"Yeah, it is over now." Laysa nodded appreciatively as she witnessed the current situation on Sheva's board. "His advantage is too great right now, and except if Sheva made several consecutive stupid mistakes, there is no way Maksims Golubovskis managed to overturn the situation."

Indeed, the current position was quite grim for the Latvian FM. His king was exposed in such an open square, being stared directly at by Sheva's queen. Not only that, the pair of white rooks on the first rank were also ready to infiltrate to the seventh rank, and once that happened, the king would be trapped forever in the last rank, not being able to move without sacrificing his subordinates.

As for creating a counterplay… Oh, well, Sheva's king was in a very safe position, feeling warm under the thick blanket created by the strong pawn structure around it. Even though Maksims Golubovskis wanted to force a pawn break, it would still take a long time before he could do that, and there was no way Sheva would allow such a sloppy plan to unfold under his eyes.

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

Even Maksims himself also realized that he was about to lose here. Of course, the man didn't want to resign too early. This was the Olympiad, and for a low-rated player like him, the chance to play in such a stage was quite rare, so he wanted to make the most of it. Also, Maksims still had a slight hope that something would go wrong for the white pieces, allowing him to at least close the gap and make the game closer again.

Unfortunately, Sheva didn't have any time for this shenanigan, as the boy played very decisively in this game.

He overwhelmed Maksims's defense completely, locking down all the black pieces on the last two ranks. The Latvian FM didn't really have that much choice here. If he wanted to survive longer, the man had to sacrifice at least one rook and his queen, but that was also a death sentence in the long run.

In the end, as time ticked by, Maksims Golubovskis finally made one more mistake that became the last nail in the coffin, sealing the game completely for Sheva's favor. He allowed the boy to infiltrate deeper, having two of the white rooks and the queen occupying the seventh rank. This was tantamount to handing over his king freely, and Sheva himself also saw that he could checkmate the opponent within four moves.

The end of the game was clear by now, and facing the bleak situation like this, Maksims Golubovskis finally didn't have much choice but to resign from the game. The man offered a handshake, which Sheva accepted immediately to finish this game.

"It is finally over!" Bagas, who was in the media booth, announced. However, the tone seemed to lack his usual enthusiasm, as the opponent this time was indeed far weaker than before. "One hour and 54 minutes. That's what it takes for Sheva to win the game, delivering the first point for the Indonesian's men's team today! An impressive display of an offensive game, completely overwhelming his opponent from all sides before killing him decisively! What a game by Sheva!"

Hilda99: Come on! It has to be Sheva, right?!

Sutio634: I know, right?! It seems that he is the only one who knows how to win the game!

RonaldOSIu007: Let's go, Baby! Adrian Sheva is back in town, and we are ready for a party!

The chat room exploded as Bagas announced the result. Just like the boy said yesterday, although the people there watched the broadcast to support the Indonesian team, most of them here were Sheva's fanatic supporters since the start of the boy's career, so they felt quite excited to see their boy thriving like this, as if the player they were rooting for finally got the acknowledgement that he deserved.

"With this victory, Sheva has basically recorded 5 wins out of 5 games, making him a strong contender for the gold medalist for the reserve board," Sarah said, reading the stats on her phone with an excited tone. "Right now, only one player in the same category has a better record, and it is Nogerbek Kazybek from Kazakhstan, who managed to sweep all of his six games cleanly. Sheva also did the same, but since he didn't play yesterday, his number of games is lower, putting him in second place in the race."

"Damn! So, he has a chance for the gold medal?!" This time, all the people in the media booth turned their heads at Sarah in disbelief. Even Laysa, who also targeted a medal, didn't dare to say that she wanted the gold one and would be satisfied if she could get the bronze, yet here Sheva was, beating everyone black and blue and putting himself closer to the finish line.

Dora23: Damn! Awesome, Sheva!

Jokera59: Give him all the games for the rest of the tournament! No need to put him to rest anymore!

Hilda99: Damn, isn't that a bit cruel? He is a human, too, you know?

RonaldOSIu007: Well, if Sheva himself knows that he is so close in the race, he would be the one insisting on playing!

Froggies: Indeed, I think that it is quite normal. If he wants to get a medal, he has to work harder than the others!

Looking at how the general trend in the chat room shifted to support Sheva, Bagas couldn't hide his smile anymore. This was indeed his intention since the beginning of the broadcast: to guide the crowd so that they could push Sheva into the team for the rest of the tournament. A bit dirty, yeah, but with how unpredictable Master Susanto's mind was, he couldn't take a chance, and this was the only way he could help Sheva without involving too many important people behind the scenes.

For the others, though, they froze instantly when they saw that, as if it were the devil's smile that they had just witnessed. All of them still remembered clearly how Bagas's devious mind worked last night, and now, they looked at each other with an unsure expression, not knowing and not wanting to know what kind of hideous plan was cooked inside his brain.

"Anyway!" In the end, it was Laysa who broke the silence with a little cough. "Sheva's win gives the team an early lead, but ultimately, the final result still depends on everyone's effort. Now, let's see how the other games are going…"

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