Meanwhile, on the other tables, the two Indonesian players were also currently fighting for their lives, not even having time to care about Sheva's situation. Irene and Claudia had already entered the endgame phase where everything could go wrong in one move, so they both dared not turn their head away from their own board.
On one side, Claudia was thriving, able to drag the game against Max Warmerdam, one of the best youngsters from the Netherlands, into an endgame where half side of the board was cleared. Even though she was down by a pawn, the fact that it was a knight versus a bishop made it easier for her to force a draw. After all, once she managed to force an exchange for everything, the probability of getting a draw was bigger than any other endgame type.
