw against Medina. Playing with white, the woman would go for a very aggressive line, trying to turn the game into a do-or-die one. Anna had to be careful here, as one slip would be enough to get her head hung.
Meanwhile, Claudia was also in a tough position here. Even though she was officially out of the race, the little girl still wanted to help her sister here, and the best way to do that was definitely to not lose in her last game against Irene. After the last draw against Medina, though, the girl was confident that she could end this tournament with a positive result.
Now, all the main characters already sat on their respective chair, and everyone also gathered around them eagerly, wanting to see the last episode of the drama unfold before their eyes. As the arbiter, Irfan did the last check to make sure that nothing went wrong, and after getting a confirmation that everything was ready, he clicked the button on his laptop, starting the fateful round of the tournament immediately.