novelzi Chapter 634: The End of the Tournament!
Chapter 634: The End of the Tournament!
Chapter 634: The End of the Tournament! "And the winner of the TePe Sigeman & Co. Tournament 2023... Please, give a round of applause to Grandmaster Adrian Sheva from Indonesia!"
The moment his name was called, Sheva rose from his seat instantly, followed by the polite applause from the people there. He walked calmly through the stage, shaking hands with the second and third places of the tournament.
"Good job, Boy." Peter Svidler said with his rough Russian accent. "You are the most impressive youngster I have seen in the last couple of years. Wait for a few more years, and I think you can challenge the World Champion soon."
Sheva just rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, somehow feeling awkward here. Not from the praise, but from how Peter Svidler worded it. The man said that Sheva was the best youngster in the last couple of years, and he said that when Vincent Keymer was also in the vicinity.
True enough, when Sheva glanced around, he could see Vincent stiffen a little, smiling forcefully as if he had just swallowed a whole sour lemon for himself. This definitely made things awkward among them, and Sheva had to admire Peter Svidler’s ability to stay nonchalant after dropping a bomb earlier.
It was the closing ceremony of the tournament, and Sheva could see that the other participants also applauded him. Some were genuine—like Boris Gelfand and Nils Grandelius—while some also didn’t look like they cared, just wanting to go home as soon as possible—Jorden Van Foreest—but the most interesting one was the expression of the two Indian prodigies on their respective seat.
Arjun just gave a polite, albeit awkward, nod at him, acknowledging that Sheva was indeed the better player in this tournament. As for Gukesh, the boy seemed to try acting nonchalant, but he couldn’t hide the disappointment and jealousy in his eyes as he saw Sheva holding the trophy.
’He should’ve won some tournaments in the past, right? Why is he still reacting so strongly to this?’ Sheva couldn’t help but wonder. However, after thinking for a second, he let out a melancholic sigh here. ’Maybe that hunger and desire to always want to win a tournament is the reason why he could become an elite player even in his youth. What a formidable young man...’
It was strange for Sheva to act like an old man, but he was indeed two years older than Gukesh. That just showed how good the Indian prodigy was, being able to sit in the 2700-rated club at such a young age.
Unfortunately for those two Indian prodigies, they failed to achieve great things in this tournament. Both Gukesh and Arjun had to be satisfied sitting in fourth and fifth place in the final standings, leaving them out of the podium.
For Gukesh, he failed to beat Peter Svidler in the last round, only getting a draw after fighting for more than three hours. This made him end the tournament with 4.5 points, only half a point away from the man he faced earlier, who was also the one who sat in third place.
Behind him, Arjun followed with 4 points out of seven rounds. In the last round, he managed to force a draw against Vincent Keymer, enough to help Sheva solidify the top position on the standings.
In the end, Sheva managed to stand tall with no controversy, coming out as a sole winner with half a point away from his closest competitors. Both Peter Svidler and Vincent Keymer ended up with 5 points, and yet, the German prodigy came out in a higher place since he had a better tie-break point.
Sheva didn’t really know how the organizer counted that point, but since he wasn’t the one involved in this matter, the boy just brushed it off as nothing.
This wasn’t the only thing that made Sheva happy, though. No, besides that, there was also a rating increase he earned from the tournament. With four wins and three draws against the other participants who, coincidentally enough, all had a higher rating than him, the boy earned 26 additional ELO rating, enough to propel him closer to the 2700-rated club.
Before this, his rating was just 2658, putting him in the middle of the top 100 players in the world. However, now, his rank rose astronomically, as he sat straight at 2684, only a few players away from the bottom of the 2700-rated club, Parham Maghsoodloo from Iran.
This also made Sheva the highest-rated Indonesian player in history, passing Utut Adianto, who, rumor had it, had a rating of around 2660 at his peak.
"Yeah, man! Congrats!" Bagas grinned, offering another fist bump as Sheva went back to his seat. His grin was so wide as the boy stared at the number written on the presentation cheque that was given by the organizer. "7000 Euros, huh? That should be around a hundred million in rupiah. Damn, you are so rich from your own hard work, awesome!" He gave his best friend a big thumbs-up.
"Hahaha, thanks a lot!" Sheva laughed heartily while also accepting the fist bump.
His complexion definitely looked brighter than before the game began today, showing that his mood was also getting better. While he was still not in great shape, at least the burnout feeling beforehand was gone, letting him relax in this situation.
’It seems the old quote is real.’ Sheva couldn’t help but smile wryly. ’Money might not be able to heal everything, but at least, it could solve a lot of things in the world.’
As Sheva was still in his daydreaming state, he didn’t notice that someone approached him. That person was none other than Gukesh, as the Indian prodigy smiled so stiffly when he came. Sheva only noticed the boy’s presence when Bagas nudged him. It seemed his best friend was also eager to know what Gukesh wanted, acting like a gossipy aunty in his neighborhood.
"What’s up?" Sheva asked casually, trying to ignore Bagas’s creepy stare beside him.
"... Congratulations." In the end, even though he said it so reluctantly, Gukesh still offered a handshake. "However, don’t be cocky, because the next time we meet, I will be the one who wins it all! Just wait!"