Even though this matter was not over, the team decided to move and thought about their next games. Since the troublemaker on both teams—Sheva and Laysa—had already spoken to the media about the team's target, now everyone had no choice but to follow that road. The first step they needed to take to achieve that was simple. They couldn't lose against a weaker opponent, as it would only hurt and hold them back in the later stages.

For the men's team, their opponent in the second round would be New Zealand. It was definitely better compared to Hong Kong, whom they faced on day one. At least three of the opponent players had an ELO rating of more than 2200, with the last one being around 2000. However, compared to the Indonesian team, it was clear that they were slightly lower in the rank.

Meanwhile, the women's team also got an easy opponent in the draw. They would face the North Macedonian squad, with the highest-rated player there being around 2050. Based on the paper, they should have no problem sweeping the opponent cleanly.

Since the opponent was still a small fry, Master Susanto and Irene decided that they would let Sheva and Claudia play again. Even though those two were young, they were at least ambitious enough to get a win, so both leaders didn't have to worry about them. The problem, though, lay in Novendra, the second-best player of the team.

"Come on, Nov! It is embarrassing to be the only one who didn't win, right?" Master Susanto teased him.

"Yeah, yeah, rub it on me, will you?" Novendra gruntled, not even denying the man's words. "Of course, I would also want to win, but I cannot control whether my opponent will play well or not, right?"

"Hmm… Then, shall I make Taher play on board 1?" Master Susanto pondered with a playful smile.

"Don't you dare!" Novendra gasped, as if getting offended by the mere suggestion of someone replacing him from table one when Master Susanto was not in the team. "That place is mine, and I will not give it up to anyone else!" He growled angrily, just like a cat protecting its territory.

"Then, you need to step up your game, man!" Master Susanto slapped Novendra's back hard. "Learn from the youngsters, will you? Be more ambitious, and don't play passively! If you are not even trying to put pressure on your opponent, how could they suddenly make a mistake and give you the win? Be more proactive!"

"… Yeah, I'll try." Novendra nodded slightly, knowing that what Master Susanto said was right.

Unfortunately, it was easier to be said than done. Changing a playing style was not something that could be done in one night. Even though Novendra knew in the back of his head that he had to play more aggressively, his consciousness still led him onto a stable and boring game, which got him the second draw in this tournament. Poor man, getting two draws against players whose rating was 300 below him. That result alone was enough to drag his rating down by about 10 points, which hurt, since the man didn't go to an official tournament quite often again in recent years.

Fortunately, the others didn't disappoint.

Still playing on board 4, Sheva managed to kill his opponent, Duneas John, in 19 moves. The man tried his best to drag the game into a drawish battle with the French Defense, but Sheva managed to outmaneuver him with a nasty trap that led him into getting his opponent's bishop for free. Not only that, he also tore his opponent's defense quite easily, and under the pressure of Sheva's rook and knight, Duneas John finally resigned, giving the boy the second win of the tournament.

Not only him, but also Arfan and Taher did well. The former managed to stay calm even when the game dragged into the endgame phase, playing so accurately for more than 40 moves before the opponent finally crumbled under the time pressure. He got a clean win in his game, adding another point for Indonesia.

Then came Yoseph Taher, who managed to pull a beautiful Greek gift in the game. He sacrificed his bishop to lure the opponent's king out of its lair, then, with the combination of his queen and knight, the man didn't have any problem occupying the enemy's territory before killing the king on its own bed. He won a brilliant game, sealing the victory for the Indonesian team.

Not only them, but the women's team was also thriving. They got a clean sweep against North Macedonia, earning them their second points of the tournament. This was definitely a good start for the Indonesian team, as both the men's and women's teams were thriving. Even though the result of the first two rounds couldn't be used to determine how good they truly were, at least, it gave them all the confidence that maybe they were good enough to compete at the middle top of the table.

However, that was before the third pairing of the tournament finally came out. The moment they all saw their opponent in the next round, the atmosphere turned heavy, as the first good opponent finally arrived.

"Romania, huh?" Master Susanto muttered lowly, still frowning at his phone. "Besides Bogdan-Daniel Deac, they still have Constantin Lupulescu with 2628, and their three other members are grandmasters with a rating of above 2500. This is going to be a tough matchup."

"The same here," Irene added with a solemn expression. "We are going to face the Indian's second team. They are the veterans whom I played a lot with in the past, and even though I know them well enough, I cannot guarantee that we can get a good result tomorrow."

Yeah, as the host of the tournament, India had the privilege to send more than one team, which they took advantage of to the fullest. Not to mention the women's team, even in the men's section, they were able to send three whole teams with all of the players there having an ELO rating of above 2600. That showed how deep the water in the country was, which was enviable for a barren country like Indonesia.

"Well… This is going to be tough, but I don't think that Novendra is ready for this matchup." Master Susanto let out a deep sigh.

"You mean…"

"Yeah, as planned before, I will let Sheva play here. Let's see if he can continue his momentum and get a good result for us."

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