Claudia was a girl on a mission here. Even though she was just a reserve member who probably could only play on board 4, that didn't diminish the girl's spirit every time she had a chance to showcase her talent. If anything, it should be because she was going to be on the last board that the girl was determined to win more than ever.

Before this tournament began, she had already conducted some research, and the girl discovered that in most group battles like this, the outcome was often determined by the players on boards 3 and 4. It was strange, indeed, and Claudia herself couldn't believe it when she found out about this matter for the first time. However, after pondering the matter for a while, the girl finally reached a possible conclusion.

'Boards 1 and 2 are going to be determined by who the best players are there.' She muttered inwardly, recalling the result of her research. 'While boards 3 and 4 all depend on who has more guts and could handle pressure in a tough situation.'

Indeed, that was a harsh truth. In a group battle like this, board 1 and board 2 were usually filled by the best players from both teams, and they all should be experienced in this kind of event. That was why everything was determined by who was the best there.

However, it was different on the lower board.

The players there were the lowest-rated ones on the team, and they didn't have a lot of experience playing in such a high-level event. They were more prone to mistakes, and a slight pressure more often than not was enough to make them crumble. Board 3 and 4 were the place where the rawest and bloodiest battlefield happened, as it was always pure chaos with no direct answer to who would win the game before everything was settled down.

Of course, it didn't really work for a powerhouse country like India or the USA, whose players had a similar quality from top to bottom. However, that was the general trend that Claudia noticed, and it would be foolish for her not to prepare anything after the girl found out about this fact.

'Yeah, I have been preparing my mental state for this…' She took a deep breath, trying to calm down her flaring nerves. 'I cannot mess this up… Everything is going to depend on me here…'

Her imagination ran wildly as the girl imagined that she would hold the important key to win this game. A goofy smile suddenly formed as the image of her big sister praising her after winning the game flashed inside her mind.

'Ia, good job! You saved us today! You are the best!'

'Sorry, Ia! I don't know that you are this awesome! I promise that I will not treat you as a child again and will bring you together when your sister and I hang out together in the future!'

The image of Anna praising her and Sheva apologizing to her was definitely enough to pump up her spirit here, and the girl was more than determined to make that happen. 'Yeah, I cannot mess this up! I have to win it all! Come on, me! Don't disappoint yourself!'

She tried to put her concentration back on the game, wanting to maximize the advantage that was handed to her by her opponent. However, it seemed that the player next to her didn't have any intention to give Claudia an easy game as well. Even though her initial intention was questionable, Andreea Navrotescu also wanted to win here. She started making a counterplay, wanting to turn the tables and change the direction of the game in her favor.

Hell, at some point, the woman even sacrificed her dark bishop for Claudia's two pawns, trying to tear apart the defense that protected the black king. For a moment, things looked pretty dangerous for the Indonesian girl, as Andreea Navrotescu had a rook and a queen staring directly at her king.

However, Claudia didn't panic here. She knew that once the attack was over, she would be at an advantage, especially considering how her opponent had already sacrificed a lot of materials. She just needed to be patient and resilient, not giving any room for Andreea Navrotescu to get too close to the king. Claudia also had the confidence to do that, since almost all of her pieces were ready to cover the king's path to run whenever it was needed.

'First, I need to kick out her queen from my territory.' The girl mused. 'If she took my pawn with that rook, I will cut off its connection to the queen with my dark bishop, forcing the queen to fly away quicker. But if she took the free pawn on the D3 square, that would be my chance to strike back! Rook F3, queen B5, rook B3, queen A4, rook B4, and then, I will be able to force a queen's trade, and I will win the game!'

Of course, things had never gone as she had planned. Andreea Navrotescu fought back, not giving Claudia the satisfaction that her calculation had been realized on the board. However, what she calculated before coincidentally was the best move suggested by the computer, so the more Andreea wanted to defy it, the more mistakes she committed on the board.

"Claudia doesn't even have to take the initiative here." Arfan smiled, watching the game from the media booth with a satisfied smile. "All she has to do is not make a mistake and build up a strong position, because it seems that Andreea Navrotescu is too anxious to create something. I don't want to jinx it, but you can see that the French WIM starts to lose her patience here. Sooner or later, the mistake she makes is going to be worse, and she will be the one who kills herself first in this game."

Bagas just nodded silently, inwardly also feeling happy with this result. Even though it hadn't been set on the stone already, based on Arfan and Medina's expression, he could tell that Claudia had a good chance of winning this game, and it would always be a good thing to see any Indonesian player thriving in this tournament.

"Well, let's let Claudia think carefully here and go to the other game first, because we still have seven more games to watch today! Let's see if there is more good news on the other boards!"

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