'Wait, he has won his game already?!' Anna widened her eyes in surprise when she saw Sheva coming in her direction. 'This fast?! Is his opponent that weak, or is he in his best state today?' She couldn't help but ask herself.

While there was a chance that the first possibility happened and somehow, Sheva's opponent played poorly, Anna was still inclined to believe the second possibility here. It was clear that Sheva was in his best state today, and winning a game against the poor amateur player who got unlucky to get paired against him was not a difficult matter.

This only motivated the girl more, though, as she was determined to kill her opponent as quickly as possible.

She was paired against Marcel Marentini, a local boy whose rating was around 2050. He was somehow a decent opponent with a lot of tricks up his sleeve, yet Anna could only pity him as the boy decided to go with one opening that she started to get familiar with: the Dutch Defense.

Yeah, it was a tricky opening, full of turns and twists that would kill most of the players who were not familiar with that. However, this was also Sheva's favorite opening as the black piece, and having been training together with the boy, Anna could say that she understood the basics of this opening pretty well.

Not only did she get an overwhelming pressure on the queenside with her four chained pawns, but the girl also had a strong attack in move 15 by lining up her rook and queen on the F file, staring directly at Marcel Marentini's queenside. The opponent himself was a creative attacker, and he made a lot of moves that seemed to be threatening at first glance. However, they all were just shallow attacks, and once Anna took her time to think about it, the threat seemed to be quite underwhelming for her side.

Looking at this game from the sideline, Sheva couldn't help but nod, feeling satisfied that Anna went in the right direction. He didn't stay there for too long, not wanting to make the girl panic or feel the need to end the game as quickly as possible. No, that would only turn her in a bad direction, and Sheva couldn't guarantee whether she could be calm enough to do that properly or not.

Instead of doing that, Sheva walked away, checking Medina's game first to see the big sister's condition. She was playing against another player with a similar rating as Sheva's and Anna's opponent, being around 2050. Just like those two teenagers, though, she didn't hold back even for a single move. Sheva didn't know how the game could go in this direction, but it was clear that the woman had a massive advantage on the board.

Not only did she have two pawns advantage, but Medina also had two strong bishops that stared directly at her opponent's kingside, threatening to snipe at any time the boy tilted. Compared to the opponent's side, where both rooks looked so dead on the edge of the board, while the knight itself wandered aimlessly in the middle of the board as if ready to be a prey that got hunted by Medina's rooks, Sheva knew that the big sister of the group also had her first game on the bag.

'Good. One of the reasons we are here is to improve our rating, so losing against a lower-rated opponent is not an option. Hell, even a draw is going to hurt us, so it is still better to win it all.' Sheva somehow nodded in approval. Then, he started to walk around, not leaving the building, but looking at the other players' games. 'Now, let's see how those top players are going in this round…'

Of course, his first destination was the front side of the section where all the top players were fighting at. Even though the boy couldn't go to the place where the GM section was held, at least in this open section, there were several top players whose stats he could check first.

First of all, it was Yu Yangyi, the Chinese super grandmaster, whose rating was around 2720. The man was the highest-rated player in this section, and it would be a lie if Sheva said that he wasn't interested. Unfortunately, as he approached that table, he could see at a glance that the game was about to be over, with the man himself gaining an overwhelming advantage with a full rook on his side.

Still…

'Tch, I am late.' Sheva clicked his tongue in annoyance. 'I am here to see the difference between me, a mere mortal, compared to a super grandmaster like him, yet the game has already entered its climax stage. Whatever. At least, maybe, I could scan him first. System, do the work, please.'

[DING! The scan is successful!]

[Name: Yu Yangyi]

Attacking 91

Defense 95

Calculation 92

Strategy 89

Intuition 90

Time management 93

… Okay, it was official. Sheva didn't know how to express his feelings right now. Dumbfounded? Flabbergasted? Gobsmacked? Whatever it was, Sheva felt like there was no word that could describe his state right now. He felt his jaw drop a few inches while also trying to clear his eyes more, still not believing that such high stats existed.

'What the fuck?! Only strategy is below 90, and everything else is that high?! Also, what the hell is that 95 defense?! Is he trying to set up a Chinese Great Wall on the board or what?!' He started to freak out inwardly.

Yeah, he had all the reasons in the world to freak out. After all, this was the first time Sheva witnessed such a high statistic. Not only that, but Yu Yangyi was also a balanced player, being good at almost everything. Then, that '95 defense… That meant against any other player with the low attacking stats, as long as the Chinese grandmaster didn't want to lose, he would be able to defend the game for… Well, it wouldn't be exaggerating to say forever.

'To think that there are about twenty more players better than him…' Sheva clenched his fist unconsciously, yet a small smile suddenly formed on his face. 'Damn, this is crazy… I cannot wait to play against him and any other top players in the future!'

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