The news about him joining the Tata Steel Chess in January spread quickly like wildfire. Some people lamented why the organizer would invite someone in the same league as the cheater, and some had a clear enough head to point out Bagas's analysis. Still, overall, the reaction was quite positive for Sheva's side, with a lot of his fans still believing that he wasn't cheating.
Sheva himself was excited by this. It wasn't because of the chance to prove that he wasn't cheating. No, the boy himself had never thought that he needed to prove anything here. Once he played more tournaments with consistent results, those voices would slowly dissipate from the surface.
No, what made him excited was the reward of winning first place. Not the money, but the opportunity to get promoted to the Master Section next year. Yeah, the winner of the lower section would have a guaranteed invitation for the next edition in the Master Section, ensuring that the tournament's competitiveness was still there.
