After that mini tournament in Irfan’s house, time passed by, and without anyone noticing about it, June was gone already. All the top Indonesian chess players had already entered the serious stage of the training camp, where they all prepared everything from their opening repertoire, their endgame technique, and their composure under all the situations on the board.
Just as he promised in Reykjavik, Sergei Azarov really came to Indonesia to help with their preparation. However, not only him, but Irene also called out for help from another top player. The one she invited was a top grandmaster from the USA and was also her friend during her time studying her master’s in America, the one and only Ray Robson.
It was crazy to think that Ray Robson, whose rating was very close to 2700, a true perennial super grandmaster, wouldn’t be able to play in the Olympiad. No, the USA team had already announced its squad, and it was definitely the strongest on the planet.
Being led by probably the second-strongest chess player of this generation, Fabiano Caruana, the other players who would go were Levon Aronian, Wesley So, Leinier Dominguez Perez, and Sam Shakland, all of them were the top 30 players in the world with a rating above 2700.
The crazy part was that they still had Hikaru Nakamura, the second-highest rated player in the world right now, only behind Magnus Carlsen, on the list of their players. It was just a pity that the Japanese-born GM decided not to go to the Olympiad, yet all the top countries were also relieved with this decision. At least, the winner of this tournament would not be as absolute as they initially thought.
Still, it was crazy that Ray Robson, the player whose rating was around 2690, couldn’t enter the list of their squad at all, and yet here Indonesia was, a barren land where not a single player had ever crossed 2600 in history. The comparison was so crazy here, showing how big the difference between a powerhouse country like the USA and a common fodder like Indonesia was.
Still, the arrival of Sergei Azarov and Ray Robson really helped the team elevating their levels one step further. Hell, Sheva even got the advantage of having two super grandmasters as a coach, as their insight into the game was truly incredible. He also didn’t forget to scan those two veteran players to compare their stats to his, and it was a no-brainer that the result really shocked him to the core.
Strategy 85 Chapters fırst released on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢•𝕟𝕖𝕥
[Name: Sergei Azarov]
Well... There were a lot of things that surprised Sheva here. For once, Ray Robson’s stats were ridiculously high. The only aspect that was below 85 was his time management, and as for the others, those definitely belong to the top players in the world. Hell, his calculation even crossed 90 points, the threshold that Sheva remembered being the line that separated a super grandmaster and any ordinary grandmaster in the world.
This just showed how strong Ray Robson, who was currently at his peak, was.
The second-most surprising fact here, though, was that even though Sergei Azarov was a few years older than Master Susanto and had already retired from the game, the Belarusian man’s stats were still better than those of the best Indonesian chess player currently. Hell, some of his stats were still above the threshold of a grandmaster, such as his attacking, strategy, and intuition. He was still strong enough to compete in a high-level tournament—not the highest, of course—which was enough to make Sheva wonder why he decided to retire this early.
"That’s because the youngsters are getting better, Shev." The man explained that one time Sheva asked the question. "You don’t know how horrible the feeling is when in the Belarusian National Tournament a few years ago, when I was the top-seed and an absolute favorite, I was destroyed by a boy of your age in the final. That was a horrible moment that also made me feel like I am too old for this game anymore." The man sighed as his gaze wandered far, probably recalling a bad memory from the past.
Somehow, this only made Sheva more curious, as he had never heard of any strong youngster emerging from Belarus. However, he didn’t really think about it too much, as right now, his focus was on how to get himself better before the big event began.
The presence of two top grandmasters really helped the national team a lot, though. Being a perennial super grandmaster, Ray Robson shared a lot about the preparation he made before the game and how he researched the opening that could suit his playing style. Meanwhile, Sergei had the uncanny ability to spot a tactical opportunity within a second when he saw the board, which was also a big deal for players with an aggressive playing style like Sheva, Anna, and Laysa.
Yeah, after playing abroad for a while, Laysa also joined the training camp to prepare herself for the Olympiad. Not only her, but Yoseph Theofilus Taher, the last member of the men’s national team, also arrived from his hometown, which also completed the entire team. They all trained together and helped each other to get better, wanting to get the best result for their country in the biggest event in the chess sport.
They didn’t just spend a month isolating themselves from the outside world. No, they also streamed one of the biggest chess events in the world that, coincidentally enough, also happened in June, the candidate tournament. This was the event that would determine who would be the next world chess champion.
Unlike the year before, where the winner would go and challenge the previous world champion, this time, there was a rumor that Magnus Carlsen, the current holder of that title, wouldn’t defend himself in the next event. That meant the players who got first and second place in the tournament would fight against each other to get crowned as the new world champion, which made the event more exciting.
Everything went chaotic in this tournament, with Ian Nepomniachtchi, the Russian super grandmaster, taking a quick lead and leaving everyone in the dust. He got 5.5 points in the first 7 rounds, and the man even secured the top spot with one round to spare, showing that he was still one of the best players on the planet.
Meanwhile, the race to get the second place also went nuts. Hikaru Nakamura was so close to getting his spot in the world championship match against Nepo, yet somehow, Ding Liren, the best player from China, managed to upset him in the last second, stealing that exact spot in the biggest individual event in the chess sport.
It was a fun and educational event, and Sheva learned a lot just by watching those top players fighting against each other in a gladiator-like battle. This also made the boy wonder at himself, when would he get a chance to play in such an event?
Oh, well, that thought didn’t last that long, as July finally arrived, and it was time for him to have fun again!