Sheva gulped nervously, shifting a little to make himself comfortable. This was the first time he became the center of attention like this, and even though, after his careful observation, he knew that none of them expected him to win the challenge, let alone the game, there was still a fear lingering inside his heart that he would make a fool of himself.
He was somehow relieved to see that Master Irfan didn't even bat his eyes at him, just nodding at him while also setting up the chessboard once again. This meant that Master Irfan didn't think that he was special, just another ordinary boy who wanted to try his luck.
Behind Master Irfan, Sheva could also see his best friend, Bagas, waving at him excitedly while recording this game with his phone. That fat boy wanted to record this encounter in case Sheva somehow managed to create a miracle here so that he would have content to start a YouTube channel. Yeah, after watching a lot of chess content in the last couple of days, it seemed that Bagas also wanted to try his luck here.
As for the possibility of him losing the game… Well, there would be no loss here for Bagas, since the purpose of recording this was to have a memory of Sheva's first on-the-board game.
Sheva took a deep breath, trying to enter his concentration state and ignore the distractions around him. It seemed that Master Irfan was kind enough to let him play with the white piece. Sheva also didn't want to make a foolish move at the beginning, so he just moved the pawn in front of his king two squares, and Master Irfan mirrored the move exactly in the next second.
This was the most common opening in chess, moving the 'E' pawn to control the center as quickly as possible. However, to everyone's surprise, right in the second move, Sheva made a splash by sliding the 'F' pawn two squares forward, challenging the position as early as possible right after the game began.
'Um? A king's gambit?' Irfan was startled for a second. He glanced sneakily at his opponent, just to find the boy who was far younger than him staring at the chessboard intently. 'Interesting… Well, let's see how much you understand this opening…'
The King Gambit was one of the most aggressive openings in chess, allowing the white piece to develop quickly on the king's side for a quick attack. This also prevented the opponent from castling and hiding the king on the king's side, the comfort zone for any normal chess player. Of course, the opponent could still castle on that side, but the overwhelming pressure that the white pieces built straight from the start would put the black king into the danger zone.
Of course, this opening was not without a risk. If anything, the risk itself seemed to be bigger for white pieces. After all, by giving up one or two pawns in the king's side, this would also expose the white king to an immediate danger, and once the pressure that white built failed to meet any positive result, the black piece could strike back and pressure the white king to its own death.
This opening was a double-edged sword, and anyone who dared to pull this trick should be confident in their attacking ability. Not a lot of top players would take a risk to use it, but from the spectator's perspective, this attacking game, where both players tried to kill each other so openly, was definitely an exciting game.
True enough, in the next few moves, the position turned pretty chaotic. Although Sheva's pieces were active to put pressure on Irfan's king side, he was also down to two pawns, and his king was in a pretty dangerous spot without any protection. However, any experienced player could see that at this moment, it was Sheva who held the initiative here.
'Damn, that boy is crazy! He puts pressure on Master Irfan!'
'Well, anyone who dares to pull the king's gambit is definitely a crazy bastard!'
'Who is he?! Why couldn't I remember his name or his appearance?!'
'Don't tell me that he is a complete rookie?!'
'Don't be ridiculous! No rookie could push Master Irfan to this kind of dangerous game! He should've had a pretty good coach!'
Out of the commotion around there, a huge smile formed on Bagas's face as he kept his hand steady to record the entire game. He could feel his chest rising, pride filling his heart. He was the only one who knew that his best friend was a true genius, going here without any experience in this game while somehow managing to dominate the International Master Irfan Aditya. He stared solemnly at his best friend, who was focusing on the chessboard, thinking inwardly, 'Come on, Sheva! This is your stage! Destroy him!'
Sheva himself wasn't that bothered by the crowds. No, right now, he was at the highest state of his focus, and all of the cells inside his brain were moving so quickly to think about the whole game. It was his turn right now, and the gold grade intuition that he gained a few days ago kept screaming in his head that there was something on the board.
He could see the tactic here, yet somehow, he hesitated to pull it out. After all, this was a critical moment, and if somehow the tactic failed, everything would be over.
'Damn, should I play safely here? No, I have already down by two pawns. There is no way I could survive in the long term by playing safely.' A sweat rolled on his forehead as he thought hard about his current position. He glanced at the clock next to him and gritted his teeth. 'Damn, only 13 seconds left, I cannot think too much about it! Screw it!'
Tak!
As the sound of the piece that Sheva held hitting the chessboard echoed throughout the park, all the spectators followed it with the 'OOOOH!' exclamation, showing their excitement.
"Damn! The boy sacrifices his bishop!"
"He has the biggest gut that I have ever seen!"
"Now, the choice is on Master Irfan! Does he dare to take the bait?!"
"He takes it! He has to!"
Indeed, just as one of the audience said, Irfan had to take the sacrifice, because no matter what kind of decision he made, Sheva had already torn his defense. If he didn't take the bishop that Sheva sacrificed, that piece would go back to threaten his other pieces and become a pain in the ass.
However, the consequence of taking the bait was pretty severe for Irfan's side. To neutralize Sheva's wave of attack, he had to sacrifice his queen and one of his rooks for Sheva's one bishop, one knight, one rook, and four pawns. After several moves, the chessboard was cleared, and the balance of the position leaned more toward Sheva with a queen, a rook, and three pawns against Irfan with a rook, a knight, a bishop, and four more pawns.
'Damn, he is good.' Irfan glanced at the boy begrudgingly. 'To push me up to this point… He is not a complete amateur like the others. Now, let's see how he would convert this position in this endgame…'