Chapter 12 — No One Wants to Lose

The district gymnasium is much larger than Lam Khe imagined. Dozens of chess boards are neatly arranged in many long rows in the main hall, each table has a modern electronic game clock, different from the old mechanical clocks in room 203. The noise of hundreds of students from twenty-four different schools echoes throughout the large space, creating a tense and serious atmosphere that Lam Khe has never experienced.

"Are you nervous?" Nam Phong asked, standing next to her as the team waited for the organizers to announce the competition diagram.

"Yes, but not as bad as I thought," Lam Khe replied, trying to keep her voice calm even though her heart was still beating faster than usual.

"That's a good sign," Nam Phong smiled, patting her shoulder to reassure her. "It's normal to be a little nervous, it shows you care about the outcome. Just don't let it turn into fear that paralyzes your thinking."

The match schedule was announced, and Lam Khe realized that her first game would be against a representative from Phan Dinh Phung High School, a completely unfamiliar opponent that she had never studied before. That feeling of uncertainty made her a bit worried, but she remembered Nam Phong's advice, took a deep breath, and walked to the designated competition table.

Her opponent is a rather timid-looking guy who introduces himself as Binh. The game began in a solemn atmosphere, with only the steady ticking of the electronic clock and the soft sound of chess pieces colliding on the wooden table.

Lam Khe applies what he has learned over the past two months — balancing strong defense and calculated attack. She realized that Binh played quite cautiously, somewhat timidly like her before, and decided to proactively apply early pressure to exploit that mentality.

The match went relatively smoothly, and after forty minutes, Lam Khe won thanks to a combination of knight and bishop that she had practiced skillfully in training sessions with Nam Phong. As she shook her opponent's hand, she felt a new confidence slowly forming inside her — the feeling of someone starting to believe in her own abilities in a real competition environment.

The second game of the day was much more difficult, the opponent was an experienced girl from Tran Phu High School, playing a strong, attacking chess style from the beginning. Lam Khe must make the most of his inherent defense ability to withstand the onslaught of attacks, and at the same time look for opportunities to counterattack when the opponent reveals loopholes.

The match lasted nearly an hour and a half, so tense that Lam Khe felt sweat beading on her forehead even though the hall was air-conditioned. In the end, she won a close victory thanks to a precise endgame move, taking advantage of the clear advantage she had calculated many moves before.

When stepping out of the competition area after the second game, Lam Khe felt exhausted but at the same time full of excitement. Two consecutive wins on the first day of the official tournament — an achievement she never dared to dream of just a few months ago.

"You did great," Nam Phong said when he met her again at the rest area, holding a bottle of water for her. "I watched your second game, you handled the end game very accurately. I'm proud of you."

"Thank you," Lam Khe replied, took the water bottle, and took a long drink to quench his thirst after two stressful games. "How are you?"

"Also two wins," Nam Phong smiled confidently. "Our team is off to a pretty good start. Quang Minh and Duc Anh also won both games. If we keep this form, we have a great chance to reach the semi-finals."

During lunch break, the whole team gathered in a corner of the hall, shared the food they brought and discussed the morning games. The atmosphere was full of excitement, even though everyone knew there were two more games left in the afternoon, with difficulty likely to increase as stronger opponents gradually revealed themselves through the temporary rankings.

"Who will Lam Khe fight this afternoon, teacher?" Duc Anh asked, his mouth still chewing a piece of bread.

Teacher Hung looked at the newly updated pairing chart, a serious look flashed across his face. "Game three, Lam Khe will play against Khanh Linh, Le Quy Don school."

The whole team was silent for a moment before that information. This is the strongest opponent in the group that Nam Phong warned in advance, whose playing style is quite similar to Lam Khe in the defensive phase but has developed sharp counter-attacking ability.

"Are you mentally prepared?" Nam Phong asked, looking worriedly at Lam Khe.

"I think so," Lam Khe replied, although inside he couldn't help but feel a little nervous about the upcoming challenge. "No matter the result, I will play to the best of my ability."

"That's the spirit I want to see," Nam Phong smiled, his eyes filled with trust for her.

In the afternoon, when entering the match with Khanh Linh, Lam Khe clearly felt the difference in class between this opponent and the two opponents in the morning. Khanh Linh played extremely firmly, each move was carefully calculated, not revealing any loopholes as easily as previous opponents.

The match was tense and tense for nearly two hours, with many small reversals of the game. Lam Khe must apply everything he has learned - patience in defense combined with the ability to find opportunities to attack at the right time - to maintain balance against a worthy opponent.

Ultimately, the game ended in a draw after both were unable to find a decisive advantage in the endgame with only the king and a few pawns remaining. Even though it was not a victory, Lam Khe felt satisfied with this result - a draw won after fighting hard, different from the safe, passive draws of the past.

"That was a good game," Khanh Linh said as she shook her hand after the game, her voice sincere with admiration. "You played much more balanced than I thought. Good luck in the next rounds."

In the final game of the day, Lam Khe won another victory against an opponent from another school, closing the first day of competition with a record of three wins, one draw — a result that far exceeded her expectations when entering this tournament.

When the whole team gathered to listen to Mr. Hung summarize the competition day, the atmosphere was filled with excitement. "The first day was very positive," Mr. Hung said, his voice unable to hide his joy. "Our team is at the top of the table with the highest total score. If we maintain this form on the second day of competition, we have a great chance to enter the semi-finals."

On the way home, Lam Khe felt exhausted but filled with a sense of satisfaction that she had never experienced before. She looked back at the long day that had passed - the intense matches, the moments of facing her fear and overcoming it, and the warm companionship of Nam Phong and the team beside her. This is what it feels like to truly live out your passion, a feeling she missed for six long years because she was too afraid to face the possibility of loss.

Nam Phong accompanied her to the bus stop, both still wearing their slightly wrinkled competition uniforms from a long day of sitting and concentrating. "Do you want anything to eat before you go home?" he asked, glancing at his watch. "It's still early, and you've only eaten bread and water all day. You must be very hungry."

"I'm really hungry," Lam Khe admitted, her stomach having been growling since the end of the last game. "But I'm tired too, I just want to go home, take a shower and get some sleep."

"Then let me buy you some food to take home," Nam Phong suggested. Without waiting for her to answer, he walked to the other side of the street, where a popular restaurant was still open. A few minutes later, he returned with two hot lunch boxes, giving one to her. "Eat up, you've consumed a lot of energy all day today, you need to recharge."

Lam Khe received the lunch box, touched by that unexpected thoughtfulness. "Thank you," she said, her voice warm. "You always pay attention to small details like that."

"Because you're important," Nam Phong replied, then as if realizing he had just said something somewhat obvious, he quickly turned away, pretending to look at the approaching bus to hide his embarrassment.

Lam Khe didn't say anything, just smiled, letting that sentence quietly settle in her heart like a warm seed. The bus arrived, the two got on the bus, sat next to each other in the last row, ate and talked softly about the games of the day, and about hopes for the upcoming second day of competition. The streetlight passed through the bus window, creating continuously moving streaks of light on both of their faces, and Lam Khe realized that, even though her body was tired and exhausted after a long day, her heart had never felt so relieved and warm.