If there was one person who was the most anxious in this situation, it should be Muradli Muhammad.

Indeed, he was currently in the lead, and the man himself was way more experienced in the game compared to the opponent in front of him. Hell, he himself was three times National Champion in Azerbaijan, showing how accomplished the man was in his career.

However, this was the first time he was so close to winning an international tournament, and it excited yet terrified the man to the core. Yeah, even after playing chess for such a long time, he had never won anything international in his life, which was definitely a setback to his career. His biggest achievement so far was a few years ago during his crusade to get the GM norm, and at that time, he only got second place in Hungary. So, yeah, winning this tournament would become the biggest achievement in his career, and he didn't want to let that chance slide due to any stupid mistake here.

'It should be time to chop down the whole center, right?' Muradli muttered to himself, having both his hands on his forehead. 'He should be taking the initiative to get my center. That is the only way for his queen to get out of that embarrassing position. Take, take, and he would control the C file with his rook, but it wouldn't mean that much since it is a weak file, anyway. However, my attacking initiative is so strong here, so there should be no problem on my side. Okay, I could probably win this.' He clenched his fist unconsciously.

Yeah, even though Muradli Muhammad only needed to have one draw, he still aimed for a win. If there was one thing he learned from his vast experience, it was that the more the man aimed for a draw, the greater the chance he would lose the game. The causes often varied, from getting too passive and making a mistake in a crucial moment, to somehow falling into the trap that the opponent set.

Of course, there were some exceptions here, such as if both players went for a drawish opening line like the Berlin draw or if he only aimed for a draw in the endgame phase, where more than half of the board was cleared already. However, Muradli Muhammad still believed that aiming from the draw from the beginning of the game would always end up in a disaster. No, the best way to get a draw was to put pressure on his opponent, getting the initiative since the beginning to control the tempo, and this was what he did in this game.

He got into a very good position, getting all of his pieces aiming straight at Sheva's defense while also putting the boy in front of him into a passive state. Not only that, Muradli Muhammad was also up to more than 40 minutes on the clock. It was such a huge advantage, especially since Sheva was a player who always got a time advantage against his opponent.

However, he knew that this game was still far from his grasp. No, based on the burning determination in Sheva's eyes, Muradli Muhammad knew that Sheva went into a passive mode like this by choice.

The boy was like a boxer who got punched most of the time, yet still stalling his time so that once the opponent got exhausted, he would be ready to send the decisive blow to knock out his opponent, and honestly, the opponent who could be patient like this under the pressure was the most dangerous one that anyone could face. That was why Muradli Muhammad didn't get cocky even in such an advantage, still waiting for Sheva to show his fangs here.

'This is troublesome, but if I want him to show his true face, I need to bait him to take the initiative.' The man pondered for a moment, letting his clock burn slowly. 'I am playing a dangerous game here, but if somehow I could pull it off, the risk will definitely be worth taking. I need to do this.'

Well, saying was one thing, but doing it on the board was definitely a different matter. It wasn't easy to throw a bait that could attract Sheva's attention without putting him at a bigger risk. He knew that Sheva was a player with keen eyes on the tactical game, so if he miscalculated, Muradli was sure that it would be his head that got slaughtered next.

Sheva himself managed to stay calm even under the pressure from his opponent. There was no sign of nervousness in his body, and if anything, the grin on his face showed how excited the boy was. Even though he got pushed back, the boy still preferred this position, as it allowed him to send a counterattack once the opportunity came. If somehow, Muradli Muhammad went for a drawish opening like the French, the Berlin, or something similar, that was definitely the worst scenario in Sheva's mind. Fortunately, the game was far from it.

In the next few turns, the boy wanted to speed up a little bit, trying to close down the time gap between those two. He managed to create a space for his pieces on the kingside to breathe and even form a strong battery of a rook and a queen on the C file, yet in the next turn, Sheva put his own knight to the F8 square, locking his own rook and king on the edge of the board awkwardly.

*Author note: If you want to visualize the position better, check the comment below.

This looked like a strange move, but it was Sheva's way to reroute his knight into a better square. The boy remembered what GothamChess said in one of his famous videos, that one of the signs that a player was good was that he or she knew that besides pawns, all of the pieces could move backward, and the player themselves also knew how to move back when necessary.

For Sheva, pushing back his own knight into the F8 square was an easy decision with the aim of getting into the G5 square and threatening Muradli's kingside defense. It was clear that he wanted to create a counterplay here, and his opponent could see his intention clearly.

Little did he know, though, that Sheva's aim was not on that side. No, the boy had a glimmer of excitement when he saw Muradli push all of his pieces to protect that G5 square, and the boy knew that his chance had finally come.

'Yes! This is my time to shine!'

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