novelzi Chapter 651: Claudia VS Bu Xiangzhi! (II)
Chapter 651: Claudia VS Bu Xiangzhi! (II)
Chapter 651: Claudia VS Bu Xiangzhi! (II) "Oh! Oh! Oh! Bu Xiangzhi makes a slight inaccuracy here!" Bagas jumped excitedly. After two hours without any progress, something finally happened that was enough to make his inner host jump to elevate this situation more for the audience. "Sheva, is this the chance that we have been waiting for?!" He glanced at his best friend eagerly, signaling for the boy to follow his lead.
Sheva himself just sighed helplessly, shaking his head in exasperation. However, the boy still nodded, finding the situation to be in Claudia’s favor.
"I don’t know how Bu Xiangzhi didn’t notice it, or he probably knows and just ignores it, but Claudia has two attackers aiming at his knight, while he himself also has two. However, it is Claudia’s turn right now, and she could just put her rook as another attacker, and after a sequence of exchanges, he would lose the pawn on the F file for nothing. It is just simple math."
"So, you mean to tell me that she will have one pawn advantage?!" Bagas’s eyes were shining when he heard that. However, it seemed that the chat group disagreed with his excitement.
Light0: Bah! Just one pawn, why are you all so excited like this?!
Krillgin50: Yeah, yeah! It is not like she can take advantage of that!
Froggies: I swear to God that people here become more idiot in this tournament. Mod! Just ban them already!
Coincidentally enough, Sheva also saw the debate there, so he added with a solemn tone, "Don’t underestimate one pawn advantage. It might not look much at first, but at a later stage, that one pawn would be the one that gives Claudia an edge in this game. It would be the one that gives the biggest pressure for Bu Xiangzhi, and if he is not careful, that pawn will turn into a queen and punish him later."
"Yeah, remember that, everyone!" Bagas nodded in agreement. "One pawn might not be big generally, but once the game enters the endgame phase, it will be the most crucial piece on the board! Don’t underestimate it!"
Claudia herself didn’t know that the position she was currently in had become the source of a huge debate in the chat room. She was still too focused on the board, and after calculating deeper, the girl finally found out that there was no way it was a mistake.
’Sheva reminded me before not to take any obvious bait, and this is a pretty obvious one. However, I don’t see him having any backup plan to recover this pawn. So, it should be okay for me to take this, right?’
She spent three minutes calculating it inside her head, and another seven minutes to convince herself that she didn’t miss anything here. It couldn’t be helped. This was always the weaker player’s mentality when facing the stronger opponent. There was nothing like being too cautious. If she could double-check it, she could also triple-check everything, and maybe for the fourth time in her head as well.
In the end, though, the girl still took that free pawn given by Bu Xiangzhi, not wanting to overthink the situation too much, and wasted all of her time just for this one move.
’If he indeed has a secret move here that I couldn’t see, that just shows he is a better player here, nothing new for everyone else. But if this is a genuine mistake and I could take advantage of it, my story will be legendary.’ She clenched her fist unconsciously.
The computer engine also seemed to like this move, because it moved slightly up for white’s advantage. Now, the number was +1.3, and while it wasn’t much, this was definitely a start if Claudia wanted to create something.
Hell, this advantage even sparked her courageous spirit, enough to make her brave enough to dare to dream of winning this game.
However, Bu Xiangzhi also proved why he was a top player in the world. After that one mistake, the man played so precisely like a surgeon with a scalpel in his hand, never making even a single inaccuracy again for the rest of the game. Hell, one hour after his inaccuracy, twenty moves after that mistake, he had already repaid all the debt, what with him being able to grab not just one, but even two of Claudia’s pawns.
The situation switched back to the man’s side, and while the computer engine still said -0.4, meaning that the advantage was still small enough that it could be ignored, the player’s mental state was definitely not something that could be quantified here.
’How could the situation be so stagnant like this for me?!’ Claudia flinched unconsciously, taking another big gulp from the bottle of water next to her side while also wiping the sweat on her forehead. ’I swear, my position looked good earlier, but now, it looks like shit!’
Indeed, now, she only had a pawn, a bishop, and a rook on the board, with Bu Xiangzhi being up to one pawn for the black side. Not only that, but the Chinese GM had also started pushing those two connected pawns, marching them forward for a campaign to become the next queen on the board.
Now, she had to defend with all her life to prevent those menaces two from charging too far deep into her own territory.
’How do I deal with this endgame? Should I just reroute my rook and strike from the back? If so, I would lose my tempo, right? I need to get my king closer first, at least. His rook is so annoying, though. Should I exchange it for my rook? No, if so, it would be me who is in the worst situation. I should utilize my bishop first.’
Somehow, the girl managed to keep her composure, not making even a single mistake, even though her stamina was on the dead end right now. Hell, the threshold of 40 moves had already passed, and now, both players had already received another 30 minutes of additional time, and tension also rose to its peak on the table.
Those players whose game had finished already were also watching from the sideline, some with a big frown, while the others were just chatting around quietly. At first, the consensus was the same here: that the game would end up in a draw.
This was definitely the best-case scenario for everyone, since Bu Xiangzhi was the best player on the field. The more he dropped points, the less trouble they would get from him in the future.
However, in such a crucial moment, Claudia’s concentration finally slipped, and Sheva, who watched it from the media booth, groaned instantly when he saw that.
"No, Claudia! Not that!"