Chapter 9 — No One Wants to Lose

"Next week we will organize an internal simulation tournament," Mr. Hung announced during Tuesday's activity, his tone more serious than usual. "This will be the basis for selecting the official team to represent the school in the inter-school qualifying round next month. Each person will compete in a round robin with all other members, and the highest total score will be chosen."

That news caused a stir in room 203. Lam Khe clearly felt the sudden tension seeping into the familiar atmosphere of the room, completely different from the comfortable atmosphere of regular training sessions.

"Are you okay?" Nam Phong asked when he saw Lam Khe's slightly pale face after that announcement.

"I just... didn't expect everything to happen so quickly," she replied, tightening her grip on the pawn she held in her hand. "I've only been learning to attack for a few weeks, how can I afford to compete so seriously?"

"You don't have to be perfect," Nam Phong reassured, his voice gentle but firm. "This simulation tournament is not to find out who is the absolute best, but to see who has the most potential to develop in the future. You have improved a lot, believe me."

In the following days, the training atmosphere at the club became much more tense. Lam Khe spent more time studying tactical exercises, even staying up later than usual to review the classic games that she and Nam Phong analyzed together at the library. But the closer the simulation competition day came, the more familiar anxiety arose in her heart.

"You seem so stressed," Nam Phong commented one afternoon of practice, when he saw Lam Khe constantly erasing and rewriting moves in his notebook. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm just afraid I'll ruin everything," Lam Khe admitted, putting down her pen and looking at him with a worried look in her eyes that rarely showed. "If I play seriously and lose continuously, I might go back to my old defensive playing style, and everything I've learned over the past few weeks will be meaningless."

Nam Phong was silent for a moment, then pulled out a chair to sit opposite her, his serious eyes different from his usual joking look. "Lam Khe, I think you're misunderstanding the purpose of this simulation tournament. It's not to prove that you've changed completely in just a few weeks. It's for you to practice what you've learned in a real pressure environment, to see how you react, and from there continue to improve."

"But what if I fail?" she asked, her voice quiet.

"Then you will learn something from that failure, just like every other time," Nam Phong replied, without hesitation. "You don't have to win everything. You just have to dare to try, dare to play the way you have practiced, instead of falling back on the old way of playing just because of fear."

That encouragement somewhat helped Lam Khe calm down, but her anxiety still did not completely disappear. She spent the entire evening before the simulation competition reviewing everything, to the point where Yen Chi had to call to remind her to go to bed early because she was afraid her friend would be exhausted before the competition.

The simulated match day took place on a Saturday afternoon, room 203 was rearranged with eight chess boards, each member took turns playing against the other seven throughout the day. Lam Khe sat at the first table, opposite Huy, a friend who often boasted about his modest achievements.

"Be gentle with me," Huy joked, but his eyes still shone with determination.

The game began, and for the first time in an official match, Lam Khe tried to apply what she had learned — proactively looking for opportunities to attack instead of just focusing on defense. She recognized a weakness in Huy's opening, boldly pushed her troops forward to create early pressure, and even though her hands shook slightly when making those moves, she still persistently maintained the initiative.

The game ended with a victory for Lam Khe after thirty-five minutes, a real victory, not a safe draw as usual. She sat quietly looking at the chess board for a moment, hardly believing what had just happened.

"Congratulations on your first victory in the simulation tournament," Huy said, although somewhat regretful, he still sincerely shook her hand. "You play offense much better than I thought."

Lam Khe didn't have time to answer, just smiled, a strange but extremely pleasant feeling arose in her heart - the feeling of a real victory, won by her own initiative, not just by not making mistakes.

The next game with Thao Vy ended in failure, when Lam Khe tried an attack too hastily without carefully calculating the consequences, leaving an opening for the opponent to counterattack. She felt disappointed, but not panicked like she had feared. Instead, she recorded that mistake in her notebook, analyzing where she had made a mistake in her calculations.

"Are you okay?" Nam Phong asked when he saw her sitting alone in the corner of the room after the defeat.

"I'm fine," Lam Khe replied, and this time, that answer was the complete truth, not a forced reassurance. "I lost because I took risks in the wrong place, not because I didn't dare to take risks. That's a completely different feeling."

Nam Phong looked at her, his eyes shining with undisguised pride. "That's exactly what I want you to learn. Losing because you dare to try is always better than drawing because you don't dare to do anything."

Throughout that day, Lam Khe played a total of seven games, with the final result being three wins, two losses, and two draws — a completely different result from her usual series of draws. When teacher Hung announced the rankings at the end of the day, Lam Khe ranked third in the entire club, just behind Nam Phong and another veteran member named Quang Minh.

"Third place after less than two months of serious practice," Mr. Hung commented, looking at Lam Khe with encouraging eyes. "That is a very encouraging achievement, Lam Khe. I believe you will be one of the main faces for the school team participating in the upcoming inter-school tournament."

Lam Khe bowed her head in thanks, her heart still mixed with joy and surprise at what she had just achieved. She looked back at the entire day of competition, realizing that, win or lose, she never regretted any of the bold moves she made — a huge change from the always-seeking-the-safest-path self of just a few weeks ago.

When the competition ended, Nam Phong waited for her at the door of room 203 to leave together. "I'm proud of you," he said, his voice sincere without any hint of joking. "You know, when I invited you to the club, I hoped you would change, but I didn't expect you to improve so quickly."

"Thanks to you patiently teaching me," Lam Khe replied, smiling. "I don't think I can do this alone."

"You've done the hardest part yourself," Nam Phong said, his eyes gently looking at her under the sunset that dyed the sky orange. "I'm just giving you a few suggestions, but daring to step out of your comfort zone is entirely your effort."

Lam Khe felt a warmth spread throughout her body at that compliment, not only because of the achievement she had just achieved, but also because of the feeling of being truly trusted by someone, truly seeing the effort behind every small step she took. She looked at Nam Phong, and in that moment, she knew for sure that her feelings for him were no longer simply admiration for a teacher and teammate.

That night, when she got home, Lam Khe saw her father sitting at the dining table, holding an old newspaper in his hand, waiting for her to come home so they could have a late dinner together. "Is the club having a simulation tournament today?" he asked, putting down the newspaper when he saw her enter. "How are you?"

"I ranked third in the entire club," Lam Khe replied, unable to hide the joy in her voice. "I won three games, lost two, drew two. This is the first time I won more than drew in a tournament."

Her father put down his chopsticks and looked at her with eyes of surprise mixed with obvious pride. "Really? You did it," he said, his voice a little choked. "I know you often hide things from me about your training at the club, but seeing you happily tell stories like this, I'm very happy."

"I won't hide it from dad," Lam Khe said, a bit confused. "I'm just not used to telling this story to dad."

"I understand," her father nodded, his eyes softening. "From now on, if you want, just tell me about your chess games. I love listening to them, even though I don't play chess as much as before."

The dinner that night passed in a rare warm atmosphere between father and son, with stories about chess moves, about Nam Phong, and about the club, which Lam Khe told naturally, no longer as shy as before. She realized that daring to open up and share with her father was also another form of risk that she was gradually learning to get used to, no less important than the bold moves she made on the chessboard today.