In a small corner in the park close to Sheva's home, a small crowd gathered there, probably about fifteen people. They all gathered around a small, wooden table, watching the excitement as two people moved so quickly while they were in a full concentration mode, not wanting to lose focus even for a second over the chessboard in front of them.
"Come on, Bandi! Your king's side is open!"
"Defend it quickly!"
"Stupid! His queen is going to be attacked next! His king is still in a good position, but once the queen is trapped, he can do nothing!"
"Oh, shut up! As if you can do better than me!"
"Ha! You only lasted for 13 moves, don't brag!"
"Oh! Oh! Irfan sacrifices his bishop! He is going to chop everything on the king's side!"
"Ah! Bandi resigns! What a pity!"
"Good game!"
All of the people there clapped their hands, applauding the two players who shook hands after the game was settled. One of them, a middle-aged man in his early forties, bowed his head deeply, showing his gratitude. "Thank you for your guidance, Master Irfan! I can see that my ability has improved slightly after this game!"
"Ah, don't be too polite, Old Man Bandi!" The other player, a man who was about thirty, waved his hand nonchalantly. "You can call me Irfan, just like the others! Hell, you are the only one here who is polite enough to call me Master, you know?!"
"Because they have no respect for the title you earned at all!" The first man – Bandi – argued heatedly. "They are just a bunch of clueless bastards, not knowing how hard your journey is to become a top player like this!"
"Oh, Bandi is going to start with his rant again!"
"Come on, Bandi! You have been saying something like that every day! It is like a broken record already!"
"Yeah!"
"You bastards!"
"Hahahaha!"
As the whole community was bickering with each other, the main man, Irfan Aditya, sighed in his wooden chair. It wasn't the sigh of tiredness, but more of disappointment. After all, this was the sixth park that he had gone to and challenged the community this year, and he hadn't had any successful gains here.
Yeah, his presence here was not just for shits and giggles. Irfan was here to find more potential chess players to develop for the future. As he grew older and couldn't see the possibility of him being a grandmaster, let alone playing in a higher stage, he had already made it his mission to scout the entire Jakarta for one or two players who could represent this country. After all, even though Indonesia was the fourth most populous country in the world, it was also a barren place for most the sports. Besides badminton, no one could think of any sport that this massive country excelled in.
Even though it was hard to scout and produce a top talent in chess – nearly impossible, even. Like finding a needle in the haystack – Irfan still hoped that he would find some potential that could be polished into a strong player. That way, it would also help develop the ecosystem of this sport into a better spot in the future.
Unfortunately, everything was always easier to be said than done.
The problem was that the people who still played chess at the park were mostly already old, and the few young folks who came only joined for fun. That was why he initiated the challenge with a good amount of money as the prize. Even though the amount of money wasn't that much, for most people in Jakarta, that amount was enough for their salvation for at least two or three weeks. It would be enough to attract more people to come here. This way, he cast the wider net, and if he was lucky, he would catch one or two good fish from the slump.
But even after doing this for more than eight months, his luck was still at rock bottom. Not even a single amateur player whom he met during this escapade managed to survive for more than thirty moves against him, let alone win the game. Hell, Irfan wasn't challenged at all by the players he met, showing that there was a quality gap between him, who was trained systematically, and those who played just for fun.
'Well, it is not like I expect to gain anything today…' Irfan heaved a sigh one more time, trying to cheer himself up. He was dozing off for a moment, not expecting someone to go and sit straight on the chair in front of him. However, the commotion around him was enough to snap the International Master from his thoughts.
"Oh! Deri is in! Come on!"
"He is the best player in this neighborhood! If there is someone who could win this challenge, it would be him!"
"Come on, Deri! Show your skill!"
Irfan couldn't help but crooked one of his eyebrows slightly when he heard what the crowd said. He glanced slightly at the person who was about to challenge him, just to find out a pretty young man – about twenty years old or so – sat there with a smile full of cockiness. 'Oh, it seems that he is pretty confident here. Let's see how high his chess level is…' He muttered to himself.
"Well, please, give me your guidance, Master Irfan…" Even though this new man – Deri – smiled politely, Irfan could hear a hint of mockery in his tone, which was enough to irritate him a little bit.
'Oh, this scoundrel… Then, I don't need to be merciful here…'
After handshaking each other, the two players went into their full-concentration mode. Their hands moved swiftly from the chessboard to hit the chess clock while their head didn't even move, locking into the board in front of them. All the spectators around also held their breath unconsciously, realizing that the tension suddenly rose on the table.
After a few moves, Irfan himself had to acknowledge – albeit begrudgingly – that the boy in front of him was quite talented. Playing with the black piece, the boy, Deri, went for the French defense, and his intention was also pretty clear here, which was to drag Irfan into the most boring and tedious variation to prolong the game. The defensive resilience shown by the boy was admirable, not letting any of Irfan's pieces slip onto a good square.
Unfortunately, other than his defensive effort, Irfan couldn't see any good qualities shining from the boy. No, if anything, the resilience seemed to be the negative point here, as the boy focused too much on it, not having any ambition to win. Even if somehow the boy managed to win this challenge, Irfan wouldn't want to recruit him into his chess club later.
Of course, that was only if Deri won. However, it was clear that slowly but surely, Irfan started to gain the advantage here. The white pieces he controlled started to march forward, bulldozing everything on their way. He managed to trap the black piece's knight, pushing the opponent's queen back into its initial position, and even forced Deri's king to get exposed without any defender.
Looking at his unfavorable position, Deri frowned for a few seconds before finally letting out a disappointed sigh, stopping the clock, and offering a handshake. "I lose, Master Irfan." He admitted, this time, without any snide or hint of mockery there. "Good game."
"Good game." Irfan also nodded, acknowledging the opponent's effort. Right after that, cheers erupted around them as everyone praised Deri generously for his effort.
"Damn, Deri! That is a good game!"
"Yes! You push Master Irfan so hard and survive for the 24th move!"
"You are the best one among us here!"
"If only you can survive for a few more moves…"
While all the people around there were drowned in chatters, Irfan sighed once again, trying his best to hide his disappointment. If this was the best player here, he was sure that today was another fruitless day again.
He was sure that he wouldn't find anything else here, so after playing for two or three more games, Irfan finally gave up and was about to go. However, before he could move from his seat, a boy slightly younger than Deri suddenly came, raising his hand politely.
"Um… Master Irfan, can I try my luck here?"