Even though Bagas had already said that with the prominent players in the country supporting them, the attack from the internet trolls was suppressed, that didn't mean it disappeared completely. However, the interview that Sheva had with ChessBase India came in clutch. It gave his fans a weapon to strike back at the trolls mercilessly.

Hilda99: Even the foreign media said that what Sheva did is amazing, but here we are, mocking our own player stupidly. Haha *laugh mockingly*

Froggies: Cannot agree more.

KazekaZe: What can you expect from those who use fake accounts? Cowards, all of them!

Hilda99: Yeah, none of them dares to say something now. Idiot.

Sheva himself didn't really think too much about this. While he was grateful for his fans—he also didn't forget to express it on his social media after getting reminded by Bagas—for him, this episode was over. The boy trusted Bagas here, and that was why, while he was upset about this matter, he didn't take any action, just letting the expert handle the situation.

No, his focus had already shifted back into the tournament, and the new mission from the system arrived at the right time, giving fuel to the rusty machine that started to get exhausted. It lit up the fighting spirit inside him that seemed to get dimmer for a moment, and Sheva wanted to take advantage of his current state to strike and make a bigger wave in this tournament.

In the sixth round of the game, he still fought against a top grandmaster in this tournament. It was quite rare to see someone still getting paired against top players after drawing two games in a row, but with the three wins he achieved before, everything added up together, and currently, he was in third place in the table, standing together with seven more players who also got 4 points out of five rounds.

Sheva's opponent in the sixth round was Maxime Lagarde, a strong French GM with a rating of 2633. Based on the stats that Sheva saw and the research that he had done before the game, the Frenchman was another solid player like Yu Yangyi, but his time management was slightly worse compared to the Chinese super GM.

The man liked to overthink about everything, resulting in his wasting a lot of time in the middle game. Having this information in his bag, Sheva wanted to take advantage of it by playing very quickly, moving like lightning as if he was playing in a rapid or even blitz game. Sheva didn't really expect that this would work and give him a chunk of advantage, but it was funny to see how a grandmaster would squirm under the pressure.

It wasn't like Sheva's style was enough to make Maxime Lagarde uncomfortable, but it was the fact that Sheva could maintain high accuracy all the time, not giving him any chance to strike back. Coupled with the fact that Sheva was unfazed by any trick and distraction that he pulled, Maxime Lagarde even started to doubt himself, wondering whether his opponent was just a mere 2300-rated player or a super grandmaster in a disguise.

In the end, Maxime Lagarde managed to hold back Sheva's momentum, forcing back a draw after playing for more than 45 moves. It was embarrassing to say that it was he who initiated the draw here, but the Frenchman would take that rather than losing the entire game.

Sheva himself wasn't disappointed with the result. After all, facing a 2600-rated player should've never been that easy. However, this was his third draw in a row, and while he could just get a draw result for the rest of the tournament and still get his second GM norm, he didn't want to take such an easy way like that. No, the boy was determined to bounce back, and he had already set his eyes on his opponent in the seventh round, Pranav Anand.

He was another Indian Prodigy, probably around the same age or even younger than Sheva. Still 15 years old and had already reached a high 2400 rating and earned his IM title, if only Pranav Anand came from Indonesia or any other barren countries, he would've been hailed as the future GOAT by the fans of that country.Unfortunately, the boy came from India, where talents kept popping up non-stop, like it was the most natural thing to have, making his name hidden behind those better prodigies like Gukesh Dommaraju or Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu.

Nevertheless, Sheva didn't lower his guard even for a second, striking at his opponent since the beginning of the game.

This time, the boy came out with the opening that he hadn't played for a while, the Dutch Defense. After his defeat against Gukesh in Reykjavik using this opening, Sheva started to put the Dutch Defense aside, knowing that he couldn't use it as his main weapon. However, his proficiency in this opening couldn't be denied, and it would be a waste if he just threw away all the knowledge he received from the earlier version of the system. In the end, Sheva decided to use it as a secret weapon, and somehow, it worked perfectly against Pranav Anand.

Even though at first glance, the Indian prodigy didn't look bothered by the opening choice that Sheva made, after the first eight moves of the game, it was clear that the boy wasn't familiar with the line that Sheva chose. It was such a tricky variation that required special care, not just a normal approach that usually worked in any other opening.

With the advantage that he got in the opening stage, Sheva managed to push his opponent to the brink, and after only 27 moves, Pranav Anand finally resigned, giving Sheva the first win in probably the last four or five games. This win also brought Sheva one step closer to completing his mission, and that was to get 6 points for his GM norm. With 5.5 points right now, he only needed to have one draw, and the norm would be in his bag already.

However, the surprise didn't stop just like that. No, the win against Pranav Ananad also brought Sheva closer to the top spot of the standings, as with only two rounds left here, the boy sat in the second place of the table, only second to Kirill Alekseenko, the second-seeded player of the tournament.

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