"Let's have a good game…" Sheva muttered, offering a handshake.

"Da, let's have a good game." Kirill Alekseenko nodded, accepting the handshake gracefully before waiting for Sheva to make the first move.

It was finally game time, and as the alarm rang, Sheva didn't hesitate to push his E pawn forward. Even though some people would say that he should try to diversify his opening to any other one besides the 1.e4, Sheva was still comfortable with this, not having any urgency to change something that worked well in his career.

Kirill Alekseenko also didn't hesitate here. He returned the move by pushing his E pawn two squares forward, challenging the center of the board right off the bat. This was the most common opening in the chess world, the king's pawn opening.

Sheva followed this by letting his G knight jump into the F3 square, attacking the E pawn on the black side. Once again, this was the most common move in this position, often leading the game into a mainstream opening like the Italian Game, the Ruy-Lopez, or even the Scotch. There was nothing to be surprised here, as the same line should've been ingrained into their vein by now.

However, in the second move, instead of going for the ordinary route by taking his B knight out to protect his E pawn, Kirill Alekseenko decided to be the one who threw Sheva off guard here by moving his G knight into the F6 square, mirroring what Sheva did completely. This move was basically a challenge for the white side, as if the black side wanted to say, 'Take my E pawn, I will take yours too.'. This startled Sheva for a second, as a little frown could be seen on his face.

'A Petrov?!' He muttered to himself. 'Well, I should've expected him to pull this up, since he is a Russian. Still, I really didn't prepare for anything like this, so it might be a tough game for me.'

The Petrov Defense, also known as the Russian Defense, was a classical chess opening that began with the moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6. It was a symmetrical response that aimed to create a solid and balanced position early in the game.

The Petrov Defense gained particular popularity among Russian players due to its solid and practical nature, fitting well with the strategic style often favored in Russian chess training. It aligned with the Russian emphasis on understanding classical principles of chess, such as symmetry and counterattack.

The most notable players with this opening in the past were probably the two world champions from Russia, Vladimir Kramnik and Anatoly Karpov. As for this current era, this was the go-to opening for Ian Nepomniachtchi, the super grandmaster from Russia, in the last Candidate tournament a month ago, where he won some of the games against other top players in the world with this opening.

It showed that the Petrov Opening had the potential to become a good opening choice in a high-level game.

Still, the opening had a quite obvious disadvantage, and that was the fact that this opening could sometimes result in drawish positions if both sides were overly cautious, and it might limit winning chances for black if not played actively. The passive nature of this opening often led the game into an early endgame phase, so both players had to be very careful if they still wanted to get a result other than a draw in this game.

Sheva himself wasn't bothered that much by Kirill Alekseenko's opening choice. Hell, if anything, he welcomed this development with open hands, as his target for this game was to get a draw. However, there was no way a 2700-rated player like the man in front of him would play timidly against a mere 2300-rated player like Sheva, so the boy didn't dare to lower his guard here. He knew that the man's punch was about to come in the next few moves, and he had already prepared for that moment.

'Come on, send it to me!' Sheva clenched his fist unconsciously under the table. 'Just throw the first punch, and I will strike back without hesitation! Let's hurt each other here!'

For a moment, the game went quite fast, and Sheva didn't show any nervousness about playing the Petrov Defense for the first time in a tournament like this. No, if anything, he was excited for it, as the boy had learned this opening quite well under Sergei Azarov's tutelage.

Yeah, the Belarusian coach was also one of the players who graduated from the Soviet Chess School, so the man was proficient in the Petrov Defense like any other Russian player outside. Even though Sheva didn't learn this opening directly, he played against this opening quite a lot during his training time with Sergei, so the basics were still under his grasp.

He treated the position carefully, developing all of his minor pieces into the center and also locking down the middle with his pawn advancement. Several trades were also made on the board, with one knight and the light bishop gone already for both sides. Based on this position, everything looked equal for both players, and if no one took initiative here, the game would end up in a draw, which was what Sheva wanted here.

However, looking at how passive Kirill Alekseenko was in this game, somehow, the greediness hidden deep inside Sheva's heart emerged on the surface, ready to take over his mind. He knew that it was a big risk to suddenly strike when the game entered a stagnant stage like this, and there was no way Kirill Alekseenko wouldn't take advantage of it. Still, his desire to do something in this position really overcame his logical mind, and after thinking for a few minutes, the boy finally gritted his teeth and made his move.

'Oh, screw it! Let's see if he would bite the trap!'

The bait he threw was pretty simple. He marched his G pawn to support his knight, ignoring the wall that protected the king on the back. This was a risky move in the long run, as Sheva basically abandoned his own defense, and even the computer engine showed that it was an inaccurate move. However, Sheva felt like his plan was worth the risk, and in the next second, when he saw Kirill Alekseenko's move, the boy could feel his eyes light up instantly.

'Damn! He really takes the bait?!'

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