"With Adrian Sheva's game finally over, now we have already had one win today. Now, let's see whether Anna or Medina would be able to follow his path or not." Bagas commented with a professional tone.
Right after he said that, the camera broadcast changed to the table where Anna sat. Anyone who saw this had to admit that Bagas's preparation for each broadcast was pretty meticulous. It was pretty hard to get permission to set up a few cameras and do a live broadcast like this in a foreign tournament, yet somehow, he managed to get three cameras to broadcast the games live, one for each Indonesian player.
If anything, this was a display for the fat boy to show off his resourcefulness, as this was the fourth tournament he was able to do that in a row.
"Now, let's see what is going on in Anna's game. Oh, this is interesting…" Even Bagas, who didn't know a lot about chess, found the current position on the board to be intriguing. "Anna has already lost almost all of her pawns now in compensation for Iturrizaga's light bishop, and yet, the computer engine still favors her position." It was clear that he was ecstatic to see that Anna was also thriving in this round.
*Author note: If you want to visualize the position better, check the comment below.
"Well, I wouldn't say that the position is more favorable for her side." Irfan interrupted. "Remember, an advantage below +1 or -1 means nothing in a game, as only a computer could execute it all flawlessly. For us mere mortals, only an advantage above that could make us feel relieved, and that alone sometimes is not enough to win the game, as one moment of carelessness could destroy all of our effort in the game."
Bagas just nodded like a broken toy, clearly not a stranger to Irfan's way of speaking. It wasn't his first time that the man shared an insight like this from a professional perspective, and this was indeed the purpose of Bagas inviting him to be a commentator here.
"So, what do you think about the current situation, Master Irfan?" Bagas inquired.
"Oh, well… This is pretty difficult…" A frown formed deeply on his face, clearly showing how troubled he was. "I don't really know that much about the Benko Gambit, so this kind of situation seems to be outrageous to me. Not only did the exchange look so strange—three pawns for a bishop—but Anna's dark bishop is also hanging, and once it is taken, she would be down by three points material. However, the evaluation bar still thinks that the position is equal, showing that Anna's developed pieces are very strong; it nullifies Iturrizaga's material advantage."
Then, he began explaining and even demonstrating several lines that could possibly happen on the board, followed by nods from Bagas. Anna herself, who was on the battlefield, was sweating right now, feeling the pressure on her shoulder. Her heart beat fast like it was about to jump from her body, yet the girl still tried to maintain her composure here.
Honestly, before the game began, there was no way she would consider the Benko Gambit as her go-to opening. After all, even though she was an attacking-minded player, the girl wasn't bold enough to pull up this kind of opening like how Sheva usually did. However, somehow, her desire to win perked up when she saw Iturrizaga not being in his prime condition.
Yeah, Eduardo Iturrizaga, the veteran Spanish grandmaster, came to the venue with dark eye bags on his face, and the man could be seen yawning several times as if he couldn't sleep last night. Not only that, his body gesture indicated that he was in a weak state right now, and Anna could also see him rubbing his forehead once or twice, like he was suffering from a headache.
Even though Anna didn't have any proof, she could guess that the Spanish GM was sick, so instead of going for a stable opening that any veteran GMs could play instinctively, Anna decided to gamble here by pulling up a bizarre opening that not a lot of players use nowadays.
The purpose was simple, and that was to force Iturrizaga to think as much as possible. Anna didn't really hope that she could get a positional or tactical advantage in this game, but she aimed for a psychological battle here.
'Come on, this game is in my bag now!'
Some of her hair fell and covered her face, yet that was not enough to hide the brilliancy reflected in her eyes. Anna was having a moment in her life right now, and even she herself had to hold back a smirk on her face to show her respect. Still, when the girl saw Eduardo Iturrizaga's distressed expression, she couldn't help but clench her fist, knowing that she was so close to the upset win that she was aiming for.
Eduardo Iturrizaga himself was suffering from a headache right now. The man felt like he was on a boat in the middle of a stormy sea without any way to survive. Of course, he still tried to overturn the table here. However, the more he made moves, the more mistakes he made.
Hell, at some point, he even blundered a pawn and a rook for Anna's knight. Yeah, just a fucking knight! The exchange was so unbalanced that the material advantage that the man had gained before was nullified immediately.
It was funny, as Anna herself had already lost all of her pawns, while Eduardo Iturrizaga still had four of them intact. However, the engine still showed that Anna was in the lead, as her rook battery on the eighth rank still stood tall while the Spanish GM only had one of them at this moment.
They shuffled pieces back and forth for a while, with Anna trying to probe into the man's defense more and corner his king thoroughly. In the end, though, whether it was due to his health issue or his current shitty position, Eduardo Iturrizaga finally let out a deep sigh, choosing to do what Anna had been waiting for.
He resigned.
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